PNS n HYDERABAD

The Srisailam reservoir isbrimming with inflows, bring-ing cheers to farmers, asKrishna River is gushingthrough its course inTelangana owing to uninter-rupted inflows from upstreamand incessant rains. The multi-purpose project nestled amidlush green Nallamalla foresthas received inflows close to 2lakh cusecs in the past 24hours and, coupled with rains,the Srisailam dam has turnedinto a sight to behold.

The present level of water inSrisailam reservoir is at 831 ft,as against FRL of 885.However, as the inflows are setto continue, the project isexpected to get filled in thenext 5 to 7 days, bringingrelief to farmers who, just aweek ago, had feared adrought-like situation. Whilethe Jurala project has alreadygot filled, Srisailam right nowhas about 51 TMC water,against its full capacity of 216TMC.

"Already both Almatti andNaryanpur projects are filledwith water level close to FRL.We are getting inflows of morethan 2 lakh cusecs daily intoJurala. After releasing water toBhima Lift, Koilsagar Lift andothers, we are releasing close to1.8 lakh cusecs to Srisailamproject from Jurala.

Continued on Page 4

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RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

RANCHI BHUBANESWARDEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 1 ISSUE 300*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

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PNS n NEW DELHI

In a landmark judgment, theSupreme Court on Friday heldthat judicial magistrates "mustbe conceded" the power todirect a person to give voicesample to investigating agen-cies to effectively further probein a case.

It used its plenary powerunder Article 142 of theConstitution to fill the void inthe Code of CriminalProcedure, which until nowdid not force people, accusedin criminal offences, to givevoice samples to probe agenciesagainst their wish.

The top court said until"explicit provisions" areengrafted in the CrPC byParliament, judicial magis-trates would be empowered toorder a person to give voicesample for probe.

A three-judge bench head-ed by Justice Ranjan Gogoidecided the issue after a two-judge bench had given a splitverdict in December 2012 onthe subject and referred it to alarger bench.

"In the light of the above dis-cussions, we unhesitatinglytake the view that until explic-it provisions are engrafted inthe Code of CriminalProcedure by Parliament, ajudicial magistrate must beconceded the power to order aperson to give a sample of his

voice for the purpose of inves-tigation of a crime," the bench,comprising Justices DeepakGupta and Sanjiv Khanna,said. "Such power has to beconferred on a magistrate by aprocess of judicial interpreta-tion and in exercise of juris-diction vested in this courtunder Article 142 of theConstitution of India," thebench said in its 23-page ver-dict.

The bench dealt with theissues, including that whetherin the absence of any provisionin the CrPC, can a magistrateauthorise the investigatingagency to record the voicesample of the person accusedof an offence.

It noted that medical exam-ination of an accused for thepurposes of effective investi-gation of a criminal case hasreceived a wider meaning bythe amendments made in theCrPC in 2006.

It, however, said none ofthese amendments specifical-ly authorized or empowered amagistrate to direct an accusedor any other person to give hisor her voice sample for the pur-poses of an inquiry or investi-gation.

Referring to the 87th reportof the Law Commission ofIndia of August 29, 1980, thebench observed it had said thata suitable legislation, in theform of an amendment toSection 5 of the Identificationof Prisoners Act, would beappropriate to specificallyempower a judicial magistrateto compel an accused person togive his or her voice sample.

Section 5 of theIdentification of Prisoners Act,1920 empowers a magistrate todirect any person to allow hismeasurements or photographsto be taken for the purposes ofinvestigation or proceeding.

Continued on Page 2

JMs empowered to takevoice sample for probe: SC

PNS n SRINAGAR

Amarnath Yatra pilgrims andtourists have been asked by theJammu and Kashmir govern-ment to "immediately" cutshort their stay in the KashmirValley and go back, in anunprecedented advisory amidintelligence inputs of terrorthreats. Pilgrims and touristshave never before been urgedto leave Kashmir, which hasseen a massive build-up oftroops over the past week.

"Keeping in view the latestintelligence inputs of terrorthreats, with specific targetingof the Amarnath Yatra, andgiven the prevailing securitysituation in the KashmirValley, in the interest of safe-ty and security of the touristsand Amarnath Yatris, it isadvised that they may curtailtheir stay in the valley imme-diately and take necessary

measures to return as soon aspossible," the state governmentsaid.

The advisory was put outshortly after the army and theJammu and Kashmir police, ina joint press conference, saidthere were "confirmed intelli-gence reports" that terroristsbacked by the Pakistan armywere trying to disrupt theAmarnath Yatra. Mines and

ammunition recovered alongthe route had confirmed the"direct involvement of thePakistan Army", they said.

A landmine with Pakistanordnance factory markingsand an M-24 American sniperrifle with a telescope had beenfound along the route of theannual pilgrimage to the Hinducave shrine around 140 kmfrom Srinagar.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Fridaysaid it will hold day-to-dayhearing from August 6 todecide the politically sensitiveRam Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid land dispute inAyodhya as the efforts to arriveat an amicable settlementthrough mediation have failed.

The apex court took note ofthe report of the three mem-ber mediation panel, headedby former apex court judgeFMI Kalifulla, that the medi-ation proceedings which wenton for about four months havenot resulted in any final set-tlement and it has to decide thematter pending before it.

"We have received the reportsubmitted by Justice (Retd) FM I Kalifulla, the Chairman ofthe Mediation Committee. Wehave perused the same. Themediation proceedings havenot resulted in any final set-tlement. We, therefore, have toproceed with the hearing of thecases/appeals, which will com-mence on and from August 6(Tuesday)," said a 5-judgebench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi.

"The hearing which will be

on day-to-day basis until thearguments are concluded willstart with the appeals arisingout of the two suits. Thelearned counsel(s)...in theappeals arising out of the afore-said suits may, for the conve-nience of the court, indicatethe pleadings and the evi-dence on which they proposeto rely, so that the officials ofthe Registry can keep the saiddocuments ready for perusal ofthe court," the bench said in itsorder.

The bench, also comprisingJustices S A Bobde, D YChandrachud, Ashok Bhushanand S A Nazeer, had on July 18,asked the three-member medi-ation panel to inform the court

about the outcome of theirproceedings as on July 31.

The panel was asked toplace the report by August 1 toenable it to proceed further inthe matter.

The mediation panel, alsocomprising spiritual guru andfounder of the Art of Livingfoundation Sri Sri Ravishankarand senior advocate andrenowned mediator SriramPanchu, had said in its reportsubmitted on Thursday thatthe Hindu and the Muslimparties have not been able tofind a solution to the vexatiousdispute.

Continued on Page 2RELETED REPORTS IN PAGE 2

AYODHYA CASE

PNS n HYDERABAD

Industrialist NimmagaddaPrasad, accused in an allegeddisproportionate assets caseagainst Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister Y S Jagan MohanReddy, has been detained inBelgrade.

His counsel, UmaMaheswara Rao, informed alocal CBI court about thedevelopment through a memoas Nimmagadda was supposedto return to India from his for-eign tour on Friday.

According to CBI,Nimmagadda got nearly24,000 acres of land from theAndhra Pradesh governmentin 2007-08 for the Vadarevuand Nizampatnam Port andIndustrial Corridor (VAN-PIC) project, in return forinvestments made by him inJagan's businesses. Jagan'sfather Y S Rajasekhara Reddywas the chief minister at thattime.

The Serbian police, on July28, arrested the Indian busi-nessman following a com-plaint by the Ras Al Khaimah(RAK) government in con-nection with the case, sourcessaid.

The Ras Al Khaimah gov-

ernment's entity in the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE) hadinvested in the project.

RAK is one of the sevenemirates that make up theUAE.

Nimmagadda was pickedup by the Serbian police basedon a request by the UAE gov-ernment, on behalf of RAK,the sources said.

"We filed a memo intimating(the court) that he was detainedby Serbian police at Belgradeon Sunday (July 28). We havealso informed the CBI so thatthey can bring him to face thetrial here," Rao said.

As the accused industrialistis currently on bail and facingtrial, he is supposed to informthe court about his interna-tional travel plans.

Continued on Page 4

VANPIC CASE

Pakistan-made mine recoveredalong Yatra route: ArmySRINAGAR: Security forces haverecovered a Pakistan-made mineand a huge cache of arms fromalong the Amarnath Yatra route,the Army said on Friday.

Searches were launched alongthe pilgrimage route after specificintelligence that Pakistan-basedterrorists might target the Yatrausing improvised explosivedevices and attack pilgrims, LtGen KJS Dhillon said in a jointbriefing by security forces here.

The forces launched a massiveoperation along the AmarnathYatra route, during which a hugea cache of arms was recoveredand it included a mine with aPakistan Ordnance Factory stampand an American sniper rifle M-24, he said.

Dhillon refused to give the exactlocation from where the recoverywas made as the search operationwas still going on. He said thethreat of improvised explosivedevices (IEDs) in Jammu andKashmir is more "pronounced" inthe hinterland even as thesituation along the Line of Control(LoC) remains "largely peaceful".

Regular infiltration attempts arebeing made by Pakistan-basedterrorists but the Army isthwarting their bids at the LoC, hesaid. On the reports of additionaltroops being sent to the Valley,Jammu and Kashmir DGP DilbagSingh said security personnelwere on regular duty during theyear because of elections, amongothers, with no time to relax.

PNS n GODHRA

Three Muslim boys wereallegedly thrashed by sixunidentified men for refusingto say "Shri Ram" in Gujarat'sGodhra town, police said onFriday.

Siddique Bhagat, thecomplainant, claimed thatsix unidentified men ontwo motorcycles stoppedhis son Samir (17), and hisfriends Salman Gheeteli andSohail Bhagat when the triowere returning home onmotorbike on Thursdaynight.

"The accused asked myson and his friends to chant`Shri Ram'. When the boysrefused, they started thrash-ing them. One of them hitSamir with a bicycle chain onforehead while another manhit Salman on head with ablunt object," he said.

"Before leaving, theassailants threatened to killthem if they were seen againin the area," stated the FirstInformation Report (FIR)registered at Godhra Townpolice station.

Samir and his friends whowere injured were taken tothe civil hospital by somelocal people, said policeinspector H C Rathva.

Actors' GuruDevadasKanakala nomoreHYDERABAD: Veteranactor, director and writerDevadas Kanakala passedaway here on Friday, afterprolonged illness. Accordingto sources, Devadas wasundergoing treatment for age-related ailments and breathedhis last at KIMS hospital inKondapur on Friday. He issurvived by his son RajeevKanakala, a popular charac-ter actor and daughter SreeLakshmi. The actor, havingappeared in over 25 films, hascoached many of today's topactors, including Rajinikanth,Chiranjeevi and RajendraPrasad, apart from scores ofothers who were among hisstudents in his acting institute.

Continued on Page 4

Delhi Speakerdisqualifiesrebel AAP MLANEW DELHI: DelhiAssembly speaker Ram NiwasGoel has disqualified rebelAAP MLA Kapil Mishraunder the anti-defection law,sources said on Friday. Theysaid that Mishra has been dis-qualified under the 10thSchedule to the Constitution,which is commonly referredto as the 'Anti-Defection Law'.An order to disqualify theKarawal Nagar MLA has beenissued by the speaker, theysaid.

RavishKumar WinsMagsaysayNEW DELHI: NDTV'sRavish Kumar has beennamed for the prestigiousRamon Magsaysay Award for"harnessing journalism to givevoice to the voiceless" and his"unfaltering commitment to aprofessional, ethical journal-ism of the highest standards".Ravish Kumar is among thefive recipients of the 2019Magsaysay award, the Asianequivalent of the Nobel, whichrecognises the "greatness ofspirit and transformative lead-ership in Asia". The citationdescribes Ravish Kumar as asober, incisive and well-informed anchor who hasbeen most vocal on insistingthat the professional values ofbalanced, fact-based reportingbe upheld in practice.

Nimmagadda Prasad

3 Muslim boys‘attacked' for notsaying ‘Shri Ram’

PNS n JAUNPUR (UP)

In a horrifying incident, aman addicted to gamblingand alcohol, bet his wife afterrunning out of money andallowed his friends to gan-grape her after losing thestake.

The incident took place inJaunpur district and after theincident, the victim went tocourt when the police refusedto take action on her com-plaint. Following a courtorder, an FIR has been regis-tered in Jaffarabad police sta-tion in Jaunpur district.

The victim, who lives inthe Zafarabad police stationarea, claimed that her hus-band was an alcoholic andhad put her on stake whilegambling. Reprts said herhusband's friend Arun andrelative Anil often used tovisit their house for drinkingand gambling. One particu-lar day, last month, her hus-band put her on stake whilegambling with Anil andArun. On losing, Arun andAnil gang-raped her.

After the incident, the vic-tim went to her maternaluncle's house. Her husbandfollowed her there, asking forforgiveness and said that itwas a mistake.

Man loseswife to friendsin gamble

Amarnath pilgrims, tourists asked to leave J&K

Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid (file photo)

Mediation fails; SC to hear from August 6

Detained in Belgrade,Nimmagadda informs CBI

Chandrababu‘voice’ to betested?The Supreme Court's

judgment on Friday thatjudicial magistrates have thepower to direct a person to givevoice sample to investigatingagencies to effectively furtherprobe could open the Pandora'sbox. For, there are multiplecases in which determination ofthe authenticity of voicesamples collected holds thekey, the latest being the 2015'Cash-for-Votes' scandal inwhich TDP leaders of Telanganastate were captured in a videofootage, aired by mediachannels, offering bribes to anominated MLA for his vote inthe 2015 elections of theTelangana Legislative Council.Then TDP legislator RevanthReddy was arrested by theTelangana Police when he wasoffering Rs. 50 lakh to thenominated MLA Stephenson. Arelated phone conversation,including what was purportedto be the voice of then CMChandrababu conversing withthe same nominated MLA wasaired by news channels. TheTDP later alleged that the voiceswere 'doctored' by theTelangana government

PNS n AMARAVATI

A surge of the flood inGodavari river on Fridayevening left over 30 villages inEast Godavari district ofAndhra Pradesh inundated.

The district administrationis on constant vigil and mak-ing arrangements for possibleevacuation of people from thevillages if the flood-level risesfurther. East Godavari dis-trict joint collectorLakshmisha told PTI overphone that the situationremained under control as ofnow though the flood-levelwas apparently increasing.

"In the morning, the floodreceded and again startedincreasing by late evening.Thankfully, the rain hasstopped but we have kept

everything ready to possiblyshift the people to safer places,Lakshmisha said.

Essential commodities,including milk, were beingsupplied to the affected vil-lagers through the CivilSupplies Department. Roadcommunication and powersupply to the marooned vil-lages, however, remained cutoff. Inflow at Sir Arthur CottonBarrage at Dowaleswaramremained steady since Fridayevening at 7.12 lakh cusecs.

Continued on Page 4

STATE SOAKS IN MONSOONIMD ISSUES HEAVY RAINFALL WARNING

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Indian MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) hasissued a heavy rainfall alertfor isolated places inTelangana for the next fivedays. The city has been wit-nessing incessant rains forthe past four days and thesituation is likely to contin-ue for a few more days, saidIMD.

Due to the CyclonicCirculation marked overWest Central Bay of Bengaloff North Andhra Pradeshcoast, Telangana has beenwitnessing rainfall. Rainoccurred at most places over

Telangana and the heavyrainfall alert is for isolatedplaces of Telangana. As perthe Telangana StateDevelopment PlanningSociety (TSDPS), Asifabadreceived highest rainfall of72mm on Friday, followed byMahadevpur in JayashankarBhupalpally with 71.8mm.Parts of Mulugu receivedhigh rainfall, ranging from68.3mm to 64.8mm. Most ofthe state received moderaterainfall, varying from 15.60-64.40mm, while southTelangana received lightrainfall, ranging from 2.50-15.50mm.

Continued on Page 4

Godavari in spate, over30 villages inundated

With levels in projectsrising, TS brims with joy

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PTI n NEW DELHI

All the four attempts, includ-ing two on the intervention ofthe Supreme Court, to amica-bly settle the long-standingland dispute at RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid inAyodhya have failed to yieldthe desired result.

The mediation proceedingsfailed to resolve the disputeamicably for the fourth time onFriday, with the SupremeCourt ordering day-to-dayhearing of the politically sen-sitive case from August 6.

A five-judge Constitutionbench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi took note of thereport of the three membermediation panel, headed byformer apex court judge FMIKalifulla, that its effort to findout an amicable resolution tothe dispute have failed.

Before the bench on March 8referred the dispute for media-tion, a similar move was favouredby the then Chief Justice J SKhehar on March 21, 2017.

A bench headed by theJustice Khehar had said thatfresh attempts must be made byall parties concerned to find asolution to the Ayodhya tem-ple dispute which is a "sensitive"and "sentimental" matter.

However, the contesting par-ties were hesitant to supportthe suggestion made by thethen bench, which also com-prised Justices D YChandrachud and S K Kaul.

The matter later came up forhearing before a bench, head-ed by his successor JusticeDipak Mishra, which tried totake forward the appealsagainst the 2010 AllahabadHigh Court judgment deliv-ered in four civil suits, that the2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be

partitioned equally among thethree parties -- the Sunni WaqfBoard, the Nirmohi Akharaand Ram Lalla.

Justice Misra, the then chiefjustice along with JusticesAshok Bhushan and S ANazeer, had refused to refer the

matter before a five-judgeConstitution Bench and hadtreated it as case of title disputeover a property.

The idea of settling thedispute through mediationas suggested by a bench head-ed by Justice Khehar wasrevived by a bench headed bypresent Chief Justice RanjanGogoi.

While several developmentsconnected with the dispute,including the recusal of judgeslike Justices U U Lalit and N VRamana, delayed the proceed-ings, the bench headed byJustice Gogoi on February 26sprang a surprise by toing thesuggestion mooted by the apexcourt in March 2017.

The current bench, alsocomprising Justices S A Bobde,D Y Chandrachud, AshokBhushan and S A Nazeer onFebruary 26, 2019, again askedthe contesting parties toexplore the possibility of ami-cably settling the decades olddispute through mediation,saying it may help in "healingrelations".

Even if there is "one per centchance" of settling the disputeamicably, the parties should gofor mediation, the bench hadsuggested.

Besides the judicial inter-vention, the 1994 judgement inthe Ismail Faruqui case hadrecorded negotiations betweenVHP and All India BabriMasjid Action Committee,which broke down at a crucialphase.

In 2003, the KanchiShankaracharya tried for anegotiated settlement. It endedafter his July 1, 2003 letter toAIMPLB saying Kashi,Mathura and Ayodhya willhave to be given to Hindus at"some time or other".

All four attempts to resolve Ayodhya row in vain AMICABLE SETTLEMENT A DISTANT DREAM

Chronology of events in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case 1528: Babri Masjid built byMir Baqi, commander ofMughal emperor Babur.1885: Mahant RaghubirDas files plea in Faizabaddistrict court seekingpermission to build acanopy outside the disputedRam Janmabhoomi- BabriMasjid structure. Courtrejects the plea.1949: Idols of Ram Lallaplaced under a centraldome outside the disputedstructure.1950: Gopal SimlaVisharad files suit inFaizabad district court forrights to worship the idolsof Ram Lalla. ParamahansaRamachandra Das files suitfor continuation of worshipand keeping the idols.1959: Nirmohi Akhara filessuit seeking possession ofthe site.1981: UP Sunni CentralWaqf Board files suit forpossession of the site.Feb 1, 1986: Local courtorders the government toopen the site for Hinduworshippers.Aug 14, 1989: AllahabadHC ordered maintenance of status quo Dec 6, 1992: RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjidstructure demolished.

Apr 3, 1993: Acquisition ofCertain Area at AyodhyaAct' passed for acquiringland by Centre in thedisputed area.Oct 24, 1994: SCsays in thehistoric IsmailFaruqui case thatmosque was notintegral to Islam.Apr, 2002: HC beginshearing on determining whoowns the disputed site.Mar 21, 2017: CJI JSKhehar suggests out-of-court settlement amongrival parties.Aug 7: SC constitutesthree-judge bench to hearpleas challenging 1994verdict of the Allahabad HC.Feb 8, 2018: SC startshearing the civil appeals.Jul 20: SC reserves verdict.Sep 27: SC declines torefer the case to a five-judge Constitution bench. Oct 29: SC fixes the casefor the first week ofJanuary before anappropriate benchDec 24: SC

decides to take up petitionson case for hearing onJanuary 4, 2019.Jan 4, 2019: SC says an

appropriate benchconstituted by it willpass an order onJanuary 10

Jan 8: SC sets up a five-judge Constitution Bench tohear the caseJan 10: Justice U U Lalitrecuses himself promptingSC to reschedule thehearing for January 29before a new bench.Jan 25: SC reconstitutes 5-member ConstitutionBench to hear the case. Thenew bench comprises ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi andJustices S A Bobde, D YChandrachud, AshokBhushan and S A Nazeer.Jan 29: Centre moves SCseeking permission toreturn the 67-acre acquiredland around the disputedsite to original owners.Feb 26: SC favoursmediation, fixes Mar 5 fororder on

whetherto refer

matter to court-appointedmediator.Mar 8: SC refers thedispute for mediation by apanel headed by formerapex court judge F M IKallifulla.Apr 9: Nirmohi Akharaopposes in SC Centre'splea to return acquired landaround Ayodhya site toowners.May 9: 3-member mediationcommittee submits interimreport in SC.May 10: SC extends timetill Aug 15 to completemediation process.Jul 11: SC seeks report on"progress of mediation".Jul 15: Special Judge seeks6 more months from SC toconclude trial involving L KAdvani, M M Joshi, UmaBharti and others.Jul 18: SC allowsmediation process tocontinue, seeks outcomereport by Aug 1.Jul 19: SC asks Specialjudge to deliver verdict in 9months.Aug 1: Report of mediationsubmitted in sealed coverto SC.Aug 2: SC decides toconduct day-to day hearingfrom Aug 6 as mediationfails.

Healthcare services hit inTelangana over NCM BillPNS n HYDERABAD

Healthcare services at govern-ment-run hospitals inTelangana were affected onFriday as junior doctors boy-cotted all emergency servicesto protest against the NationalMedical Commission (NCM)Bill 2019.

On a call given by TelanganaJunior Doctors Association(TJUDA), 3,500 junior doctorsat government-run teachinghospitals intensified theirprotest by boycotting emer-gency duties.

Outpatient and emergencyservices at Hyderabad'sOsmania Hospital and GandhiHospital, two biggest govern-ment-run healthcare facilities,came to a halt.

The services also came toa standst i l l at Ni luoferHospital, the biggest gov-ernment-run facility for chil-dren. A similar situation waswitnessed at MGM Hospitalin Warangal.

Poor patients coming fromvarious parts of the state

suffered as junior doctorsstayed away f rom theirduties. The regular staffproved insufficient to cater to

a large number of patients.Many waited for hours andwith no option left they hadto approach private hospitals

for emergency treatment.Some junior doctors con-

tinued indefinite hunger strikeat the Gandhi Hospital,demanding the withdrawal ofthe NMC Bill.

Officials said they wereusing the services of the facul-ty to deal with the situation.

Junior doctors had beenboycotting elective or non-emergency services for thepast two days. TJUDA said itintensified the protest aspart of the ongoing nation-wide strike called by theIndian Medical Association(IMA).

The protesting doctors havecalled the NMC Bill anti-poorand anti-student. The Bill waspassed by the Rajya Sabha onThursday.

Junior doctors say the Billwill promote quackery as itallows non-MBBS graduates tobecome licensed practition-ers. They believe the Bill wouldaffect the quality of medicaleducation and thereby workagainst the interests of thepoor.

On a call given by Telangana JuniorDoctors Association (TJUDA), 3,500 junior doctors at government-run teaching hospitals intensifiedtheir protest by boycottingemergency duties

Fresh autopsy conducted onslain CPI (ML) ND leaderPNS n HYDERABAD

On the direction of TelanganaHigh Court, a fresh autopsywas conducted on Friday onthe body of a leader of CPI(ML) New Democracy whowas killed in an allegedencounter by the police on July31.

A three-member committeeof expert doctors conductedthe fresh autopsy on PunnamLingaiah alias Linganna atgovernment-run GandhiHospital in Hyderabad.

Police made tight securityarrangements at the hospital toprevent any untoward incident.

Tension prevailed in thepremises as some sympathiz-ers of CPI (ML) NewDemocracy gathered there.Police arrested the protestersincluding Maoist sympathizersVimalakka and Sandhya.

Police allowed only familymembers of Linganna nearthe mortuary. After the autop-sy, the body was handed overto the family.

The High Court onThursday had ordered freshautopsy on a Public InterestLitigation (PIL) filed by

Gaddam Laxman, President ofState Civil LibertiesCommittee, who alleged that itwas a stage-managed gun bat-tle as the body of Lingannabore injury marks.

The petitioner sought direc-tion to the state government toform a Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) to probe the 'fakeencounter'. He also sought

direction to police to registera murder case against policepersonnel responsible for thekilling.

While petitioner's counsel,V. Raghunath, submitted thatLinganna was a tribal leaderfighting for the rights of trib-als, the government claimedthat he was a member of abanned outfit and was actingagainst the state's interests.

The court directed GandhiHospital superintendent toconstitute a three-membercommittee of expert doctors toconduct fresh autopsy andsubmit the report to the courtby August 5.Following thecourt order, Linganna's bodywas shifted from Kothagudemtown to Hyderabad for freshautopsy. The first autopsy wasconducted at a hospital inKothagudem.

Linganna was gunned downby police on July 31 in Gundalaforests in Telangana'sBhadradri-Kothagudem dis-trict. Police claimed that hewas killed in an exchange offire but CPI (ML) NewDemocracy alleged that hewas caught and killed in coldblood by the police.

A three-membercommittee ofexpert doctorsconducted thefresh autopsy onPunnamLingaiah aliasLinganna atgovernment-runGandhi Hospitalin Hyderabad

NIT-Warangal students takeanti-ragging pledgePNS n WARANGAL

Students of the prestigiousNational Institute ofTechnology-Warangal took ananti-ragging pledge here onFriday. The pledge was taken aspart of a two-week students'induction programme on thecampus.

Speaking on the occasion,Student Services Wing directorProf. Ramgopal Reddy threwlight on events in store for stu-dents like Technozion,Springspree, Youthfest,Ayodhan, etc. Talking aboutchallenges, concerns and initia-tives taken up for the welfare ofstudents, Prof. Reddy said thatragging was a crime whichdestroyed the physical and emo-tional confidence of students.He assured the freshers that NITWarangal had a strict anti-rag-ging policy which determined

the security of the freshers andcreated a friendly ambiencewithin the campus.

It was important and encour-aging to note that the first yearB. Tech students of the Institutevoluntarily took the pledgeagainst ragging and resolved tofight ragging and not indulge init as seniors in the years ahead.The faculty advisors and mem-bers of various student clubsshared information on theiractivities, achievements andwelcomed the new students tojoin the club.

Directors of NIT-WarangalProf N V Ramana Rao appre-ciated the I yr B. Tech studentsfor voluntarily taking anti-rag-ging pledge on their own.Deans Prof Jay Kumar, ProfPydi Shetty and RegistrarGoverdhan Rao and other fac-ulty members participated inthe event.

Mediation fails; SC to conductday-to day hearing from Aug 6Continued from Page 1

The top court had fixed the seatfor mediation process in Faizabad,Uttar Pradesh, around 7 kmfrom Ayodhya, and said adequatearrangements including the venueof the mediation, place of stay ofthe mediators, their security, trav-el should be forthwith arrangedby the state government.

After the bench on Fridaypassed the order, senior advo-cate Rajeev Dhavan, appear-ing for a Muslim party, raisedseveral technical issues andsaid he will need 20 days toargue the various issues aris-ing in the matter in detail andthere should not be any cur-tailment on the hearing.

While he was raising differentaspects of the matter and how theappeals have to be heard, thebench told him "don't remind us

what we have to do". "We knowthere are many aspects and wewill deal with all these aspects.Let the hearing start," it said.

Dhavan also raised the issueof pending writ petition filed bysenior BJP leader SubramanianSwamy and the applicationfiled by a Muslim body.

The court which hadperused a report about theprogress of mediation processtill July 18, had said that itscontents will remain confi-dential as per its earlier order.

Fourteen appeals have beenfiled in the apex court againstthe 2010 Allahabad HighCourt judgment, delivered infour civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be par-titioned equally among thethree parties -- the SunniWaqf Board, the NirmohiAkhara and Ram Lalla.

JMs empoweredto take voice...Continued from Page 1

"The legislative response inremaining silent or acting at a'slow' pace can always beexplained by legislative con-cerns and considerations ofcare and caution," the court said.

"It is in the aforesaid con-text and in the admittedabsence of any clear statuto-ry provision that the questionarising has to be answeredwhich is primarily one of theextent to which by a processof judicial interpretation aclear gap in the statute shouldbe filled up pending a formallegislative exercise," it said.

The apex court noted thatby insertion of section 311-Aof the CrPC, a magistrate hasbeen empowered to order anyperson, including an accused,to give specimen signaturesor handwriting for the pur-poses of investigation.

It said that "what may appearto be legislative inaction to fillin the gaps in the statute couldbe on account of justified leg-islative concern and exercise ofcare and caution."

"However, when a yawninggap in the statute, in the con-sidered view of the court,calls for temporary patch-work of filling up to make thestatute effective and workableand to sub-serve societalinterests, a process of judicialinterpretation would becomeinevitable," the top court said. Plea to make Sammakka-Sarakka national fest

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana State gov-ernment has urged the Centreto accord national status toSammakka-Sarakka festival,considering it is the biggesttribal festival across the world.

On Friday, Welfare MinisterKoppula Eshwar met severalUnion ministers and submit-ted memorandums in thisregard, along with a list ofother demands.

Later, speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavanin Delhi, Eshwar said thatSammakka-Sarakka was a bigfestival, attracting one crorepeople at one place. The Stategovernment had asked theCentre to recognize the tribalfestival as a national festivaland allot funds for the same.|Central ministers had beenurged to recognize it as a'Tribal Kumbh Mela'.

The Minister said that sig-

nificant changes were takenplace in the education sectorin Telangana under the aegisof Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao. The TRSgovernment had set up resi-

dential schools in a big way inthe State, unlike anywhereelse across the nation. TheCentre had been urged toextend support for the con-struction of residential schools

in Telangana. The Ministersaid the Union governmenthad been requested to set upKendriya Vidyalaya atPeddapalli and NavodayaSchool at Jagtial. He hopedthat the Centre would extendits support in this regard. Thecentral ministers responded inpositive manner, he said.

KCR provided permanentsolutions to several sectorsand had been developing thestate with commitment, theminister said. Describing theKaleswaram project as a won-der, Koppula said that the

state government was strivingto provide water to irrigate60-70 percent of Telanganaby complet ing theKaleswaram project. TheCentre had to encourageTelangana as it was taking upseveral welfare programmes,he maintained.

The Minister said that thestate had asked the Centre toprovide jobs to locals inRamagundam FertilizersCompany, apart from rehabil-itating people who had losttheir lands during constructionof the company.

The State government had asked theCentre to recognize the tribal festivalas a national festival and allot fundsfor the same. |Central ministers hadbeen urged to recognize it as a 'TribalKumbh Mela'

RIMEORNERC

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | AUGUST 3, 2019 hyderabad 03

Automatic meters for 40Kwater connections in cityPNS n HYDERABAD

In a bid to crackdown on ille-gal us of water, the HMWSSBwill enforce automatic meterreading (AMR) for 40,000commercial water connectionsin the city.

A large number of estab-lishments that use mechanicalmeters or faulty ones havebeen going unaccountable forthe water they are supplied.Despite being commercialestablishments, they end uppaying bills similar those ofconventional domestic meters.To make water use accountableand increase the revenue ofHMWSSB, MunicipalCommissioner MD DanaKishore on Friday announcedthat the AMR meters will beinstalled at all commercialestablishments.

A pilot project on 4,000establishments in the city has

yielded good results in billingand revenue. So, the waterboard has decided to roll it outfor all businesses in the city.The cost of replacing mechan-ical meters with automaticmeters will be borne by theHMWSSB.

Meanwhile, the water

board is also setting up fourTask Force units to identifyillegal tap connections. Anadditional 50 police person-nel are being deployed ondeputation to be part of theTask Force. Teams will workon identifying illegal waterconnections, and those who

use domestic connectionpermits for commercial pur-poses.

In addition to the watersupplied by the water board,stern action will be takenagainst illegal motors set up todraw water. A penalty of Rs5,000 will be slapped for thefirst violation, and if caught asecond time the fine willincrease to Rs 10,000. If caughtfor the third time, the tapconnection will be perma-nently cancelled and criminalcases will be registered againstthe offender.

New meters willbe installed atall commercialestablishmentsto check watermisuse

ZPHS headmistress in ACB net

The headmistress of ZillaParishad High School at

Begumpet in Ramagiri mandalof Peddapalli district wascaught red-handed in her officeby ACB sleuths on Thursdaywhile she was allegedlyaccepting a bribe of Rs 2,000.According to police officials,headmistress Dundigala Lalithahad demanded and acceptedthe bribe from one SuddalaOdelu. Lalitha demanded bribefrom Odelu to issue his son'sSSC memo and transfercertificate. The bribe amountwas recovered from her,officials said. She wasproduced before a special courtfor ACB cases in Karimnagardistrict after which she wasremanded in judicial custody.

Man held for rapingmother-in-law

A28-year-old man wasarrested for raping his

mother-in-law atChandrayangutta on Thursday.The accused was identified asBhaskar, a bus driver who livesin Balapur. He got married to the45-year-old victim's daughter.According to the police, Bhaskartook her to an isolated placenear Gurram Cheruvu at Balapuron Wednesday night and rapedher. He later dropped at herhome and threatened to divorceher daughter if she revealed thematter to anyone. However, thewoman approachedChandrayangutta police andlodged a complaint. Policeregistered a case and arrestedBhaskar.

Auto driver arrestedfor friend's murder

A30-year-old man wasarrested by the Yacharam

police on Friday in connectionwith the recovery of a charredbody from Yacharam on July23. The arrested man, identifiedas Biccha Naik, is an autodriver. He allegedly murderedhis friend Ravi over a debt ofRs 3 lakh that he had to pay,police said. The Yacharampolice had found a charredbody of an unidentified personat Kurmidda on July 23. Ravi'sparents, who had filed amissing person's complaint atLB Nagar police station,identified the body as that oftheir son. According to thepolice, while investigating themurder, they suspected Naik'srole and confronted him. Naikthen admitted to murderinghim after they consumedalcohol together and burningthe body. "

Youth drowns intemple lake

Ayouth drowned while tryingto feed the fish in a lake at a

temple in Gandipet onThursday night. The deceasedwas identified as Ravi Vaishnav,21, a sales man. Police saidRavi had gone to Manchirevula-Machileshwara temple inGandipet along with his friendsShubam and Neelesh onThursday night. The trio tried tofeed the fish in the lake whenRavi accidentally fell into it anddrowned. His friends tried tosave him but in vain.

PNS n HYDERABAD

In a boost to southern cargohandling companies eyeingCommonwealth ofIndependent States (CIS)Countries and other markets,GMR-led HyderabadInternational Airport has addedyet another domestic freighterto its existing range of freightofferings. The latest entrant isa SpiceJet freighter that landedat the airport late on Thursday.The cargo arm of SpiceJet com-menced its services connectingHyderabad with Delhi,Mumbai, Bangalore andChennai. With this, Hyderabadairport now has six scheduledfreighters operating.

The 737-700F type freighteraircraft used by SpiceJet willoperate six days a week, arriv-ing from Chennai at 9.45 pmand departing for Delhi at10.45 pm. This service willconnect Chennai-Hyderabad-Delhi-Mumbai-Bangalore sec-tors and has a capacity tocarry approximately 20 MT ofcargo.

The new SpiceJet freight

service will also offer an oppor-tunity to shippers from theregion to access the CIS andother markets via Delhi. Theoffering also includes postalcirculation among the keymetros, saving critical time andensuring quick delivery ofgoods.

As per the press statementSGK Kishore, CEO of GMRHyderabad InternationalAirport Ltd (GHIAL), said that"with the addition of the newfreighter, customers will havemore options to ship goodswithin the country andbeyond." The daily cargo ser-vices will help the development

of trade, especially in high-valueand time-sensitive products,he said. "This will also give aboost to the cargo and logisticssector in the region."

Speaking on the occasionManjiv Singh, Chief ProjectOfficer, SpiceJet, added,"Today's consumers demandthe quickest deliveries possible.This has been shaping the e-commerce and logisticsprocesses, and in turn theexpress logistics sector."

Apart from SpiceJet, theother scheduled freighter ser-vices operating from the city'sRajiv Gandhi InternationalAirport (RGIA) includeLufthansa, Turkish, Qatar,Cathay Pacific and Blue Dart.Hyderabad Airport Cargoserves many multinationalcompanies across Pharma,Perishable, Engineering,Automobile, Aerospace,leather industries and its clien-tele includes Dr. Reddy's,Pfizer, Aurobindo, Milan,Hetero, Gland Pharma, DRDLetc. International destinationslike Frankfurt, Istanbul, Dubai,Doha and Hong Kong are alsowell connected from RGIA.

SpiceJet tooperatefreighter 6 daysin a week,connectingChennai-Hyderabad-Delhi-Mumbai-Bangaloresectors

Chiru, Nag enrol for facerecognition tech at city airportPNS n HYDERABAD

Former Union MinisterChiranjeevi and actorNagarjuna were among 4,000passengers who voluntarilyenrolled for the FaceRecognition technology atRajiv Gandhi InternationalAirport here from July 1 to 31,when it was implemented ona pilot basis.

In line with the Centre'sDigiYatra programme, GMRHyderabad InternationalAirport implemented trials ofFace Recognition last monthby setting up dedicated FRRegistration Counters neartwo departure gates, officialsources said.

Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna andhis son Akhil and many morevolunteered for the FR system.

In one month, more than4000 passengers enrolled forface recognition technologyat RGIA, the sources said.

"Hundreds of enrolled fre-quent flyers have already used

the facility several times toaccess the terminal using theFR E-gate at RGIA," sourcestold PTI.

During trials, CISF person-nel at the airport physicallychecked the applicant's identi-ty proof and post successfulverification, a uniqueDigiYatra/FR ID for the pas-senger was generated.

While the FR registrationhas stopped, flyers who haveregistered themselves for FR atRGIA could still use he exist-ing FR E-gate to access the ter-minal, the sources said.

Digi Yatra involves digital

processing of passengers atairports under which they willbe automatically processed,based on facial recognitionsystem at check points likeentry point check, entry in tosecurity check and aircraftboarding.

Additionally this will alsofacilitate self-bag drop andcheck-in, using facial recogni-tion to identify passengers anddata recall.

Digi Yatra will facilitatepaperless travel and avoididentity check at multiplepoints, an official release hadearlier said.

Bogus edn academyunearthed, six held

PNS n HYDERABAD

The North Zone Task Forceteam busted a bogus educationacademy that called itself'Charminar College', andapprehended six persons onFriday.

Police said the primeaccused, Hasmatullah, 37, wasrunning bogus educationalacademy by the name of'Charminar College' and pro-viding fake and fabricatedcertificates of other state uni-versities. The persons whosought the documents wereidentified as Syed Adnan Arif,Abdullah M Saleem,Mansurabad Sandeep, MohdShah Akram Ali and MohdKaleemuddin. The scamsterscollected large amounts fromthem.

DCP of Commissioner'sTask Force, P. RadhakishanRao said Hasmatullaha gainedknowledge in the field educa-tion and later put it to misuse.From 2009 to 2014, he ran acollege called SCOPE College

at Himayat Nagar. Later in2015, he ran a bogus distancecollege called CharminarCollege and supplied fake andfabricated education certifi-cates to candidates.

The accused charged Rs50,000 to Rs 1 lakh from can-didates, depending on thecourse, and provided fake andcertificates of degrees likeB.Com, M.Com, MA, B.Tech,BBA, B.Sc from KalingaUniversity-Chhattisgarh,Bangalore University-Gulbargha, Karnataka Stateand NIMS University-Jaipur.

The accused persons alongwith seized material werehanded over to Moghalpurapolice for further investigation.

n Accused sold fake certificatesfrom fictitious college

Cabbie attempts to kidnap 3 kidsPNS n HYDERABAD

A family that landed atRGIA on Friday morningthwarted the attempts of a cabdriver to kidnap their threechildren. The cabbie, claimingto be working for Ola, waschased down but managed toabscond after the incident.

According to the police,Srinath's family landed atRGIA in Shamshabad at 7.30

am. Their relatives, who hadcome to the airport, booked anOla cab for some of themwhen a driver pulled up andclaimed to be their cabbie.Sub-Inspector at RGIA, SVenkateshwarulu, said the manclaimed there was an issue withthe OTP system and askedthem to pay what the appshowed as charge.

Believing the man, the fam-ily members, including a

teenage girl, her sister andyounger brother, got into hiscar. "Some members of thefamily were following the carfrom the airport in their privatevehicle and noticed the cabbiepicking another man, lateridentified as Hari, on the way.The situation escalated whenthe he started to speed inorder to get away from the carfollowing them. This madethe family suspicious and callthe cops, police said.

As Srinath's vehicle wasclosing in, the cabbie droppedthe passengers off, includingHari, and fled the spot. "Wehave detained Hari for ques-tioning. Preliminary enquiryhas revealed that he is also adriver," an officer said. Theman told police that he drovefast in order to fill in fuel fromthe nearest petrol station. Acase was booked and investi-gations were on to verify theclaims.

Missing boyfled home,found inKamareddy

11 kg of ganjaseized byLangarhouz copsPNS n HYDERABAD

The Langarhouz police onFriday arrested a person andseized 11 kilograms of Ganjafrom his possession duringregular vehicle checking

The arrested person hasbeen identified as 30-year-oldChandan Naveen, a driver byprofession. Chandan is report-edly a drug peddler fromJumerat Bazar, Dhoolpet.

According to the police,Naveen was caught during aregular vehicle checking atMoghal-ka-Nala in LangarHouz around 11.30 am whilehe was proceeding on amotorcycle towards Golcondaarea in search of customers.The police noticed that he wascarrying a bag suspiciously.When cops checked it, theyfound marijuana.

During investigation,Naveen revealed that he hadprocured the narcotic a weekago from Odisha for rupees35,000 to sell it for a higherrate here in Hyderabad.

Naveen was earlier arrest-ed for similar cases by theMangalhat police. He wasproduced before a courtand remanded to judicialcustody.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A 15-year-old boy, who wasreported missing fromMeerpet on Wednesday, wastraced to Kamareddy districton Thursday.

The boy, a student of a pri-vate school in Badangpet,had left home after his fatherSudhakar reprimanded himfor incomplete school workand being irregular to school.

According to the police,Sudhakar dropped his son atschool around 8.30 am onWednesday.

He later received a callfrom the school informinghim that his son's classworkwas incomplete. When hewent to the school, he couldnot find him in the class-room or the school's sur-roundings. In the meantime,the boy called his fatherfrom a passenger's phoneand told him that he was atKamareddy railway station.He was upset over his fatherscolding him for the issueand had left school themoment his father droppedhim, police said.

GMR spices up domestic freight service at Hyd airport

PNS n HYDERABAD

Rains have finally blessed thecity, and potholes too havemade their mandatory come-back.

Potholes have visibly sprungup on almost all Hyderabadroads, making travel a night-mare for motorists who arealready troubled by water-log-ging and traffic congestion.Every year, the GHMC claimsto be all prepared for mon-soons, but fails to deliver androads develop craters. Thismakes the commute especial-ly difficult for two-wheelerriders and autorickshaw dri-vers.

Forced to maneuver pastthe potholes, vehicles havebeen slowing down, leading totraffic congestion. Traffic policehave been sharing pictures ofcongestions which are mostlyowing to the bad roads. Cratersand potholes were formed inevery part of the city even onthe newly-laid roads. Areas ofAbids, Bachupally, Madhapur,Nizampet, Meerpet, AllwynColony, Miyapur and Malakpethave witnessed very slowmovement of traffic.

People are questioning ifthis is the 'Dallas' that the TRSgovernment wanted to make ofthe city. The state of affairs is

pathetic in the areas likeBeeramguda, Nallagandla,Tellapur, Nizampet, Alakapoor,among others. If commutersdon't keep an eye out, there isevery danger of slipping andfalling into these pits.

At Malakpet, traffic copshave been filling up potholes toenable free flow of vehicles atAkber Plaza in the area. Trafficpolice also issued alerts onvehicle movement fromGachibowli, Panjagutta,Irrummanzil, lakdikapool, StAnn's Secunderabad, Srinagar

Colony T Jn, MahaveerHospital-Masab Tank, PrakashNagar, Khairatabad flyover,Rasoolpura, DLF Road,Nallagandla flyover and KPHBto Cyber Towers.

A resident of Nizampet, KSuraj, said, "There are severalbig potholes on NizampetRoad, especially between Bataand Anjaneya Swamy temple.This stretch is ignored for along time, creating inconve-nience and huge traffic snarlsevery day." A video of the badstate of road is being shared by

city residents extensively onsocial media. Officials, howev-er, claim to have repaired it inone week.

Tolichowki resident S Pranabsaid, "It's time for Netas to drivearound in Hyderabad to under-stand the real issues troublingHyderabadis. Traffic, bad roadsand potholes have made com-muting very difficult."

Traffic police have been tem-porarily fixing potholes withbitumen and sand, which how-ever still gets washed awayafter another drizzle.

"Successive regimes have failedto give us proper roads. Thesedays, roads are dangerouslydamaged and prone to acci-

dents," said Vijay Reddy, resi-dent of Nallagandla.

M Praneetha, resident ofBachupally, said, "I commutefrom Bachupally to HiTec Citywhich takes me three-fourhours because of bad roads andtraffic. Vehicles get stuck inpotholes and there can also besevere injuries to bike riders."

Meanwhile, it is the trafficcops who were seen filling thepotholes in various areas lead-ing to citizens questioning as towhat the civic body and munic-ipalities have been doing.

RAINS TURN HYDERABAD INTO ‘POTHOLE CITY'

Traffic policehave beensharing picturesof congestionwhich is mostlyowing to thebad roads

Hasmatullahagainedknowledge inthe fieldeducation andlater put it tomisuse

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | AUGUST 3, 2019 hyderabad 04

CAPSULE

Agri ministerbereaved, CMconsolesMAHABUBNAGAR: ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raoconsoled the family members ofAgriculture Minister S NiranjanReddy at his residence inWanaparthi on Friday followingthe passing of his mother, ReddyTarakeshwaramma (105), inWanaparthi on July 23. Theminister is performing therelated rituals at his residence.The chief minister accompaniedby the state ministers SrinivasGoud, Mahmood Ali, MPRamulu, MLA Bandla KrishnaMohan Reddy, former ministerJupalli Krishna Rao, amongothers, reached Wanaparthi andoffered tributes to the departedsoul.

Medak farmers beginpaddy transplantationMEDAK: Rains brought cheer tothe farm sector in the three newdistricts of erstwhile Medakdistrict. Farmers who have sownthe rain-fed crops and werewaiting for good monsoon rainswere relieved after the districtreceived widespread rains overthe last two days. In theZaheerabad region, where rain-fed crops are sown over largeareas, farmers said the timelyrain would help raise pulses. InSangareddi and the Medakdistricts, farmers took to paddytransplantation in the ensuingrain spell. Agriculturedepartment officials said Khariftransplantation is likely to reachexpected levels.

Medical collegeinauguratedNALGONDA: Education MinisterG Jagadeeshwar Reddyinaugurated a medical college inthe Suryapet districtheadquarters and launched anorientation programme for thestudents at the new college onFriday. Speaking at the inaugural,the minister said the Suryapet isthe first new district in the stateto get a medical college and hewas elated at being arepresentative of the district. Hesaid the government would takesteps to provide all basicinfrastructure facilities to thenew college, complete with amodern building, soon.

Two additional SPs for VizagVISAKHAPATNAM: Two additionalSPs for Vizag assumed chargehere on Friday. Ajitha Vejendla of2015 batch, assumed charge asadditional Superintendent ofPolice of administrationVisakhapatnam and B AtchuthaRao as additional Superintendentof Crimes in the district. AjithaVejendla has been recentlypromoted and posted asadditional SP while she wasserving at Greyhounds,Rampachodavaram andRajamahendravarm. Atchutha Raoworked as RIO in Visakhapatnamcity, Eluru and was transferredfrom Amaravathi DGP office. Boththe officials interacted with thedistrict police officials soon afterassuming office.

AP Governor turns85, fete plannedVIJAYAWADA: Andhra PradeshGovernor Biswa BhushanHarichandan will celebrate his85th birthday on Saturday.According to his secretaryMukesh Kumar Meena, thegovernor will participate in socialservice activities and culturalprogrammes on the day. Priestsfrom Tirumala TirupatiDevestanam (TTD) and Sri DurgaMalleswara Swamy VarlaDevasthanam will bless thegovernor. He will also cut a cakein the company of tribal and Dalitstudents. The governor willparticipate in a blood donationcamp organised by Red Cross atAndhra Loyola College. He willplant saplings on the collegepremises. Cultural programmesshowcasing the tradition ofAndhra Pradesh are planned forthe day. With AP CM JaganmohanReddy away on a foreign tour,Minister for Civil Supplies KodaliVenkateswara Rao andEndowments Minister VellampalliSrinivas will greet the governor onbehalf of the government.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Congress leaders have allegedthat Narayana and Chaithanyacolleges have turned into 'edu-cation mafia'. They asked ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao, who had alleged duringthe Telangana movement thatboth Narayana and Chaithanyacolleges were lootingTelangana, to explain why hefailed to initiate action againstthem despite being in powerfor over five years.

Congress leaders MalluBhatti Vikramarka said thegovernment needs to explainwhy it removed the rule of col-leges having playgroundsmandatorily. He alleged thatthe government was givingpermissions to run colleges,satisfied with a small 'gym' oncampus instead of play-grounds. Congress memberssought to know fromEducation Minister,Commissioner and Secretarywhat they were doing in thecase of Narayana andChaithanya institutions, which

have been running more than250 colleges while showing onpaper only 50 each. Theyalleged that Narayana andChaithanya colleges have morethan 40 illegal buildings in

Ayyappa Society.On Friday, CLP leader Mallu

Bhatti Vikramarka said thecorporate colleges have notbeen allotting 25 per cent seatsto poor students as per rule,

and demanded the ChiefMinister to respond on suchissues immediately. "Is thereany relation between corporatecolleges and governmentheads," he said. Finding faultwith the Intermediate Board,Bhatti said that it was suc-cumbing to the pressure fromcorporate colleges and not ini-tiating action.

Bhatti released an 'open let-ter' addressed to the ChiefMinister demanding replicat-ing Chintamadaka-likeschemes in the entire state.

Former minister andCongress MLA from Manthani,D Sridhar Babu, alleged that thegovernment was trying to pri-vatise education. He saidNarayana and Chaithanya col-leges were treating students asrobots. The colleges, whichhave no playgrounds, weredestroying students mentally byconfining them to just books.The two colleges were like jails,Sridhar Babu said, referring tolack of open space and play-ground facilities for students atthe institutes.

Private colleges acting like‘edu mafia', alleges Cong

Congress leaders Mallu BhattiVikramarka alleged that thegovernment was giving permissions torun colleges, satisfied with a small‘gym' on campus instead ofplaygrounds

PNS n HYDERABAD

Attacking Telangana ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raoover the Rs 10 lakh bonanza foreach family in his native village,the Congress in Telangana onFriday said the treasury belongedto all people and the schemeshould be extended to other vil-lages also. During a visit to hisnative Chintamadaka village inSiddipet district, Rao had on July22 announced that each of theabout 2,000 families there wouldget Rs 10 lakh assistance and saidhe had sanctioned Rs 200 crorefor the purpose.

The beneficiaries can utilisethe fund for setting up poultryfarms, purchase tractor or for anyother purpose they desired, he

had suggested. Reacting to theannouncement, CongressLegislature Party leader M BhattiVikrmarka in an open letter toRao on Friday said since thefunds were being released fromthe state treasury, all other vil-lages should also get the benefit.

"The state treasur ybelonged to the entire stateand not to any particularregion or village," he said.

In a sarcastic note, Vikrmarkasaid all thought that the fundswould met from the ChiefMinister's personal finances ortrusts owned by him.

"But (we) came to know that(you are) making preparationsfor the release of the funds fromthe state treasury, he said in theletter. Congress was neitheropposed to the "affection" shownby Rao to his native village peo-ple nor against programmestaken up for development ofrural areas, he said.

Rao had taken the pledge todischarge his duties without anyimpartiality and it was hisresponsibility to extend theChintamadaka Rs 10 lakhscheme to all families in everyvillage in the state, he added.

Extend Rs 10-lakh bonanza toall villages: Congress to CM

PV KONDAL RAOn WARANGAL

Teachers' constituency MLCAlugubelli Narsi Reddy onFriday exhorted students todevelop a progressive bent ofmind in order to become partof a constructive society. Hewas speaking at the inaugura-tion of the state conference ofthe Student Federation ofIndia in Kakatiya University.

The leader of the Teacher'sUnion, affiliated to CPM, saidthat the proposed KG to PGeducation pattern was a gim-mick of the state governmentas it had failed to help theexisting student communi-ties. The MLC criticised theapproaches of the central gov-ernment and its policies andsaid that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had trans-formed NITI Aayog into hispocket institution and thusmaking the states parasites atall levels.

On the education front, thecentral government was tryingto infiltrate the system withreligious fundamentalism.

This aspect might ultimatelyresult in the collapse of the sys-tem. The MLC said that thedraft National EducationPolicy was aimed at dilutingthe existing democratic edu-cation patterns and the cen-tralised education policy washarming the interests of theentire student communities.

The MLC alleged that lead-ers of BJP were not interestedin promoting the indepen-dence of education policies.The saffron party's ways wouldresult in total failure of theeducation system. The SFI'sthree-day state conference wasformally inaugurated atKakatiya University on Friday.A total of 650 student delegatesfrom various parts of the statetook part in the meeting.

SFI STATE CONFERENCE

‘NEP nixingdemocraticeducation patterns'

PNS n HYDERABAD

Amid speculations about earlypolls to the Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC), the ruling TRS inTelangana on Thursday decid-ed to give special focus onenrolment of party members inthe city.

TRS working president K TRama Rao, who held a meet-ing with ministers and partyMLAs from the city, told themto complete the membershipprocess by August 10, the partysources said.

Rao, son of party presidentand Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, held areview on the membershipenrolment in each of the fourLok Sabha constituencies underGHMC limits Secunderabad,Hyderabad, Malkajgiri andChevella, they said.

Rama Rao suggested that theTRS governments welfare anddevelopment programmes betaken to the people, the sourcessaid.

It was noted that theKaleswaram project onGodavari river would ensurethere was no problem vis-a-viswater supply in the city.

The TRS working presidentasserted the party was a for-midable force in Hyderabadand urged that the member-

ship drive be utilised to furtherstrengthen the party, they said.

On the occasion, Rama Raospoke to some of the newmembers on phone and toldthem that the party providedinsurance to all those whoenrolled as members.

State minister T SrinivasYadav told reporters that RamaRao has been requested tovisit different residentialcolonies in the city.

According to some media

reports, there is buzz amongruling TRS circles that GHMCpolls would be held this year-end, 14 months ahead ofschedule. TRS had won 99wards out of the total 150 in thepolls in 2016.

TRS workingpresident K TRama Rao, whoheld a meetingwith ministersand party MLAsfrom the city, toldthem to completethe membershipprocess byAugust 10

KTR movedafter visit to hospitalPNS n KARIMNAGAR

TRS Working President andthe MLA of Siricilla KTarakarama Rao on Fridaymade a surprise visit to the dis-trict area hospital on Fridaymorning and expressed con-cern over the staff shortage inthe gynecology wing in thehospital. He said the hospitalwill be provided with a gyne-cologist to cater to patients'needs. KTR said he was movedby the lack of facilities in thehospital and held a meetingwith the officials concerned. Healso talked to doctors and thehospital superintendent aboutthe facilities. He later talkedwith health commissionerShanthakumaran and askedher to post four gynecologistsin the hospital. He advised theofficials to make sure that thedoctors appointed are placedhere on a permanent basis.

Party leaders say two institutes have numerous colleges, but show only a few on paper

Continued from Page 1

The water resources depart-ment personnel have beendischarging 7.11 lakh cusecsfrom the barrage into the Bayof Bengal. At the under-con-struction Polavaram, upstreamof the Cotton Barrage, flood-water was being let out overthe spillway to alleviate thethreat of submergence of vil-lages in the project area, waterresources department said.

With river Krishna on theother side, an average of over1.93 lakh cusecs of water wasflowing into the Srisailam reser-voir following heavy dischargefrom upstream reservoirs ofAlmatti, Narayanpur and Jurala.

About 2.30 lakh cusecs ofwater was being dischargedfrom Almatti in Karnatakawhile 1.87 lakh cusecs wasflowing from downstreamJurala into Srisailam. TheAndhra Pradesh Weather

Forecasting and EarlyWarning Research Centre(Aware) issued a moderate toheavy rainfall warning, validtill August 5, for five coastaldistricts of the state.

Fishermen have beenwarned not to venture into thesea as the conditions in theBay of Bengal would be rough,with tides touching a height of2.5 to 4 metres, Aware said ina press release.

Srikakulam, Vizianagaram,Visakhapatnam, East Godavariand West Godavari wouldreceive moderate to heavyrainfall under the influence ofmonsoon low, with gustywinds of 50-70 kmph.

Godavari in spate, over30 villages inundated

Brinda slams ‘unholy’ Jagan-Modi alliancePNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Politburo member of CPMBrinda Karat slammed theBJP-YSRCP nexus calling it anunholy alliance and flayedchief minister YS Jagan MohanReddy for being a hypocrite.

Brinda, who was here to par-ticipate in a programme hereon Friday, said on the one sidehe is not forming an alliancewith the NDA in the Centre, onthe other has his party MPssupport all anti-people billsbeing proposed by the Uniongovernment. YSRCP has sup-ported bills like the labourcode, triple talaq and RTIamendments, which are allagainst the people.

She said that YSRCP's sup-port for the BJP had come at atime when the UnionGovernment rejected thedemand for special status forAndhra Pradesh, with theUnion Finance Ministry clear-ly stating that no funds will beallotted for the purpose.

On the eviction of tribals

from their habitat, she said theCentre is using the IndianForest Act to send the tribalsaway from their homes.

"One should understand thatthis is a protection act and notan eviction act," she said.

Commenting on the UnionGovernment's proposal toamend the Forest Rights Act,Karat said, "The amendmentssuggested are a blueprint forcentralisation, commercialisa-tion and criminalisation. Thiswill take away the existing

rights of tribals and other tra-ditional forest dwellers."

She said the amendmentswill dilute the rights of thosewho are recognised under theForest Rights Act, the Wild LifeProtect Act as amended in2006, the Panchayat (Extensionto Scheduled Areas) Act , theLand Acquisition andResettlement andRehabilitation Act (2013), aswell as the constitutional pro-visions in Schedules 5 and 6.

On the Unnao gang-rape

case, she lashed out at the BJPdecision to expel MLA KuldeepSingh, who was accused in thehigh-profile case.

"The decision to expel anMLA who has been accused ofraping a minor is actually toolittle and too late," she said.

Karat was at Life ShareBlood Bank, a unit ofVemulapalli KodandaRamayya (VRK) Trust, whichorganised a seminar on'Challenges in the field ofTransfusion Medicine' to bring

discuss with the physiciansand nurses in the city about theprecautions one should takebefore transfusing blood tothe patients once they aredelivered from blood banks.Life Share blood bank will begiving free blood to patientssuffering from thalassemia,sickle cell and hemophilia inAugust and September. All thepatients who are in need ofblood should register with theblood bank prior to the deliv-ery. Any patient form any hos-pital with or without Arogyasriwill be given each blood bag atRs 600 in August andSeptember.

Meanwhile, in-charge oftransfusion cell of KokilabenDhirubhai Ambani Hopsital,Mumbai, Rajesh Sawant saidthat quite often people areunaware under what condi-tions blood has to be storedand given to patients.

"Over transfusion of any ofthe blood components maylead to the death of the patient,"said Rajesh Sawant.

TRS to focus on membership enrolment in Hyd

Continued from Page 1

With inflows to Jurala expect-ed to continue at the same rateand, as it is already filled,Srisailam project will see thesame inflows," said Sridhar, EE,Priyadarshini Jurala Project,speaking to The Pioneer.

While irrigation officialsare yet to start releasing waterfrom Srisailam to NagarjunaSagar Project, water has beenreleased to Kalkwakutrhy Liftirrigation project, giving apush to agricultural activity inNagarkurnool andWanaparthy districts. Withthe Krishna River flowing toits full capacity, all the lift irri-gation schemes have beenactive and agricultural workshave picked up in southernTelangana.

Even in northern Telanganafarmers are in joy as contin-uous rains have come at themuch-needed moment andKaddam Project, SipadaYellmaplly Project and others

in the Godavari basin havestarted receiving inflows.

With rivers and streamsacross Telangana in full flow,

not just farmers even generalpublic and tourists are cele-brating. The BogathaWaterfalls, Uma

Maheshwaram waterfalls, andother water bodies have turnedinto tourist paradises, attract-ing people in big numbers.

Continued from Page 1

State capital Hyderabadreceived rains throughout theday with maximum rainfall of44.8mm in Chandanagar, fol-lowed by 38.5mm rainfall inMaredpally. Moosapet, Alwal,Malkajgiri, Jubilee Hills, Kapra,Tirumalgiri, Khairtabad,R a m c h a n d r a p u r a m ,Qutballapur, Kukatpally,Serilingampallyu received morethan 30mm of rainfall on Fridayby 8pm. According to Skymetweather, "Sky conditions havebeen mainly cloudy since morn-ing hours. However, as the mer-cury increased and with anabundance of moisture in the

atmosphere, it led to the forma-tion of convective clouds overHyderabad during the late after-noon hours. As a result, manyareas of Hyderabad recordedrains of varying intensity."

Telangana State rainfall from1 st June to 02nd August 2019is 343.0 mm against normal385.9 mm, being deficit by -11%. Cumulatively rainfall dur-ing the next week is expected tobe above normal over the state.

TSDPS weather predictionfrom 3August-9August states,"With the expected formation ofLow Pressure system overnortheast Bay of Bengal andneighbourhood around04August and expected to

become more marked and movealong Odisha, Chhattisgarh andMadhya Pradesh, active mon-soon conditions are expected toprevail over the state on manydays during the week. Fairlywidespread light to moderaterain is expected on many dayswith heavy falls at isolatedplaces for 3-4 days in associa-tion of the above Low Pressuresystems". With the warning, theGHMC officials were alertedand segregated into teams tokeep an eye on the low-lyingareas. With a possibility ofsteady rainfall throughout thenight, GHMC officials wererequested to alert their nightshift teams.

State soaks in monsoon

With levels in projects rising, TS brims with joy Detained inBelgrade,Nimmagaddainforms CBI

Continued from Page 1

Accordingly, he took thecourt's permission and left forEurope a few days ago.

"He (Nimmagadda) wassupposed to intimate the courtwhen he is coming back (fromthe foreign trip). He hadalready intimated his pro-gramme and declared that hewas going to come back today,"the businessman's counsel said."He is duty-bound to informthat he could not come back (aspermitted by the court) as hewas detained there. Also we areintimating the CBI so thatthey can take steps to bring himback to face the trial. So nowthe onus is on CBI to bring himback stating that he is requiredhere," Rao said. The CBI hasalso listed Jagan, among others,as accused in the case.

Continued from Page 1

Born in 1945 in Yanam, hebegan his career as an actor instage plays. He has taken theTelugu film industry by stormseveral times with his out-standing performances.

Devadas last appeared inMahesh Babu's 'Bharat AneNenu'. Some of the moviesthat made him very popularinclude 'O Seetha Katha', 'SiriSirimuvva', 'Gorintaku' and'Gang Leader'.

The Tollywood fraternitymourned his demise, withmany celebrities taking toTwitter expressing condo-lences to the bereaved family.

Vice-President VenkaiahNaidu, expressing condolencesto the veteran actor's familymembers, tweeted, "The demiseof popular actor, principal issaddening. He produced manyeminent actors through his

acting school. His services willforever be cherished."

Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar, while express-ing support and condolencesto family members, said: "Byestablishing an acting institute,the Guru has given film indus-try many key actors. Hisdemise has come as a shock toTelugu film industry."

Actors' Guru DevadasKanakala no more

The Tollywoodfraternitymourned hisdemise, withmany celebritiestaking to Twitterexpressingcondolences tothe bereavedfamily

YSRCP's support for theBJP had come at a time

when the UnionGovernment rejected the demandfor special status for AndhraPradesh, with the Union FinanceMinistry clearly stating that no fundswill be allotted for the purpose

— BRINDA KARAT,Politburo mmember oof CCPM

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | AUGUST 3, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

Maha polls: Oppn UPspitch on EVMs, bats forballot papersMUMBAI: Raising alarm overEVMs ahead of the MaharashtraAssembly polls, key oppositionparties on Friday pitched forreverting to the use of ballotpapers and announced a protestmarch on August 21 over theissue. A clutch of oppositionleaders, key among them stateCongress chief BalasahebThorat, MNS president RajThackeray and NCP's Ajit Pawar,held a joint press conferencehere over the EVM issue. Theytermed the April-May Lok Sabhapolls results as "shocking" asthey expressed concern over theuse of Electronic VotingMachines (EVMs) in unison. Speaking in Wardha,Maharashtra Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis askedopposition parties to "introspect"why they have lost the people'strust instead of finding fault withEVMs. Seeking to develop agroundswell on the issue, theopposition leaders said theywould reach out to the peopleand get filled forms, saying theywant ballot papers back.Thackeray also stated that theBJP and the Shiv Sena, too,should join the August 21march, which he added, will nothave flag of any particular party.

Floods bring crocodilesto Vadodara streets,seven rescuedAHMEDABAD: Rains have givenrespite to Vadodara city incentral Gujarat after anunprecedented downpour twodays ago, but the authorities arenow facing the task of capturingcrocodiles which arrived withfloodwaters. Seven mid-sizedcrocodiles which swam into thecity as the Vishwamitri riveroverflowed have been capturedby forest department's teamsfrom areas such as Raj MahalRoad and Fatehgunj which areon the riverbank. Threecrocodiles were captured onThursday and four on Friday,Assistant Conservator of ForestVinod Damor, who is in chargeof rescue of strandedcrocodiles, said. "The stretch ofVishwamitri passing throughthe city is home to around 150crocodiles. Some of thementered residential areas afterwater from the river flooded thecity," he said. "We have formedsix teams to capture them," hesaid. Each team comprises aforest department personneland three volunteers withexperience of animal rescue.Many city residents uploadedvideos of crocodiles oninnundated streets on socialmedia.

Ghaziabad: Five copssuspended forextorting Rs 20K GHAZIABAD: Five policemenhave been suspended forallegedly extorting rupees20,000 from two collegestudents in Uttar Pradesh'sGhaziabad city, police said onFriday. A departmental inquiryhas also been initiated againstthe errant policemen, they said.Two head constables and threeconstables approached a girland a boy sitting in a carparked outside the IndirapuramHabitat Centre on July 22. Thepolicemen threatened to calltheir parents and send them tojail, senior superintendent ofpolice, Ghaziabad, SudhirKumar Singh said. The policeteam asked the students tocough up rupees 20,000 toavoid prosecution. Thestudents paid them the money,he said. Later, the boy tweetedabout the incident to directorgeneral of police, UttarPradesh, following whichSuperintendent of Police ShlokKumar was directed to lookinto the charges, Singh said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Lok Sabha on Friday passed'The Jallianwala Bagh NationalMemorial (amendment) Bill,which seeks to remove theCongress president as a trustee,amid vociferous protests fromthe party members who laterwalked out. Piloting the bill,Culture Minister Prahlad Patelasserted that national memo-rials cannot be "politicalmemorials" and they should bekept away from politics.

The bill was passed by avoice vote amid the Congresswalkout. Amendments movedby Opposition parties weredefeated by division of votes.

A division sought by oppo-sition members at the time ofconsideration of the bill wasdefeated with 214 voting infavour and 30 against.

The amendment bill alsopaves the way for the leader ofthe single largest oppositionparty in the Lok Sabha to be amember of the trust.

But no such post exists atpresent as no non-BJP partywon the required 10 per centof total seats to get the status.

As of now, the trust whichmanages the memorial, has thePrime Minister as the chair-

person, President of IndianNational Congress, CultureMinister, Leader of Oppositionin the Lok Sabha, Punjab gov-ernor, Punjab CM as its mem-bers. Replying to the debate onthe bill, Patel said the govern-ment wants to end politicsassociated with the JallianwalaBagh National Memorial Trust.

"It is our belief and principle

that politics should be removedfrom the national memorialand hence the amendmentswere brought to the 1951 Act,"he said.

Patel said there should be nopoliticisation of the memorialrather there should be nation-alisation.

"It should be a great tributeto Udham Singh," he said while

questioning Congress partyfor stopping it from appointinghis family members on theboard.

As soon as the ministerstarted speaking on the bill,Congress leader Rahul Gandhientered the house. Opposingthe bill, Congress memberGurjeet Aujla said the govern-ment wants to re-write the his-tory by removing the Congresspresident from the trust.

"This government wants todistort history, destroy history.You cannot remove the sacri-fice of the Congress to thecountry's freedom struggle," hesaid. As Aujla attacked theruling BJP and like-mindedorganisations for "not takingpart in the freedom struggle",the ruling party memberscountered him with slogans.

"You have no contribution tothe country's freedom struggle.Why do you want to controlthe memorial," he alleged.

Participating in the debate,Akali Dal member and UnionMinister Harsimrat Kaur Badalsaid it was the members of theCongress who were involved inthe 1984 riots against Sikhs.

Badal alleged that a personinvolved in the 1984 anti- Sikhriots has been made chief min-

ister and a close relative ofPunjab chief minister had laud-ed the role of General Dyerwho was involved in theJallianwala Bagh massacre.

"This was a recorded histo-ry and you cannot forget it,"she said. With this, theCongress countered Badal byshouting slogans and makingcounter allegations.

At one time, a few membersof the Congress were seenshowing placards about "drugmafia" in Punjab.

Speaking on the bill, AAPMP Bhagwant Mann saidJallianwala Bagh belongs to all.

Giving point by point rebut-tal, Patel said no one canrewrite history and nor theModi government is doingthat. It is only reviewing it andacknowledging those who havebeen forgotten.

He further said majoritycontribution for acquiring landfor the memorial was given bycommon man and it was alsocommon people who sacrificedtheir life there.

Taking on Congress, theminister said in 1970 BabuJagjivan Ram was the presidentof Congress but then PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi was onthe board of trust.

LS passes Jallianwala Bagh Bill

The bill was passed by a voice vote amid aCongress walkout. Amendments moved byOpposition parties were defeated by division ofvotes. A division sought by opposition membersat the time of consideration of the Bill wasdefeated with 214 voting in favour and 30 against

PNS n LUCKNOW

The Uttar Pradesh police ordereda probe on Friday after a police-man posted at the Sitapur jail,where rape accused MLAKuldeep Sengar is lodged, wasseen in a video allegedly beingbribed by a person consideredclose to the legislator.

Sengar, accused of raping aminor girl from Unnao twoyears ago and killing two mem-bers of her family, was expelledfrom the ruling Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) on Thursday.

"I have not seen the video butit has come to our knowledge.We will get the matter probedand strict action will be taken. Ifpolicemen are found guilty, theywill be dismissed," DirectorGeneral (DG), Prisons, AnandKumar said here.

In the video, the policemanis seen allegedly being bribed

by a man wearing kurta-pyja-ma outside the Sitapur jail. Theman in the video, RinkuShukla, a panchayat member ofUnnao, told reporters that hewas not bribing the policemanto meet Sengar, the BangermauMLA.

"It is my habit. I might havegiven money to him (policeman)for having tea as he was stand-ing there. My intention was notto bribe him. I met Sengar insidethe jail 10-15 days ago," he said.

Asked why he went to meetSengar in jail, Shukla said, "I met

him because he is our MLA. I amnot in the BJP."

In another part of the video,a motorcycle-borne man is heardasking someone to arrange ameeting with the MLA andbeing told "there is pressure".

Sengar's incarceration in theSitapur jail hogged media head-lines recently when BJP MPSakshi Maharaj paid a visit to theprison to thank him after the LokSabha election.

"He is in jail for a long time.Sengar is one of the most popu-lar lawmakers, so I came to thankhim after the election," the MPhad told reporters after meetingthe jailed MLA in June.

The CBI, in its chargesheetfiled against Sengar in July lastyear, had booked him under sec-tions 120B, 363, 366, 376(1), 506of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)as also under the relevant sec-tions of the POSCO Act.

Unnao case: Police probe video of cop being‘bribed' by man close to rape accused MLA

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Indian Railways earned anadditional 20 per cent revenuein ticket sales through dynam-ic pricing or flexi-fare during2017-19, an RTI reply hasrevealed.

Of the Rs 10,072 croreearned by the national trans-porter in the said period, flexi-fare accounted for Rs 2,217crore, it said.

Flexi-fare is applicable toonly 141 of the 13,452 trainscurrently, after the RailwayMinistry revised the schemerecently.

It is applicable only for ACtwo-tier, AC three-tier, ACchair car, sleeper and secondclass (reserved) tickets.

In 2017-2018, the railwaysearned Rs 4,901 crore fromticketing, including Rs 1,063crore from flexi-fare.

In 2018-2019, flexi-fare con-

tributed Rs 1,153 crore to thetotal earnings of Rs 5,171 croreof the national transporterfrom ticket sales.

The scheme was launched in2016 and was applicable to theRajdhani, Shatabdi andDuronto trains, allowing 10per cent of the seats to be soldat normal fare and thereafter,increasing the fare by 10 percent with every 10 per cent ofberths sold with a ceiling of 50

per cent.Replying to a question in the

Lok Sabha, Railway MinisterPiyush Goyal had recently saidthere were no plans to dis-continue the flexi-fare systemas it was generating addition-al revenue.

The application under theRight to Information (RTI) Actwas filed by Madhya Pradesh-based activist ChandrashekharGaur.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union Health Minister HarshVardhan on Friday met doctorsprotesting against the NationalMedical Commission Bill andurged them to resume work, say-ing the legislation is in the inter-est of doctors, patients, medicalstudents and the society.

His appeal came as residentdoctors at several governmenthospitals continued their strikefor the second day against thelegislation that seeks to regulatethe medical education sector.The doctors say the bill promotesquackery and is "anti-poor, anti-student and undemocratic".

The government hasdescribed the bill, which willreplace the corruption-plaguedMedical Council of India with anew body — the NationalMedical Commission, as one ofthe biggest reforms in medicaleducation. The legislation waspassed by Rajya Sabha Thursdaynight but it will go back to LokSabha as two amendments needto be approved by it.

On Friday, as the doctorscontinued their strike and threat-

ened to prolong it indefinitely,Vardhan met their representa-tives, who included people fromAIIMS and RML hospitals inDelhi and Federation of ResidentDoctors Association.

He said he tried to clear theirdoubts about some provisions inthe bill. "They had queries aboutAIIMS being included for theNEET. They wanted clarity onthe NEXT, how one can getadmission to PG through thisexam and also on the definitionof community health providers,"Vardhan said.

The bill proposes a commonfinal-year MBBS examination —the National Exit Test (NEXT) —for admission to post-graduatecourses and to obtain licence topractice medicine.

"I addressed their queries andtold them how NMC will workand also explained them the roleof Community Health Providers(CHP). It should be noted thatthe concept of mid-level practi-tioners is recognised worldwideand this concept has also beenhighlighted by the WHO and theLancet Journal," the ministeradded.

NMC BILL

Health ministermeets doctors, urgesthem to resume work

PNS n PATNA

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, whohas been in a sulk ever since hisparty drew a blank in the LokSabha elections, has urged vot-ers to be cautious of "issues likeHindus versus Muslims andfake nationalism" and choose agovernment without beingaffected by propaganda.

The leader of Opposition,whose absence from the recent-ly concluded assembly session inBihar drew repeated criticismsfrom the treasury benches,shared his thoughts in a lengthyFacebook post on Thursday.

"People must choose a gov-ernment keeping in mind theissues that affect their dailylives, without being affected bypropaganda," Yadav said in thepost titled 'Dil ki baat'.

Assembly polls in Bihar arescheduled for next year. "If peo-ple give in to issues like Hindusversus Muslims and fake nation-alism fall for enticements like amere Rs 6,000 per annum,which amounts to just Rs 17 per

day, why would any regime feelthe need for solving their prob-lems," the 30-year-old stated.

He was referring to the BJP-led central government's 'KisanSamman Nidhi Yojana', underwhich the an income support ofRs 6,000 will be provided everyyear to small and marginalfarmer families having com-bined land holding or ownershipof up to two hectares.

The RJD heir apparent alsocomplained about the NitishKumar government for its "con-tinuous harping on the situationthat prevailed 25-30 years ago",when the state was ruled by hisfather Lalu and, successively, bymother Rabri Devi.

ANIL BHATT n JAMMU

The Jammu and Kashmirpolice will procure pepperball launching guns (PBLGs)and remotely operated vehi-cles (RoVs) to deal with thelaw and order situation inKashmir Valley, an officialsaid.

The state police recentlyfloated tenders for purchas-ing 50 PBLGs and two RoVswith water jet disruptors andweapon mounts for their usein security situation.

"Tenders have been invit-ed from manufacturers ortheir authorised dealers forthe supply of pepper balllaunchers and remotely oper-ated vehicles," AssistantInspector General (AIG) ofPolice, Mubassir Latifi said.

According to the specifi-cation, the PBLGs must becapable of launching pepper-filled projectile at a particu-lar distance to do room inter-vention, mob dispersal andmust be less lethal in nature.

The pepper ball launching

guns should also have PAVArounds along with hoppermagazines, High PressureAir (HPA)cylinders andunder barrel source of power,it said.

These must be .68 caliberlaunchers and powered byhigh pressure of air at the rateof 3,000 psi with the ability tofire six pepper balls per sec-ond. PAVA stands forPelargonic Acid VanillylAmide, also calledNonivamide. It is an organ-ic compound found in nat-ural chilli pepper.

On the Scoville scale (mea-sures pungency of peppersand chillies), PAVA is cate-gorised as "above peak",meaning it will "severely irri-tate and paralyse" humans,but the irritation and paral-ysis will remain "temporary"in nature.

According to the specifi-cation of RoVs, they must becable of carrying outExplosive Ordnance Disposal(EoD) surveillance insideaircraft, trains, buildings,installations and bus stands,the official added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Buoyed by its big win in localpolls in Tripura, the BJP onFriday exuded confidence thatit will come to power in WestBengal, once a Left bastion,and the Left-ruled Kerala inthe same way it has in Tripura.

Senior party leader RaviShankar Prasad hailed theparty's overwhelming win inthe Tripura polls and notedthat the state was ruled by theLeft for over 25 years beforethe BJP threw it out of powerin the 2018 assembly pollswith a big win.

West Bengal was a Left bas-tion for decades and now theBJP is a major player in the stateand will come to power there,he said, asserting the party willalso rule Kerala.

The BJP fared poorly inKerala in the recent Lok Sabhapolls when it could not win asingle seat. It, however, put upan impressive show in WestBengal, wining 18 of the 42seats.

Prasad, also a Union minis-ter, said the people of Tripurahave shown their faith in theparty's and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's leadership.

Post-Tripura, BJP eyespower in Bengal, Kerala

Tejashwi Yadav cautionsagainst fake nationalism, propaganda

NIA seeks in-camera trial of 2008 Malegaon casePNS n MUMBAI

The NIA has moved a specialcourt seeking in-camera trial ofthe 2008 Malegaon blast caseclaiming that "unwarranted pub-licity" to the proceedings candamage "communal harmony".

The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) filed an applica-tion before special court judge,V S Padalkar here on Thursday.

In the plea, the agency hassubmitted that the allegationsagainst the accused are thatthey committed the offence totake revenge against "MuslimJihadi activities" and "to createa rift between two communi-ties".

According to the NIA,Malegaon was chosen for the

bomb blast as it is a Muslim-dominated area.

The agency pointed out thatduring the hearing of the appli-cation filed by one of theaccused in the case, Lt Col

Prasad Purohit, seeking non-truncated copies of the wit-nesses' statements, the BombayHigh Court had enquired thatwhether it (NIA) has requestedthe special court to conduct in-

camera trial for the purpose ofsecurity and protection of wit-nesses.

"Keeping in view the obser-vations made by the high courtand considering the fact that this

case has direct bearing on thecommunal harmony, nationalsecurity and public order andthe sensitive nature of the case,unwarranted publicity needs tobe avoided, as it has a potentialto damage communal harmonyand eventually jeopardise thefairness of the trial," it said.

"It is necessary to conduct thetrial of this case in-cameraunder the provision of the NIAAct and the UAPA [UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act],"the agency added.

As the matter came up forhearing on Friday, the defencesought a copy of the NIA'sapplication to file its reply.

The judge allowed thedefence's request and posted thematter for hearing on Monday.

The trial in the case began inOctober last year after the spe-cial court framed charges underthe UAPA against Purohit,Pragya Singh Thakur and oth-ers. Currently, the court isrecording witnesses' testimonies.

So far, 124 of the total 475prosecution witnesses havedeposed. The NIA's plea camecouple of days after the BombayHigh Court sought to knowfrom the central agency howlong the trial is estimated to goon, while hearing a petition filedby one of the accused.

Six people were killed and 100others injured when a bomb,strapped to a motorcycle, wentoff near a mosque in Malegaon,about 200 km from here, onSeptember 29, 2008.

In the plea, the agencyhas submitted that theallegations against theaccused are that theycommitted the offenceto take revengeagainst "Muslim Jihadiactivities" and "tocreate a rift betweentwo communities"

Pain, agony of Unnaorape survivor puts govtto shame: MayawatiLUCKNOW: Bahujan SamajParty chief Mayawati said onFriday the pain and agony ofthe Unnao rape survivor andher family puts the rulinggovernment to shame. "Thepain and agony which theUnnao rape victim and herfamily suffered from the rulingdispensation is unpardonableand puts the government toshame and this cannot becompensated," Mayawati posedon Twitter. The BSP chief saidthe Supreme Court deservedpraise for its intervention,adding that justice could bemeted out only if the guilty getstrict punishment.

Flexi-fare isapplicable to only141 of the 13,452trains currently,after the RailwayMinistry revisedthe schemerecently

PNS n NEW DELHI

The National InvestigationAgency is now able to probeterror cases abroad as theUnion Home Ministry issueda notification on Friday on theamendments to the Act gov-erning the anti-terror probeorganisation.

The latest amendments tothe NIA Act will allow theagency to probe terrorist activ-ities against Indians andIndian interests abroad, cyber

crimes and cases of humantrafficking.

"In exercise of the powersconferred by sub-section (2) ofsection 1 of the NationalInvestigation Agency(Amendment) Act, 2019 (16 of2019), the central governmenthereby appoints the 2ndAugust, 2019, as the date onwhich the provisions of thesaid Act shall come into force,"the notification said. The NIAwas set up in 2009, a year afterthe Mumbai terror attacksthat claimed 166 lives.

Amended NIA Act withpowers to probe abroadcomes into force

Jammu and Kashmir police toget pepper ball launching guns

Rlys earned additional 20 pc revenuein ticket sales during 2017-19

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | AUGUST 3, 2019 world 06

TROTTINGTROTTINGGLOBE

8 DIE IN HEAD-ON COLLISIONIN BANGLADESHDhaka: At least eight people were killedafter two passenger buses collided on ahighway in Bangladesh on Friday, thepolice said. The accident took place onthe Thakurgaon-Dhaka Highwayaround 8.30 a.m.

DOCS REMOVE TOOTHBRUSHFROM MAN’S BELLY Beijing: Doctors from a southernChinese hospital removed somethingunusual from a man’s intestines: atoothbrush he swallowed 20 years ago.

TSUNAMI WARNING; QUAKEHITS INDONESIA: AGENCYJakarta: A powerful earthquake struckoff the southern coast of Indonesia’spopulated Java island on Friday, thecountry’s disaster agency said, warningthat it could generate a tsunami.

‘AI MAY HELP AIRTRAVELLERS SAVE MONEY’Washington: Researchers, includingthose of Indian-origin, are usingartificial intelligence (AI) to help airlinesprice services such as checked bagsand seat reservations in a way that isbeneficial to customers, as well as tothe airline industry. The researchers atUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US used unbundlingto meet customer needs while alsomaximising airline revenue withintelligent, individualised pricingmodels offered in real time as acustomer shops.

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia will allowwomen to travel abroad withoutapproval from a male “guardian”,the government said Thursday,ending a restriction that drew

international censure andprompted extreme attempts toflee the kingdom.

The landmark reformerodes the longstandingguardianship system that renderswomen permanently as legalminors and allows their“guardians” —husband, fatherand other male relatives — toexercise arbitrary authority overthem.The decision, followingyears of campaigning by activists,comes after high-profile attemptsby women to escape theirguardians despite a string ofreforms including a historicdecree last year that overturnedthe world’s only ban on femalemotorists.

“A passport will be grantedto any Saudi national who sub-mits an application,” said a gov-ernment ruling published in theofficial gazette Umm Al Qura.

The regulation effectivelyallows women over the age of 21to obtain passports and leave thecountry without their guardian’spermission, the pro-governmentOkaz newspaper and other localmedia reported, citing seniorauthorities. AFP

Seoul: South Korea’s militarysaid North Korea fired uniden-tified projectiles twice Friday intothe sea off its eastern coast in itsthird weapons tests in just overa week.

The North’s increased test-ing activity is seen as brinkman-ship aimed at increasing pressureon Seoul and Washington overthe slow pace of nuclear negoti-ations. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staffsaid the launches were conduct-ed at 2:59 a.M. And 3:23 a.M.From an eastern coastal area butdid not immediately confirmhow many projectiles were firedor how far they flew.

The North fired short-rangeballistic missiles on July 25 andconducted what it described asa test firing of a new multiplerocket launcher system onWednesday. Experts say theNorth is demonstrating its frus-tration over planned US-SouthKorea military exercises andstalled nuclear negotiations withthe US, and its weapons testscould intensify if negotiations donot proceed rapidly over the nextfew months. AP

AFP n BANGKOK

Two men from Thailand’sinsurgency-hit “Deep

South” have been arrestedlinked to several small bombattacks which rattled BangkokFriday as it hosted a regionalsummit attended by USSecretary of State MikePompeo, leaving four peoplewounded but not disruptingthe diplomatic event.

Thailand, which has a grimhistory of political violenceand is fighting a long-runningrebellion in the Muslim-major-ity south, remains deeply divid-ed after a controversial March

election returned a junta topower as a civilian govern-ment.

Prime Minister PrayutChan-O-Cha, who led the for-mer junta, told reporters “therewere nine successful orattempted explosions...

We haven’t ruled out anymotives.”

Two men from the farsouth were arrested after wiresand ball bearings were found inan inactive device outside Thaipolice headquarters lateThursday, in what police saidwas a linked incident.

Police chief JakthipChaijinda confirmed the men

came the Muslim-majority areabordering Malaysia which is inthe grip of a 15-year insur-gency.

But he said it was “tooearly” to clearly tie them withthe rebellion.

Any connection to theinsurgency will cause deepalarm in Bangkok, which hasfailed to win peace in a conflictwhich has left more than 7,000dead.

Occasionally the shadowyrebel cells take their violenceoutside their region to markkey anniversaries or kickbackagainst specific Thai actions.

Outrage is boiling in thesouth over the treatment of a34-year-old rebel suspect whowas left in a coma hours after

being taken into a notoriousmilitary interrogation centre inPattani province.

The blasts in BangkokFriday appeared to be symbolicattacks aimed at embarrassingthe government during a majorsummit but not designed tocause mass casualties.

Small devices -- somebelieved to be so-called “pingpong bombs” around the sizeof a table tennis ball -- explod-ed at several locations acrossthe city, none close to thesummit venue.

Officials said four peoplewere wounded.

“Reports are they were‘ping pong bombs’ hidden inbushes by the road,” said RenuSuesattaya, director of

Suanluang district where thefirst bombs were reported.

Two further explosionsshattered glass near a well-known downtown skyscraper,emergency police added.

Bomb disposal expertswere deployed around theMahanakorn Tower -- ownedby the King Power group thatcounts Leicester City footballclub among its assets.

Most of the dead in thehighly-localised insurgency inthe south are civilians, but theconflict garners few interna-tional headlines.

Malay-Muslim militantsare fighting for autonomy fromThailand which annexed theregion over a century ago.

Friday’s bombings took

place just before a keynotespeech by top US diplomatPompeo, in which he praisedThailand for rejoining the“democratic fold” after fiveyears of outright junta rule.

The blasts come weeksafter former junta leaderPrayut was inaugurated as acivil ian prime minister,sparking outcry among manypro-democracy supporters ina kingdom scored by divi-sions.

The junta manoeuvreditself back into power withthe help of a fully appointedsenate stacked with army loy-alists and an electoral systemits critics say was designed tolimit the success of the pro-democracy parties.

Bombs rattle Bangkok during ASEAN summit4 wounded, two suspects held

Saudi Arabia allowswomen to travel withoutmale ‘guardian’ approval Lahore: Pakistani authorities

have arrested an Indian manfor living in the country’sPunjab province allegedly withfake documents for the past 10years after he converted toIslam and married a Pakistaniwoman.

The Federal InvestigationAgency (FIA) presented theman along with his Pakistanirelative, who gave him shelter,before a court on Friday, whichremanded the duo to three-daycustody for further investiga-tion.

The FIA arrested the man,

identified as Panjam Tiwari,and his brother-in-lawMohammad Kamran fromMominabad in Gujranwala inPunjab province on Thursday.

In its report submittedbefore the court, the FIA stat-ed that Tiwari has been livingillegally in the country, whileKamran gave him shelter andalso helped him prepare doc-tored documents.

An FIA official told PTIthat the agency had sought 14-day remand for the two men.

He said the FIA raidedTiwari’s residence in

Mominabad on the report of anintelligence agency and arrest-ed the duo.

According to FIA, Tiwarihad gone to Dubai for work in2009 where he met Kamran, aresident of Gujranwala.

“They started businesstogether in Dubai and aftersome time, Kamran broughtTiwari to Pakistan on a fakepassport,” it said.

Tiwari married Kamran’ssister, also converted to Islamand changed his name toMohammad Bilal.

PTI

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a phone con-versation with his new British counterpart Boris Johnson onFriday, the Foreign Ministry here said.

It was the first conversation over the phone between the twoleaders since Johnson took office last week.

Abe expressed concern about a possible negative impact onJapanese firms operating in Britain if it quits the European Unionwithout a deal, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the Ministry, the former London Mayorresponded by promising to sufficiently consider such companies.During the call, Abe urged Johnson to ensure an orderly exit fromthe bloc, the report said.

The two sides also agreed to coordinate over the matter ofthe denuclearization of North Korea. IANS

Indian arrested in Pak allegedlywith fake documents

Abe holds phone conversationwith new British PM

S Korea: NorthKorea launchedprojectilesinto sea

Paris, Aug 2 (AFP) Bank of Finland chiefOlli Rehn has withdrawn from the race to be theEU’s pick for leading the IMF, a French financeministry official said Friday, leaving just two can-didates in contention.

Rehn’s departure from the vote of EU min-isters called by French Finance Minister BrunoLe Maire leaves just former Dutch finance min-ister Jeroen Dijsselbloem and BulgarianKristalina Georgieva, the current number twoat the World Bank, left in the race.

A second round of voting is now underwayto choose between Dijsselbloem and Georgieva,the French ministry official said.

The choice of the candidate to lead theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF), who byconvention is a European, had exposed deepdivisions within the EU and forced Le Maire tocall a vote.

Southern countries chafe at the prospect ofseeing Dijsselbloem in the post because of histough stance against nations like Greece whenhe headed the group of EU finance ministers.

Writing on his Twitter account, Rehn con-firmed he was pulling out to find a unity can-didate for the “exceptionally meaningful andmotivating job,” he wrote.

AFP

EU’s IMF race down to two as Finland’s Rehn withdraws

Washington: Researchers havefound a novel way to useimmunotherapy drugs againsttreatment-resistant cancer thatstarts in white blood cells calledlymphocytes, by combiningthem with stem cell transplan-tation.

The approach, described inthe journal Cancer Discovery,also dramatically increased thesuccess of the drugs in

melanoma and lung cancer.This type of immunother-

apy, called “checkpoint block-ade,” ramps up the ability ofimmune cells called T cells tofight cancer by removing the“cloaking effect” that tumoursuse to hide from them.

Checkpoint blockade ther-apy is effective in severaltumour types, but generallyineffective in non-Hodgkin’s

lymphomas, said researchersfrom the Mount Sinai Hospitalin the US.

However, the study foundthat when this immunothera-py is combined with a stem celltransplant, which theresearchers call “immuno-transplant,” the process rampsup the T cells to increase thecancer-killing immuneresponse tenfold. PTI

Novel way to make immunotherapy work for lymphoma

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | AUGUST 3, 2019vivacity {art} 07

Artist PallavChander

presentsTomorrowBelongs ToMe, anexhibition ofhis mostrecent artworks, inwhich hefocusses oncontemporarysocietalpsychologyand behaviour, represented as an abstractexpression. WHEN: August 2-4 WHERE:Alliance Francaise, Lodhi Estate.

Ojas ArtGallery

presentsMessagefrom theTrees, agroupexhibitionofpaintingsof treesthatdiscuss age-old Gond tribal legends and celebrate some oftheir mythological beliefs. WHEN: August 2 to September 1TIME: 11 am to 7 pm WHERE: Ojas Art at 1AQ, Near QutabMinar, Mehrauli.

Khwabeeda isa solo

exhibition byartist NanditaRichie, whopresents a visualdiary of hermemories of thegarden whereshe grew up as achild watchingher grandfatherand father tocreate the ‘mostbeautiful garden.’WHEN: July 26to 30 TIME: 10 am to 7 pm WHERE: Open Palm Court,India Habitat Centre.

Witnessthe

life ofUmraoJaan onstage withlivesingingand musiccomposedbyBollywoodduoSalim-Sulaiman. The lyrics are penned by IrfanSiddiqui and the story is recreated by writer VarunGautam and choreographed by Pooja Pant. WHEN:August 3 to 11 WHERE: JLN Auditorium.

Kalakriti Foundation for the Arts presents DanceKaleidoscope by Priya Venkataraman, a

Bharatanatyam recital by 50 students of the foundation.WHEN: July 27 TIME: 6.30 pm WHERE: Shiv NadarSchool Auditorium, Gurugram.

WATCH OUT

Nupur Kundu started out as aKathak dancer and then hungup her ghungroos to take up

arts as a career. And if you step intothe Visual Arts Gallery, you will findan abstractionist who arrests yourgaze with her dazzling and prismat-ic tones.

She was unaware that she wouldsteer into the world of sharp geomet-ric forms, pulsating colour palettesand painstaking repetition yearsafter graduating from the DelhiCollege of Arts. Over 20 yearsNupur’s abstraction forged a recog-nisably unique character, shaped byIndian philosophy and a preoccu-pation with the classical traditions ofboth literature and music.

ORGANIC MOTIFS Nupur renders nature as well as

emotive moods through organicmotifs, geometrical forms, repetitivebrushstrokes and careful layering ofimpasto paint. Her palette mirrorsher desire to embody ambivalent

feelings of despair , joy and hope forthe future in her art.

INTENSIVE EXPERIMENTATIONThe canvases in this show rep-

resent one of the most captivatingexamples of artistic abstraction inNupur’s body of work. Over the pastfew years through intensive exper-imentation with various materialsand techniques, Nupur began todevelop her own signature style withunique strokes evoking letters, his-torical remains and ruins andrhetoric from the past that make us

think of old themes and ancient pat-terns.

CONDENSATION AND DISPERSIONThe beauty of her evolution is

that she preferred to meticulouslyconstruct the canvas using bothvertical and horizontal strokes.Look closer at her canvases, the firstthing that impresses the viewer is therichness of surface with many layerssuperimposed by various techniqueswhich produces an interesting palettethat combines a balance of restrainedas well as rich colours with flashes of

tonal colours. By applying elementsof condensation and dispersion,Nupur reflects on the pursuit of har-mony between chaos and order,memory and history and the nuancesof unseen and unfelt rhythms that liein the planes of what is organic andinorganic.

‘I am blessed ,” says Nupur andadds, “My passion is also my profes-sion. Each experience of my life, mytraining as a dancer, my thoughts, myvision, each emotion and spiritualadventures is transformed as move-ment and colour in my painting. I am

very intuitive when it comes topainting. Sometimes I work furious-ly and complete a work with totalfocus whereas some other worksrequire more discipline and timecommitment. The colours are givenfreedom to flow, move, and dialoguewith each other.”

When talking about her love fordancing, she affirms, “It was my firstlove. As a matter of fact the rhythmand colour of Indian classical dancehas influenced my work. It is not alto-gether surprising that I treat colouras performance. On my canvas, par-

ticularly the larger one, coloursengage in furious dance. My act isvery performance–oriented. It islike dancing from one colour toanother. It is a pure dance creatingsignificant patterns of movement andrhythm covering space without over-shadowing it. The space gets paint-ed, in fact, sometimes over-painted.”

CONTENT AND COLOURNupur proceeds to unify form

and content. She successfully dis-plays hope beyond futility and theecstasy of life. Her search for truthand perspectives within her ownworld is what endears her work tothe minds and hearts of viewers.We can see that she mostly pursuesfree brushstrokes of spontaneousenergy and action, as she careful-ly devises a signature style thatdemonstrates a mature technique.What surfaces are unique aesthet-ic qualities that arise out of mes-merising harmonies of blues,greens and crimson tide currents,creating a synergy of airy, featheryblues with deeper sapphires,reminding us of dyes extractedfrom plants and flowers. Nupur isa translator of great hope, and atthe same time she also conveys themagic of inspiration that mustcome from within . These works atthe show Tres Maestros by AllureArt will take the viewer to innerharmony and peace beyond strug-gle, between life and death.

Of all the mantras AnaiEspinoza and her fellow

campers recite each morning atAileyCamp, the eighth grader’sfavourite is this: “I am in control.”

“It makes me believe I havethe power to choose the rightthing,” she said. Anai is one of athousand students in 10 states thissummer to attend AileyCamp, afree six-week programme foryoungsters in financial need orwith academic, social or familychallenges.

AileyCamp was founded in1989 in Kansas City, Missouri, byworld-renowned dancer, chore-ographer and director AlvinAiley, who died later that year. Inaddition to teaching the stu-dents dance, the camp introducesthem to the visual arts, creativewriting and other communica-tion skills. It also teaches themhow to eat well, resolve conflictsand become leaders, according toa description of the program onthe Alvin Ailey American DanceTheatre website.

Atlanta Ballet’s Centre ForDance Education has admittedabout 100 students to its campeach summer since 2014. About

half of those have some exposureto dance, but very few have pro-fessional training, said AtlantaAileyCamp director Diane CarollSales.

“The most important thing isto accept campers that are will-ing to dance — they want todance — because we are dancingmost of the day,” Sales said. “Butthe core of the program is person-al development.”

AileyCamp accepts 1,000middle schoolers in 10 states intoa six-week summer programmeant to teach dance techniquesand build self-esteem. Atlanta-area campers rehearsed withAtlanta Ballet instructors to pre-pare for a final performance.

The Atlanta camp ran thisyear from May 30 through July 5,concluding with a performanceJuly 6 in the city of Jonesboro,about 15 miles (24 kilometers)south of Atlanta. Sponsors cov-ered the cost of dance trainingand attire, breakfast and lunch,field trips and classes for creativecommunication and personaldevelopment.

At the end of camp, AtlantaBallet offers 10 students a full-

tuition scholarship for a year oftraining, which is eligible forrenewal, Sales said. One scholar-ship covers $800-$2,300 worth ofdance classes, depending on theplacement level.

Kameron Davis attended hisfirst AileyCamp about 10 yearsago, when he was in middleschool, at The Fox Theatre inAtlanta. He trained for threeyears after that with the AtlantaBallet on a scholarship, and laterbecame a dance instructor. Davissaid he doesn’t think his mothercould have afforded dance class-es without the scholarship.

Kids at school teased Daviswhen he began dancing, butAileyCamp offered a safe havenand confidence boost, he said. Hesaid he enjoys giving back to theprogram by helping new campersbuild their confidence.

“It’s an open door to findingnew things, doing new things,”Davis said. “When I got toAileyCamp, it just reassured methat, ‘Hey, it’s OK. Everybody isdifferent. You shouldn’t be judgedby what you do just because nota lot of people do it.’”

—AP

How often have you felt the rainsand their tiny droplets beneath

the grey sky? They bring a melancholicyet a strangely peaceful vibe. It’s thetime when the doors of love areunlocked.

And it’s this feeling that directorPrateek Kumar taps into through hisnext Ashadh Ka Ek Din (one day inmonsoon), which is an adaptation ofa popular Hindi play by MohanRakesh. “Ashadh implies monsoon. Irealised that in summer, we crib andstruggle in the scorching heat and lovecannot grow in that season. It isexperienced only during the firstshowers of monsoon. People are ableto love only when they are in a goodzone. And romance is best depictedduring this season.”

The play is centred aroundKalidasa who is leading a peaceful and

romantic life with Mallika. When heis invited by King Chandragupta II tohis court in Ujjaini, he leaves his loveaside and goes to the court to fulfill hispersonal ambitions. Mallika wants thebest for the man she loves and encour-ages him as well. He achieves fame andmarries a sophisticated noblewoman,Priyangumanjari, while Mallika is leftheartbroken and alone.

The director says that the story isnot just about love but it also aims tobe thought-provoking while at thesame time recreate the bygone era.Prateek says, “It bothers and compelsus to lead us towards the solution. Mymain motive behind this play was torecreate the love and nature of thosetimes.”

The play belongs to an era far awayfrom today’s technological advance-ments. This helped the director to zone

himself completely into it. It has lay-ers which unveil gradually. He says, “Asa director, I was as excited to direct asmy actors were to do this role. So, wethought that the audience might enjoyit too.” The narrative was compellingand the director wanted the audienceto experience it in the same manner.

He says, “I come from a rural areaso I know about many intricacies,which I have introduced in the set up.There is Dauri, a woven bucket,made by my mother as well as othersmall things from Bihar, which estab-lished the settings in a more authen-tic manner.” Even while recreating theplay, an original touch coupled withsome amount of creativity adds valueto the production.

During the play, one can feel thatin the hassles of modern lifestyles, wehave forgotten our roots and value

system where we extend love towardsother human beings.

“I read a lot about Kalidasa,Meghaduta, Ritusamhara and couldsee how close he was with nature. Assomeone who has grown up in the90s, I have witnessed a time whenpeople shared a bond with nature.”And because of this, it was easy forPrateek to direct the play. Also, it iswritten “beautifully” and the actorsexplored every word completely.

“Our primary idea was to take theaudience to that zone and makethem experience pain and heart-break, because feeling it is sometimesso beautiful. The idea that appealedme the most was Kalidasa and hislove for nature. The way he hasdescribed the beauty of nature andwoman is impeccable and I have nowords for his description,” says he.

In our fast-paced life, we are busyin the pursuit of our ambitions whileforgetting the small pleasures of life.Prateek says, “Even when I used toact, I wondered whether as an indi-vidual do I want this or not?” Suchplays compel us to delve into realitiesof life.

The way Mallika loved Kalidasais not seen in contemporary timesand so we experience how lovingsomeone so unconditionally andwhole-heartedly feels like. The direc-tor says he loves Indian classics andancient culture.

The director says that more thanhim, it is the actors who have tried tobring in their interpretations of theplay. “Mallika wrote notes to Kalidasaand wished that he would returnsoon. But when he did, she alreadyhad a baby. A parallel was created bythe actor by equating the notes withthe baby signalling that both have thesame place in her heart. This was notthere in the play originally,” says he.The audience applauded as theycould see the intensity of the scene.

Not all written plays have the abil-ity to be staged. Only some do.Prateek says, “The play should keepyou guessing about what would hap-pen next? It should have layers whichunfold. He further says that he prefersplays with emotional appeal.

The play depicts Mallika’s selflesslove and commitment for Kalidas. Interms of relationship the director feelsthat instead of evolving we havegone back instead.

During the course of a play, thedirector and actors too evolved. Hesays, “Coming to the stage made usunderstand that emotion is a painfulprocess but I love how I explored itword by word.”

NUPUR KUNDU’s works take the viewer to inner peace beyond struggle, betweenlife and death, says UMA NAIR

Realm of harmony

Drops of loveTheatre director PRATEEK KUMAR recreatesthe iconic Ashadh Ka Ek Din while adding hisown interpretation to it. By SAKSHI SHARMA

Forget your troublesSummer AileyCamp in the US provides dance training and life skills toyoungsters with financial needs or with academic, social or family challenges

Jim Corbett wrote in the Man-Eatersof Kumaon, the “tiger is a large-heart-ed gentleman with boundless courageand that when he is exterminated —as exterminated he will be unless pub-

lic opinion rallies to his support — Indiawill be the poorer, having lost the finest ofher fauna.” Had the legendary hunter-turned conservationist and writer beenalive, he would have noted with relief thecontents of the latest estimation report onthe number of tigers, titled the Status ofTigers, Co-Predators, Prey and their Habitat,2018, released by Prime Minister NarendraModi on July 29, annually observed asGlobal Tiger Day. The report puts the num-ber at 2,967, which marks an increase of33 per cent over the figure of 2.226 in theestimated tiger count in 2014 and a phe-nomenal 210 per cent over the 2006 figureof 1,411.

The increase is gratifying because itcomes as a part of a continuing upwardtrend since 2006. Besides it represents oneof the few instances in which the Unionor a State Government’s efforts have suc-ceeded. It all started in 1970 when theUnion Government banned the hunting oftigers throughout the country. Two otherimportant developments followed in 1972.The country’s first tiger census put thenumber of the striped lords of the junglesat 1,827. More important, Parliamentpassed the Wildlife (Protection) Act,1972, for protecting animals, birds, reptilesand plants. It prohibited the capturing,killing, poisoning or trapping of wild ani-mals, the injuring, destroying and remov-ing any part of a wild animal’s body, alsoforbade disturbing or damaging of the eggsof wild birds and reptiles. It further pro-hibited the picking, uprooting, destruction,acquisition and collection of specifiedplants and trade in these. The Act also pro-vided for the creation of sanctuaries andnational parks where wildlife would be safeand for restriction of entry into these.More, it provided punishment for each cat-egory of crime.

The Act was an important step as theWild Birds and Animals Protection Act of1912 (eight of 12) and the various State lawsprevailing until then offered little protec-tion. It was, however, aimed at wildlife ingeneral and not specifically tigers. For thelatter, Project Tiger was launched on April1, 1973, with two objectives — identifica-tion of the causes of shrinking tiger habi-tats, adoption of remedial measures andrepair, to the extent possible, of the dam-age already done; and, second, the main-tenance of a viable tiger population.

The project’s distinguishing feature hasbeen the creation of sanctuaries, calledTiger Reserves, to protect tigers frompoaching and other threats. Against ninespread over 9,115 square kilometres at thebeginning, there are now 50 of theseencompassing an area of 74,749 square

kilometres. No human activi-ty is allowed in their coreareas, while limited access isgranted to the buffer zonesaround these. Strong action isbeing taken against poachingwith rangers and forest guardsbeing provided wireless com-munication systems, improvedweaponry and facilities forrapid movement.

Funded by the UnionGovernment, administered bythe Union Ministry ofEnvironment, Forests andClimate Change (MOEFCC),and functioning under thedirect supervision of theNational Tiger ConservationAuthority (NTCA), set upunder the provisions of theWild Life (Protection)Amendment Act, 2006, ProjectTiger has made the mostimportant contribution toincreasing the number of tigers.One, however, has also to takeinto account the efforts madeto protect wildlife from crimesagainst it, which has helped sig-nificantly, particularly sincepoaching to meet the demandabroad for tiger body parts fortheir allegedly medical andaphrodisiacal value, has been acontributory factor in thedecline in numbers. In thiscontext, one needs to recognise

the critical role played by theWildlife Crime Control Bureau(WCCB) set up in 2006 underthe same amendment act thatestablished the NTCA.

A statutory multi-discipli-nary body under the MOEFC,to combat organised wildlifecrime in the country, it collectsand collates intelligence per-taining to organised wildlifecrime and disseminates thesame among State and otherenforcement agencies forimmediate action. Its func-tions also include the establish-ment of a centralised wildlifecrime data bank, co-ordinationof actions by various agenciesin enforcing the Act’s provi-sions and assistance to foreignauthorities and internationalorganisations to facilitate glob-al action against wildlife crime.Among other things, it alsohelps to improve the capacityof agencies combating wildlifecrime to conduct scientific andprofessional investigations andassists State Governments tosuccessfully conduct prosecu-tion for the same.

A proud feather in its caphas been the United NationEnvironment Progamme’s con-ferring on it in November lastyear of an Asia EnvironmentEnforcement Award in the

Innovation category for suc-cessfully innovating enforce-ment techniques that have dra-matically improved actionagainst trans-boundary envi-ronmental crimes in India.Earlier, in 2010, it had receivedthe prestigious Clark R BavinWildlife Law EnforcementAward for outstanding work onwildlife law enforcement. Notsurprisingly, its actions, alongwith those of other enforce-ment agencies, have resulted inthe arrest of 350 wildlife crim-inals and huge seizures oftiger/leopard skins, rhinohorns, elephant ivory,turtles/tortoises, raw mongoosehair, mongoose hair brushes,protected birds, marine prod-ucts, live pangolins, deer antlersand so on across the States.

There is, however, hardlyany scope for complacence.Human-tiger conflicts arebecoming more frequent asthe increase in the number oftigers continues along withgrowing human encroachmentsinto their habitats in the formof new settlements, more exten-sive farming, infrastructure,and environmentally-disastrousindustrial projects benefittingblue-eyed entrepreneurs. Inthis context, there is an urgentneed to implement the NTCA’s

suggestion for developing anational level strategy for man-agement of human-tiger inter-face and dispersing tigers incompliance to its standardoperating procedure, ensuringactive collaboration betweendistrict administrations, policeand forest department person-nel, and, when required, formob management to ensuresafe capture or movement ofanimals.

All this, however, will nothelp if State Governments clearprojects threatening the tiger’ssurvival. Two examples comeimmediately to the mind.Maharashtra sanctioned lastyear the diversion of 467.5hectares of forest land inYavatmal district for a cementplant. Also, its recommenda-tion has led to the clearance, inprinciple, of 87.98 hectares ofland in Kondhali andKalmeshwar ranges — barely160 km from Yavatmal — to anexplosives company inChakdoh for manufacturingdefence products.

Unfortunately, tigers donot vote. Nor do they con-tribute to the funds of politicalparties.

(The writer is ConsultantEditor, The Pioneer, and anauthor)The world is littered with expensive trans-

portation infrastructure projects that arebarely used and even abandoned after a

few years. There is the famous example of abrand new airport near Madrid, Spain, whichwas abandoned after a few months. In 2002,China inaugurated a magnetic levitation trainbetween the Pudong airport and the outskirtsof Shanghai, the harbinger of a massive net-work of space age connectivity. While that trainremains the world’s fastest commercially oper-ating train, with speeds touching 500 km per

hour, it is nothing more than a tourist attraction today. The 30 km rack cost aneye-watering $1.2 billion in the early-2000s and it should serve as a cautionarytale for those who want to make India a hub for the new ‘Hyperloop’ technolo-gy. In essence, Hyperloop is ‘Maglev Plus.’ Magnetic levitation lifts a ‘shuttle’,which travels through an enclosed pipe. It operates ideally, in a vacuum, but real-istically with very low air pressure, allowing the shuttles to move without any airresistance at up to 1,000 km per hour. Such a system would make immensesense then as a transportation system between urban agglomerations locatedclose to each other. Such as Mumbai and Pune, and it is no surprise that thosewho back the technology feel that this will make for a great test track. Sure, reduc-ing the three-four hour travel time by road between Maharashtra’s industrial hubswill be welcome but there are several caveats. First, there is little certainty onwho will fund this extremely extravagant programme. While the Maharashtra gov-ernment has given it ‘infrastructure’ status, the State government and the Centreare not investing any money. The estimated project’s price is a truly sky-rock-eting $10 billion, and that is before the inevitable cost escalations, since the tech-nology itself is currently in its testing phase.

Would the money be better spent on developing a regular high-speed traintrack between the two cities that tunnels through the Western Ghats instead? Orshould money be poured into a unproven technology with immense potential butpossibly still years, possibly decades away from commercial application? Willthe Hyperloop in India end up like the Maglev track outside Shanghai, a touristattraction that showcases the future that might have been? It is one thing to lookat the future, but practicality should also come into consideration. Massive, futur-istic infrastructure projects and technologies get politicians goggly-eyed but run-ning headlong into something without thinking it through is plain silly. Has any-one asked the question on who will use the ‘Hyperloop’ between the two cities?If the project costs a bomb, then only the very rich or tourists can use it. Afterall, in Shanghai, locals prefer taking the regular, slow subway train instead of theMaglev. We do not have the luxury of building infrastructure to make a point, wehave to build infrastructure to be used by a billion people.

They may look jaded slogans but when itcomes to governance in Delhi, it is theclassic bijli, sadak and paani (power,

roads and water) issues which have workedin local elections. Particularly, the city’s powersupply has been the most crucial swing fac-tor for the continuity of regimes. Power reformswere the reason the Congress, then led bySheila Dikshit, got mass acceptability between1998 and 2013. Her focus was on improvingthe quality of power supply through privatisa-tion of the electricity distribution sector. And

when that frayed at the edges, the mess was a fertile ground for the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) to emerge as a champion of people’s right to a good life. The partyquestioned the privatisation model, alleging financial irregularities by distributioncompanies (discoms) and suggesting a collusion between the Congress gov-ernment and the discoms to keep tariffs artificially high at public expense. In fact,power reforms have found mention as a key plank and a promise of an afford-able living index in all its manifestos. Not only that, AAP has consistently detailedits rationale for the tariff, revenue and distribution to justify its claims and ensuredexecution to gain popular vote. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal intends keeping itthat way and as he seeks another mandate; he has not changed Delhi’s powertariff, calling it among the lowest in the country, and even announced free elec-tricity for those who consume less than 200 units a month and a 50 per centsubsidy for those who consume till 400 units. The Delhi Electricity RegulatoryCommission (DERC) also reduced fixed charges for most domestic connectionsby up to 84 per cent. The subsidy has, of course, been criticised many timesabout its broad-based nature that allows many of the privileged to claim bene-fits but that was revised last year to benefit the low consumption end. And Kejriwalhas sweetened his latest announcement saying he has equalised free power forthe poor with that of the city’s political elite. Some observers also point out thatin the absence of a tariff hike, how is it possible to manage discoms with sub-sidy payments that will cost about `1,700 to 2,000 crore additional expense.Despite these naysayers Kejriwal has admittedly scored on power infrastructure,improving the revenues and funds for power companies, eliminating red tapeand ensuring almost zero power cuts. But this toggling between populism, visionand institutional viability can prove costly if exuberant enthusiasm is not curbedby rational discretion.

The AAP regime has consistently built social capital that has strengthenedits electoral traction. Its improvement of the public school infrastructure, teach-ing standards and student performance has revolutionised the way we look atDelhi’s government schools. The “Happiness Curriculum” and the constructionof new classrooms in government schools have received accolades globally. Thedoorstep delivery of services, the primary healthcare centres offering free con-sultations, the mohalla clinics, some regularisation of unauthorised colonies haveall worked for the “common man’s” agenda. This despite AAP’s consistent run-in with the Centre on allocation of full statehood powers and constant delays oninfrastructure projects pending clearance. But AAP is desperate for consolida-tion of its votebase, which has slipped to a dismal 18 per cent in the May LokSabha polls from about 33 per cent previously. It has even slid to third positionin five Lok Sabha seats behind the Congress this time. The BJP’s vote percent-age is at 56 per cent and following victories in the municipal corporation, it ishoping for a short-term cascading impact on the Delhi Assembly polls. But wor-ryingly for AAP, the BJP, in its bid to end a power drought in Delhi, is intensivelypromoting a Mission 2020 campaign to ensure that the underprivileged pock-ets, slum clusters and the Muslim community are provided with the benefits ofthe Modi government schemes. It is this aggression in AAP territory that needsa far stronger counter-script from Kejriwal than just power reforms.

Power shots

Strange exchange

Sir — It is amusing that onlythree days after some 50 eminentcitizens came together to writean open letter to the PrimeMinister, requesting actionagainst “Jai Shri Ram” beingused as a war-cry and theincrease in religion-fuelled hate-crime such as lynching, anoth-er group of 62 celebritiesresponded to it in defence of theGovernment’s silence. Is theGovernment not accountable tothe citizens anymore? After all,supporters of the Prime Ministerseem to have taken up the taskof answering for him.

The 62 celebrities have writ-ten an open letter against the“selective outrage and false nar-ratives” and accused the writersof the first open letter of not hav-ing condemned separatist slo-gans that were allegedly raisedon university campuses. TheChairperson of the CentralBoard of Film CertificationPrasoon Joshi stated that hedoes not support anything thatdegrades human live.

Why, then, do he and theothers not criticise hate crimesvocally? Is this the “change for

the better” that the respondentsclaim is happening? Who knewthat in the land of MahatmaGandhi, speaking the truthwould become an act of defam-ing the nation?

Bidyut Kumar ChatterjeeFaridabad

Laws for good

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Divorced Opposition”(August 1). The allegation by theOpposition/certain Islamicorganisations that the triple

talaq Act is a brazen violation ofthe rights guaranteed by theConstitution to religious minori-ties is overtly misleading.

The Constitution is supreme.Religious outfits cannot trun-cate or modify the basic rights oftheir members conferred in the

Constitution and the electedGovernment is bound to exerciseits invulnerable dominanceagainst any such acts to protectthe genuine interests of the peo-ple. Significantly, this anachronis-tic system is already debarred bymany of Islamic nations, includ-ing Pakistan. Similarly, our apexcourt, too, has declared tripletalaq as unlawful. It’s time for usto shun this practice.

TKM KummbalamchuvattilMuvattupuzha

Speedy delivery

Sir — Now that all cases relatedto Unnao rape have been shift-ed to Delhi, it is clear that theGovernment and the law-enforc-ing authorities have failed mis-erably to render justice to thevictim though two years elapsedafter the crime. The case criesout for an early disposal. Rapecases must be dealt within afixed time-frame with early con-viction. Rape should be made anon-bailable offence.

Sravana RamachandranChennai

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

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op nionHYDERABAD | SATURDAY | AUGUST 3, 2019

08

Big cat’s leap of faith

HIRANMAY KARLEKAR

An increase in its population is gratifying but the tiger still faces problems, including thefrequent man-animal conflicts. A national-level strategy is needed to manage this interface

People are drinking urrak,feni. Is that causing can-cer? It is a known fact thatif you smoke, it causescancer. Get a survey done.

Former Goa Chief Minister—Pratapsingh Rane

Women are said to be femi-nine and femininity meansthey are fragile, compared totheir counterparts. A ladyshouldn’t have to work nights.

Goa BJP's woman MLA—Alina Saldanha

For decades China has takenadvantage of trade... It's timefor that to stop. PresidentTrump has said we aregonna fix this. And to fix itrequires determination.

US Secretary of State —Mike Pompeo

S O U N D B I T E

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

Say no to religious appeasement

This refers to the editorial, “Food democracy”(August 20). Food platform Zomato has served upan exemplary lesson on the idea of India by telling

a customer, who had demanded his delivery agent bechanged because he was a “Muslim fellow”, that thecompany is proud of the country's diversity and “notsorry to lose any business that comes in the way ofour values.” Zomato's response is similar to what Ola,the app cab service, had told a customer in Lucknowlast year, who had tweeted that he cancelled his cabwith a driver who had a Semitic name because he didnot “want to give his money to jihadi people.”

Ola had replied: “Ola, like our country, is a sec-ular platform, and we don't discriminate our driver part-ners or customers (on the) basis (of) their caste, reli-gion, gender or creed. We urge all our customers anddriver partners to treat each other with respect at alltimes.” It is sad to realise that the well of hatred isapparently bottomless. Now that the dam has burst,the poison comes out in jets, streams and rivers ofhate, trying to consume anyone and everyone with aMuslim name. It's time we realise that most of the sell-ers of flowers or fruits or various coloured sacred

threads, which we use for pooja or consume, are soldby Muslims. A lot of cotton handlooms or the famousKashmiri shawls, Benaras sarees are woven byMuslims and it is hard to tell one weaver from the other.Remember the roadside mechanic who repairs our“stubborn” vehicles? Without tolerance towardsanother person's basic rights, chest-beating love forthe nation becomes a superficial, hollow devotion.

Jayatheertha SAHyderabad

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Pipe dreams

The biopic (Mogul, basedon Gulshan Kumar) is ontrack and in two months, Iwill be announcing thenames of the actors as wellas the director.

Producer—Bhushan Kumar

With an eye on Assembly polls, the AAP govt offers free electricity but will it be enough to get Kejriwal another term?

The Hyperloop promises to revolutionise travel butquestions remain about its economic viability

Time to stand up for real

I SPOKE WITH PAKISTAN AND INDIA; BUT THAT’S THEBATTLE, FOR A LONG TIME. IF I CAN, IF THEY

WANTED TO, I WOULD CERTAINLY HELP THEM.—US PRESIDENT

DONALD TRUMP

ANY DISCUSSION ON KASHMIR, IF AT ALLWARRANTED, WILL ONLY BE WITH PAKISTAN ANDONLY BILATERALLY.—EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTERS JAISHANKAR

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recentelectoral victory can be clearly attrib-uted to two essential arguments that hewas able to sell successfully, no matterhow cosmetic the value. First, that the

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was a party with adifference when it came to matters of honesty andintegrity. Second, it was not a family concern andhad no place for dynasts. Without any doubt, theCongress and some other Opposition parties arefacing an existential crisis, having been voted outof power earlier for corruption and now becausethe voter has made its distaste for family-run con-cerns pretty obvious, especially given the ratherunderwhelming performances of some of thesevery “families.”

Unfortunately, if we go beyond the superfi-cial, the reality on both counts is quite different.As the Report by the Association for DemocraticReforms makes it quite clear, as per their owndeclarations, the average assets of those in theUnion Council of Ministers is ̀ 14.72 crore, while22 (39 per cent) of them have declared criminalcases against them, of which 16 Ministers haveserious criminal cases pending. As a matter offact, of its 301 members in the Lok Sabha, 116have declared criminal cases pending, just mar-ginally better than that of other parties and cer-tainly no indication of either honesty or integri-ty.

Moreover, despite its claims to the contrary,the BJP is really no different from the family con-cerns that it so disparages. It, too, is run by anextremely small and close-knit “family”, albeit not related by blood, in which other leaders are treated more asbystanders or retainers.

While Modi’s performance in his first termmay be open to debate, what the current victo-ry has done is to highlight the fact that he canno longer get away by foisting the blame for theprevailing difficult security, social, economic orlaw and order issues on his predecessors, some-thing he had turned into a fine art then. Andimmensely challenging task is at hand for theGovernment with the economy being in the dol-drums, foreign investors jumping the ship, thesecurity environment far from being conduciveand the country’s foreign policy has just beenupended by the actions of US President DonaldJ Trump. These problems, however, pale in com-parison to the fact that the BJP’s credibility restssolely on the popularity that Modi enjoys andwithout him, it is likely to flounder very quick-ly.

Interestingly, his popularity depends signif-icantly on the larger-than-life image he has beenable to generate as a leader, who is not only seenas strong, bold, pragmatic and decisive but alsoa very capable administrator, who is forwardthinking and empathetic. While much of this isa carefully tailored media creation, the latest beinghis participation in a survival-based reality show,similar to what Russian President Vladimir Putinputs on, his inability to fully live up to the imagehe projects is quite evident.

Take foreign policy for instance. No PrimeMinister, other than Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, hasdevoted as much time and effort to foreign pol-icy as Modi has done. He has been travellingmuch of the world to raise India’s stature with-

in the international community. Yet, inour own neighbourhood, inAfghanistan, where the Taliban is on theascendancy, Modi’s influence is asgood as non-existent and we find our-selves discarded by the wayside.

For us, Afghanistan’s importance isin the access it provides to the CentralAsian Republics through the Iranianport of Chabahar. By succumbing toAmerican pressure over sanctionsagainst Iran, we have dealt a mortalblow to our Chabahar initiative andhope of access to those Republics.Similarly, the re-emergence of the US-Pakistan relationship from the shadowshas once again derailed our efforts toisolate Pakistan internationally, a keystrategy in Modi’s Kashmir policy.

Clearly, tilting towards the US hasnot been without adverse consequences,and despite all the rhetoric and postur-ing, in his dealings with both the USand China (remember the WuhanSummit?), Modi has emerged as a weakand pliable leader, unable to stand upfor what is obviously in our nationalinterest.

There is a similar disconnect withregard to our internal security issues aswell as our military capabilities.Regardless of whether the Balakotepisode should be seen as the “new nor-mal” or not, our Kashmir policy has notmade much headway, especially giventhe increase in popular discontent

within the Valley. While levels of vio-lence have been contained, for the pre-sent, the Central Government hasmade little effort to push for an equi-table political solution that can helpnegate insurgency. Of course, one maywell be proved wrong with the recentinduction of a hundred companies ofthe Central Armed Police Forces(CRPF), ostensibly to strengthen thecounter-insurgency grid. This seemsodd given that there are more than ade-quate troops already available in thesector. This action may well herald aserious effort to break the politicaldeadlock. We will have to wait and seeas to the manner in which the situationdevelops in the coming days andmonths.

In this context, it is also worthrepeating that while much is made ofcross-border terrorism, even at theworst of times, foreign militants haveplayed only a marginal role in the ongo-ing insurgency. While we must stay alertto avoid a Kargil repeat, we have tofocus inwards. In addition, while theissue of funding of separatists byPakistan receives enormous mediaattention, we refuse to acknowledge thebigger problem of domestic financing.Surely our intelligence agencies and thesecurity establishment are quite awarethat the militant groups corner a per-centage of all Government contractsand developmental funds in Jammu &

Kashmir. This is what makes the busi-ness of insurgency tick and what theGovernment needs to tackle.

Finally, where this divergencebetween fact and fiction is most notableis in the Prime Minister’s dealings withthe military. In these past five years, hehas made much of the military publicly,even constructing the long demandedNational War Memorial in quick time.Undoubtedly, as it is generally accept-ed, his electoral victories also owe muchto the “surgical strikes” undertaken bythe military. While scarce budgetarysupport for defence is understandable,given our difficult economic situation,what is utterly incomprehensible is thefact that the Government spares noeffort to demean, degrade and demor-alise our forces.

Examples abound and are wellknown to bear repetition, with the lat-est example being the manner in whicha modified form of One Rank, OnePension (OROP), given by this veryGovernment with much fanfare, is inthe process of being gutted. The prob-lem for the Prime Minister is that hecan’t be all things to all people. Moreimportantly, we the people deserve toknow what exactly he stands for? So,will the real Modi please stand up?

(The writer, a military veteran, is aconsultant with the Observer ResearchFoundation and a Visiting Senior Fellowwith The Peninsula Foundation, Chennai)

While Modi’s first term performance may be open to debate, what the current victory has doneis to highlight the fact that he can no longer get away by foisting the blame on his predecessors

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

A regulatoryapproach

CHAITRA V

It is the responsibility of the taxi aggregators toensure passenger safety. Monitoring app-based

services is essential for accountability

DEEPAK SINHA

CLEARLY,TILTING

TOWARDS THEUS HAS NOT

BEEN WITHOUTADVERSE

CONSEQUENCES,AND DESPITE

ALL THERHETORIC ANDPOSTURING, INHIS DEALINGS

WITH BOTH THEUS AND CHINA

(REMEMBER THEWUHAN

SUMMIT?), MODIHAS EMERGED

AS A WEAK ANDPLIABLE

LEADER, UNABLETO STAND UPFOR WHAT IS

OBVIOUSLY INOUR NATIONAL

INTEREST

Recently, the Karnataka Government asked taxi aggrega-tors like Ola and Uber to withdraw carpooling servicesin Bengaluru. The Government said that the ride-sharing

services were illegal as there is no relevant legal provision inthe Karnataka on-demand Transpor tation TechnologvAggregators Rules, 2016, which currently governs the opera-tion of taxi aggregators in the State. Undoubtedly, these ride-sharing taxi services, wherein multiple passengers avail the sametransportation facility at the same time along a common route,is an ideal supplement to the public transit system. This facil-ity is very likely to minimise the travel costs, level of green-house gas emissions and traffic congestion among other things.

Although the shared mobility service has its own benefits,the main challenge facing it is that these services do not fit intoour existing legal framework. The civil liability of the taxi aggre-gators like Uber and Ola for the damages caused by the cardrivers during the course of a ride is uncertain. The inevitablequestion which arises is whether these car drivers are theemployees of the taxi aggregators, who hire them to providetransportation services.

On this issue, taxi aggregators like Uber have stated timeand time again that the car drivers, who register with them toprovide transportation services, are not “employees” but “inde-pendent contractors” and, therefore, ineligible for any employ-ee benefits.

Legally speaking, as far as the manner of execution of thework is concerned, an independent contractor is not under thedirect control of the person who has employed him/her to dothe work. On the other hand, an employee acts under the directcontrol and supervision of his/her employer. Thus, the employ-er is not vicariously liable for the tort committed by indepen-dent contractors in the course of work.

These taxi aggregators further contend that they only pro-vide a convenient forum to connect the riders with the self-employed car drivers. In this regard, it is pertinent to note herethat the relevant provisions of the Karnataka On-demandTransportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016, prescribethat the taxi aggregators must issue brand stickers and iden-tity cards to the registered car drivers and organise at least onestructured refresher training programme in a year.

The taxi aggregators must also ensure that all the taxiesat their command maintain uninterrupted contact with the con-trol room and that the vehicles entered in their licence do notoperate independently or accept bookings directly. They are con-tinuously tracked with GPS and GPRS facility, with the provi-sion of a panic button to alert the control room of the aggre-gator as well as local police.

Simply put, these taxi aggregators control the manner ofthe work carried out by these self-employed drivers, thus bring-ing them under the purview of “employee”. On the other hand,Ola, Uber drivers, who generally own the cars, have the free-dom to work on their own time, thus giving them more con-trol over their work schedule. They are also free to work fortheir company’s competitors. The Karnataka On-demandTransportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016, gives lib-erty to the registered car driver, who is in operation under onetaxi aggregator to operate his vehicle simultaneously with anyother aggregator. This implies that the taxi aggregators have noabsolute control regarding the time and manner of the work car-ried out by registered car drivers, thus bringing them under thepurview of “independent contractors”.

To remove this ambiguity, the court’s opinion on the sub-ject is the need of the hour. The much-needed clarity on theliability of taxi aggregators will also remove ambiguity withrespect to insurance coverage policies in cases of damagescaused by the the drivers during the course of a ride. The safe-ty of passengers is a growing concern with respect to sharedmobility services as it involves sharing the cabs with unacquaint-ed people. High level of security technologies to help the riderin trouble, strict screening procedures for drivers, effective mon-itoring by the control room can, however, address the safetyissues. The larger question to ponder over is the responsibili-ty of the taxi-aggregators. The answer to be sought is whetherthe taxi aggregators exercise sufficient control over the man-ner of work of the drivers so as to hold the former liable forthe damages caused by the latter in the course of a ride. In thisdigital age the old definitions of employer, employee, indepen-dent contractor hold no relevance.

(The writer is Assistant Professor, School of Law, Christ(Deemed to be University), Bengaluru)

In 1995, I came across a book writ-ten by a Pakistani political activistin 1985, after he was released

from solitary confinement where hehad been mercilessly tortured by thepolice. As a young activist, the authorhad participated in various protestsagainst the reactionary Gen Zia dic-tatorship (1977-88). In the early 1980s,accused of being a member of a “ter-rorist communist outfit” and an“Indian agent”, he was thrown in jailand constantly tortured in the variousprisons of interior Sindh. Finally, in1985, he was allowed medical treat-ment in Karachi.

He was not a member of any com-munist outfit, nor was he a memberof Zia’s most active opponent, thePakistan Peoples Party (PPP). He was-

n’t a Sindhi, Baloch or Pakhtunnationalist either. He belonged to theJamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) — one ofthe few Right-wing parties that wereagainst the Zia regime.

In 1984, when the Zia dictatorshipbanned student unions, various Left-wing student groups and the studentwing of the Right-wing Jamaat-i-Islami, the Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT),set aside their ideological differencesto protest together against the ban. Atleast for a month or two, the dictator-ship was put under tremendous pres-sure, until the IJT decided to sudden-ly exit the protest.

During the same period, journal-ists and their unions often cooperat-ed to protest against what were called“Zia’s black laws” against Press free-doms. A detailed study by Philip EJones of the 1968 movement againstthe Ayub regime saw similar left-rightalliances taking shape. The late schol-ar, Khalid bin Sayeed’s study of the1977 movement against the authori-tarian Z A Bhutto regime also speaksof the left and right journalist groupscoming together. This happened againduring the movement against the

Musharraf dictatorship in 2007.There is nothing unique about

this. Large protest movements have atendency of bringing together distinctideological groups to address sharedconcerns. Consider the present sce-nario in the context of the kind ofharassment and censorship the coun-try’s media has been facing these days.If, for example, one media groupcomes under attack by the powers thatbe, its peers are likely to either remainquiet or even celebrate!

How did this happen? Whenevera profession, an institution or an indi-vidual faces a crisis, the instinctivething to do is to point out the exter-nal forces responsible for triggering thecrisis. And on most occasions, theexternal forces are the triggers.

Pakistan has had a long history inwhich certain state institutions,Governments and political partieshave bullied, harassed, terrorised andcensored the media. However, if todaywe begin to again point out these exter-nal forces, we won’t be saying anythingnew. We won’t be saying anything thathasn’t already been said for over 40years. It is being lamented again. But

during a crisis, it is equally importantfor one to look for triggers within.

Internal reasons that might becontributing to the crisis often getignored when all the effort is beinginvested in pointing out external trig-gers. Looking for internal triggers isimportant because, I believe, the cri-sis faced by the media today may beslightly different than before.

To begin with, there is a battlegoing on within the media betweenobjective journalism and subjectivejournalism. The former is based onfacts that are thoroughly investigated,checked and cross-checked. Theiragenda is simply to provide informa-tion without any obvious bias towardsa particular political party or individ-ual, a state institution, a religion, a sect,an ethnicity, etc.

We can all agree that absoluteobjectivity is impossible, but at least theintent to be objective (in the media)was once there. That’s why, for exam-ple, newspapers used to have whatwere called “gatekeepers.” Their jobwas to safeguard the intent of remain-ing objective and factual.

But from the 1990s onwards,

across the world, we saw a concentrat-ed attack on the whole idea of objec-tivity. Vulgar post-modernism derid-ed objectivity as being an intellectu-ally elitist tool to repress popular opin-ion. The gatekeepers were brushedaside and a new subjective idea of jour-nalism started to take root. All of a sud-den, anybody could say just about any-thing.

That’s why what is being said —especially on TV news channels — ismostly opinion. But opinions are notnecessarily facts. As a US Senator oncecorrectly pointed out: “Everyone isentitled to their opinion, but not totheir facts.” The whole Fox Newsmodel turned this on its head.Opinions were presented as facts andanyone with a theory or a rant was wel-come to appear on TV. This model wasa huge commercial success. Those,who thought they knew better than thesnooty experts and intellectuals, lappedit all up.

Conspiracy theories, distortions ofhistorical and contemporary factsand the demonisation of imaginedenemies, all became acceptable con-tent. News journalism crossed into

show-business and reaped the ratings.After the success of Fox News, almostall private news channels, whichmushroomed across the world, includ-ing Pakistan, adopted the same model.

The nature of the media as a busi-ness changed. The intent of remain-ing objective was now bad for business.When news media, show business andpopular opinion came together, theresult was a new form of entertainment+ a kind of “newstainment” that blursthe line between fact and fantasy, truthand lie. It became okay to come on TVor print in a newspaper or a website“facts” such as: 9/11 was an inside job;that ancient Hindus were flyingaround in spaceships thousands ofyears ago; that one can derive energyfrom jinns: That Malala’s shooting wasstaged: That there were billions uponbillions of dollars stashed by Pakistanipoliticians in foreign banks: That heor she was corrupt or a traitor, or aninfidel or a racist, a sexist, immoral, fas-cist, liberal fascist, et al.

All this is now okay to say andwrite as long as it is generating ratings,circulation, likes and retweets. Allforms of media have become platforms

for all kind of opinions. But opinionsdressed as “facts.” Ironically, the attackon the idea of objectivity was encour-aged by the media. But if objectivityas an intent once bothered externalforces, adopting subjectivity canbecome a self-destructive act.

Subjective journalism does notbother about objective things such asevidence. But this opens it up tocounter-accusations that also do notbother with things such as proof. That’swhy the nature of censoring today’smedia has become a lot more brazenthan before. It’s all subjective now, all“relative.” One man’s ban (on a mediagroup) is another man’s act of patrio-tism, and another media group’s tri-umph. Typical post-modernist hog-wash. The few media outlets that arestill holding on to the intent of objec-tive journalism have become victimsof not only external forces threatenedby their objectivity, but also by themess created by their more subjectivepeers within the media industry.Therefore, this time the battle formedia freedom is and will be a lotmore complex and messier.

(Courtesy: The Dawn)

When anything goesA few media outlets, who still hold on to the intent of objective journalism, have become victims of not only external forces, but also by the mess created

by their more subjective peers. The battle for media freedom, in an era of subjective journalism and relative truths, will be messier this time round

NADEEM PARACHA

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | AUGUST 3, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | AUGUST 3, 2019 money 10

CAPSULE

HDFC shares gainover 2 pc after Q1earningsNEW DELHI: Shares of HDFCLtd on Friday rose over 2 percent after the companyreported a 46 per cent rise instandalone net profit for thefirst quarter ended June 30.The shares of the companygained 1.75 per cent to closeat Rs 2,124.10 on the BSE.During the day, it rose 2.92 percent to Rs 2,148.60. At theNSE, shares went up 2.34 percent to close at Rs 2,135.75.The country's largest mortgagelender on Friday reported a 46per cent rise in standalone netprofit to Rs 3,203.10 crore forthe first quarter ended June30. The company had posted anet profit of Rs 2,190 croreduring the correspondingApril-June period of 2018-19.Total income (standalone)increased to Rs 12,996.11crore in the first quarter asagainst Rs 9,951.98 crore inthe same period of thepreceding fiscal, HDFC Ltd saidin a regulatory filing.

Exide net profit up7pc in June quarterKOLKATA: attery major ExideIndustries on Friday reported aseven per cent on-yearincrease in standalone netprofit to Rs 224.29 crore inthe first quarter of the currentfinancial year. The companyhad posted a standalone netprofit of Rs 209.92 croreduring the correspondingquarter a year ago. During theApril-June period, its netturnover was at Rs 2,779.25crore, as against Rs 2,772.46crore during the quarter endedJune 30, 2018. Commentingon the earnings, Exide MD andCEO G Chatterjee said demandof automotive batteriesremained under pressure,while growth in UPS, telecomand otherinfrastructuresegments continued in thereporting quarter.

Ashok Leylandshares drop nearly7% post sales dataNEW DELHI: Shares of AshokLeyland on Friday droppednearly 7 per cent after thecompany reported 28 percent decline in total sales inJuly. The scrip plunged 6.60per cent to close at Rs 64.40on the BSE. During the day, itdropped 11.74 per cent to Rs60.85 -- its 52-week low. Onthe NSE, shares of thecompany declined 6.24 percent to close at Rs 64.55. Interms of volume, 82.92 lakhshares were traded on theBSE and over 14 crore unitson the NSE during the day.Ashok Leyland on Thursdayreported 28 per cent declinein total sales at 10,927vehicles in July as against15,199 units in the samemonth last year.

Energy companies assuredof securing funding: PradhanPTI n NEW DELHI

Indian energy companies arenot facing any challenge insecuring finances especiallyfrom overseas markets, Unionminister Dharmendra Pradhansaid on Friday.

The statement assumes sig-nificance as there are reportsthat some sovereign funds,including Norway's StatePension Fund, have decided notto invest or finance fossil fuel-based projects and businesses.

"There is no challenge... Ihave mentioned in speech thatpension funds and others arekeen (to invest)," the oil min-ister said at the BNEF Summithere. He was replying to aquery that whether Indianenergy firms are facing chal-lenges in getting funding par-ticularly from overseas markets.

"India's growing energy sec-tor is attractive for foreigninvestors. It has repeatedlyreceived funding from sover-eign wealth funds, pensionfunds, long-term strategicinvestors from western coun-tries, Asian countries and theMiddle East," the minister said.

Pradhan further said, "Theeconomy is projected to growat more than 7 per cent, whichwill attract more funding.Many companies have suc-cessfully raised fundingthrough overseas bond marketand this funding route is like-ly to grow many fold going for-

ward."India is expected to get

investments of over USD 75billion in gas infrastructure inthe next eight years, the min-ister said, adding that Indianrefineries have invested over Rs30,000 crore for upgrading toBS-VI quality fuel production.

India will become USD 3trillion economy this year andaims to achieve a USD 5 tril-lion target in the near future,the oil minister said.

To achieve this target,Pradhan said, India needssecure, affordable and sustain-

able energy to sustain highgrowth and energy access to1.3 billion people. It is impor-tant to tap every source ofenergy, he added.

About incidents of statesbacking out on concludedpower purchase agreementsand demanded for renegotia-tion of tariff (lowering that),the minister said, "We aremindful of the difficultiesbeing faced by investors insome instances where stategovernment is trying to rene-gotiate some of the executedcontracts."

Recently, Andhra Pradeshhas asked state-run powergiant NTPC and Solar EnergyCorporation of India (SECI)for lowering the tariff of powersupplied from some solar pro-jects.

Pradhan said, "Our govern-ment has requested state gov-ernments to reconsider theirdecision, as this will jeopardisefuture investment in not onlythe concerned state but also thecountry as a whole."

About renewables, the min-ister said, "This is the right timeto think of sale options likeblending electricity generatedfrom gas power plants withrenewable energy. This willfurther aid the process of emis-sion reduction."

He was of the view that thisoption has the merits of bal-ancing the grid and optimumutilisation of the transmissioninfrastructure by comple-menting the uncertain natureof renewable energy generationwith gas-based power, whichwill also aid in optimum util-isation of our gas power plants.

The Central ElectricityAuthority (CEA) has project-ed 65 per cent electricity gen-eration capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.

The minister also informedthat hydrogen will be infusedinto compressed natural gas inDelhi by December, whichwould be even more cleanerfuel.

Recently, Andhra Pradesh has askedstate-run power giant NTPC and SolarEnergy Corporation of India (SECI) forlowering the tariff of power suppliedfrom some solar projects

PTI n BEIJING

The State Bank of India'sShanghai branch is now con-nected to China's NationalAdvance Payment System(CNAPS), becoming the firstIndian Bank to operationaliseit, a senior bank official said onFriday.

The CNAPS, launched in2008 by People's Bank of China(PBOC) provides real-timesettlement services for all pay-ments cleared in mainlandChina, as well as in all clearingbanks in offshore yuan centers,such as Hong Kong.

The CNAPS system is com-plemented by its internation-al counterpart, the CIPS(China International PaymentsSystem or Cross-Border Inter-Bank Payment System),launched in 2015 with theaim of boosting internationaluse of the Chinese currency,yuan.

The CIPS already has par-ticipants from multiple coun-tries across the globe.

The SBI is the only Indianbank to have obtained thelicense to do business in localcurrency and also inducted tothe CNAPS by the PBOC as ondate, K Swaminathan, ChiefExecutive Officer of SBI,Shanghai told PTI on Friday.

The SBI has obtained thePBOC approval in December2016 for implementation of theCNAPS and after successfulinstallation of various hard-ware and software, testing it isnow connected to the PBOC

live system on July 8, 2019, hesaid.

After being a member of theCNAPS, SBI Shanghai can alsooffer real time transfer of localfunds within China by routingthem through the PBOC.

It eliminates the need of tieup and maintenance ofaccounts with multiple Banksfor fund transfer, he said.

The CNAPS will also beused for cross border RMBpayments which are hithertobeing made through local cor-respondent banks. This willalso give SBI opportunity to dobusiness of Bankers accep-tance drafts (BAD), he said.

The SBI has started its rep-resentative office in 1997 andbegan its commercial opera-tion in 2006.

Currently, it is the onlyIndian bank with license todeal in RMB, the local cur-

rency, as well as foreign cur-rency.

With total customer creditof nearly USD 500 million andstaff strength of 40 peoplethat includes 32 Chinesenationals, the bank has alwaysbeen at the forefront of facili-tating India-China trade andinvestments apart from servingthe Indians working in Chinain the field of IT and others,Swaminathan said.

The bank extends bankguarantee facility to Chinesecorporates undertaking vari-ous construction, tech, andinvestment projects, he said.

The bank has also beenextending term as well work-ing capital credit facilities toIndian corporates and com-panies promoted by Indians inChina to facilitate Indianinvestment in China, he said.

The bank has also been anactive participant in local syn-dication arranged by majorforeign as well as Chinesebanks.

Other than the activities onasset side, the bank has beenfacilitating Indians workingin China in their remittance aswell as other banking needs, hesaid.

The CNAPS, launched in 2008 byPeople's Bank of China (PBOC) providesreal-time settlement services for allpayments cleared in mainland China, aswell as in all clearing banks in offshoreyuan centers, such as Hong Kong

PTI n BEIJING

The trade war between theUnited States and China esca-lated on Friday as Beijingthreatened to unleash "coun-termeasures" against US plansto impose tariffs on $300 bil-lion in Chinese goods.

President Donald Trumpjolted US and Asian stock mar-kets as he issued the threat justa day after US and Chinesetrade negotiators revived talksaimed at ending the year-longdispute.

"China expresses its strongdissatisfaction and resoluteopposition to this," foreignministry spokeswoman HuaChunying said at a regularpress briefing.

"If the US implements thetariff measures, China willhave to take necessary counter-measures to resolutely defend

the core interests of the coun-try and its people," Hua said,adding that Beijing did notwant a trade war "but is notafraid to fight one if necessary."She did not specify what kindof measures China would take,but in the past Beijing has hint-ed that it could restrict exportsof rare earths that are vital tothe US technology industry,and it is also drawing up ablacklist of "unreliable" for-eign companies.

Trump's announcementmeans virtually all of the $660billion in annual two-way tradebetween the world's two biggesteconomies will have tariffs onit.

China has imposed tariffs on$110 billion in Americangoods, almost all of the prod-ucts it imports from the US.

Trump said 10 percent dutieson $300 billion will take effect

September 1, and come on topof the 25 percent tariffs on $250billion in Chinese importsalready in place.

Trump later raised the pos-sibility he could increase theduties to "well beyond" 25 per-cent. "The 10 percent is... for ashort-term period and then Ican always do much more or I

can do less, depending onwhat happens with respect toa deal," he said at the WhiteHouse.

After resuming face-to-facetalks in Shanghai this week,trade negotiators were set toreconvene in Washington inearly September for anotherround of discussions, which

means they will take place justafter the new tariffs take effect.

"Slapping on tariffs is defi-nitely not a constructive way toresolve economic and tradefrictions, it's not the correctway," Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi said on the sidelinesof a regional meeting of topdiplomats in Bangkok on

Friday.When he announced the

tariffs on Twitter, Trump saidBeijing had agreed "to buyagricultural product from theUS in large quantities but didnot do so." Just hours earlier,China had said it had started tomake more purchases of USfarm goods.

"Additionally, my friendPresident Xi said that he wouldstop the sale of fentanyl to theUnited States -- this neverhappened, and manyAmericans continue to die!"Trump said, referring to thehighly potent and addictiveopioid.

US Secretary of State MikePompeo directed more criti-cism at China at the meeting ofSoutheast Asian nations thatWang also attended inBangkok.

"China has taken advantage

of trade... It's time for that tostop," Pompeo said, accusingBeijing of "protectionism" and"predatory tactics" to give itscompanies an advantage inglobal markets.

Washington has accusedChina of using a state-directedeconomic model, unfairly sub-sidising production and steal-ing US technology.

Trade relations with Chinahave swung between progressand disaster, appearing to col-lapse in May only to be revivedtwo months later after Trumpand Chinese President XiJinping agreed to a truce at ameeting in June.

"We expect this (tariffs) stepto make China less keen toachieve a deal and more deter-mined to prepare itself forlong-term economic tensionwith the US," OxfordEconomics said in a note.

China hasimposed tariffson $110 billionin Americangoods, almostall of theproducts itimports from the US

IndiGo ties upwith globaltravelaggregatorPTI n NEW DELHI

IndiGo announced on Fridaythat it had entered into a part-nership with a global travelaggregator that will allow thelatter's users to book ticketsof the budget carrier's flights.

The partnership withSkyscanner, one of theworld's? leading travel searchengine, will not only enhanceaccess to Indian destinationsbut also place them moreprominently on the worldmap, according to IndiGochief commercial officerWilliam Boulter.

"This integration will be agateway for Skyscanner usersto access a wide network ofdomestic and internationalIndiGo flights at affordablefares, while we deliver an on-time, courteous and hassle-free experience," Boulter said.

The chief commercial offi-cer said the partnershipwould enable economicgrowth through "inboundtourist spends".

Skyscanner said the inte-gration highlighted the aggre-gator's commitment to helpits partners like IndiGoexpand into new markets.

"What's more, it means thatour 90 million monthly activeusers will have even morechoice on Skyscanner's trust-ed platforms," Mike Ferguson,commercial director, Asia-Pacific, Skyscanner, said.

With around 49 per centshare of the domestic market,IndiGo is the leading airlinein India. Having a fleet ofover 200 aircraft, the low-costairline offers over 1,400 dailyflights and connects 56domestic destinations and19 international destinations.

Coffee Day shares tank over 48 pc in 4 daysPTI n NEW DELHI

Coffee Day Enterprises stockplunged over 48 per cent infour days to hit its fresh lowercircuit limit as wary investorstook to selling amid slew ofnegative news aswirl about thecompany.

In four days of heavy sell-ing, when shares of the com-pany have tanked over 48per cent, its market valua-tion has been eroded by Rs1,956.6 crore to Rs 2,110.40

crore on the BSE. On Friday, the scrip plum-

meted 9.96 per cent to a fresh52-week low as well as lower

circuit of Rs 99.90 on the BSE.At the NSE, it cracked 10

per cent to its lower circuitlimit and one-year low of Rs99.45.

Coffee Day Enterpriseson Wednesday named inde-

pendent director S VRanganath as the interimchairman of the company toreplace its founder VGSiddhartha, who was con-firmed dead, days after hewent missing.

Siddhartha's body wasrecovered from a river nearMangalore on Wednesday.

The coffee tycoon seemedto be under severe financialstress before his death withhis Coffee Day Enterprises'liabilities doubling to over Rs5,200 crore and his unlistedventures for realty and hos-pitality having similar levelsof debt, as per regulatory fil-ings with stock exchangesand the corporate affairsministry.

In four days of heavy selling, whenshares of the company have tankedover 48 per cent, its market valuationhas been eroded by Rs 1,956.6 croreto Rs 2,110.40 crore on the BSE

PTI n NEW DELHI

China-based consumer elec-tronics firm TCL Electronics,which is investing Rs 2,000crore to set up a new manu-facturing facility in Tirupati,Friday asked the governmentto "reconsider the import duty"on open cell television panels.

TCL, which aims to be atthe second spot in next threeyears in the TV segment, saidreduction in customs dutywould act as "catalyst" for thebrands as TCL, which areinvesting in India and wouldboost domestic manufacturingunder Make-in-India.

"We hope that the govern-ment would reconsider theimport duty and other cessthat are being currentlycharged," TCL India ManagingDirector Mike Chen told PTI.

"This will act as a catalyst forbrands like us to fast-track theinvestment and for introduc-tion of the latest technology inthe country," he added.

At present, imported opencell television panels attractfive per cent customs duty.

Companies import televi-sion panels in open-cell state,which require further assem-bling with value additionbefore being shipped to mar-ket for sale.

TCL is presently at fifthposition in the Indian TVmarket and according to GFKdata, it had 5.3 per cent mar-ket share in June this year.

"We are aiming to be num-ber two player in next threeyears by 2022," said Chenadding that the company isgrowing over threefold everyyear.

TCL has sold 3.5 lakh unitsof LED TVs last year andexpects to continue the samelevel of growth.

"In the first half of thisyear (January-June), we havesold 3.5 lakh units andexpect to sell much morethan that in the second halfas in India, most TV salehappens during the festiveseason," he added.

The company is operatingin India under two brands --TCL an iFFalcon. The formeris primarily for the offlinebrick and mortar shop and thelatter caters the online saleschannels as Amazon andFlipkart.

According to him, it is thirdlargest TV brand on Amzaonand is at fourth position onFlipkart platform.

TCL for reduction ofimport duty on opencell TV panels

Tata Motors, Tata Power toinstall charging stations in HydPTI n NEW DELHI

Tata Motors and Tata Power onFriday said they have cometogether to install 300 fastcharging stations by the end ofthis fiscal in five cities --Mumbai, Delhi, Pune,Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

As part of the initiative, thecompanies on Friday inaugu-rated seven charging stations inPune to enable the e-mobilitydrive in the city.

Over the next two months,they plan to install 45 morechargers across other fourcities. The chargers will beinstalled at Tata Motors deal-erships, certain Tata Groupretail outlets and other publiclocations.

"Our aim is to make EVcharging as fast and easy aspossible for all the Indiansand we are very pleased topartner with Tata Motors,with whom we jointly identi-fied high priority locationswhich could be preferred by

the potential electric vehicleowners," Tata Power MD andCEO Praveer Sinha said in astatement.

Tata Motors CEO and MDGuenter Butschek said thepartnership is an importantmilestone in company's jour-ney to offer complete ecosys-tem solutions and offerpeace of mind to its cus-tomers,.

"We remain committed tothe sustainable mobility mis-sion and will continue to worktowards bringing aspirationale-mobility solutions for thecustomers, leading the drive

towards faster adoption ofelectric vehicles in the coun-try," he added.

The chargers will be oper-ated by Tata Power and willadhere to Bharat Standard (15kW) for the initial 50 chargers.Going forward, companiesalso plans to have charging sta-tions that will adhere to 30-50kW DC CCS2 Standard.

Tata Motors president, elec-tric mobility business and cor-porate strategy ShaileshChandra said the chargerscould be accessed by any elec-tric vehicle user having carscompatible to the above charg-ing standards.

Tata Power and Tata Motorshave jointly developed a charg-ing tariff for Tata Motors EVcustomers.

Currently, Tata Power has 42charging points in Mumbai.The company has signed pactsfor setting up commercial scaleelectric vehicles charging sta-tions at HPCL, IOCL, andIGL retail outlets.

Godrej AgrovetQ1 profit down 4 percentat Rs 78 crPTI n NEW DELHI

Godrej Agrovet Fridayreported 4 per cent decline inconsolidated net profit at Rs77.6 crore for the quarterended June 2019. It had post-ed a net profit of Rs 81 crorein the year-ago period.

Total income rose to Rs1,712.8 crore during April-June 2019 from Rs 1,488.2crore in the correspondingperiod of the previous year,the company said in a state-ment.

Godrej Agrovet is into ani-mal feed, crop protection, oilpalm, dairy, poultry andprocessed foods businesses.

The consolidated resultsof June quarter include finan-cials of Godrej Tyson Foodsand Godrej Maxximilkwhich became subsidiaries ofthe company on March 27,2019.

Hence, the results are notcomparable with the year-agoperiod, it added.

Companiesimport televisionpanels in open-cell state, whichrequire furtherassembling withvalue additionbefore beingshipped tomarket for sale

Beijing vows to strike back at US over tariffs threat

A CNAPS first for SBI,Shanghai branch

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

SaturdayAugust 3, 2019

WHEN MYTHOLOGY INTERTWINESWITH THE PRESENT

A city-based artist unveilsabout the unexplored facets

of Indian mythology with hisunique digital sketches toSREENATH S KURUPrt has alwaysbeen a favouriteterrain formythology andtheir characters,but what makes

Soham Bhowmick’s worksdifferent from others is hisperspective and layers givento characters from our ownmyths. With his series of dig-ital sketches named MythyaMuse, the artist has tried tointerpret various layers thatour mythology has given tosuch characters and takes anironical stance towards it.

Always fascinated bymythology and curiousabout how these stories havecome up, Soham feels thatthe contexts in which themythology has been pennedaren’t superficial in today’stime.

“Take the incidence oflynching, even in ancienttimes characters like Sitaand Draupadi were subject-ed to it,” he said, adding, “onemust try to be more con-scious and look forward toutilising the scriptures thanfollowing it.”

Soham, who has por-trayed Shoorpanaka in manydifferent way says, “The firstthing that comes to mind isthat she shouldn’t have anose. I didn’t want that par-ticular feature to be charac-teristic as there are a lot morelayers to her that are unex-plored, but we only see heras an evil woman who want-ed to snatch someone’s hus-band.”

Soham observes that thereare stark differences in thesouth Indian and northIndian style of attires. “Whenyou enter a temple in south

India, you find yakshikas,who are the guardians of thetemple and are more devil-ish in nature. There is yak-shika in necklace worn byShoorpanaka which is theembodiment of both godand devil.”

Soham has also lookedinto pivotal characters likeShikhandi, who is a eunuchand plays the backbone inthis epic. Even the garlandworn by Shikhandi has astory, which made her whatshe is today.

The postures given to eachand every character is basedon Bharatanatyam, the formof which is also a blend ofstorytelling and martial arts.

Even the way in whichDraupadi aka Yagsaini, hasbeen given a tilaka with fivemarks, denotes to be theconsort of five. The flowinghair confers the vengeanceagainst Kaurava and herpledge that she would onlybraid it after the latter’s elim-ination. Even the mudra ofher hand denotes selfpenance.

He has also portrayed afusion of Saraswathi — god-dess of knowledge —embodied as peaceful innature and Kali — an inde-pendent force who is notruled by any societal norms.“Here, I wanted to showthat you can be one, and yetperform two different func-tions.”

Another one is the depic-tion of Garuda, giving nec-tar to his siblings, the ser-pents. Whereas, in reality,eagles and snake are enemiesby nature. “Garuda is a char-acter in isolation and has lotsof grey shades associated

with him, which is why thebackground of this characterhas been given a dark shade.”

Soham is an architectur-al designer by professionand mentions that his inter-est for sketching evolved

organically over time. Hesaid, “I used to sketch,doodle and keep observingthings and have developedthis fascination towardsmythology from child-hood.”

A

When you enter a temple in southIndia, you find yakshikas, who are theguardians of the temple and are moredevilish in nature. There is a yakshikain necklace worn by Shoorpanakawhich is the embodiment of both godand devil

SOHAM BHOWMICK

CelebratingInternational Breast

Feeding Week, actressNeha Dhupia shares a

video of her feedingdaughter Mihr while

speaking about herroller-coaster

motherhood ride, writesK RAMYA SREE

NO APOLOGIES!#FREEDOMTOFEED IS ALL

THAT WOMEN ASK FORecoming the parentof a new born isboth a life-alteringgift and animmense respon-sibility.

Supporting healthy braindevelopment in babies andyoung children, protectinginfants against infection,decreasing the risk of obesityand diseases, reducing health-care costs and protecting nurs-ing mothers against ovariancancer and breast cancer, thebenefits of breastfeeding forchildren and mothers are widespread.

Yet, policies that supportbreastfeeding — such as paidmaternal leave and breastfeed-ing breaks — are not availableto most mothers worldwide. Toadd to this, breastfeeding isconsidered a taboo for manypeople across the world. Butwomen have stepped forwardto break the stereotypes andtalk about this ‘natural process’that every mother goesthrough post giving birth.

Celebrating internationalbreast feeding week, B-wood’slatest mommy, actor NehaDhupia launched a campaign#freedomtofeed, demandingthat women should have thefreedom to feed their babies.

On Friday, the actor shareda video on her Instagram han-dle where she was seen breastfeeding her daughter Mehr.However, the baby’s face hasnot yet been revealed by theactress

Neha wrote, “#free-domtofeed — an initiative byNeha Dhupia Let’s start a con-

versation... as mothers weneed #freedomtofeed ... #inter-nationalbreastfeedingweek@freedomtofeed #ItsNotAnAd(sic).”

The video shows variousglimpses of Neha kissing Mehr,cuddling her, feeding her andputting her to sleep. Theactress also shared some of herexperiences as a new mother,including her sleepless nightsand how she became an expertin burping.

In the video which beginsshowing the birth date of

Mehr that is November 18,2018, Neha says, “It’s been alittle over eight months sincewe embarked on this roller-coaster ride. And there is nobetter day than today and nobetter time than now to talkabout how truly grateful I amfor all the joy that the littleone has brought into ourlives. You know, I’m notgoing to lie, motherhoodhasn’t been easy. The sleep-less nights, sometimes you’refeeling like a mere foodsource, but the blues are all

part of the package. I meanit’s amazing how the mommybrain works on autopilot,you know, resting the baby’shead just right when you’renursing her or knowingwhen she is done and ofcourse becoming the burpingexpert in the world.”

The actress also empha-sised that mothers do notneed to be apologetic aboutbreastfeeding. She also saidthat there should be morediscussion around the subjectand no taboo around it.

Stressing on the need tobreastfeed a baby for the firstsix months, the actor said thatshe continues to breastfeedMehr even today, adding “Itmakes you realise the impor-tance of a support system anda lack of it.”

After a lot of speculation,Neha Dhupia married AngadBedi in May last year and Angadconfirmed the speculation thatshe was pregnant before they gotmarried.

On the work front, Nehawas last seen in the Kajol’sHelicopter Eela and she con-tinues to shoot for Rowdies.

B

CAPTURING EMOTIONS ONE LENS AT A TIME

here are examplesaplenty of kidsfrom underprivi-leged back-grounds doingwonders when

given the right opportunity.And one such example isPublic Spaces, a photographyexhibition at GoetheZentrum organised by morethan 20 students of Khusbow

Vidya Niketan, a basti schoolin Nandi Nagar. The exhibi-tion is a part of the Teach forIndia project.

continued on page 12

Witness thebeauty,

traditions, cultureand people of

Hyderabadcaptured by

more than 20school

students in aphotography

exhibition,‘Public Spaces’,

reports VSATEESH

REDDY

T

Previously, we haveconducted paintingand music

programmes and this time wechose photography. We took20 students of Khusbow VidyaNiketan to various places inthe city to help them learnphotography techniques fromexperts

AMITA TALWARFOUNDER, ART FOR CAUSES

GET YOUR EVENT LISTED: To get your events listed, please send your detailsalong with a poster and contact number to pioneer.features@gmail.com

12

MAA BHOOMIl A political drama dealing with the atrocities ofZamindars and the autocratic rule of the Nizamof Hyderabad, it gives us a glimpse of rural lifein Telangana, and also how people sufferedunder the heavy burdens of taxations andexploitation.August 3, 7.30 pm, Phoenix Arena, HITEC City.

ANDHERE MEIN

LIKE THE AIR I BREATHElArtist BakulaNayak exhibits herpaintings inspiredby the beautifulepic love poemRitusamharamand vintageephemeras.August 3, 6.30pm, Kalakriti Art Gallery, Banjara Hills.

THEATRECHUHALBAAZIYAANl This theatrical version of light-heartedconversations that Urdu authors Ismat Chugtaiand Saadat Hasan Manto shared aims to showthat despite their intellectual nature they bothenjoy their share of light conversations.August 4, 7.30 pm, Lamakaan, Banjara Hills.

l The play directed by Vinay Varma is anadaptation of Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy.The story is about a sudden blackout takingplace in a family which leads things into morechaos.August 4, 7.30 pm, Bharatiya Vidya BhavanAuditorium, Basheer Bagh.

Hyderabad Saturday August 3, 2019

CITY GUIDE

TRACES OF SOLITUDElArtist Harsha Andukuri willshowcase a portrait seriesthat highlight women andtheir testament to thevulnerabilities posed bysolitude.Ongoing, until August 5, 11am to 7 pm, The GalleryCafe, Banjara Hills.

EXHIBITION

SAFARNAMAlRenowned singer LuckyAli will take you on a ridethrough his soulfulmelodies along with hisother popular numbers.August 10, 7.30 pm,Shilpakala Vedika,Madhapur.

MUSIC

OXFORD DRAWINGSl This exhibitionshowcases exquisiteworks by renownedand eminent artist KGSubramanyan done inthe year 1987-88 whilehe was at Oxford.Ongoing, until August13, 5 to 7 pm, TajFalaknuma Palace,Falaknuma.

ART FOR A CAUSElThe first solo painting exhibition by 15-year-oldPranav Sai Jasti will be organised to raise fundsto support the healthcare of the underprivileged.Alongside the exhibition, Pranav will also performmusic with his band The Outlaws.August 3 and 4, 11 am to 6 pm, State Gallery ofArt, Madhapur.

l This play is an adaptation of a Marathi playpenned by Rajiv Naik. The play revolves aroundtribulations faced by a couple in balancing theirmarried and professional lives.August 3, 7.30 pm, Lamakaan, Banjara Hills.

what’s brewing?

IS KAMBAKHT SATHE KA KYA KAREN?

KAIFI AUR MEINlA theatrical andmusical journey whichwill be ShabanaAzmi's tribute to herfather Kaifi Azmi.Javed Akhtar willenact Kaifi in thisventure.August 11, 7 pm, Shilpakala Vedika, Madhapur.

FUN TIME

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

CAPTURING EMOTIONSONE LENS AT A TIMEcontinued from page 11

To capture the essence of thecity, the students went to places likeCharminar, Moula Ali and so onwith photography experts.

Amita Talwar, founder of Art forCauses, says, “Every year, we comeup with a different programme toinspire school children fromunderprivileged backgrounds topursue various professions.”

“Previously, we have conductedpainting and music programmesand this time we chose photogra-phy. We took 20 students ofKhusbow Vidya Niketan to variousplaces in the city to help them learnphotography techniques fromexperts,” she added.

Amita said that the programmespanned eight Sundays in the lastthree months. She adds, “All cam-eras used by the students are basic.However, they managed to mastercandid shots. We deployed fivephotography experts to help stu-dents learn the nuances of photog-raphy.”

She further said, “We woke upearly every Sunday and travelled toselect places in a mini bus. We givethem some time to observe theplaces and later tell them to cap-ture whatever they want. Studentsalso learned how to respect peopleand interact with people about dif-ferent cultures and traditions.”

Lazar Souri, a class X student ofthe school, says, “I didn't knowanything about photography beforethis programme and now I havelearned many things. Here, I amshowcasing my work whichexplains the importance of water.For me, photography is like a fes-tival of colours. I interacted withmany people during the event. Itwas a great experience and hasinspired me to take up photogra-phy in the future.”

Another student, Swathi DeviPoornika, shares, “This pro-gramme helped me learn how tointeract with unknown people. Iwant to become an IPS officer andcommunicating with people is animportant aspect of the job.Photography is a great field whereone can express difficult situationswithout saying anything.”

The exhibition is on display tillAugust 12 at Goethe Zentrumbetween 10 am and 6 pm.

erintha and Manamantha fameViswant will be playing the lead rolein BFH (Boyfriend For Hire), themuhurat of which was held inHyderabad on Friday. Producer YashRangineni graced the launch ceremo-

ny as a guest. A new-age roman-tic comedy, the film will seeMalavika Satheesan andP o o j a

Ramachandran in the female lead roles whileSivaji Raja and Raja Ravindra form the support-ing cast. Written and directed by SantoshKambhampati, the film, a production ventureof Venu Madhav Peddi under Swastika Cinemabanner, will go to floors from August 26. GopiSundar is on board to deliver the musical accom-paniment.

K

elugu-Hindi FilmmakerPrakash Kovelamudi andhis writer-wife KanikaDhillon have announcedtheir separation onThursday. In an interview

to a Bollywood portal, they revealedthat they split two years ago muchbefore they started shooting for EktaKapoor’s production ventureJudgementall Hai Kya, whichreleased last week. Kanika wrotethe film, while Prakash, son of vet-eran K Raghavendra Rao, direct-ed it, thus marking his Bollywooddebut.

The two, who were marriedsince 2014, emphasised the factthat they remain friends and thattheir decision, to go their sepa-rate ways, was mutual. They arealso open to professional collab-orations in the future. Prakashhas also directed Size Zero,starring Anushka Shetty, basedon Kanika’s script.

It is said thatKanika andS a h i lSang ha ,D i aMirza’sf o r -m e r

husband, have been romantically involvedwith each other in the recent past.However, Kanika slammed the reports forusing her name in Dia’s separation fromSahil.

With some Bollywood reports indicat-ing that Kanika’s closeness with SahilSangha led to his split with Dia, the writerchose to slam such reports. “It’s ridiculoushow two individual reports are being inter-linked. I have never met Dia or Sahil inmy entire life. This is baseless and mali-cious,” Kanika said.

Dia Mirza too came down heavily onthe speculations. “This is to clarify and putto rest all kind of speculation that is beingbandied about by a certain section of themedia regarding my separation withSahil. It is most unfortunate to see the levelof irresponsibility exercised. What is evenmore unfortunate is that our colleagues’names are being tarnished and maligned

by this media. As awoman, I will notstand for anotherwoman’s namebeing used soirresponsibly toperpetuate a lie,”

Dia tweeted onFriday.

Hyderabad Saturday August 3, 2019

13

tollywoodDirector Harsha

Vardhan zeroed in

on Italy as the

setting and the

weather is apt for

shooting only

during October or

March. However,

since the actor is

occupied for the

rest of the year,

the foreign shoot

will take place

next year, finds

NAGARAJ

GOUD

AN ITALIAN JOBFOR SUDHEER

he Pioneer earlier reported that actor

Sudheer Babu and actor-turned-film-

maker Harsha Vardhan will be com-

ing together for a romantic action

thriller packed with twists and turns

(Dec 11). The film was to flag-off ear-

lier this year, but there’s a major change in plan.

Sources close to the project told us that Harsha

is planning to take it in front of cameras next

March-April. The director zeroed in on Italy as

the setting and his vision requires the film to be

shot in either October or March-April next year.

“Harsha has scouted locations in Italy earlier this

May and blocked his favourite places. The

weather is conducive to shoot in

October or in March, while it is

impossible to shoot in the other

months. With Sudheer Babu occu-

pied with Indraganti Mohana

Krishna’s thriller V and former

badminton player Pullela

Gopichand biopic (with Praveen

Sattaru) for the rest of the year,

October was ruled out,”

informed a highly placed source

close to the development.

The source further added

that Harsha would start filming

early next year in Hyderabad,

followed by the Italian outing.

“He will film for 20 days in

Hyderabad before jetting off with

the team to Italy for a 50-day out-

ing. The film has a fair dose of com-

puter-generated shots and Harsha is

planning in such a way that by the

time he returns to Hyderabad after

wrapping up the European leg, the

effect shots are in place. This way there

wouldn’t be any hassles with the release

date,” the source noted.

With the project deferred to next

year, Harsha, who recently performed in

Brochevarevaru Raa as a circle inspector, has

shifted his attention to acting assignments. One

of the most underrated actors of our times, he

has green-lit Trivikram’s film with Allu Arjun

where he will be seen in a full-length role, play-

ing Tabu’s brother in the family entertainer. He

has also given his consent to feature in Chinni

Krishna’s Akshara and another new film with

fresh faces. “Harsha wants to wrap up his act-

ing assignments by the end of the year and wants

to shift attention to the pre-production of his

directorial project early next year,” the source

concluded.

T

Harsha Vardhan will film for 20 days in Hyderabad before jetting off with the

team to Italy for a 50-day outing. The film has a fair dose of computer-

generated shots and Harsha is planning in such a way that by the time he

returns to Hyderabad after wrapping up the European leg, the effect shots are

in place. This way there wouldn’t be any hassles with the release dateA SOURCE

Prakash Kovelamudi,Kanika Dhillon split

Certain reports are connecting Prakash-Kanikaseparation with Dia Mirza and Sahil Singha's

parting. While Kanika slammed the reports, Diatook to Twitter to clear the air

T

It's a wrap forGeorge Reddy

n the making for a long time, the firstlook of George Reddy , featuringVangaveeti fame Sandeep Kumar, wasunveiled recently. A joint productionventure between Mic Movies, SillymonksStudios and Three Lines Cinema, the

film, directed by Dalam fame Jeevan Reddy, hascompleted its shooting and is presently in post-pro-duction. The film has got Ram Gopal Varma allexcited since Jeevan had assisted Varma in the past.“A biopic on the ferocious rebel youth icon GeorgeReddy, who was killed in Osmania Campus in 1972.Thank you Sandeep Madhav for becoming him,

Jeevan for directing and SudhakarReddy for filming it. George Reddyamar rahe,” he posted on Twitter.

Shot in Hyderabad, Kerala andMedak, the film deals with themark that George, dubbed as CheGuevara of Osmania University,left on student politics, his ideolo-gies, and the way he led his lifebefore communal elements brutal-ly murdered him in broad daylight.The 25-year-old’s death led to theformation of ProgressiveDemocratic Students movement asa formidable force against fascismin the university.

Speaking to us earlier thisJanuary, Jeevan had said, “GeorgeReddy, as a film, is made to inspirethe current generation of stu-dents. Through it, I’m comparingthe two periods — the present andthe past. Besides, Osmania campusis not producing popular leaders oflate. Why? I’m also going back intime to show its brightest face.”

The likes of Manoj Nandam,Meesala Laxman, ChaitanyaKrishna, Shatru and Jay Kay (PadiPadi Leche Manasu cinematogra-pher) have played supporting rolesin the film, which will also seeMarathi actress Devika as George’smother. Satyadev has essayed aguest role.

I

Harish foraysinto web space

nown for his outings in Prema IshqKadhal and Vaisakham, actor HarishVarma is entering the web space. ThePioneer has exclusively learnt that alack of exciting feature film storiesprompted him to go the digital way.

The suave actor was desperate to get back inaction as it’s been more than two years since hefaced the cameras. Impressed by the content ofthe web series, he felt it was a perfect platformfor him to showcase his acting chops and provea point. “It’s a time-travel drama and hasalready gone to floors earlier this week inHyderabad. Balaji, who assisted Taxiwaala film-

maker Rahul Sankrutyan in the past, is helm-ing it. Harish is extremely happy with Balaji’svision. Spread over eight episodes, with eachepisode running into 18-25 minutes, the ideais to wrap up the series under 40 days. TheHyderabad leg of filming will go for anoth-er week, followed by a 20-day outing inEast Godavari. Comedian Sudarshanwill be seen in a key role alongsideHarish, while Balaji is introducingtwo new girls. The success of thefirst season will decide its renew-al,” said a source in the know.

— NG

VISWANT isBoyfriend for Hire

K

The first look of SandeepKumar as George Reddy

was released recently,and Ram Gopal Varmatook to Twitter to thank

the cast and the crew

Sudheer Babu

Harsha Vardhan

Harish Varma

PrakashKovelamudiKanika Dhillon

Mala

vika S

athee

san

Visw

ant

‘I am feeling nervous before the telecast ofSanjivani 2 and my excitement isovershadowed by my nervousness. It's our firstday in front of the audience through the mediaand I am wondering if the audience will acceptthe show or not. However, with the kind offeedback we are getting, it seems people arelooking forward to the show.’

— Mohnish Bahl

While Hrithik Roshan is on a happy high withthe success of his latest release Super 30,Kangana Ranauts sister-cum-

spokesperson Rangoli Chandel continues with herrants against him publicly on social media. In herlatest tweet hinted at Hrithik, without mentioninghis name, Rangoli has alleged that the actor hasruined the biopic of a great human being. “Khudkala rang muh pe laga ke outdated 90's kiacting karke, ek itne mahaan insaan ki biopickharab kardi, sara dhyaan Kangana mein hirakhoge toh bhai acting kab karoge? Usko apnaguru mankar, roz uski photo ki pooja kiya kar,

ja thodi acting seekh le.Jadoo kahin

ka,” Rangolitweeted.

SHILPA TO MAKEA COMEBACK TOFILMS

Actress Shilpa Shettywill be making acomeback after 13years with Sabbir

Khan's actionfilm,

Nikamma.“It feelsgreat. I am

ready to takethat plunge

again and lookingforward to be back on

the big screen. It's arefreshingly unique project. Iloved my role, it'ssomething I've never donebefore. I can't wait for theaudience to see me in a newavatar,” Shilpa said. Theactress, who was last seenon the big screen in 2007 inLife In A Metro and Apne,also took to Instagram toshare her excitement aboutthe project. “My sabbaticalof 13 long years comes toan end. I am so excited toannounce that the film youwill see me next in isNikamma,” she posted.

JURY TO FINDWHAT KATYOWES

Jurors are set to hearclosing argumentsbefore deciding howmuch Katy Perry, her

collaborators andher record labelowe to thewriters of aChristian rap

song over herhit, Dark Horse.

Lawyers of Perry andthe rapper, Marcus Gray,will make their final cases tojurors and are likely topresent wildly differentnumbers.Gray’s attorneys haveemphasised that the tens ofmillions brought in by thealbum were used to makeand market it. The samejurors found that Perry andher five co-writers copiedGray’s 2009 song, JoyfulNoise with 2013's DarkHorse.

ex! it is a word thatmany of us in Indiaprefer to tip toearound. We won’tspeak it out unless itis in a whisper, due

to fear of inviting censure fromeveryone around. ‘Are you notin your senses to be saying outthe word so loudly in public?’‘How can you even say it infront of strangers?’ And simi-lar questions abound if youdare to mention the ‘S’ word.The mere hint of the term isembarassing for most people.And this, despite having thelargest adolescent population,which supposedly does nothave any qualms about express-ing themselves freely. ActressSonakshi Sinha hits the nail onthe head with an epic dialoguein the trailer of her forthcom-ing film KhandaaniShafakhana, when she says,“Poori duniya me 500 crore kiabaadi vaale hum hain aur baattoh aise karte hain jaise aadhelog prasad ke kele khaa keprakat huye hain!” (We are theonly country with a populationof 500 crore people in thisworld and we shy away fromsex as if half of us were born as

a result of eating an offering ofbananas from god!) Indeed, thequestion comes to fore — whydo we hesitate in talking aboutsex so openly despite havingthe fastest growing popula-tion?

The film essays the life jour-ney of a quick-witted small-town medical representative,Baby Bedi (played bySonakshi), who has been willedthe clinic of her late estrangeduncle. She is forced to chooseto run it over her monotonouswork life and modest bills. Asshe takes up the extraordinaryjob of running a local sex clin-ic or a shafakhana, she breaksmultiple stereotypes, taboosand ultimately opens mindsalong the way. Her brother(played by Varun Sharma)whose opinions are driven bystereotypes opposes her as well.

The film’s director ShilpiDasgupta and producerMrigdeep Singh Lamba tell usthat they felt it was an impor-tant subject to be showcased.And hence, the tagline of thefilm goes, Baat Toh Karo. “Justlike regular subjects, sex edu-cation and understanding ofmental health are two veryimportant issues that need tobe a part of primary studies inIndia. And this thoughtinspired the film as well. Thetagline implies that talking isactually the solution. After asmall argument with a friend,if we stop talking to them, itcreates misunderstandings inthe long run. Discussing mendsthings. Similarly, with thisissue, if we don’t talk, a thou-sand thoughts, views and emo-tions will emerge and none ofthem will make sense after a

point,” says Fukrey directorMrigdeep.

For Shilpi, it was very organ-ic. “It just made sense at thevery first hearing of the scriptand I was instantly drawntowards working on it,” saysshe.

It was about three years agowhen Mrigdeep’s writer friendGautam (Mehra) wrote thescript and came up with theidea. “Gautam, Shilpi, Bhushan(Kumar, co-producer), Divya(Khosla Kumar, co-producer)and I have been friends for along time. The script didn’tcome to me. We usually keeppassing each other ideas andstories and bouncing scripts toeach other. When I write astory, I pass it ahead and sim-ilarly, Gautam bounced off thisidea. And right from the begin-ning, we agreed to work on it,”he says.

So why did Shilpi choose awoman protagonist for thefilm? “In small towns, itinstantly becomes a hot topicwhen a girl does somethingextraordinary like running anancestral sex clinic. Peoplearound the entire town willjudge her and talk about her ina not-so-positive way. They willeven try to dig out certain pastincidents, blow them up andbuild up gossip around her. Itis a reflection upon the societyrather than the girl.”

Indeed, there is a huge dis-parity between the urban eliteclass in metro cities and themiddle class and small townpeople in India when it comesto talking about sexual prob-lems outside their personaldomains. The elite, after certainqualms, might consider con-

sulting a sexologist but for thesmall town people, it would leadpeople to cast aspersions, espe-cially when they see a girl in thebusiness. They would find it dif-ficult to consult a doctor aboutthese issues and rather, dictateguidelines to the girl by ques-tioning her, “Tu ladki hokar yehkaregi? (You will do this despitebeing a girl?)” Says Shilpi,“Fundamentally, we are a shylot,” and points towards the vastmiddle class that India has.“And much of the interestingstories originate from a classthat is always pressured by a lotof their values, pre-condition-ing and internal conflicts. Thissubject doesn’t include thelower and higher strata as theydon’t really have such problems.It is the middle class which isaffected by such issues.”

This is one of the reasonswhy filmmakers are picking upsmall town backgrounds to

provide a realistic base to theirplots and stories. This, in turn,makes the films and the sub-jects seem very real and relat-able. Recent examples being,Luka Chuppi, Badhaai Ho, Streeand the forthcoming JabariyaJodi. All the films initiate a dia-logue on social issues in smalltowns and among middle classpeople. “When a story comesfrom there, I think, it affects alot of people already and theyassociate closely with it as itcomes from their very sur-roundings. This story too camevery organically from a world,which already has a mindsetand then focusses on whathappens when a girl from thatsetup decides to do somethingextraordinary and path-break-ing,” adds Shilpi.

She believes that there isanother reason that such greatstories are coming out fromsmall towns. It is because they

have a very “settled” kind of asetup, where most people ownsome khandaani or ancestralproperty, and have permanenthomes and business. “Theirsocial mindsets are rigid. Theyare disturbed if someone triesto change or shift them.Whereas in cities, people adjustand adapt to new lifestylesbecause their financial and liv-ing priorities are different.They adjust quickly to chang-ing times to survive. So they getless time to conduct a pan-chayat for such petty things. Nahi time hai unke paas aur na hidimag inn sab cheezon ke liye(They neither have the time northe mind to discuss thesethings). But in small towns,people have a lot of time to dis-cuss these things on a regularbasis.”

Mrigdeep feels that yetanother reason is that bigcities like Mumbai and Delhihave people from diversebackgrounds who have a lot ofdifferent problems to copewith. “But in small towns,most people know each other.It is like a big family. Also,when you cast a pebble inthese still waters, there is

bound to be disturbance.Some Sharma ji ki beti yeh karrahi hai would be of a greatinterest for a person. But inDelhi, nobody cares aboutwho is doing what. They are allstruck and struggling in theirfast-paced lives. In metros,you don’t even mind sendingyour daughters for furthereducation or even work asnobody questions it,” says he.

The film combines comicelements with a bold topic likesexuality and problems relat-ed to it. However, it is not anew genre. Films like VickyDonor , Shubh MangalSavdhaan and Badhaai Hohave also touched upon simi-lar topics while keeping thecomedy element intact. Whythough? Why cannot they justdirectly say it aloud? Shilpibelieves that there is a differ-ence between preaching andimposing as opposed to mak-ing it relatable throughhumour. “More than comic,the f i lm’s story has ahumourous touch to it and itis being dwelled on light-heartedly. Humour instantlystrikes a chord. Agar ekdumseedha bologe, toh unhe lagega

aap unhe sikha rahe ho. Whenyou present your point ofview through comedy andhumour, there would be twoscenarios, either the audienceunderstands it better or itremains confined to enter-tainment. It’s like hitting twoeyes with one arrow.”

Talking about why sex edu-cation is the need of the hour,Shilpi points out that becausewe have been a shy country, wehave never looked beyond ourcomfortable spaces. “Evenwhile crossing a road, we usu-ally don’t smile at people.Even as children we are toldnot to engage with strangers.So we never even say a ‘Hi’ toan outsider. But abroad, and inWestern countries, moststrangers pass a smile whenthey cross paths. They have afriendly nature. I feel that anopen society is very importantto create a healthy environ-ment and lifestyle. Even today,teenagers might not be fullyaware of the changes happen-ing in their bodies with time,”she says as she walks towardscreating another path-break-ing piece of cinema in a bid tochange the rigid society.

melangeHyderabad Saturday August 3, 2019

S

14

Director ShilpiDasgupta and

producerMrigdeep Singh

Lamba tellCHAHAK

MITTAL thatKhandaani

Shafakhana is anattempt to shatter

the rigidstereotypes and

taboos associatedwith sex

problems in India

SHATTERINGSEX TABOO

Blazers

his job can beextremely satisfy-ing at times. Forexample, lastFriday, I was invit-

ed by the Italian supercarmanufacturer Lamborghini todrive the new Huracan EVOat the Madras MotorRacetrack. These are not deci-sions you ponder over, youmake a snap call. After all,even for an automobile jour-nalist, opportunities to drive a640 horsepower supercararound a racetrack are fleet-

ingly few.This was not the first

time I drove a Lamborghiniaround this very racetrack. Afew years ago, I drove theHuracan’s predecessor — theGallardo — around a tight andtwisty track, located oppositethe Hyundai factory. The race-track and its frequent races aremajor reasons that much ofIndia’s racing talent on twoand four wheels emerges outof Chennai. It is a technicaltrack and unlike the BuddhInternational Circuit, it has alittle margin for error. In someparts of the track, the barriersare just a few feet away, con-sidering the Huracan Evo is a

`3.73crore car and

that the track was slipperythanks to an overnight show-er, it was far more challengingthan driving the Gallardo ona dry day and that car has 562horsepower, 80 units less.

The Huracan Evo derives its640 horsepower from the nat-urally-aspirated V8 engine.Yet the Huracan Evo is aremarkable car to drive aroundthis track even with its wetpatches, of which, one didhonestly catch me out. Firstand foremost, I did not drivefast in this car. The short 3.7kilometre track does not real-ly have a very long straighttrack. However, driving fast ina vertical line is not the raisond’être of the Huracan but howwell and fast this machine can

g othrough a corner,

even a tight one without dif-ficulty. Think about it for asecond — to carry a largeamount of speed through acorner defies the laws ofphysics but through a combi-nation of grip from the tyresand aerodynamic grip, thecar changes direction withease. In ‘Corsa,’ which is racemode, the computers and sus-pension will work overtime toensure that you might evenlose your lunch but the car willnot lose grip unless you dosomething incredibly stupid.

But for some of us, theentire point of an exercise likethis, driving on a closed race-track, is to let the tail hang outa bit and for that, Lamborghinihas the ‘Sport’ mode, whereeverything might be tuned toperformance but does allowyou to go a bit wide and

maybe hang the tail out a bit.The wet track did make slid-ing a bit easier, but given thatthe MMRT has little marginfor error you had to be a bitcareful while pushing theHuracan Evo, but that did notmean that one did not havefun. I was enjoying myselfimmensely when I hit a wetpatch and well, power does notalways get you out of a messand I had a 180-degree spin.But I wasn’t driving for time,just to have fun and nothingwas harmed. Phew!

Thankfully, the mostimpressive thing in supercarslike the Huracan is not thesheer acceleration but thebraking. The Huracan’s brakescan bring it from 100 kilome-ters an hour to a standstill in

31 meters. For a regular caruser such braking perfor-mance is unfathomable, injust over two seconds. Theproblem is that you measuresupercars by how fast they goand how pretty they are, speedis not everything and thelooks disguise the functionsthey fulfill. The LamborghiniHuracan Evo is worth everypenny, yes it costs more thana pretty penny but it isn’t anexcuse to make a music video,this car is a remarkable feat ofengineering and it is supreme-ly good to drive and I hadsome great fun.

And Lamborghini Indiachief Sharad Agarwal is also ahappy man, not just becausewe enjoyed the drive, butLamborghini’s business in

India is growing. This mightseem strange given the gener-al doldrums in the market, butAgarwal points to the fact thatthe Italian supercar makerlaunched the Huracan Evo inIndia first, sure it is just a vari-ant of the car, but that is a hugevote of confidence byLamborghini. In 2018,Lamborghini sold 48 cars inIndia, and when you consid-er that the cheapestLamborghini’s are `3.5 crorebefore you add any options,that is quite a few. And eventhis year as the bulk of the lux-ury car market declines by athird, Agarwal told me that heexpects to sell at least 60 carsthis year. “The fact is that weare constrained not bydemand but by the allocation

of cars that we get. The mar-ket for individuals who wouldbuy a Huracan Evo is very lim-ited, but they always havemoney put aside for vehicleslike these.” Of course,Lamborghini has been aidedby its Urus, their idea of aSports-Utility Vehicle (SUV)but their sales figures areimpressive, though givenproducts like the HuracanEvo hardly surprising.

Italian Extravaganza

While the Indian demand for mass market cars

is declining, Lamborghini is not complaining

T KUSHAN MITRA

sport 15HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | AUGUST 3, 2019

PTI n NEW DELHI

He came in when the Indiancricket team was “looking for a

fitness culture” and former strengthand conditioning coach BasuShanker says his stint has ended withthe satisfaction that none of the play-ers would be able to “leave the reg-imen even if they wanted to”.

The 50-year-old’s four-yeartenure ended with the World Cup.

While Kohli was always a“freak” who has not taken a cheatday in the last two years, theChennai-based professional is mostsatisfied about the transformation hehas brought in the fitness levels ofspeedsters Jasprit Bumrah,Bhuvneshwar Kumar andMohammad Shami.

“When I started it was a chal-lenge to transform the culture, now90 per cent of the team trains veryprofessionally. There will always beone or two in every team whorequire the extra push,” Basu, whosecontract with the Indian team endedon July 30, said.

He also worked extensively withthe others including KL Rahul,Hardik Pandya, Ishant, DineshKarthik and Ravichandran Ashwin.The list goes on. Ravindra Jadeja,according to him, is a natural ath-lete who knows his body well andprobably the best fielder in theworld.

Basu decided against continuingwith the Indian team due to familyreasons and says it time for him tomove on to the next phase in his life.

“Looking back, I came at theright juncture (in 2015). The Indianteam was looking for changes andthat was one of the responsibilitiesthrust on me, to bring about the cul-ture. To be very honest I was veryblessed with a set of boys who werelooking for this change.

“When I joined I made a pactwith myself that I will tirelessly workto bring in the much needed impro-visations and culture to augment theteam’s needs. I was very fortunate towork with a coaching and supportteam which allowed me to makeindependent decisions with regardsto training.

“Most of the boys had alreadyworked with me during their under-19 days and it was easy to sell theconcepts.”

And having a leader like Kohliin the side helped him in being more

effective in his job.“When you see someone like

him, it is difficult not to be inspired,”said Basu.

“His cheat days come once in ablue moon, I have not seen him takeone in the last two years. I am tellingyou that fellow is a freak. There willbe months together he would go onand I would force him to take rest.”

The Indian teams of the pastwere not known for their fitness butunder Kohli India has become oneof the fittest sides around.

“It is very simple. You hit oneand then you hit two. In a team if thecaptain sets the example everyonestarts following, it is tough otherwise.And you cannot paint everyone withthe same brush.

“They need to buy in, unlessthey buy in there is no way you canbe effective as a coach. When theystarted seeing the change, they allstarted embracing it. Now we havecome to a stage, even if they want toleave it, they won’t be able to. It isingrained in their system,” saidBasu.

There were doubts over thelongevity of Bumrah with his unusu-al action and his pace partner Shamialso broke down way too often.

While Bumrah has become thenumber one match-winner in allthree formats in the last two years,Shami has worked hard on his fit-ness and managed to stay injury free.

“It is not only Virat, Bumrah,DK, Rahul, Ishant, Shubman, every-body has bought into it now. But Ireally enjoyed working with Bumrah

and Shami, fast bowlers clocking145kmph is very heartening to seeand you have another whole lotclocking 140 plus. It can’t happenovernight.

He also picked the cases ofBhuvneshwar Kumar and KedarJadhav.

“Bhuvneshwar bowls at 140kmph consistently, when I came inhe was bowling at around 128kmph. When you talk about spin-ners, with improved fitness, Ashwincould bowl 95 overs in a match,” saidthe man during whose tenure, clear-ing the yo yo test became mandato-ry.

And there were some giftedmen like Jadeja who did not need alot of attention.

“Look at Jadeja, probably themost natural athlete in the world andthe fittest fielder I have seen in mylife. He is an enigma. The way hemoves on the field, he is easily bestfielder by a country mile.

“He is one guy who did thingson his own, didn’t spend too muchtime in the gym. He was a road run-ner and I understood that very earlyand let him be. So it was all abouthorses for courses.”

He can’t travel with the teamanymore but is always open tohelping the national team.

“At any point if the countrywants me I am there for consulta-tion. Let me first relax for a monthand then take all life decisions later.I have just had two biryanis at a goso let me enjoy this phase,” Basuquipped.

PTI n BANGKOK

India’s SatwiksairajRankireddy and ChiragShetty qualified for the

men’s doubles semifinals butB Sai Praneeth crashed out ofthe men’s singles event at theThailand Open here onFriday.

While Rankireddy andShetty registered a hard-fought win over qualifiersChoi Solgyu and Seo SeungJae of Korea, Sai Praneethsuffered a straight gamedefeat against seventh seedKenta Tsuneyama of Japan.

After posing some chal-lenge in the first game, SaiPraneeth, who reached thesemifinals of lastweek’s Japan Open,surrendered 18-21,12-21 in the men’ssingles quarterfinals.

With Sai Praneeth’s exit,Indian challenge has endedin the men’s singles event.

However, the unseededIndian combination ofRankireddy and Shettyfought valiantly for exactly anhour to get past the Koreanrivals 21-17, 17-21, 21-19 ina quarterfinal duel.

The win was Rankireddyand Shetty’s maiden victoryover the Korean pair to enterthe semifinal, their first in2019 on the BWF WorldTour circuit. They had earli-er won the Brazi l

I n t e r n a t i o n a lChallenge andreached the semifi-nals of Denmark

Challenge.The 16th ranked Indians

will take on another Koreancombo of Ko Sung Hyun andShin Baek Cheol in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Speaking after the match,Rankireddy said, “With everytournament we can see ourgame is improving. In today’smatch, we knew if we staypositive and confident till theend we can win and we real-ly played well in the last twopoints in the end.

“Both of us are makingstrategies for every point on

court and this has helped usto win crucial points, whichotherwise we have been los-ing. Also staying calm andpositive has really worked inour favour.”

However, it was curtainsfor Rankireddy in the quar-terfinals of mixed doublesevent as he and AshwiniPonnappa lost in straightgames to bow out of the tour-nament.

Rankireddy andPonnappa were no matchfor third seeds YutaWatanabe and ArisaHigashino of Japan, losing13-21, 15-21 in a lopsidedencounter that lasted just 28minutes.

AFP n BERLIN

Bayern Munich resume their powerstruggle with Borussia Dortmund on

Saturday for the German Super Cup withthe Bavarians chasing Manchester Citystar Leroy Sane to reinforce their squad.

The blockbuster Bundesliga curtain-raiser in Dortmund once more pitsGermany’s top clubs together after Bayernheld off a spirited Dortmund challenge toland a seventh straight league title on thefinal day of last season.

“This is the first title that is importantto us,” said Bayern star Thomas Muellera fortnight before the new Bundesliga sea-son starts.

“The game has a certain explosive-ness. We want to show that we are ready— we’ll put our all into it.” As defenderNiklas Suele put it, Bayern “want to givea sign” they remain the team to beat inGermany.

Dortmund have recruited hard, sign-ing wingers Thorgan Hazard and JulianBrandt — the latter currently sidelined byinjury — and luring Mats Hummels backfrom Bayern to beef up the defence.

And while Bayern added Frenchworld champions Lucas Hernandez andBenjamin Pavard, City winger Sane is themarquee player they crave.

POTENTIAL CLUB RECORDAccording to reports, Bayern have

tabled a bid of around 90 million euros($85 million) — which would be a clubrecord.

They have even reportedly pushedtaking the official team photo back toSeptember in the hope the 23-year-old willhave joined by then.

Head coach Niko Kovac initiallydeclared “I assume we’ll get him” lastweekend, but Bayern have dramaticallydialled back.

Kovac phoned his City counterpartPep Guardiola to apologise for recruiting

Sane aggressively following criticismfrom Bayern’s senior figures.

“We’re all well advised to not talkabout players still under contract,” saidsports director Hasan Salihamidzic whilechairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge alsocriticised Kovac’s bold statement.

On Wednesday, Kovac insisted “whatI said was true” as he still believes in thedeal with the transfer window to close ina month’s time.

Exactly who will line up for Bayernat Dortmund is unclear.

Bayern fielded mainly reserve teamplayers in Wednesday’s defeat toTottenham Hotspur in the final of theirpre-season tournament.

COMAN, GNABRY DOUBTFULFrenchman Kingsley Coman, who

suffered a recurrence of a serious ankleinjury last season, “only” bruised his kneeagainst Spurs, Bayern confirmed.

Fellow winger Serge Gnabry is alsodoubtful with a leg knock, but Kovac indi-cated both players “will be back soon”.

It will be interesting to see if JeromeBoateng features after coming off thebench against Spurs and missing the cru-cial penalty in the shoot-out.

Bayern are keen to sell the 2014 WorldCup winner, but the club’s desire to movethe 30-year-old on has irritated thesquad.

“We’ve been going round in circles for

weeks,” moaned Mueller. “This guyJerome Boateng does us good,” he addedin his team-mate’s defence.

This will be Dortmund’s first key testafter winning six pre-season friendlies —including a 3-2 victory over ChampionsLeague holders Liverpool last month ontheir US tour.

They posted a 4-1 win over St Gallenon Tuesday in their Swiss training campwith captain Marco Reus scoring theirfourth.

“The Super Cup is very important forus all — to start the season well and showfans what we have planned,” said Reus.

“However, it’s clear neither us norBayern are at 100 percent yet.”

AFP n PARIS

French World Cup-winner Kylian Mbappe urgedtroubled Brazilian Neymar to stay at Paris Saint-

Germain on Friday as he apologised for sparkingspeculation about his own future at the club.

Mbappe, speaking before the ChampionsTrophy against Rennes in Shenzhen, China, saidNeymar was a key player for the French league-win-ners who are desperate for success in Europe nextseason.

“Everyone loves him and I love him so much,”Mbappe said of Neymar, who has been linked witha return to his former club Barcelona.

“I don’t want him to leave the team, obvious-ly. I want him to stay. When you think about hissituation and then he plays very well and he co-operates with the team you can see what he meansto us.”

The 20-year-old Mbappe, who smashed 33goals for PSG last season, also doused any linger-ing concerns over his own plans after he talkedabout playing “elsewhere” at the French leagueawards ceremony in May.

“I think it wasn’t the right place (to say that),”he told reporters in southern Chinese city. “I’d liketo say sorry to the players who were there,because I spoiled the party.”

It has been a troubled few months for Neymar,who earned a three-match ban after an altercationwith a fan as Rennes stunned PSG on penalties towin the French Cup in April.

Neymar also missed Brazil’s triumphant CopaAmerica campaign on home soil after suffering anankle injury in a warm-up friendly against Qatar.

And the 27-year-old has been embroiled in rapeallegations, vehemently denied, which were dis-missed by Brazilian police on Monday for lack ofevidence.

“He is still the same Neymar,” said Mbappe ofhis team-mate, who trained with the rest of thesquad on Friday.

“We all know he is in very special circum-stances. However he is training with us and he isstill performing his best which is not unusual andafter all he is a very good player.”

Mbappe said he hoped to improve on his 33-goal tally next season, adding that Qatar-ownedPSG also want to take the elusive next step in theChampions League.

“We’re going to try to win the two national tro-phies, to not leave matches to chance,” he said.“After that there’s the Champions League, whicheveryone's looking at... we have to take that step.

“We’ve found our way blocked the last fewyears. It’s up to us to find a way to go as far aspossible.”

AFP nWASHINGTON

World number six Stefanos Tsitsipas struggledlate but advanced to the ATP Washington

Open quarter-finals on Thursday by defeatingAustralia's Jordan Thompson 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).

The 20-year-old Greek top seed took the onlybreak of the match to claim the first set and aftersome tense moments won the tie-breaker whenThompson netted a forehand after 99 minutes atthe US Open hardcourt tune-up event.

“It was kind of tricky at the end,” Tsitsipas said."I kept doing silly mistakes in the tie-breaker. Iwas not happy about it. I made a lot of unforcederrors.

"I played great to get break points, then I start-ed thinking about it. I didn't identify the rightoccasion to come to the net. Just a little lost."

"I believe I can handle those situations moremature in my next matches."

In the quarter-finals, Tsitsipas will meetFrench 10th seed Benoit Paire, who ousted US fifthseed John Isner 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.

"He's a very dangerous player," said Tsitsipasof Paire. "He has a big backhand. His serve canbe dangerous. I'll have to be careful. He's veryunpredictable."

Tsitsipas, who beat Roger Federer in Januaryon his way to the Australian Open semi-finals,seeks his fourth career ATP title after crowns lastOctober in Stockholm, last February at Marseilleand in May at Estoril.

Tsitsipas reached the 2018 Washington semi-finals and a week later became the youngest play-er to ever beat four top-10 ATP players in the sameweek before losing to Rafael Nadal in the CanadaMasters final.

Croatian sixth seed Marin Cilic, the 2014 USOpen champion, beat Canadian ninth seed FelixAuger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-4.

World number 17 Cilic booked a last-eightdate with Russia's 10th-ranked Daniil Medvedev,who eliminated hometown hero Frances Tiafoe6-2, 7-5.

"He's in great shape. His game is strong. Weall know what he's capable of when he's in goodshape," Medvedev said of Cilic. "It's going to show

what I'm capable of this season."Medvedev and Karen Khachanov give Russia

two top-10 players for the first time sinceOctober 2010.

"I'm playing good," Medvedev said. "I wantto back it up with some more wins."

Tiafoe said he will skip next week's ATPCanada Masters Canada after aggravating a footinjury in the loss.

Two lucky losers reached the last eight, includ-ing Slovakia's Norbert Gombos, a last-secondreplacement for South African fourth seed KevinAnderson, who withdrew with right knee pain.

The world number 137 will next face AussieNick Kyrgios, who fired 15 aces in eliminatingJapan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 7-5.

German 122nd-ranked lucky loser PeterGojowczyk shocked Canada's Milos Raonic, the2014 Washington champion, 6-4, 6-4 to reach thequarter-finals.

"Couldn't make it count when it was the mostimportant," Raonic said. "Just a disappointing per-formance."

Gojowczyk, who had lost 12 of 14 priormatches entering the week, replaced AussieBernard Tomic, who withdrew with a finger injury.

The German has made the most of his oppor-tunity by dispatching Russian Andrey Rublev,Aussie 12th seed Alex De Minaur and 20th-ranked Raonic.

Next up for Gojowczyk is British 13th seedKyle Edmund, who ousted France's 70th-rankedJo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Tsonga, who fired 18 aces, received a wild-card into next week's event at Montreal.

Also getting a Montreal spot was Britain'sAndy Murray, who will play doubles alongsideSpaniard Feliciano Lopez as he tries to make a sin-gles return in two weeks at Cincinnati.

Murray, who feared he might never play againafter January right hip surgery, plays alongsidebrother Jamie in a Washington doubles quarter-final Friday.

In the joint WTA event, Taiwan's 31st-rankedHsieh Su-wei became the only seed in the quar-ter-finals by outlasting Russian qualifier VarvaraGracheva 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (8/6).

AFP n TORONTO

Two-time Wimbledon cham-pion Petra Kvitova has with-

drawn from next week's RogersCup in Toronto after failing torecover from an arm injurywhich has dogged her season,organisers said Friday.

Tennis Canada said in astatement that the 29-year-oldCzech star's withdrawal wouldmean former world number one

Serena Williams is now given atop eight seed.

Venus Williams will takethe available space in the maindraw while a wild card spotwould be handed to SvetlanaKuznetsova.

Kvitova said in a statementshe had pulled out after the leftarm injury that forced her towithdraw from the French Openflared up again.

"I'm so disappointed to have

to withdraw from the RogersCup," Kvitova commented.

"My forearm injury is con-tinuing to cause some problemsso, on the advice of my medicalteam, I have made the decisionnot to travel to Canada."

Despite pulling out ofRoland Garros, Kvitova wenton to play Wimbledon, advanc-ing to the last 16 for the first timein five years where she waseventually knocked out by

Johanna Konta.Kvitova has made a remark-

able comeback to tennis afterbeing attacked during a homeinvasion and robbery in 2016which left her with seriousinjuries to her left hand.

Although doctors feared shemay never play tennis again, shereturned to the sport in 2017 andhas since won eight titles, as wellas reaching the final of theAustralian Open in January.

Rankireddy-Shettyenter Thai semis

Bayern renew battle with Dortmund

Mbappe urgesNeymar to stay

Neymar Jr and Kylian Mbappe trains during session PSG/Twitter

Kvitova withdraws from Toronto, Williams seededVenus Williams willtake the availablespace in the maindraw while a wild

card spot would behanded to Svetlana

Kuznetsova

TSITSIPAS REACHESWASHINGTON QUARTERS

KOHLI HASN’T HAD A CHEATDAY IN 2 YEARS: SHANKER

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in a file picture BWF/Fansite

PTI n LAUDERHILL

Back on the road following theirunfulfilled World Cup campaign,

India will begin their preparations forthe T20 showpiece event next yearwith a three-match series against theWest Indies beginning here onSaturday.

As captain Virat Kohli pointed outbefore leaving for the Caribbean tour,the main objective of the T20s and thesubsequent ODI series against theWest Indies is to try out the fringeplayers who are on selectors’ mind.

A full strength squad has beenpicked barring the absence of starpacer Jasprit Bumrah who will join theside ahead of the Test series beginningAugust 22.

It will be a crucial couple of weeksfor Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey,who are back in the mix after beingsidelined from India’s 50-over WorldCup plans.

Pandey last played for India inNovember 2018 and Iyer in February2018.

With India looking to solidify theirbrittle middle-order in ODIs, bothbatsmen have a good opportunity tomake their case in the coming sixgames.

Spin all-rounder WashingtonSundar and pacers Khaleel Ahmed andDeepak Chahar are also back in theT20 squad while speedster NavdeepSaini and Deepak’s brother Rahul arein line to make their India debut.

With Rohit Sharma and a fit-againShikhar Dhawan set to open, thenumber four spot seems likely to beoccupied by K L Rahul, who has fondmemories of the Central BrowardRegional Park Stadium, having scoredan unbeaten 110 in his last inningshere almost three years ago.

Rohit was top-scorer in the WorldCup, with a record five hundreds, andwould be keen to carry that form amidthe off-field drama.

From this tour onwards, RishabhPant will have more responsibility onhis shoulders with the selectors back-ing him as the number one wicket-keeper in all formats amid little clar-ity over the future of Mahendra SinghDhoni.

India will be expected to beat theWest Indies though they are most dan-gerous in the shortest format.

The explosive Kieron Pollard andspinner Sunil Narine are back in theside though Chris Gayle will only beseen in the ODIs. Injury-prone AndreRussell too has been named in the T20squad.

The regional side will be aiming toget over the disappointment of WorldCup with a good result against India.

SQUADSWest Indies: John Campbell, EvinLewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicolas

Pooran, Kieron Pollard, RovmanPowell, Carlos Brathwaite (c), KeemoPaul, Sunil Narine, Sheldon Cottrell,Oshane Thomas, Anthony Bramble,Andre Russell, Khary Pierre.India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma,Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, ShreyasIyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant,Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja,Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar,Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed,Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini.

sport 16HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | AUGUST 3, 2019

PTI n KOLKATA

Former skipper SouravGanguly on Friday said he

aspires to be India’s cricketcoach some time in future buthas no interest in the high-pro-file position at this point.

The hunt is on for the newIndia coach with incumbentRavi Shastri’s tenure coming toan end with the conclusion ofthe tour of the West Indies.

Ganguly said he’s definite-ly interested in the India coach’sjob but not at the moment ashis plate is full.

“Definitely, I’m interestedbut not at this point of time. Letone more phase go then I willthrow my name into the fray,”Ganguly said.

The 47-year-old is cur-rently the Cricket Associationof Bengal (CAB) president,besides being associated withIPL franchise Delhi Capitals asthe team Advisor. He also doescricket commentary and is thehost of a popular Bengali quizshow.

“Currently, I’m associatedwith too many things — IPL,CAB, TV commentary. Let mecomplete this. But I will defi-nitely put my hat at somestage. Provided I get selected.But definitely I’m interested.Not now but in the future,”Ganguly said.

One of the most successfulIndian cricket captains,Ganguly was the chairman ofthe previous Cricket AdvisoryCommittee (CAC), whichpicked Shastri as the Indiacoach last time.

The recently-appointedCAC, led by Kapil Dev withAnshuman Gaekwad andShanta Rangaswamy as othermembers, is all set to pick thenew coach.

But it seems that Shastri,who has reapplied for the post,would get another term withthe India captain Virat Kohliopenly endorsing his candida-ture.

Kapil Dev also said thatthe skipper’s opinionneeds to be “respected”.

Ganguly said therewere not many bignames in the fray this

time around.“Going by the

applicants, Idon’t see anyh e av y we i g htnames. I heardM a h e l a(Jayawardene)

would apply butultimately he didn’t. Thereare not many big names whohave applied for the coach’sjob.

“Ultimately I don’t knowwhat the panel will decide.They have been around fora while. We will see how longthe term the coach will give.Not many names haveapplied for.”

The former left-handerhowever refused to commenton Shastri’s tenure.

“I will hold my opinion

on that. I don’t think it’s rightfor me to say about that. I’mtoo far from the system thatdecides the coach,” Gangulysaid.

After the ODI World Cup,where India lost in the semi-finals, they will be back on theroad with a full series in theWest Indies, beginning withthe first T20I in Florida onSaturday.

Ganguly, meanwhile, saidIndia’s upcoming series wouldbe tough against the reigningWorld T20 champions, whoalso defeated England 2-1 ear-lier this year at home.

“West Indies in WestIndies will be a lot stronger.T20 is their preferred format.They enjoy playing T20s andthey are the current World T20champions. The two matchesin Florida will be tough games.

“Test matches will also betough as they played very wellagainst England. It won’t be aneasy West Indies tour as it wasfive years ago. India will bechallenged. There are a lot ofyoung players in the team,”Ganguly said.

“As I’ve said before youwant to see these young play-ers get consistent opportuni-ties. You keep saying horses forcourses but I feel ‘don’t judgea horse if you want to keepthem on the course’.Consistency is important forrhythm and confidence,” headded.

Ganguly heaped praise onSteve Smith whose brilliantcentury helped Australiarecover from 122/8 to reach acompetitive 284 in the open-ing Ashes Test.

“Class is permanent andyou could see it. These sort ofhundreds will remain in every-body’s memories. Now theyhave a big chance of winningthe match. First innings scoresare very important. From thatpoint of view, it’s a fantastichundred.

“To be away for a year andplay the World Cup...He hashad a quiet World Cup. Andthen to start the Ashes with acentury, especially when theteam was down was a remark-able effort. Ashes is the biggestEngland-Australia battle,”Ganguly said.

PTI n MELBOURNE

He stood firm when his sonbroke down and Peter

Smith says he is finally lettingemotions get the better of himnow that Steve Smith’s remark-able resurrection from a one-year ball-tampering ban seemscomplete with an Ashes hun-dred.

Smith’s grinding knock of144 off 219 balls pulledAustralia out of trouble to arespectable 284 after beingeight down for 122 on theopening day of the first AshesTest against England inEdgbaston.

“...This one, given the con-text of all that has gone to getto that point now, and heplayed under a lot of pressureas people fell around him …that probably made it. If it’s nothis best, it’s way up there,” Petertold The Telegraph.

The knock was continua-tion of a remarkable comebackby Smith after being bannedtill March of this year for theinfamous incident in South

Africa. Peter Smith’s hand wasonly one around Steve’s shoul-der when he sobbed and apol-ogised in a press conference onarrival back in Sydney lastyear.

Little over a year after thatemotional breakdown, SmithSenior couldn’t be more proud.

“He had worked very, veryhard to get to that point. Thatwas one thing he did say to me,it was one of the hardestinnings he’s had to play. Andyou could see that in thathundred. And you could seethe effect that it was having onhim,” Peter said.

“For that reason you sort ofgo with him and enjoy it aswell, but also know what he’sactually going through. I mustadmit, to begin with, I hadmore trepidation than I prob-ably ever have had, which wasstrange.

“Then it all unfolded andit became emotional. It wasemotional watching him gethis hundred. And I’m stillquite a bit emotional about it,”he added.

AFP n EDGBASTON (BIRMINGHAM)

Rory Burns was eyeing a maidenTest century as Australia finallysaw the back of England captain

Joe Root in the Ashes opener atEdgbaston on Friday.

England were 170-2 at tea on thesecond day of the first Test, 114 runsbehind Australia's first-innings 284.

England still had plenty of work todo to get back on level terms but thiswas a vast improvement on their first-innings 85 all out in a Test win overIreland at Lord's last week.

Surrey opener Burns was 82 not outand fellow Ashes debutant Joe Denlynine not out at tea, with Root the onlybatsman dismissed in a session thatyielded 99 runs in 27 overs.

Australia's total had been built ona superb 144 from Steve Smith in theformer captain's first Test match sincecompleting a 12-month ban for his rolein a ball-tampering scandal in SouthAfrica. The tourists been struggling at122-8 before their last two wickets morethan doubled their score.

England were 10-0, with left-han-der Burns four not out and Surreyteam-mate Jason Roy six not out,when play resumed Friday in slightlyovercast conditions.

Roy made a blistering 85 in even-tual champions England's World Cupsemi-final win over Australia atEdgbaston last month.

But in just his second Test, he neverlooked comfortable against Australia'sfast bowlers and, on 10, he edged a goodlength ball from James Pattinson lowto Smith at second slip, with Englandthen 22-1.

Root had returned to numberthree from four in a bid to lead fromthe front.

- Fortune favours England -But the star batsman was almost

bowled leaving off-spinner NathanLyon's first ball, a sharply turningdelivery that just missed the stumps.

Root had an even bigger slice ofluck on nine when he was given outcaught behind off Pattinson only for hisreview to reveal the ball had hit the offstump without dislodging a bail.

Meanwhile Burns patiently bidedhis time and picked off anything loose,

such as an over-pitched ball from PatCummins that he on-drove for four.

England were 71-1 at lunch, withBurns 41 not out and Root unbeaten on11.

Burns went to fifty in 110 ballswhen he hit Lyon for the seventh fourof his innings.

Root then had another moment ofgood fortune when given out lbw torecalled paceman Peter Siddle on 14.

But in a match already full of over-turned decisions, his immediate reviewrevealed an inside edge.

Root cashed in by driving Lyon forfour and leg-glancing Cummins foranother boundary as he too complet-ed a 110-ball fifty.

But, frustratingly for a batsmanwhose conversion rate of fifties to hun-dreds is relatively poor -- 42 to 16 -- he fell soon afterwards when hechipped a ball Siddle held back, thebowler taking a fine one-handedcatch, to end a second-wicket part-nership of 132.

Australia's pacemen allowedBurns to settle by repeatedly bowlingaround the wicket and so feeding himruns on the legside.

By the time they bowled over thewicket at him, he was well set withBurns -- whose highest Test score is the84 he made against the West Indies inBridgetown in January -- cutting Lyonfor four. Australia hold the Ashes butthey have not won a Test series awayto England in 18 years.

Steve Smith returns to pavilion after getting dismissed cricket.com.au/Twitter

One of the bestSmith’s father rates Ashes hundredright up there with the best

Burns keeps Aus at bay

Joe Root congratulates Rory Burns after England’s opener completes fifty AP

Australian players celebrate after getting England’s captain Joe Root wicket AP

Eng vs Aus (Day 3)Live from 3:30pm IST

SONY SIX NETWORK

CURTAIN RAISER One day I want to becomeIndia coach: Ganguly

Indian players pose for photo upon their arrival in Florida for the three-match T20 series against West Indies Virat Kohli/Twitter

West Indies vs IndiaLive from 8:00pm ISTSONY TEN 1 & 3 NETWORK

India begin life after World Cup with T20 against West Indies in Florida

Jason Mohammed replaces RussellIANS n FLORIDA

The interim selectionpanel of Cricket West

Indies has named JasonMohammed as the replace-ment for Andre Russell forthe first and second match-es of the three-matchTwenty20 Internationalseries.

Mohammed (32) has sofar played nine T20 interna-tionals and has also cap-

tained the West Indies inT20 internationals and the50-over format.

Russell was named inthe original 14-membersquad for the first and sec-ond matches to be played inthe US subject to him pass-ing a fitness assessmentprior to the series.

The all-rounder experi-enced some discomfortwhile playing in the GT20tournament in Canada and

informed the interim selec-tion panel of his unavailabil-ity for the upcoming series.

"We welcome JasonMohammed into the squadfor the first two T20 match-es here in Florida. He is aplayer with a lot of experi-ence in all three formats andhas done well for Trinidad &Tobago as well as forGuyana Amazon Warriors,"said Floyd Reifer, the inter-im head coach of the West

Indies."It is not easy to the fill

the shoes of someone likeAndre Russell, who hasdominated T20 cricket allover the world and helpedthe West Indies win theICC T20 World Cup ontwo occasions. We believeJason is capable of goodperformances and we backhim to perform at this leveland win games as well,"Reifer added.

Anderson apologised

after re-injuring calfIANS n BIRMINGHAM

England pacer James Andersonapologised to his teammates

after bowling only four oversbecause of a calf injury on DayOne of the first Ashes Test againstAustralia, revealed Stuart Broad.

Anderson, who first tore hisright calf muscle while playing forLancashire against Durham atSedburgh on July 2, on Thursdayexperienced further discomfortduring his fourth over of thematch at Edgbaston and left thefield for treatment.

The 37-year-old is nowawaiting the results of a scan

and could miss the remain-ing part of the

Edgbaston Test. “He’s a bit

d i s t r a u g h t , ”ESPNcricinfo quotedBroad as sayingafter the end ofplay on Day One.“He came and

said sorry to thebowlers. He feels likehe’s let the bowling groupdown, which of course hehasn’t. He’s down and he’sfrustrated.”

“We don’t know the fullextent yet. All we can hopeis the news is better than weexpect,” the England pacer

ended.

Rohit 4 short of breakingGayle’s recordPTI n LAUDERHILL

Indian run-machine Rohit Sharmawill surpass Chris Gayle for the

highest number of sixes in T20Internationals if he hits four moremaximums in today’s first matchagainst the West Indies.

Rohit has so far struck 102 sixesin 94 T20Is while the big-hittingJamaican tops the list with 105 in 58outings.

Gayle is followed by New

Zealand’s Martin Guptill who hassmashed 103 maximums in 76 match-es he has played so far.

While Rohit will turn up for histeam, the 39-year-old Gayle willnot get a chance to add to his tally,as he won’t feature in the three-match series.

Rohit already holds the recordfor being the highest run scorer inT20Is. He has aggregated 2331 runsat an average of 32.37 with four hun-dreds and 16 half centuries.

English opener smashes maiden Test hundred tohelp hosts reach close to Aus 1st innings total