With some farmer unions intensifying their protest against the Centralgovernment over the recent agri reforms, the BJP has decided to hold

nationwide programmes, including 'chaupal' in rural areas, to highlight thebenefits of three farm laws. Party sources said events, including pressconferences and public programmes, will be held inmost of the over 700 districts of the country in thisregard. The development comes amid oppositionparties' united support to the farmers' protest andattack on the Narendra Modi government over theissue. The BJP has accused its rivals of misleadingthe farmers over the farm reforms and has allegedthat opposition parties have been inciting them forselfish political interests.

BJP TO HOLD NATIONWIDE PROGRAMMESTO HIGHLIGHT BENEFITS OF 3 FARM LAWS

BHARATIYA KISAN UNION BHANU MOVESSC AGAINST CONTENTIOUS FARM LAWS

The launch of communication satellite CMS-01onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-

C50), is scheduled on December 17 from the SatishDhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation said on Friday. "PSLV-C50,which is the 52nd mission of PSLV, will launch CMS-01 from the Second Launch Pad (SLP) of SatishDhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. Thelaunch is tentatively scheduled at 15:41 Hrs IST onDecember 17, 2020 subject to weather conditions,"the space agency said. CMS-01 is a communicationsatellite envisaged for providing services in Extended-C Band of the frequency spectrum, it said.

Fresh agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) waslaunched by 18 organisations in Assam on Friday demanding repeal

of the legislation and release of jailed KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi whowas taken into custody during the protests last year. Protest rallieswere taken out across the state by the organisations, including KrishakMukti Sangram Samiti, All Assam Students Union (AASU), AsomJatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad, Lachit Sena,besides students, and youth organisations of ethniccommunities. The agitation began from Sivasagar,where it was launched last year before it was halteddue to Covid-19 pandemic. Mentioning that the CAAwas against the identity, language and culturalheritage of the indigenous people of the state.

BharAtiya Kisan Union Bhanu, a farmers association, has moved theSupreme Court seeking to intervene as a party in a pending plea

challenging the constitutional validity of the newly enacted threecontentious farm laws. A bench headed by Chief Justice Justice SA Bobde,on October 12, had issued a notice to the Centre by agreeing to test thevalidity of the laws on a batch of pleas. The threelaws — Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection)Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm ServicesAct, 2020; Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce(Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 and TheEssential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 —took effect from September 27 after PresidentRam Nath Kovind's assent.

PSLV-C50 TO LAUNCH COMMUNICATIONSATELLITE CMS-01 ON DEC 17

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BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

{

Don’t test toler-ance of farmers,Pawar tells Centre

5

Agriculture:Creating win-winoutcomes

2

Aatma Nirbhar:Imported coal to besubstituted withdomestic fuel

8

VIJAYAWADAWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated December 11, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Kartik & Krishna Paksha

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03:52 am (Next Day)

Nakshatram: Vishakha: 04:04 am (Next Day)

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 09:25 am – 10:47 am

Yamagandam: 01:32 pm – 02:54 pm

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FFoorreeccaasstt:: SunnyTemp: 31/19Humidity: 69%Sunrise: 06:36 amSunset: 05:43 pm

C PRADEEP KUMARn HYDERABAD

Expressing incredulity at thedecision of the StateGovernment to sell off some ofits immovable assets to fundthe ‘Mission Build AP’, theAndhra Pradesh High Courton Friday wondered if therewas a financial emergency inthe country.

The High Court was hearinga plea pertaining to the sale ofproperties to fund the MissionBuild AP. During the hearing,the judge, Justice RakeshKumar, asked counsel appear-ing for the State Governmentif there was a financial emer-gency in the country. “Is theresuch a situation that the stateshould sell its assets?” thejudge asked.

\It may be mentioned herethat the High Court had onAugust 27 stayed the sale oftwo out of the six sites that theState Government wanted to

sell through e-auction to fill itscoffers.

These two properties werethe 75 cents of land on thepremises of District TrainingCentre in Chinagadili mandal

of Visakhapatnam district andalso the sale of one acre landin Armed Reserve PoliceQuarters.

During Thursday’s hearing,Justice Rakesh Kumarremarked that the governmenthad to sell liquor at a high priceduring the pandemic time togenerate revenue and sarcasti-cally thanked the people whoconsume alcohol for ‘standingfor the welfare of the state’.

TTD to allow darshan for devotees of all ages PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The TTD on Friday decided toresume the Srivari darshan forall category of devotees hence-forth.

In a statement here, theTTD said that darshan for allcategories of devotees wouldbe allowed "honouring theirsentiments, but within theframework of Covid-19 guide-lines and all health safeguardsprescribed by the authorities".

Earlier similar appeals andrequests were also aired bydevotees during several theDial-your-EO programmesover the last few months.

However, the TTD had

maintained that the devoteeswho intend to have darshan ofLord can have through exist-

ing channels of booking attheir own risk and cost dulykeeping in view the Covid

norms provided by CentralGovernment.

The TTD has also said thatthese devotees have to go fordarshan in general queue lines

only as no special queue linearrangements have been madefor them.

Following the Covid norms,TTD has dispensed with dar-shan for the above categoriessince March 20. But whenTTD resumed darshan in June,since then it has been receiv-ing a huge number of emailsand appeals from devotees.

The requests included toredeem long pending vows oftonsuring, ear piercing,Annaprasana for infants andchildren and Shashtipurti 70and 80 year-olds at the abodeof Lord Venkateswara as theyinvolve the sentiments, tradi-tions and practices of devotees.

PNS n WASHINGTON

Raja Jon Vurputoor Chari, anIndian-American US AirForce colonel, is among 18astronauts, half of themwomen, who have beenselected by NASA for itsambitious manned mission tothe Moon and beyond.

The modern lunar explo-ration programme will landthe first woman and nextman on the Moon in 2024and establish a sustainablehuman lunar presence by theend of the decade, theAmerican space agency said.

NASA on Wednesdaynamed the 18 astronauts whowill train for its Artemismoon-landing programme.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Senior TDP leader RMadhubabu suffered a headinjury and four cars weredamaged when their convoywas attacked, allegedly by rul-ing YSR Congress Party work-ers in Chittoor district onFriday, a leader of the opposi-tion party said.

Some media persons whotried to film the violence wereattacked and the camera andmobile phone of a Telugutelevision channel reporter

was broken, leading to tensionin the area.

Police intervened and dis-persed the workers after TDPleaders, led by Nallari KishoreKumar Reddy, sat on a protestat the spot. Kishore KumarReddy is the younger brotherof former Chief Minister NKiran Kumar Reddy.

TDP chief N ChandrababuNaidu spoke to KishoreKumar Reddy and other lead-ers over phone and enquiredabout the incident.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Madanapalli police on Fridayarrested Chittoor district JudgeS Ramakrishna following acomplaint by the manager of aCanara Bank branch.

In his complaint, the bankmanager alleged that evenafter the death ofRamakrishna's grandmother,her pension was drawnthrough forged cheques.

On receiving the complaintby the bank manager, thepolice arrested the judge.

It may be recalled that JudgeRamakrishna and his brotherRamachandra were attacked

by some miscreants. However,Ramakrishna alleged that theattack was carried out by fol-lowers of Minister PeddireddyRamachandra Reddy.

The attack was condemnedby TDP chief Chandrababu,CPI leader Ramakrishna andDalit groups and supported

the judge on the issue. Therewere also reports that theminister had retaliated againstthe family of JudgeRamakrishna.

Against this backdrop, thetahsildar issued orders barringJudge Ramakrishna fromcoming on the road. The

judge then approached theHigh Court and the courtordered the suspension of theorders given by the Tahsildar.

Earlier, JudgeRamakrishna's younger broth-er Ramachandra was taken tothe police station forcibly byB-Kothakota police question-ing and detained on the basisof a complaint that he hadbehaved rudely towardswomen.

Judge Ramakrishna allegedthat the police were deliberate-ly trying to involve womeninto the case while the caserelated to the land dispute waspending in the court.

The panel membersn Dr MukeshTripathi, Director & CEO of AIIMS(Mangalagiri)

n Dr Ahmadullah Sharif, HOD Clinical eco-toxicology, AIIMS(Delhi)

n Dr Rakesh K Mishra, Director CCMB

n Dr Chandrasekar, Director IICT

n Dr JJ Babu, Scientist NIN

n Dr Jamshed Nair, Associate Professor, Dept of

Emergency Medicine, AIIMS (New Delhi)

n Dr Sanket Kulkarni, Deputy Director NCDC (Delhi)

n Dr Avinash, Scientist D, ICMR - NIV (Pune)

n Dr Asish K Satapathy, National ProfessionalOfficer, NPSP WHO, South Region, Bangalore

n Dr B Chandrasekhar Reddy, Neurophysician,Govt. of AP

n Dr Malathi, Neurophysician, Siddhartha Medical College

Controversial judge arrested for forgery

NASA selects RajaChari for mannedmission to Moon

The TTD said thatdarshan for allcategories ofdevotees would beallowed“honouring theirsentiments, butwithin theframework of Covidguidelines”

TDP leader injuredin attack on convoy

High levels of metals triggeredoutbreak, say separate reports PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Lead and nickel in blood,mercury in rice, pesticidesand herbicides in vegetableswere found in more than per-missible limits, triggering theoutbreak of the mysterious dis-ease in Eluru city of AndhraPradesh, different analyticalreports said on Friday.

Just four fresh cases of thedisease were reported onThursday taking the cumula-tive to 613, but only 13 of themwere active now.

A report submitted to thegovernment by the All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciencesand Indian Institute of Che-mical Technology establishedthe presence of lead and nick-el in blood (of the victims), butnothing in drinking water.

An analysis by scientists atthe National Institute ofNutrition found traces of mer-

cury in rice and pesticides andherbicide residues in excessquantities in vegetables.

The NIN also found outthat residues of organophos-phorous in blood, but said ithas to be studied how theyentered the humans.

A study of ambient air qual-ity and water, conducted bythe Andhra Pradesh PollutionControl Board, revealed nopresence of heavy metal inwater.

The Institute of PreventiveMedicine, in its analysis, foundno heavy metal in milk.

Reports related to the analy-sis of meat and fish were yet tocome, according to stateHealth CommissionerKatamaneni Bhaskar.

But most of the people didnot consume non-vegetarianfood in recent days due to thefestive season, he said.

Visakhapatnam: With thenumber of people beingaffected by the mystery illnessreaching 600 people in Eluru,the State Government onFriday formed a 21-membermultidisciplinary committeeheaded by the Chief Secretaryto investigate the outbreak.

Some residents of EluruMunicipal Corporation havedeveloped sudden convul-sions from December 5. ByDecember 10, a total of 597persons with such symptomswere being treated in varioushospitals in the State.

Is there a financialemergency, asks HC

Jagan asks bankers to helpstrengthen rural economyPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Thursday urgedbankers to extend their sup-port in implementingGovernment welfare schemesand help strengthen the ruraleconomy.

Speaking at the 213th StateLevel Bankers Committee(SLBC) meeting held here onFriday, the Chief Minister saidit was gratifying to note that 7.5percent growth was registeredin the last quarter and 99 per-cent of crop loans sanctioned.

He asked the bankers tofocus on doubling the incomeof farmers, reducing invest-ment costs, providing propermarket facilities for the crops,and to support farmers at thetime of natural disasters.

The Chief Minister said thathis Government has startedvarious initiatives to reduce theinvestment cost to farmers.The Government has beenproviding financial assistanceof Rs 13,500 per annumthrough Rythu BharosaScheme. “About 50 percent of

farmers have less than half ahectare of land in the state and80 percent of investment costto those farmers would becovered through this scheme,”Jagan pointed out.

He said Rs 7,500 was cred-ited to the bank accounts of thebeneficiaries before Kharif inMay, Rs 4,000 in October andRs 2,000 is given to farmers forSankranti in January.

Jagan said the State govern-ment has cleared all arrears ofprevious government pertain-ing to interest-free loans andwas encouraging farmers totake more such loans. He saidno burden is laid on farmersregarding the premium of cropinsurance as the government ispaying it.

21-memberpanel toinvestigateEluru mystery

In his complaint, the bank manageralleged that even after the death ofRamakrishna's grandmother, her pensionwas drawn through forged cheques.

Showdown again?PNS n VIJAYAWADA

State Election CommissionerNimmagadda Ramesh Kumaris believed to have written yetanother letter to ChiefSecretary Nilam Sawhney,seeking her cooperation for

conducting panchayat elec-tions in February. This is thethird time the SEC has writtento the Chief Secretary in thelast few months.

It is learnt that he has men-tioned in the letter that the APHigh Court has refused to

grant stay on proceedingsissued by the SEC regardingpanchayat polls.

The SEC is also said to havewritten to Principal Secretary(Panchayat Raj) Gopal KrishnaDwivedi asking him to orderpreparation of the final list of

voters by January 2021 so thatthe polls could be conducted inFebruary.

According to sources, theAP government is planning tomove the Supreme Courtagainst the SEC proceedings onpanchayat elections.

SEC writes to Chief Secretary again on Panchayat Raj polls

The High Court washearing a pleapertaining to thesale of properties tofund the MissionBuild AP.

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2020

EGG

RATES

` 50, 080 (10 gm)

` 10

GOLD

` 67, 200 (1kg)

` 3,800

VIJAYAWADA 441

HYDERABAD 421

VISAKHAPATNAM 441

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..4411

SILVER

VIJAYAWADA

BULLION RATES

`̀//110000

CHICKEN

RATES

Dressed/With Skin `148

Without Skin `168

Broiler at Farm `102

`̀//KKGG

(IN VIJAYAWADA)

Is there a way to bridge thesupposedly competing inter-

ests of different actors toachieve win-win (dual posi-tive) outcomes? The standardway is to view the interests ofdifferent actors in the agricul-tural sector as antagonistic toone another, also called a win-lose (zero-sum) situation. Forexample, middlemen can onlybenefit at the cost of farmers.

In his book “Panjab:Journeys Through FaultLines”, Amandeep Sandhudescribes the complex ruralmarket place as follows: Takea chart paper and fold it intotwo. On the left side of the folddraw a farmer and add atractor, diesel container, waterin a canal, a tube well, electric-ity, seeds, fertilisers, pesti-cides, labourers, a sickle, andthe combine harvester.

On the right side draw agrain market having a shedwith shops all around, weigh-ing machines, sample grain,mounds of grain bags,godowns, labourers, tractors,

trucks, factories, shellers forrice and atta chakkis (flourmills) for wheat. To this, addrail tracks, distant cities, morebags, more shops, homes,kitchens, rotis, children sittingaround a dining table andtheir mother cooking.

In between the two parts ofthe paper, on the fold (fault),lines who connects them?The arthiya. This is how thearthiya, or the commissionagent, fits into the agrariansystem and is in fact the pivoton which both the farm andthe market rotate.

Depending upon theMinimum Support Price -available only on wheat andpaddy - the arthiya procuresthe crop.

The arthiya also procuresmaize, vegetables and bas-mati rice, whose prices fluctu-ate from mandi to mandi, and

sugarcane (goes directly to thesugar factory). As paymentfrom the market is uncertainand could take any amount oftime and the farmer needsimmediate resources to carryon with the next crop cycle,the arthiya advances money tofarmers.

The arthiyas also have linkswith suppliers of seeds, fertilis-ers and pesticides and becausethey extend credit to farmers,the farmers are compelled tobuy from these networks,thereby binding them veryclosely with the arhtiyas.

According to a survey pub-lished in January 2016 byPanjabi University, Patiala,the outstanding debt of ruralPunjab is Rs 70,000 crore, ofwhich about one-fifth wasfrom loans extended by thearthiyas. That social profile ofarthiyas has changed over thelast two decades. A few yearsback, economist-professorSukhpal’s research highlight-ed that more than one-fourthof all arthiyas today are Jats.

Since Independence, therehave been efforts to reduce therole of arthiyas. Some of the

institutional measuresdeployed are the formation ofcooperatives, collectives,establishment of rural banksand most recently the policyfor creating FarmerProduction Organisations(FPOs).

All these solutions havefollowed the orthodox

approach and none haveaimed to truly integrate thearthiyas into the agrarian sys-tem.

One way to integrate thecommission agents into thesystem is to make them partof the FPOs. In short, theFPOs have to be opened up toentrepreneurs, financiers,food processors, godownowners, etc.

The effect of broad basingthe membership of FPOswould be akin to the establish-ment of the joint stock com-pany in the fifteenth/sixteenthcentury, and is expected tounleash “animal spirits” inagriculture. Of course, ade-quate safeguards would haveto built in so that farmers donot lose their lands.

Most importantly, the FPOshave to be regulated. The bestway is to get them registered

under the Companies Act.The reason for this is that theCompanies Law requires ahigh level of disclosures andcompliance, and this wouldensure proper management ofthe FPOs.

In the new scenario theC o l l e c t o r s / D e p u t yCommissioners would begiven the powers of Registrarof Companies to regulate theFPOs.

At the same time, an e-mar-ketplace similar to theGovernment’s e-Marketplace(GeM) would have to be cre-ated. The GeM is an online,end-to-end marketplace ofthe Government of India. Itprovides an open, efficientand transparent marketplacefor purchase by all govern-ment entities. A SpecialPurpose Vehicle manages theGeM and is a fully owned

company under the Ministryof Commerce. A private con-sortium comprising of an e-commerce player, a systemsintegrator and an IT infra-structure provider maintainsthe technology platform.

An adapted model of theGeM can be established bytransmuting the NationalAgriculture Market (e-NAM)to a farm-GeM. The farm-GeM would be operated bythe Food Corporation of India(FCI) and the FCI would bethe buyer of the last resort atthe notified MSP.

The unorthodox way out-lined above blends thestrengths of all actors in theagrarian system and ruralmarkets to align competinginterests and yield positiveoutcomes. This would lead toa win-win situation for all,particularly the farmers.

(Author has a PhD from theUSA and a DLitt from KanchiUniversity. The article is basedon his research and practiceand views are personal)

DR. SAMEER SHARMA

Agriculture: Creating win-win outcomesIn between the two parts of the paper, onthe fold (fault), lines who connects them?The arthiya. This is how the arthiya, or thecomm-ission agent, fits into the agrariansystem and is in fact the pivot on whichboth the farm and the market rotate

APTDC to raise loans, completetourism projects to woo visitorsSNV SUDHIR

n VIJAYAWADA

The cash-starved AndhraPradesh Government hasdecided to raise loans frombanks by mortgaging some ofthe assets and propertiesbelonging to Andhra PradeshTourism DevelopmentCorporation (APTDC) to fundthe completion of tourisminfrastructure projects alongwith the renovation of existingproperties.

The Covid-induced situa-tion has heavy impact onAPTDC due to which its rev-enues have fallen drastically.

The State government hadrecently accorded permissionto APTDC to raise loan worthRs 142 crore from banks toundertake various tourisminfrastructure works worthRs 202 crore and also to mort-gage properties of APTDCand pledge annual revenues asguarantee.

APTDC is now tasked withthe mapping of land and assetsbelonging to the Corporationcovering ownership deeds andvaluation will be undertakenupfront.

APTDC has undertakenseveral high impact tourisminfrastructure projects at var-ious potential destinations topromote the State as a major

tourist destination of Indiaand also to take up the reno-vation works for the existingproperties to provide hassle-free facilities to the touristsvisiting the state.

APTDC has resorts in pop-ular tourist destinations inAndhra Pradesh. The variousresorts are grouped into sixdivisions in the State i.e.Visakhapatnam, Kakinada,Vijayawada, Nellore, Tirupati,Kadapa and Kurnool.

The Corporation owns over36 properties across the state.

Many of these propertiesrequire refurbishment toimprove marketability totourists. Additionally, theCorporation requires fundsto finish ongoing tourisminfrastructure works andundertake new works to fur-ther develop tourism in theState.

Due to Covid pandemic, theCorporation is facing a majorfinancial crisis and hence is inno position to generate fundsfor the completion of projectsthrough its operations.

Therefore, the APTDCManaging Director has sub-mitted a proposal to the stategovernment to raise a termloan of Rs 142 crore to under-take various tourism infra-structure works of Rs 202crore.

"Land or land and buildingof APTDC for a value to theextent of loan value Rs 142crore is required as collateralfor the banks and has to bemortgaged to the lender.Further, the properties whichare getting renovated may be

considered as primary assetsbut will not be mortgaged tothe lender. In the project asset,if the value of the land of oneor few of the properties areequivalent to the loan amount,then the same will be used assecurity and it is not requiredto offer a separate land parcelor another asset as security,"said a senior government offi-cial.

To ensure bankability,APTDC has also outlined aproject structure for availingthe term loan. As per thestructure, the Corporationcan earmark its part of leaserental and other fixed-incomecontracts receipts to the extentof Rs 8 crore towards part ofdebt servicing.

In the cash flows of the divi-sions after assigning formonthly debt service (EMI),maintaining required DebtService Reserve Fund (DSRF)and maintaining minimumbalance as required by thebank, rest may be transferredto APTDC current accountevery month for meeting otherexpenses.

Interest rate, tenor, morato-rium period for principal,Debt Service Reserve Fund(DSRF) has to be negotiatedwith the concerned banker,whoever is processing the loanproposal.

Convict seeks AP report on probePNS n NEW DELHI

A plea has been moved in theDelhi High Court, by a convictin the 2006 Mumbai trainbombings case, challenging aCIC order denying his requestfor the Maharashtra govern-ment's report of investigationinto the blasts which claimed189 lives.

The convict - EhteshamQutubuddin Siddique - whohas been sentenced to deathin the case has also sought theAndhra Pradesh govern-ment's dossier on the probeinto the alleged involvementof the Indian Mujahideen(IM) group in the blasts.

On July 11, 2006, sevenRDX explosions r ippedthrough as many Westernline local trains in Mumbai,

leading to the death of 189people and injuring 829.

Siddique has claimed thathe was falsely implicated inthe blasts case and therefore,

it amounts to violation of hishuman rights.

During the hearing onFriday, his counsel arguedbefore Justice Navin Chawla

that there is a High Courtorder of 2019 which statesthat certain information canbe provided under the Rightto Information Act if viola-tion of human rights wasinvolved.

The court, thereafter, askedadvocate Arpit Bhargava,appearing for the convict, tofile the 2019 order and listedthe matter for hearing onJanuary 13, 2021.

Central government coun-sel Rahul Sharma and advo-cate CK Bhatt, appearing forthe Ministry of Home Affairs,opposed the plea and said theinformation sought cannot beprovided.

They also contended thatseveral similar requests havebeen made by the convictunder RTI in the past.

AP crosses 2 lakh testsper millionpopulation PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh on Fridaycrossed another milestone inCovid-19 management as itaccomplished over two lakhsample tests per million pop-ulation (TPM).

A gross of 1,06,99,622 testsfor coronavirus had beendone in the state so far at therate of 2,00,367 per million,turning out an overall positiv-ity rate of 8.17 per cent.

Andhra Pradesh is the onlymajor state to cross the twolakh TPM while Kerala isbehind with 1.89 lakh andKarnataka 1.80 lakh, govern-ment data here showed.

In the 24 hours ending 9am on Friday, 64,425 testswere carried out and thatturned out 520 positives forCovid-19, taking the statesinfection count to 8,74,515.

Only two fresh deaths werereported while 519 morepatients recovered from theinfection, the latest bulletinsaid. The gross recoveriesnow touched 8,62,230 and thedeaths 7,049, according to thebulletin. The active caseloadwas 5,236, a mere 0.6 per cent.

Chittoor reported the high-est 108 new coronavirus casesin a day while all other dis-tricts saw less than 100 each.In fact, five districts added lessthan 20 new cases each.

Krishna and

TDP leader injured...Continued from page1

The incident occurred atAngallu crossroads when theTDP leaders were returningfrom B Kothakota villageafter consoling the family ofa party worker who diedrecently.

TDP state president KAtchannaidu alleged thatabout 200 YSRCP workerssuddenly started throwingstones at the vehicles whenthey reached Angallu.

Four cars, including that ofKishore Kumar Reddy andKadapa district TDP leaderSrinivasulu Reddy were dam-aged in the stone pelting, hesaid.

Madhubabu suffered ahead injury while some TDPmen were also injured, hesaid.

In a statement here,Chandrababu Naidu said theattack on TDP leaders reflect-

ed the "fascist rule" of YSJaganmohan Reddy.

There was no rule of law inthe state, he said, adding thatmiscreants were going on arampage across the state, con-fident that they could goscot-free.

The former Chief Ministerdemanded that the accused bearrested immediately andpolice take steps to ensuresuch incidents did not recur.

The Chittoor districtpolice, including theSuperintendent of Police, wasnot immediately available fortheir response.

High levels of metals triggered outbreak, say separate reports Continued from page1

"What exactly caused thedisease is not clear yet and itcan be established only afterdetailed reports of the testscome out," Bhaskar said.

He also disclosed that tracesof organochlorine were presentin some blood samples.Organochlorine is a pesticideused in large quantities for thecontrol of agricultural pests.

IICT has submitted itsreport, while CCMB, NIN areyet to do so, said the HealthCommissioner. All the scientif-ic institutes may come up withtheir reports by Wednesday orThursday, Bhaskar said.

“We have not found anychemicals in the drinking waterso far. Some of the rice and veg-etable samples only containedmercury. Moreover, a very fewper cent of the blood samplescarried the chemicals like lead,nickel and organochlorine,” heexplained.

He also urged the media notto draw conclusions on their

own but only report the scien-tific findings.

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy heldanother round of videoconfer-ence with experts from theCentral research institutions onFriday evening, who told himthat the drinking water sup-plied in Eluru was clean.

However, the Chief Minister

asked them to test drinkingwater samples repeatedly andensure nothing was amiss.

He asked them to preciselytrace out how lead, nickel,organochlorine andorganophosphorous enteredhumans.

The Chief Minister saidindiscriminate use of pesti-cides and unauthorised insec-ticides should be stopped andwanted the officials concernedto focus on it.

"Take this programme up fora month. Educate farmers onorganic farming and use of per-mitted pesticides. This way wecan prevent contamination offood items, he said.

Continued from page1

Among them, 515 persons weredischarged after recovery.Chiefsecretary Nilam Sawhney saidthat to mitigate this suddenepidemic, the government hasmade elaborate arrangements inproviding medical care in all theWard Secretariats, UPHCs inEluru town, District HospitalEluru and GGH Vijayawada.Multidisciplinary committee willinvestigate the source of theinfection, thoroughly examinevarious cause/s of the incidentand suggest remedial measures

to prevent any occurrence ofsuch events in future in the State,the CS said. The committee hasbeen asked to submit itscomprehensive report withdetailed plan of action to avertsuch incidents in futureimmediately.The committeecomprises the administrationofficials, doctors and expertsfrom different research institutio-ns.Those affected complained ofdizziness, fainting spells, heada-che and vomiting. The committeewill suggest remedial measuresto prevent the recurrence of suchincidents in the future.

21-member panel to investigate...

Is there a financialemergency, asks HCContinued from page1

Counsel for the govern-ment said that the AP haslaunched some welfare pro-grammes that no other state inthe country has so far.

The judge sarcasticallysaid that everyone knowshow well the government is.

The court said that thusfar, 10 petitions have beenfiled objecting to the sale ofgovernment property in thename of “Mission BuildAP”.

The court adjourned thecase till December 17.

The YSRCP government,soon after coming to power,

launched many welfareschemes, including theBuild AP scheme.

Accordingly, it issued anotification for e-auction oft he s i te s ident i f i e d inGuntur and Visakhapa-tnam.

The Government seeksto raise funds by way of saleof the unused governmentlands to private individualsand organisations.

To implement the BuildAP Mission, the state gov-ernment constituted a state-level monitoring commit-tee, headed by the ChiefMinister, and issued GOMs No. 447 in this regard.

Cryptocurrencytrader arrested

Continued from page1

“The Government has setup 10,641 Rytu BharosaKendras to assist farmersfrom sowing seeds to sell-ing crops and qualityseeds, fertilisers andpesticides are madeavai lable throughthese centres. Allthese initiatives arehelping farmers tobecome self reliant,” hesaid.

The Chief Minister urgedthe bankers to come forwardin providing loans to tenant

farmers as they have beengiven Crop Cultivated RightCards (CCRC).

He said the bankersshould support MSMEs as

they play a key role in thefinancial sector. The

banks should assistin restructuring ofloans for MSMEs.The Governmenthas paid Rs 1,100

crore subsidyamount pending to

industries from 2014 andalso fixed electricity chargesduring Covid were waived,Jagan reminded.

Jagan asks bankersto help strengthen...

NASA selects Raja Chari formanned mission to MoonContinued from page1

Raja Chari, 43, a graduateof the US Air ForceAcademy, MassachusettsInstitute of Technology(MIT) and US Naval TestPilot School, is the onlyIndian-American in the list.

He was selected by NASA tojoin the 2017 AstronautCandidate Class.

He reported for duty inAugust 2017 and havingcompleted the initial astro-naut candidate training isnow eligible for a missionassignment.

HYDERABAD: The ED hasarrested a cryptocurrency trad-er in connection with itsmoney laundering probelinked to an online Chinesebetting scam case that is esti-mated to be over Rs 1,100crore. It said Naisar Kothariwas arrested under sections ofthe PMLA and he has beensent to the ED custody tillDecember 22 by a court. Thecase came to light after theagency conducted multipleraids across the country inAugust at the registered officesof some companies, their dire-ctors who were stated to beinvolved in illegally runningonline betting apps on websiteswhich are hosted from outsideIndia and some Chinesenationals operated them.

Jagan held another round ofvideoconference with experts fromthe Central research institutions onFriday, who told him that the drinkingwater supplied in Eluru was clean

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2020

Two youngsters die on Beach Road as bike hits poleVISAKHAPATNAM: Two bike-borne youngsters died on the spotafter they hit the pole on the road that connects Yendada and Beachroad in the wee hours on Friday. The deceased were identified asMohan Rao (24), a resident of Jalaripeta in Vizag city, and H Sekhar(27), a resident of Palasa of Srikakulam district. The police said thatboth the victims were friends and students. The police aresuspecting that overspeeding might have caused fatal accident. Thepolice have registered a case and shifted the bodies to the KGHospital for post-mortem.

Man gets life imprisonment for killing wifeVISAKHAPATNAM: One J Santhosh, was sentenced toimprisonment for life by the Third Additional Court, Vizianagaram,on Friday for killing his wife J Jyothi around three years ago.The police said that Judge M Madhuri, while holding Santhoshguilty of murder, also imposed a fine of Rs1,000. The accused is aresident of Indiranagar of Vizianagaram. He was addicted to liquorand other vices and ignored his family. When his wife Jyothi pointedout his faults, Santhosh beat her and later set her on fire by dousingher with kerosene on April 1, 2017. Jyothi succumbed to severeburn injuries while undergoing treatment at a hospital. The policeregistered a case and arrested the accused. Based on the witnessesand dying declaration of the victim, the court sentenced the accusedto life term.

LVPEI wins Greenberg prizeVIJAYAWADA: LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) is one of the fewrecipients of the very prestigious 'The Greenberg Prize - EndBlindness 2020'. The winners were chosen based on the strengthof their contributions to eliminate blindness. Dr Gullapalli N Rao,Founder-Chair, L V Prasad Eye Institute is being presented withthis award in the 'Outstanding Achievement Prize' category. "I feelhumbled and honoured to accept this prestigious award on behalfof over the 3,000 strong family of LV Prasad Eye Institute and itsnumerous supporters all over the globe. Eliminating avoidableblindness by the year 2020 has been an aspiration of the globaleye care community for over two decades. I want to place onrecord our gratitude to Sanford and Susan Greenberg EndBlindness Foundation for recognising our contribution to thisglobal effort. My heartiest congratulations to all the other winners,"said a thrilled Dr Gullapalli N Rao, Founder-Chair, L V Prasad EyeInstitute.

Notorious criminals extort moneyfrom realtor with toy pistol, heldVISAKHAPATNAM: The Duvvada police in Visakhapatnam arrestedfour persons for extorting money from a realtor on Friday. Thepolice recovered Rs 60,000 in cash, a toy pistol and a knife fromthem. The accused were produced in the court and sent to judicialremand for 15 days. Duvvada Inspector K Lakshmi said that aresident of Duvvada, PSN Raju, who was working in the Vizag-based steel plant, had been into real estate business in the nameof his wife. Local goons P Santosh and M Lovaraju have beendemanding money from him and have threatened to kill him. Theyhave already collected Rs 9.5 lakh in phases from the victim andhave been demanding more money from him. Two days ago,they held him captive in a four- storied building and demandedhuge amounts of money. Raju managed to escape and lodged acomplaint with the police. The police teams after a day's searcharrested them and also their two assistants Nagesh and Gandhi.The CI said that Santosh, a notorious criminal in Gajuwaka andDuvvada, was also accused in nine other cases, including anattempt to murder case. Lovaraju has four cases pending againsthim. "Both have been extorting money from people in Gajuwakaand Duvvada for some time," the CI added.

SHORT TAKES

Naidu seeks probe intomurder of whistleblower PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Expressing concern over themurder of an ex constable ofthe Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) in Kadapa dis-trict , TDP chief NChandrababu Naidu onFriday termed it alarmingthat the whistleblowers werebeing targeted, harassed andeliminated in the State.

He urged the DirectorGeneral of Police (DGP) totake immediate action againstthe culprits responsible for themurder.

In a letter addressed to theDGP, Naidu said that a CRPFex-constable, GurupratapReddy, was a whistleblowerwho was targeted for expos-ing the state government'scorruption in PenjiAnantavaram sand reach inJammalamadugu constituen-cy.

Also, Gurupratap ques-tioned the YSRCP over irreg-ularities in providing com-pensation to the evacuees ofGandikota reservoir project.Each of the 877 evacuee fam-ilies was sanctioned Rs 10lakh compensation.

Naidu disclosed thatthough the actual number offamilies in the village was only350 and that the YSRCP lead-ers inflated the number to677.

Gurupratap complainedagainst the entire issue as theruling party leaders looted theremaining amount. The cul-prits created ruckus and triedto disrupt the grama sabhameeting held on November13, he added.

The TDP chief said that theYSRCP leaders developed agrudge against Gurupratapand avenged by killing him atthe very temple where gramasabha was held. He was elim-

inated for exposing the mis-deeds of the ruling partyleaders, he alleged.

Naidu decried that themurder of a whistleblower

proved that the criminalgangs and mobs were rulingthe state. Attack on whistle-blowers is an attack ondemocracy and breaching the

trust of the people. The cor-rupt, criminal elementsshould be brought to bookand the Rule of Law should berestored in the State, he said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP chief N ChandrababuNaidu on Friday demanded thearrest of the culpritsresponsible for the attack onthe Telugu Desam Party leadersat Angallu village inKurabalakota mandal in Chittoordistrict. Naidu condemned theincident in which TDP leadersNallari Kishore Kumar Reddy,Madhu Babu and three otherswere seriously injured. Fourvehicles were also damagedand the victims sustainedserious head injuries in theincident. It is unfortunate thatTDP leaders were brutallyattacked when they wereheading to console the familymembers of the party'sdeceased activists at BKothakota, he said. Naidulambasted that the attackreflected the repressive tacticsof the state government led byYSRCP chief YS Jagan MohanReddy. The Law of the land isbrazenly breached at everypoint. The YSRCP fascist mobsare unleashing terror withactive support of Chief Minister,he added. Naidu deplored thatthere seemed no end to theattacks on the TDP leaders andactivists across the state. Eventhose going to call on thefamilies of the deceased

activists were being attacked.Not a day was passing withoutatrocities being committed onthe weaker sections andbackward classes. The BCs,SCs, STs and Muslim Minoritieswere facing constant threat, heobserved. TDP generalsecretary Nara Lokesh calledKishore Kumar Redddy andenquired about the incident. Heasked the DGP to take actionimmediately and arrest theaccused persons. The TDPwould not be afraid of suchrepressive tactics of the rulingYSRCP. TDP AP President KAtchannaidu said that over 200YSRCP activists were involvedin several attacks on the TDP leaders.

nTDP chief wants DGP to take stringent action in killing of CRPF ex-constable

TDP demands arrest of accused in Kurabalakota attack

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

While the AP government isproposing Vizag as theExecutive Capital of the state inits three-capital plan, the plansto make multi-storey parkingslots are not taking any shape.

Except the one multi-storeyparking space at Jagadamba,the other proposed slots areonly in the proposal stage.Lack of parking space is givingnightmare to motorists when itcomes to parking their vehiclein the busy stretches such asJagdamba, Daba Garden,Siripuram, Old Town and RTCcomplex areas.

The parking woes will fur-ther grow if the city turns intothe executive capital asplanned. "It will be a hellishexperience if you want to takeyour car to the Daba gardenarea. There is not even aninch space you find to parkvehicles," said P Raju, a busi-nessman.

V i s a k h a p a t n a mMetropolitan RegionDevelopment Authority is yetto issue tenders for a mega carparking facility at SiripuramJunction. It has already gotadministrative sanction fromthe state government.

This facility would provideparking to nearly 500 cars and800 two-wheelers. This pro-

posed eight-storied structure,which would be partly utilised

for commercial activities, maycost around Rs 80 crore

Only one parking project,the multi-level car parking(MLCP) facility at JagadambaJunction may see the light ofthe day soon.

The MLCP, which is beingconstructed on a 367 squaremetre plot, will be able to pro-vide parking to 100 carsthrough a six-level structureconsisting of an automatic anda mechanised system.

The parking facility has beentaken up by the GreaterVisakhapatnam MunicipalCorporation (GVMC) at a costof Rs 9.7crore under the Vizag

Smart City project.The new parking facility is

expected to solve the city'sparking problems, particular-ly in and around the bustlingJagadamba Junction. Themajor objective of the projectis to reduce traffic congestionin the area by reducing on-street parking.

The MLCP comes with anoption of future integrationwith the City OperationsCentre at the GVMC office.Civic body officials recentlyconducted a trial run of thefacility. GVMC sources saidthat the project would be com-pleted by this month-end."

No end to parking problems in ‘executive capital’

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

AP State Women'sCommission chairpersonVasireddy Padma said that thevillage volunteers have kept astrict vigil to prevent womentrafficking at village level withthe help of police.

The chairperson was thechief guest of a programmejointly organised by Vimukthiand Indian Leaders ForumAgainst Trafficking (ILFAT) tomark Human Rights Day.

Addressing the meeting, thechairperson said that the stategovernment had started a 100-day programme 'Mahila March'to solve various issues beingfaced by the women. Shereleased a book on humanrights standards on the occasion.

Guntur Urban additionalSP Gangadhar said that thepolice department was verymuch focused on women traf-ficking cases and taking up thecase immediately without anydelay. He said that the chiefminister has introduced Dishapolice stations, Disha Acts toprovide more security to thewomen across the state.

Vimukthi state convener

Meharunneesa and ILFATconvener A Bhanu Priya said:"We are the victims as well asthe survivors of exploitation ofmany kinds, not just sexual,but also psychological, eco-nomic, social and political."

They further, on behalf ofthe victims, appealed to theState Women Commission totake steps for rehabilitation ofsurvivors of trafficking andsuggest recommendations tothe state government in evolv-ing a rehabilitation policy forsurvivors of human trafficking.

The issue of citizenship andright to open bank accounts for

women in prostitution shouldnot rest only upon proof of res-idence. The Commissionshould also draw the attentionof State Commission for theProtection of Child Rights(SCPCR) in AP on the issuesof children of women in pros-titution and their miserableconditions.

Meanwhile, HELP organisa-tion secretary N Ram Mohanstressed the need for the stategovernment to move from ashelter home-based rehabilita-tion approach to a communi-ty-based rehabilitationapproach.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

YSRCP MLA ThopudurthiPrakash Reddy slammedTDP leaders for politicisingthe naming of Upper Pennaproject after former CM DrYS Rajasekhara Reddy whoactually initiated the project.

Addressing a press confer-ence here on Friday, he saidthat opposition TDP leadersare unnecessarily creatingcontroversy over the UpperPenna project and makingfalse propaganda throughtheir favoured media houses.

He recalled that YSR hadactually started Handri Neevaproject in 2005 after thedeath of TDP leader ParitalaRavindra. He questioned asto why the governmentshould name the project afterParitala Ravi who had notcontributed to the project inanyway. In 2007, people ofAnantapur requested to pro-vide water from Jeedipallireservoir to Perur dam.

In the following year 2008,YSR had ordered a feasibili-ty study for the project andannounced its constructionduring the 2009 electioncampaign.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Transport minister PerniVenkataramaiah (Nani) saidthat opposition leader NChandrababu Naidu had con-fined to Zoom conferencesand is living in illusions.

Addressing a press confer-ence here on Friday, theMinister flayed Naidu over hiscall to party leaders on winningTirupati by-election by seizingfive per cent of votes fromYSRCP and creating a histor-ical victory which was far fromillusion.

Naidu has been living in animaginary world and creatingan illisionary world for the par-

tymen also said the ministeradding that the history of TDPlosing will repeat in the com-ing elections as well as they arefed up with 'Zoom' Naidu.

While the TDP leader failedto fulfill even 10 per cent of the

promises made, Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy hasfulfilled over 90 per cent of hiselection promises and wentbeyond.

Over Rs 63,143 crore wasdirectly credited to the benefi-ciaries' account under variouswelfare schemes like YSRCheyutha, Ammavodi, Aasara,Zero-Interest loans,Vahanamitra, NethannaNestam.

The CM also promised tocompensate the crop loss ofNivar cyclone by the end ofDecember, unlike Naidu whobetrayed farmers without com-pensating on time, he said.

Besides, the state govern-

ment is going to provide 30lakh house sites at a cost of Rs9,072 crore benefiting29,32,588 people on December25. The previous governmentpromised to give 3 cents of landfor the poor, but it has failedmiserably in implementing it.The state government evenprovided relief for Agrigoldvictims by releasing Rs 250crore, while the previous gov-ernment abandoned them andonly concentrated on grab-bing the assets of Agrigold.

The Naidu should betterfocus on the number of votesthat are going to drop fromTDP instead of seizing themfrom YSRCP, he added.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The state government wassnatching all sorts of benefitsfrom the poor and weakersections in the society withoutany fulfilling its electionpromises, alleged the TDPspokesman KommareddyPattabhi on Friday.

Pattabhi accused the stategovernment of trying toremove over 17 lakh rationcards silently in an utter disre-gard for the suffering of thepoor masses. The previousTDP regime did not removeeven a single card, though thestate was reeling under severe

financial crises due to statebifurcation.

The TDP leader said thatovercoming all financial trou-bles, the Chandrababu Naidu

regime supplied the productsthrough the public distributionsystem at far lower rates. Theruling YSRCP leaders weremerely making false allegationsagainst the TDP only in a bidto cover its failures.

Pattabhi asserted that TDP

government gave items at 50per cent subsidised rates,whereas the YSRCP govern-ment ended up making justfake statements. There was nofulfillment of the Sannabiyyampromise. Minister Kodali Nanihad not held any review meet-ing of his department.

The TDP leader said that thecredit for pushing the civil sup-plies department into Rs16,000 crore debts would onlygo to Kodali Nani. The YSRCPregime was hell bent on reduc-ing the ration cards. As of now,it was going slow on this justbecause of the elections tolocal body.

‘Naidu daydreaming of winning Tirupati seat’

Govt accused of removing ration cards

CELESTIAL WWEDDING

‘TDP playingpolitics overUpper Penna’

Role of village volunteers inchecking trafficking lauded

AP State Women's Commission chairperson Vasireddy Padma participating in arally organised to mark Human Rights Day at Nagarjuna University.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The compensation for cropdamages is being done as perthe norms of the UnionGovernment and it was theprevious government that hasfixed the percentage andissued the GO, said Ministerfor Agriculture, KurasalaKannababu.

Refuting the allegations bythe opposition leader NaraLokesh, the minister said thatit was the previous TDP gov-ernment that has issued theGO that compensation can beclaimed only if a minimum of33 per cent of crop is damaged.

Nara Lokesh should betterwatch his words and preparethe subject before levellingallegations on the state govern-ment, he warned.

The minister said that theopposition TDP membersdon't have any moral right tospeak on the issues of farmers,as they have abandoned andcheated the farmers duringtheir five-year term.

Unlike the previous govern-ment that has failed to dis-burse input subsidy on time,the Chief Minister has beenproviding input subsidy inthe same crop season to ben-efit farmers. Enumeration isgoing on for the damagecaused by Nivar Cyclone andit will be paid soon.

Speaking on the marketintervention, the minister said

that Lokesh has been falselypropagating that only Rs 300crore was spent on crop pur-chases. In reality, the govern-ment had spent almost Rs3,200 crore for procuring allkinds of crops besides paddy,which even includes tobacco.During Covid crisis, the stategovernment took an initiativeof helping the farmers byprocuring over 1.5 lakh met-ric tonnes of crops, he added.

The minister said that theopposition TDP leaders areintentionally creating confu-sion among the farmers togain their trust but they are notgoing to fall for such cheappolitics. The state governmentunder the leadership of ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy has been taking effec-tive measures to safeguardfarmers' interests and has ini-tiated steps to provide allinfrastructural facilities at thevillage level including coldstorages, godowns, sorting,and grading machinery. Cropprocurement is done at RBKlevel, he said.

TDP is confusingfarmers, allegesKannababu

The Minister said thatLokesh has beenfalsely propagatingthat only Rs 300 crorewas spent on croppurchases

Credit for pushing thecivil supplies depar-tment into Rs 16,000crore debts would only go to Kodali Nani, says Pattabhi

Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) Managing Director P V Krishna Reddy, along with his wife P Sudha Reddy, takes part in Srinivasa Kalyanam at DokiparruMahakshetram in Krishna district on Friday.

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2020 nation 04

SHORT TAKES

India, Uzbekistan standing firmlyagainst terrorism: PM Modi

Two alleged cow slaughtererswanted in multiple districts of

western Uttar Pradesh werearrested after an encounter withpolice in Noida early on Friday,officials said. The accused, Rizw-an Qureshi and Gulzar Qureshi,both residents of Meerut, wereinjured in the gunfight that broke out in Sector 62 under Sector 58police station area, the officials said. "Officials of Sector 58 policestation were patrolling the area when the intercepted a Swift Dzirearound midnight. Its occupants appeared suspicious and instead ofstopping for checking, they sped away," Additional DeputyCommissioner of Police (Law and Order) Ashutosh Dwivedi said. Hesaid a police party chased the car, which later rammed into thecentral verge of the road and the two occupants then tried to escapeon foot. "When the police party surrounded them, the duo openedfire on them but were injured in retaliatory firing and arrested," headded. The accused were currently staying in Delhi's Shaheen Bagharea. Two firearms along with some ammunition were seized fromtheir possession and their car impounded, the officer said.

Actor Shikha Malhotra suffersstroke, admitted to hospital A

ctor Shikha Malhotra has beenadmitted to a city hospital after

she suffered a stroke, hermanager said. According to theactor's PR manager AshwaniShukla, Malhotra, in her late 20s,complained of pain in the rightside of her body late on Thursdaynight. She is admitted to Juhu'sCooper hospital. "She had gone to her home in Delhi for Diwaliand was complaining of not feeling well since her return. Lastnight, around 10.30 PM, her right side of the body started to pain."We first took her to Kokilaben hospital where we were told shehad a paralysis stroke. We got her admitted to Cooper Hospitallater," Shukla told PTI. Shukla said the doctors have done her CTscan and said she would take at least eight-ten days to recover.The actor, who has featured in films like Taapsee Pannu starrer"Running Shaadi" and "Kaanchli", had earlier made headlines forworking as a nurse during the pandemic.

India and Uzbekistan arestanding together firmly against

terrorism and have similarconcerns over separatism,extremism and fundamentalism,Prime Minister Narendra Modisaid on Friday at a virtualsummit with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. In his openingremarks, Modi also said that India wants to further deepen itsdevelopment partnership with Uzbekistan, and cited growingcooperation between the two sides in diverse sectors includingdefence and agriculture. Talking about convergence of views betweenthe two countries on regional issues, he said an Afghan-led andAfghan-controlled process is required to restore peace in Afghanistan.Modi also said that it was important to preserve the gains of the pasttwo decades in Afghanistan."We have similar concerns overextremism, fundamentalism and separatism...We both are standingfirmly together against terrorism," Modi said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Afghan peace processmust be “led, owned and con-trolled” by Afghanistan and itis necessary to preserve theachievements of the past twodecades, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said on Friday.

In his opening remarks at avirtual summit with UzbekPresident Shavkat Mirziyoyev,Modi also said India andUzbekistan are standingtogether firmly against terror-ism and have similar concernsover extremism, fundamen-talism and separatism.

"We have similar concernsabout extremism, fundamenta-lism and separatism. We bothstand firmly together againstterrorism. We also have a sim-ilar approach on regional secu-rity issues," he said.

"We agree that the restora-tion of peace in Afghanistanrequires a process that itself isled, owned and controlled byAfghanistan. It is also neces-sary to preserve the achieve-ments of the last two decades,"he said.

Modi’s comments on

Afghanistan come in the midstof renewed momentum in theAfghan peace process. TopAfghan peace negotiatorAbdullah Abdullah and sever-al other senior leaders from thecountry visited India in the lastfew months to apprise aboutthe peace process.

In his remarks, Modi alsosaid that India wants to furtherintensify its development part-nership with Uzbekistan andexpressed happiness that manyprojects are being consideredin that country under the

Indian Line of Credit.Uzbekistan is a key country

in Central Asia which Indiaconsiders as its 'extendedneighbourhood'. The bilateralties now encompass a widercanvas of cooperation includ-ing in areas of defence andsecurity, trade and investment,energy, agriculture, educationand science and technology.

Both countries are current-ly negotiating a bilateral invest-ment treaty (BIT) and a pref-erential trade agreement. Lastyear, a pact was sealed provid-

ing for long-term purchase ofuranium by India fromUzbekistan.

In his remarks, the primeminister also referred to coop-eration between the two coun-tries in key areas of defence,space and atomic energy sectors.

"Our security partnership isbecoming a strong pillar ofbilateral relations. Last year, thefirst joint military exercisebetween our armed forces tookplace. Our joint efforts arealso increasing in the areas ofspace and atomic energy," hesaid. Modi also said India wasready to share its expertise andexperience with Uzbekistan asper its development priorities.

"India has great potential inareas such as infrastructure, IT,education, health, training andcapacity building, which can beuseful for Uzbekistan. Theestablishment of a joint work-ing group on agricultureamong us is an important andpositive step," he said.

"With this we can findopportunities to increase ouragricultural trade which willhelp the farmers of both coun-tries," he added.

Onus is on Afghanistan to control its peace process: PM

PTI n BENGALURU

With the Karnataka legislativecouncil getting adjourned sinedie without taking up the con-tentious anti-cow slaughterbill passed by the Assembly,

Chief Minister B SYediyurappa on Friday said,the government will promul-gate an ordinance to bring itinto effect.

The Chief Minister alsoexpressed reservations aboutthe legislative council 'sChairman K PratapachandraShetty's decision to adjournsine die "abruptly", and saidthat the government has decid-ed to convene the house onTuesday and also petitionedthe Governor in this regard.

Shetty had on Wednesdayset aside the BJP's attempt tomove a no-confidence motionagainst him stating that he wastaking legal opinion on thematter, and had refused toinclude it in the agenda citingrules that the subject could betaken up only after 14 daysafter submission of notice ofno-confidence.

Shetty was elected as theChairman of the Council dur-ing the Congress-JD(S) coali-

tion government.Currently the ruling BJP is

the single largest party in theCouncil with 31 seats, fol-lowed by Congress with 29seats including the chairman.

The JD(S) has 14 seats andthere is one independent.According to sources, the rul-ing party's move to convenethe Council on Tuesday isaimed at taking forward the

no-confidence motion againstthe chairman, with the help ofJD(S).

"We will promulgate anordinance (on anti-cowslaughter), you know that inthe council the Chairman wasnot cooperating, so we will bepromulgating an ordinance,"Yediyurappa told reporters.

The Chief Minister per-formed 'Gau Pooja' (cow wor-ship) at his official residenceCauvery here on Friday morn-ing in the backdrop of passageof the bill in the assembly.

It is known worldwide thatin Hindu dharma cows arerevered and in India, which isan agrarian country, and ani-mal husbandry is a source ofincome for agriculturists, andcattle are used in farmingactivities, he said.

"As cows are considered anasset in the Indian culture, theKarnataka Prevention ofSlaughter and Preservation ofCattle Bill has been passed bythe state's legislative assembly,which further strengthens theexisting law," he added.

The Bill was passed by theassembly on Wednesday,amidst din, with stiff opposi-tion from Congress.

K’taka government tables anti-cow slaughter bill

PTI n AURANGABAD

The Bibi Ka Maqbara, a 17thcentury monument here inMaharashtra, received 540 vis-itors on the first day of open-ing after the Covid-19-inducedlockdown, while the world-famous caves of Ajanta andEllora together saw nearly 450tourists, officials said on Friday.

These tourist hotspots alongwith other popular monu-ments in this central

Maharashtra district reopenedon December 10 after beingclosed since March-end due tothe lockdown, which has nowbeen eased to a large extent.

Ticketing is being doneonline to avoid crowding andtourists started visiting themonuments on the very firstday of their reopening, an offi-cial said.

According to theArchaeological Survey ofIndia's (ASI) circle office in

Aurangabad, Ajanta and Elloracaves, located on the city'soutskirts, saw 86 and 360(including one foreigner) vis-itors, respectively.

However, the number of vis-itors on the day 1 of reopening- 540 - was the highest at theBibi Ka Maqbara, the Mughal-era monument which is an imi-tation of Agra's Taj Mahal, theASI office said.

The Daulatabad Fort saw170 visitors, while ancient-era

rock cut caves located withincity limits received 94 tourists,it said.

However, tourist guides whodepend heavily on these pop-ular monuments for their liveli-hood were still to see a pick upin their business.

"Most tourist guides at thesemonuments were somewhatunlucky to get assignments onday 1. None of the guidesfrom Ajanta had assignmentson Thursday.

Bibi Ka Maqbara, Ajanta, Ellora see rush on reopening

Two wanted cow-slaughterers heldafter encounter with police in Noida

Youth accusedof forcing teento convert formarriagePTI n HARDOI (UP)

A 19-year-old woman hasgiven a complaint against ayouth for forcing her tochange her religion for mar-riage in Uttar Pradesh'sHardoi district, police said.

The woman, belonging toa Hindu community, is aresident of a village underShahabad Kotwali police sta-tion area and lodged a com-plaint with Hardoi SP AnuragVats on Thursday.

In the complaint, she stat-ed that the youth, identifiedas Azad, had been in a rela-tionship with her for the pasttwo years. She said theMuslim youth, who is fromthe same village, pressuredher to change her religionwhen the two reached theregistrar office for marriageon November 30 but later leftthe place on her refusal to doso, the complaint stated.

The woman has allegedthat Azad had been physical-ly exploiting her on promiseof marriage and threatenedthat he would upload her pic-tures on social media, it fur-ther said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

A new book by late formerpresident Pranab Mujkherjeewill recount his fascinatingjourney from growing upunder the flicker of a lamp ina remote village of Bengal towalking the rampart of theRasthrapati Bhavan as the firstcitizen of India.

The memoir, titled "ThePresidential Years", will beglobally released in January2021, publisher Rupa Booksannounced on Friday.

The fourth volume ofMukherjee's memoirs recol-lects the challenges he faced inhis years as the Presidentincluding the difficult decisionshe had to make and the

tightrope walk he had toundertake to ensure that bothconstitutional propriety andhis opinion were taken intoconsideration.

"A towering figure of Indianpolitics, Pranab Mukherjeewould always insist that hewould 'melt into the masseswithout leaving a track behind'.Today, he leaves behind anunmatched legacy, some ofwhich is reflected in the high-ly anticipated fourth volume ofhis memoirs.

"If he were still alive, hewould have been thrilled tonote the widespread excitementamong readers to read thisextremely well-written autobi-ography. It's so personal in tonethat to me it almost seems like

the former President is sittingin his study with a cup of tea(and shingara) and narratinghis story," said Kapish G.Mehra, managing director,Rupa Publications India.

In the memoir, Mukherjeereveals the relationship he

shared with two politicallyopposed prime ministers dur-ing his tenure as the president.

"While Dr Singh was preoc-cupied with saving the coali-tion, which took a toll on gov-ernance, Modi seemed to haveemployed a rather autocratic

style of governance during hisfirst term, as seen by the bitterrelationship among the govern-ment, the legislature and thejudiciary," Mukherjee wrotein the book.

He also presents a criticalpoint of view for the Congressparty, in which he was a seniorleader for over five decades. Hecandidly refutes the view ofleaders of the party, whobelieved had Mukherjeebecome the PM in 2004, theparty might have averted the2014 Lok Sabha drubbing.

Filled with rare photos andhandwritten notes, the memoiroffers a rare glimpse into thelife of one of the most impor-tant and admired politicians ofcontemporary India.

Pranab's presidential memoirs to hit stands in Jan. Mukherjee's memoirs recollects thechallenges he faced in his years asthe President including the difficultdecisions he had to make and thetightrope walk he had to undertake toensure that both Constitutionalpropriety and his opinion were takeninto consideration.

PTI n BENGALURU

Members of the public sufferedas thousands of employees ofstate-owned transport corpo-rations continued their strikefor a second day here onFriday pressing variousdemands resulting in disrup-tion of services.

Thousands of governmentbuses did not operate due tothe stir by transport corpora-tion employees demandingsalaries on par with state gov-ernment employees amongothers. Meanwhile, CM B SYediyurappa appealed to theprotesters to resume their work.

"I appeal to the protesters toplease go back to the work,"Yediyurappa said.

According to sources in thetransport department, noBMTC bus was operated in thecity whereas 50 per cent of theKSRTC and 35 per cent ofother transport corporationsbuses were operational onFriday.

The agitation was by andlarge peaceful barring a fewsporadic incidents of stonepelting on government buses atNelamangala in Bengaluru,Kalaburagi city andChannapatna in Ramanagardistrict.

Members of the public suf-fered as the transport system inthe city was badly hit as allbuses operated by theBangalore MetropolitanTransport Corporation did notply from the Central BusStand, Traffic and TransitManagement Centres at vari-ous locations, big bus standsand various depots.

Many commuters includ-ing students and passengersfrom other parts of the coun-try were stranded at theCentral bus stand and otherbus stands in the city as busesstayed off roads owing to thestrike.

Bus services hit as transport staff’sstir in Karnataka enters second day

Odisha minor'smurder: DGPtakes actionagainst 2 cops

SC refuses tohear PIL against ‘benami' assets

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Fridayrefused to entertain a pleaseeking a Lokpal-monitoredinvestigation into the "crimi-nal-political nexus" as flaggedin the 1993 Vohra Committeereport, saying the prayers “areall utopian”.

The top court said that peti-tion must serve the purposeand it does not encouragepetitions which are for public-ity. A bench of Justices SanjayKishan Kaul, DineshMaheshwari and HrishikeshRoy asked the petitioner advo-cate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyayto withdraw his plea and grant-ed liberty to make a represen-tation to law commission.

At the outset, senior advo-cate Anupam Lal Das, appear-ing for Upadhyay, said that the

petition relates to the issue ofunholy nexus of criminal,politicians and bureaucrats.

The bench said that over twodecades have gone by since thereport was filed.

Das replied that they havebeen taking baby steps andtoday, there is a Lokpal but itdo not have the wherewithaland has no investigation wing.

The bench said, “Look atyour prayers. They are allUtopian. It is like a utopian sit-uation. It's like I hope ourcountry will be at the top in theworld. You should write a bookon it, don't file a petition onthis”. Justice Kaul said, “I don'tencourage such petitions whichare for publicity. The petitionmust serve the purpose”.

Das then told the top courtthat he will withdraw the peti-tion but liberty may be grant-

ed to approach law commis-sion. The bench allowed thepetitioner to withdraw andgranted the liberty to approachlaw commission.

Upadhyay through his PILhas prayed for appropriatedirection for Lokpal MonitoredInvestigation of the criminalpolitical nexus, as referred bythe Vohra Committee.

Former Union HomeSecretary N N Vohra headedthe committee formed to studythe problem of criminalisation

of politics and the nexusbetween criminals, politiciansand bureaucrats in India.

The report was submitted inOctober 1993.

He has sought a direction tothe Union Home Secretary tohandover the true copy of theVohra Committee Report withannexures and notes to theDirector- NIA, Director- CBI,Director- ED, Director- IB,Director- SFIO, Director-RAW, Director- NCB, Chair-man- CBDT and Chairperson-Lokpal.

Upadhyay has also soughtdirection to respective chiefs ofprobe agencies to take appro-priate steps for comprehensiveinvestigation of criminals-politicians nexus referred to inVohra Committee Report andchairperson of Lokpal shouldmonitor the investigation.

Vohra committee report: SC refuses toentertain plea, says prayers are utopian

PTI n BHUBANESWAR

More than four months aftera five-year-old girl wasallegedly kidnapped andmurdered in Odisha'sNayagarh district, the statepolice has suspended aninspector and transferred thelocal SDPO for "poor" inves-tigation into the incident,sources said on Friday.

DGP Abhay has suspend-ed Nayagarh Sadar policestation inspector in-chargeRitarani Sahoo and trans-ferred Nayagarh sub-divi-sional police officer NiranjanPadhi on the charge of "dere-liction of duty and poorinvestigation" into the case,they said.

The girl's parents hadalleged that they were men-tally tortured by the IIC whenthey had gone to the policestation, and the SDPO didnot take any action againstthe inspector, the sourcessaid.

They had named a loyalistof the state's AgricultureMinister Arun Kumar Sahoo,as the main accused.

No arrests have been madein the case since it came tolight on November 24, afterthe girl's parents attemptedself-immolation in front ofthe assembly in Bhubaneswar.

Minister of State for HomeD S Mishra claimed that thepolice has interrogated 34people in connection withthe case.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Asserting that the judiciarycannot be asked to take over theroles of the legislature and theexecutive, the Supreme Courton Friday refused to entertaina PIL seeking a direction to theCentre to ascertain the feasibil-ity of making laws to confiscate'benami' properties, dispro-portionate assets and blackmoney, A bench headed byJustice S K Kaul, however, per-mitted Delhi BJP leader andlawyer Ashwini Upadhyay tomake a representation to theLaw Commission to ascertainthe possibility of making lawsor amending existing ones toensure confiscation of illegalproperties and provision forawarding life term in cases per-taining to offences such asbribery and black money.

PTI n RANCHI

The Jharkhand High Court onFriday deferred RJD bossLalu Prasad's bail pleahearing in a fodder scamcase by six weeks, inkeeping with the requestof his lawyer. The casepertains to fraudulentwithdrawal of over Rs 3.13crore from Dumka treasury, whenPrasad was the chief minister ofundivided Bihar. Devarshi Mandal,Prasad's counsel, said he needed

six weeks to respond to asupplementary affidavit filed bythe CBI on Thursday, and collate

verified documents on theRJD chief's judicialcustody. The CBI counsel,too, agreed to theproposal, following whichthe court slated January

22 as the next date ofhearing in the case. The

central investigation agency hadon Thursday filed asupplementary affidavit in thecourt, contending that Prasad has

violated jail manual norms. TheCBI also said that his healthcondition was stable now, and heshould be discharged fromRajendra Institute of MedicalSciences (RIMS) in Ranchi andsent to Birsa Munda jail to servehis sentence. The former BiharCM has secured bail in three othercases related to the Rs 950-crorescam. On March 24, 2018, aspecial CBI court had sentencedthe former Bihar CM to 14 years'rigorous imprisonment in theDumka treasury case.

Jharkhand HC defers Lalu Prasad's bail hearing in fodder scam case by six weeks

PTI n AHMEDABAD

Over 30,000 doctors fromGujarat joined the nationwideprotest called by the IndianMedical Association on Fridayagainst the Centres decision toallow post-graduate Ayurvedicphysicians to perform certaintypes of surgeries after training.

However, emergency med-ical services will remain unaf-fected as they have beenexempted from the purview ofthe agitation.

The IMA has called forwithdrawal of all non-essen-tial and non-COVID-19 ser-vices between 6 am and 6 pmon Friday across the countryagainst the Central Council ofIndian Medicine (CCIM)decision to allow Ayurvedicdoctors to conduct certainsurgical procedures after thecompletion of their 3-year PGcourse, said IMA office-bear-ers here.The IMA is the apexbody of allopathy doctors inthe country.

Over 30,000 doctors in Gujaratjoin IMA call for protest

Ruling party's move to convene Council issaid to be aimed attaking forward the no-trust motion againstthe chairman, with the help of JD(S).

The bodies of a woman and herthree minor children, who werereported missing since late

October, were found hanging from atree near here in Maharashtra, policesaid on Friday. The woman'shusband attempted suicide after thedecomposed bodies of his wife andchildren were found in forests atPacchapur under Bhiwandi taluka ofThane district on Thursday, they said. Inspector D M Katke of thePadgha police station said the four were reported missing sinceOctober 21 and their bodies were spotted hanging from the tree byvillagers who contacted the police. The deceased were lateridentified as Ranjana Bangri, 30, her two daughters and a son, allaged between 6 and 12 years, the police said.

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2020 nation 05

INDIA CORNER

Missing woman, her 3 kids founddead; husband attempts suicide

PNS n NEW DELHI/KOLKATA

The Union Home Ministryhas summoned West Bengal'schief secretary and police chiefon December 14 for an expla-nation on the law and order sit-uation in the state, a move thatfollows Governor JagdeepDhankhar's report on theattack on BJP president J PNadda's convoy, officials saidon Friday.

Dhankhar, who alleged at apress conference in Kolkatathat violators of law in Bengalhave the protection of policeand administration and anyresistance by the opposition isquelled, was asked to submit areport after Nadda's convoywas attacked with stones andbricks in Kolkata's DiamondHarbour on Thursday.

West Bengal's two top offi-cials, Chief Secretary AlapanBandyopadhyay and DirectorGeneral of Police Virendra,are expected to be asked toexplain the law and order sit-uation in the state as well assteps taken to prevent politicalviolence and other crimes, offi-cials said.

The Home Ministry is yet toreceive a report from theMamata Banerjee-ledTrinamool Congress govern-ment on the "serious securitylapses" during Nadda's visit tothe state, they said.

The governor's report fol-lowing the violence inDiamond Harbour, the LokSabha constituency ofBanerjee's nephew Abhishek,gives a detailed analysis of thelaw and order situation inWest Bengal and the state gov-ernment's response to politicalviolence and other crimes, theofficials said.

In Kolkata, the governorslammed the state governmentover the deteriorating law andorder situation and said thechief minister must desist fromrepeated remarks calling theBJP a party of outsiders. Suchstatements, he said, wouldweaken the national fabric. "I

have sent my report to theCentral government… the con-tents cannot be shared onaccount of propriety,"Dhankhar told reporters at thepress conference in RajBhawan. "The governor is nota post office...he will not fiddlearound in Raj Bhawan whenhuman rights are being violat-ed," he said. "The governor willvindicate his oath, come whatmay," he asserted. Dhankharalso alleged that the "non-

responsive" stance of the chiefminister towards the RajBhawan is an indication thatgovernance is not in accor-dance with the Constitution.

D e s c r i b i n gBanerjee's comments on theattack on Nadda's convoy as"most unfortunate", he said, "Itake very serious note of thestatement that emanated fromthe honourable chief minister.How can a responsible chiefminister, believing in rule of

law...Constitution, believing inBengali culture, talk the wayshe did." Banerjee had mock-ingly distorted Nadda's name ata rally in Kolkata on Thursdayand termed the attack on hisconvoy a "staged act".

Cars of several party leaders,including that of BJP nationalgeneral secretary KailashVijayvargiya and West BengalBJP chief Dilip Ghosh whichwere part of the convoy, werealso damaged in the attack.

WB chief secy, police chief summoned

PNS n BHOPAL

BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindiaon Friday condemned the attackon party chief J P Nadda'sconvoy in West Bengal and saidthe people of that state willgive a befitting reply to ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee byuprooting her government in thenext elections.Nadda's convoywas pelted with stones by allegedTrinamool Congress (TMC)workers in Diamond Harbourarea ofSouth 24 Parganas districtin West Bengal on Thursdaywhen hewas travelling there toaddress a rally. Several BJPleaders,including KailashVijayvargiya suffered injuries,sources inthe saffron partyclaimed."Mamata Banerjee'sgovernment in West Bengalshould understand that the BJPwill neither get afraid nor will itbow down. The way democracyis being played with inBengal...people will give abefitting reply to the governmentby uprooting it," Scindia told

reporters in response to aquery over the attack. Electionsto the 294-member West BengalAssembly are likely to be held inApril-May next year."We all haveseen the videos...Large stonesand sticks were used in theattack," Scindia said whilecondemning theincident. After his arrival at thecity airport, Scindia headedto Madhya Pradesh CM ShivrajSingh Chouhan's residence herefor a meeting, triggeringspeculation about thelikely expansion of the statecabinet.MP BJP president V DSharma and party's organisationjoint general secretary HitanandSharma also joined the twoleaders in the meeting, sources said.

People will give befitting replyto Mamata in polls: Scindia

PNS n KOLKATA

Seven persons were arrested in WestBengal on Friday for their allegedinvolvement in theattack on BJP nationalpresident JP Nadda's convoy a dayago,a senior police officer said. Fourpersons were arrested from Falta, andthree fromUsthi police station area, bothin South 24 Parganas district,he toldPTI. All seven of them were bookedunder various sections of the IPC forrioting, obstructing public servantindischarge of public functions and otheroffences. Nadda's convoy was peltedwith stones on Thursday morning byalleged TMC workers at Sirakol inDiamond Harbourarea of South 24Parganas district, where he had gonetoaddress a rally. Several BJP leaders

including its Bengal minder KailashVijayvargiya suffered injuries, sources inthe saffronparty claimed. Two suo motocases were subsequently lodged againstunknown people for carrying out theattack.

PNS n KOLKATA

The ruling TMC in West Bengal Friday hitout at the union home ministry forsummoning the state chief secretary anddirector general of police for theattack on BJP national president J PNadda's convoy and accused the saffronparty of trying to create a situationwhere the central government can interferein matters related to the states.Senior TMC MPs Saugata Roy and KalyanBanerjee alleged that Nadda's convoy had"convicted criminals" and goons whocarried weapons with the malafide intentionto instigate violence. "What is the centralgovernment is doing by sending aletter (seeking report) from the stategovernment is unconstitutional. The MHAsummoning the chief secretary and

DGP is unacceptable. The BJP and thecentral government is trying to create asituation where they can interfere with thefederal structure," Bandopadhyay said at apress conference here. The provocativespeeches by BJP state president DilipGhosh are leading to a vicious situation, hesaid and claimed that Nadda wasaccompanied by "convicted criminal andarmed men of BJP.

Seven arrested in Bengal for attack TMC slams MHA for summoning CS, DGP

PNS n MUMBAI

Amid the ongoing protest byfarmers against the Centre'snew agriculture laws, NCPchief Sharad Pawar on Fridayasked the government not totest the tolerance of the culti-vators.Talking to reporters, theformer Union agriculture min-ister also said that the protestat Delhi borders mayspreadelsewhere if no timely decisionwas taken by the Centreon thefarmers' demands. He main-tained that the farm bills con-cerned werepassed in a "hur-ried" manner in the Parliamentdespite theopposition partiescalling for a detailed discussionon them. Farmers from differ-ent states have been campingatDelhi's Singhu, Tikri,Ghazipur and Chilla (Delhi-Noida)border points for near-ly two weeks to demand arepeal of thefarm laws enactedin September. Farmers saythese laws will eliminate thesafety netof minimum sup-port price (MSP) and do awaywith mandis thatensure earn-ing. But the government saysthe MSP system willcontinueand the new laws will givefarmers more options toselltheir crop. "Today, farmershave made the extremedemand ofwithdrawing thelaws first and said the issue canbe discussedlater.

Don’t test tolerance of farmers, Pawar tells Centre

PNS n MUMBAI

Veteran actor Dharmendra onFriday said he was pained to seefarmers suffering and urged thecentral government to find asolution to their protests over thefarm laws. The tweet comes aweek after the 84-year-old actorput out a similar post on Twitter."I am extremely in pain to see thesuffering of my farmer brothers.Government should dosomething fast," Dharmendrawrote. Last week, the actor hadurged the government to resolvethe protests soon, citing thegrowing number of coronaviruscases in Delhi."I request thegovernment... please quickly finda solution the farmers'problems... the number ofcorona cases are on a rise inDelhi... it is painful," Dharmendrahad written in a post. Theveteran actor, however, soondeleted the post, without anyexplanation.When a user postedthe screenshot of the tweet,wondering what prompted theactor to delete the tweet,Dharmendra said, "I deleted thetweet because I felt saddened bycomments like these. You can

abuse me to your heart'scontent, I am happy that you arehappy. "Yes, I am sad for myfarmer brothers... Thegovernment should find asolution fast, nobody is listeningto us," he wrote. Farmers fromdifferent states have beencamping at Delhi's Singhu, Tikri,Ghazipur and Chilla (Delhi-Noida)border points for nearly twoweeks now to demand a repealof the farm laws enacted inSeptember. On Thursday, farmerunions threatened to blockrailway tracks across the countryand all highways leading to Delhiif their demands are not met.The announcement came a dayafter farmers' leaders rejectedthe government's offer to amendthe new agri laws and give a"written assurance" on continuingthe MSP system.

In extreme pain to see farmerssuffering, says Dharmendra

PNS n NEW DELHI

With thousands of farmersprotesting against the Centre'snew agri laws staying put at Delhiborders, several routes in thenational capital remained offbounds for commuters onFriday.The Delhi Traffic Police tookto Twitter to inform people aboutroad closures and advised them totake alternative routes to avoidinconvenience.Farmers fromdifferent states have been campingat Delhi's Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipurand Chilla (Delhi-Noida) borderpoints for nearly two weeks nowto demand a repeal of the farm

laws enacted in September.In aseries of tweets, the Delhi TrafficPolice said Tikri and Dhansaborders are closed for trafficmovement, while Jhatikara borderis open only for two-wheelers andpedestr ians.Those travelling toneighbouring Haryana can takeroutes via Jharoda (only singlecarriageway), Daurala, Kapashera,Badusarai, Rajokri NH 8,Bijwasan/Bajghera, Palam Viharand Dundahera borders, the policesaid.On Thursday, farmer unionsthreatened to block railway tracksacross the country and allhighways leading to Delhi if theirdemands are not met.

Roads remain closed in Delhi

PNS n NEW DELHI

Garbage has been piling up at theSinghu border in Delhi where thefarmers have staying put for overa fortnight protesting the farmreform laws, with manycomplaining there has been littlehelp from the authorities inkeeping the site clean. Clusters

of piled up paper and plasticglasses, bottles, fruit peels, wastegenerated from the food beingcooked and dirty toilets combinedwith stagnant water generating astench, the conditions at the siteis worsening."Officials from themunicipal corporations have beencoming to clean the site once in awhile, but it is the farmers who

are doing most of the cleaning,"said Malkar Singh, a farmer fromKarnal, who has been camping atthe site since November 25.Onboth the Delhi and Haryana sidesof the border, a handfulemployees from the municipalcorporations can be seensweeping on the periphery of theprotest sites, but farmers say that

is not enough for maintaining thehygiene of the site which isseeing such a massivecongregation. "The toilets haven'tbeen cleaned for days. There isno help from the government,"said an agitated Gurvinder Singhwhoc hails from Ramgarh inPunjab. Camping at the bordersince November 30, the farmer

said whatever little cleaning ishappening is because of the "safaipasand" farmers, who have takenit upon themselves to keep thearea clean. The mobile toiletsprovided by the Delhi governmentare visibly not enough for allfarmers at the site, leaving themwith no option but to urinate inthe open.

Doing most of cleaning at Singhu border, claim ryots

The health condition of formerWest Bengal chief ministerBuddhadeb Bhattacharjee

continuedto remain critical on Friday,with doctors monitoring hisvitalparameters from time to time, theprivate hospital,where he isundergoing treatment, said in astatement. The veteran CPI(M)leader, who has been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonarydisease and other age-related ailments for quite some time now,was admitted to the hospital on December 9 as his breathingproblems aggravated. "Bhattacharjee had an uneventful night in thehospital but his prognosis is still guarded and he still remainscritical," the statement said.Doctors are keeping "constant vigil on hishealthsituation", it said.The two-time CM, who is on ventilatorsupport, "triesto open his eyes on verbal commands", the hospitalsaid.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's healthcondition still critical: Hospital

Shillong, Dec 11 (PTI) MeghalayaChief Minister Conrad

K Sangma on Friday said he hastested positive for COVID-19,and asked people who came in touchwith him recently to getthemselves tested, if necessary.Taking to Twitter, the chief ministersaid he was undergoing home isolation. "I have tested positive for#Covid_19. I am under home isolation and experiencing mildsymptoms. I request all those who came in contact with me in thepast 5 days to kindly keep a watch on their health and if necessaryget tested. Stay safe," he tweeted. Two of Sangma's cabinetcolleagues -- Health Minister AL Hek and Urban Affairs MinisterSniawbhalang Dhar -- were diagnosed with the infection in October.

Meghalaya Chief Minister testspositive for Coronavirus

PNS n SURAT

An 18-year-old college stu-dent was allegedly raped andthrown off the terrace of abuilding in Parle Point area ofGujarat's Surat city, policesaid on Friday.

According to the police,the victim was found uncon-scious and bleeding on theroad in Parle point area sur-rounded by four to five-storey residential buildingson Wednesday night.

"Someone called the policecontrol room to give infor-mation about a girl who waslying unconscious in ParlePoint area. Since the victimwas injured and bleeding,she was admitted to a hospi-tal," deputy commissioner ofpolice zone 3 VidhiChaudhary said.

Preliminary probe revealedthat the girl had been rapedand thrown off the terrace ofa building in the area, theofficial said.

Student raped,thrown offbuilding

PNS n RISHIKESH

In a unique initiative to reducepollution levels in the Ganga,the Rishikesh district adminis-tration will undertake a projectas part of which flowers offeredby devotees will be used formaking organic incense sticksinstead of letting them flowdown the river.

A blueprint of the pilot pro-ject was presented by hon-ourary president of GangaSafety Plan and DehradunDistrict Magistrate AshishKumar Shrivastava before agovernment-appointed panelrecently, Rishikesh MunicipalCommissioner Narendra SinghQuiriyal said. The idea wasappreciated a lot by the panelheaded by former chief secre-tary N Ravishankar and consist-ing of environmentalists, hesaid. The panel selects bureau-crats every year for the ChiefMinister's Award for introduc-

ing new initiatives and modelsfor good governance andadministration. "The initiativewill not only reduce pollutionlevels in the Ganga but alsolaunch a new industry for man-ufacturing organic incensesticks. It will give employmentto locals besides furtheringPrime Minister NarendraModi's vision of a self-reliantIndia," Quiriyal said. Five flowercontainers will be kept at Triveni

Ghat -- the oldest bank of theGanga in Rishikesh -- andunemployed young men will betasked with collecting flowersoffered to deities by devotees intemples and homes and deposit-ing them in the containers, hesaid.

These youths will be paid bythe incense manufacturingunits, he said, adding that thestate government will not haveto spend a single penny on theproject.

Flowers offered by devotees to beused for making incense sticks

A blueprint of thepilot project waspresented by chiefof Ganga SafetyPlan and DehradunDistrict Magistratebefore govt-appointed panel

PNS n NEW DELHI

New Delhi, Dec 11 (PTI)Congress leader RahulGandhi on Friday attackedthe government, alleging thatit wants the income of farm-ers in the country to be as lowas that earned by those inBihar.

The former party chiefcited a media report thatclaimed that an agriculturalhousehold in Punjab earnsthe highest in a year, while itwas lowest in Bihar.

"The farmer wants hisincome to be as much as thatof farmers of Punjab. TheModi government wants theincome of all farmers of thecountry to be as much as thatof Bihar farmers," Gandhisaid in a tweet in Hindi.

The sur vey cited byGandhi showed that an aver-age Indian agriculturalhousehold earns Rs 77,124 ina year, with Punjab farmersearning Rs 2,16,708 annual-ly and that of Bihar only Rs

42,684.The Congress has been

attacking the governmentover the new farm laws andhas alleged that these willlower farmers' income.

The party has also beenalleging that the farm lawsseek to end the minimumsupport price regime andabolish the AgricultureProduce MarketingCommittee Act.

The government hasclaimed otherwise and hassaid that the legislations willhelp increase farm income.

PNS n KOLKATA

The West Bengal CID hasarrested one more person forhis alleged involvement in themurder of BJP leader ManishShukla, a senior officer of theagency said.

At least 10 people have

been arrested so far in connec-tion with Shukla's murder, hesaid. Acting on a tip-off, stateCID sleuths conducted araidin North 24 Parganas onThursday night and arrestedtheman, believed to be one ofthe "key conspirators" in thecase.

One more held in BJP leadermurder case

PNS nTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Medical services were hit inKerala as government andprivate doctors struck work insupport of the IMA's call toboycott out-patient clinicsagainst the Centre's moveallowing post-graduateAyurveda practitioners to be

trained in surgical procedures.The 6 AM-6 PM strike had

caught many patients whohad

come to the medical collegehospital here from neighbour-ing districts, unawares.

Many patients had come tothe hospital since morning. A man who had brought his

mother, a cancer patient, fromneighbouring Kollam district,said he was returning with notreatment to her. " T h e r ewere no regular OP servicesand elective surgeries. Onlyemergency and COVID-19treatments were provided,"IMA Kerala President P TZacharias said.

Medical services hit in Kerala

GANGA CLEAN-UP IN RISHIKESH

NADDA CONVOY ATTACK

Rahul attacks govtover farm incomes

Every year, the UnitedNations EnvironmentProgramme (UNEP)releases an Emissions GapReport showing the differ-

ence between estimated currentgreenhouse gas emission levels andthe target prescribed by the ParisAgreement on Climate Changesigned on December 12, 2015. Thelatter calls for holding the increasein global average temperature in thiscentury to well below 2 degreesCelsius above the pre-industrial-rev-olution level, and for trying to limitit to 1.5 degree Celsius above it.

Each report not only dwells onthe gap but provides a comprehen-sive account of the situation anddevelopments on the environmentfront during the year, what needs tobe done to combat climate change,and the prospects ahead for theworld. The current report, 11th inthe series titled Emissions GapReport 2020, released on December9, 2020, presents, like its predeces-sors, an alarming picture. It says thatthe year 2020 is likely to be thewarmest on record, with wildfires,droughts, storms and glacier-melt-ing intensifying.

If one were to identify its mostterrifying prognosis, it would be thatthe world is hurtling towards a tem-perature increase of over 3 degreesCelsius by the end of this century.And this would be despite a predict-ed fall of 7 per cent in carbon diox-ide emissions as a result of the eco-nomic slowdown caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic. The decline,however, would translate to only0.01 degree reduction in globalwarming by 2050, because theemissions would rise again — andbecome even higher — aseconomies bounce back.

What all this means begins tobecome clear on recalling thataccording to the Special Report onGlobal Warming of 1.5°C (TheSpecial Report), released by theIntergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) on October7, 2018, the adverse effects of climatechange would not be reduced evenif the increase is limited to 1.5 degreeCelsius. Sea levels will continue torise beyond 2100, threateningcoastal ecosystems and infrastruc-ture. Flooding, drought and extremeweather events will wreak havocaround the world. Many species willcontinue to be driven towardsextinction and marine ecosystemscould face “irreversible loss.” Whatis particularly alarming, this level,according to the report, is likely tobe reached sometime between 2030

and 2052. Fourteen per cent ofthe world’s population would beexposed to severe heat waves atleast once in five years at the 1.5degree Celsius warming level.The percentage would rise to 37if the level rises to 2 degreesCelsius. Christopher Flavelle’sreport, titled Climate ChangeThreatens the World’s Food Supply,United Nations Warns, in the NewYork Times of August 8, 2019,quotes Edouard Davin, aresearcher at ETH Zurich and anauthor of the report, as saying byemail, “Above 2 degrees of glob-al warming, there could be anincrease of 100 million or moreof the population at risk ofhunger,” and adding, “We need toact quickly.” A three-degreeCelsius increase in temperature,according to a report by LouiseBoyle, datelined December 9,2020, in the Independent of theUK, would cause mass extinc-tions and leave “swathes of plan-et uninhabitable.” It cites thenon-profit organisation, ClimateCentral, as saying that 275 mil-lion people would be at risk inareas flooded by seal-level rise.

It is a grim scenario onalmost every front. A 65-page“Summary for Policymakers” ofanother IPCC special report of2019 stated that a food crisisloomed large, especially in trop-ical and sub-tropical regions, ifcarbon dioxide emissions contin-ued unchecked. It added thatbesides significantly reducingcrop yields, rising temperaturesmay also bring down the nutri-tional value of crops. Floods,droughts, storms and other formsof extreme weather conditionsthreatened to disrupt and, overtime, reduce the world’s food sup-ply.

According to StephenLeahy’s report, “World food cri-sis looms if carbon emissions gounchecked, UN says” in the

National Geographic of August 8,2019, already, more than 10 per-cent of the world’s populationremained undernourished. Itquoted Cynthia Rozenzweig,Coordinating Lead Author of theIPCC’s Special Report on ClimateChange and Land, and a clima-tologist at the NASA GoddardInstitute for Space Studies, as say-ing that extreme weather eventshad already increased in size andintensity, and are playing a rolein food price spikes.

It cited the examples ofextensive spring floods in the USMidwest in 2019 leading to verylate planting of corn and soycrops, reducing their potentialyields. It also mentioned droughtplaying havoc with rice crops inThailand and Indonesia andsugarcane and oilseeds producesin India in 2019 when record-breaking heat waves in Europewere feared to be causing a 13 percent decline in French wine pro-duction. Apart from under-nour-ishment and hunger, food short-

ages could lead to an increase incross-border migration, which ishaving an unfortunate impact onpolitics in North America andEurope.

The question arises: Whatare the chances of averting thedismal future that seems to facethe world? There are some glim-mers of hope. The Emissions GapReport 2020 says that the predict-ed emission rates could bereduced by around 25 per cent ifGovernments commit to a pathof “green recovery” from the pan-demic’s disaster. This would givethe world a fighting chance tokeep global warming down to 2degrees Celsius by the end of thiscentury. Treading this path wouldrequire the provision or directsupport to zero-emissions tech-nologies and infrastructure,reducing fossil fuel subsidies,promoting measures likeafforestation and avoiding defor-estation. Trees are most impor-tant as they reduce the presenceof carbon dioxide in the atmos-phere by absorbing it.

Agricultural practices andglobal food supply systemsaccount for one-third of theglobal carbon emissions. It is,therefore, important to orientthem towards reducing carbonemissions. For example, steps likethe draining of wetlands to makeroom for cultivation - as has hap-pened in Indonesia and Malaysiato create palm oil plantations -should be avoided as that wouldrelease into the air the hugeamounts of carbon dioxide gastrapped in these water bodies.Further, the Special Report onClimate Change and Land callsfor institutional changes like pro-viding farmers with better accessto credit in developing countriesand giving them stronger prop-erty rights. It further advocatedutilisation of the skills and knowl-edge of indigenous and local peo-

ple to devise agricultural practicesaimed at promoting biodiversi-ty conservation and combatingdesertification and land degrada-tion.

Along with agriculture, theEmissions Gap Report 2020emphasises the need for shippingand aviation industries, whichaccount for five per cent of glob-al emissions, to combine energyefficiency with a rapid transitionaway from fossil fuels.

Around two-thirds of glob-al emissions being linked to pri-vate households, changes in con-sumption and behaviour patternsare required. Cycling, car-sharing,and more energy-efficient hous-ing needs to be promoted. Travelby rail rather than air is recom-mended for short journeys. Thewealthy, particularly, need tomake significant changes in theirlifestyles as the richest 1 per centof the world’s populationaccounts for more than twice thecombined share of the poorest 50per cent. There is a special needto avoid food loss and wastage.

There are some encouragingsigns. While President DonaldTrump of the US walked out ofthe Paris Agreement and derid-ed the idea of climate change,President-elect Joe Biden hasnot only decided to rejoin but hasset a target for net-zero emissionsno later than 2050. According tothe Emissions Gap Report 2020,some 126 countries, covering 51per cent of global greenhouse gasemissions, have so far, adopted,announced or are considering, anet zero pledge by 2050.

Nevertheless, optimismneeds to be kept on a tight leash.Between promise and perfor-mance, and resolve and result,falls more than a shadow. In thiscase, the shadow will darken thefuture of the entire world.

(The author is ConsultingEditor, The Pioneer)

While there might be some lingering doubts aboutTime magazine’s selection of US President-electJoseph R Biden and his Vice-President Kamala

Harris as “Persons of the Year,” we, along with many oth-ers, feel that the “people of the year” are the frontline med-ical workers risking their lives for the sake of others. Butthere is little doubt about the “word of the year,” which bothDictionary.Com and Merriam-Webster have awarded to the“pandemic.” And that is appropriate because how manypeople used or knew of that term unless they wereHollywood screen writers until the Coronavirus upended

everyone’s lives in 2020? Even as the news of advancement in the trial of vaccines bringssome cheer across the world, we are still far away from vanquishing the virus that haspermanently changed the lives of us all. And there is no guarantee that “vaccination” willbe the word of the year in 2021. We are still a long way from having a significant num-ber of people being vaccinated against the virus for it to be effective among a large pop-ulation and the world has learnt a lesson about the need for hygiene in all our lives.

But how else will 2020 be remembered decades from today? Will we talk about thisbeing the year where “social distancing” became the norm and online education reallytook off? Or will we remember 2020 as the year that several social constructs broke downonce and for all and set the ball rolling on the path to revolution across many nations?Will 2020 be the year where we reset everything altogether, everything becomes “BeforePandemic” (BP) and “After Pandemic” (AP)? We will have to wait and watch but makeno mistake, 2020 will be the most memorable year of our lives even if it was a year inwhich we all did almost nothing. Of course, it allowed us buffer time to re-orient ourselves,evolve and survive in new contexts and circumstances. Maybe 2021 will offer us somehope and we can break out of the thesaurus and learn some new words for hope andexpectations. It can’t be this bad again next year? Or can it?

The BJP’s desperation to succeed in Mission Bengalby toppling its arch-enemy and Trinamool Congress(TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee and the latter’s spir-

ited fight to hold on to her turf, if only to challenge theBJP’s formulaic invasion of Opposition-ruled States, willinevitably spill over into clashes and violence. The lat-est flashpoint was around an attack on the convoy ofparty president JP Nadda, with the BJP blaming TMCcadres and the latter claiming it was staged to implicatethem. In the process, both camps are caught in issu-ing threats and counter-threats that in no way tests thecapability of each in ensuring good governance or the

promised land. While the BJP’s hunger to chase its electoral goal and the concomitantrhetoric and war cry are understandable, does it have to plummet to the depths of threat-ening counter-violence? Or is it a ruse to build a case for total breakdown of law and orderand ensure a high-security election for the Assembly, which would be, by implication, oneconducted under Central scrutiny? That’s what is apparent with Bengal Governor JagdeepDhankar sending a report to the Centre, saying the security arrangement was inadequatefor Nadda’s convoy and asking Mamata to watch out as the State was not her fiefdom.That’s what State BJP chief Dilip Ghosh recklessly seemed to suggest a few days agowith his crass remark that those opposing a fair verdict or intimidating voters would findthemselves either with broken bones or at the crematorium. As for the TMC, it has beenhardened by the politics of violence and agitations. Coercion, violence or booth manage-ment, which the Left parties in Bengal had perfected into what is called “scientific rig-ging”, became part of a machinery that no party in Bengal has been immune to but thatin no way could effect a tidal change. One must remember that Mamata uprooted the Leftgiants operating within that hostile system. She stood up to them but having arrived, builther political stock on her personal charisma, cause-based activism and grassroots con-nect. The BJP itself, while promising change, has been charged with getting men fromBihar and Jharkhand into Bengal for “electoral management.”

Each political party has institutionalised muscle power and mischief-making recruitshave been changing camps according to the trade winds. Crossovers in Bengal politicsare rarely ideological but solely about intimidatory heft. Sadly, that has set the terms ofthe discourse instead of issues, becoming an obnoxious scare tactic for every voter, decid-ed or undecided, that they should weigh in with the strongest side. Little wonder then thatthe BJP has allowed rabble-rousing ways of its State leaders to negate Mamata’s stature,considering she still has an emotional hold on the people. This is why BJP is having towork the ground despite a favourable tide in the Lok Sabha polls. And by claiming victim-hood in a “reign of terror” early on in the campaign, it is justifying the need for violenceas defence as part of its propaganda. For its house is not quite in order. That’s why HomeMinister Amit Shah has made Bengal his focus. He has to take care of internal dissensionbetween the original BJP cadres and TMC rebel imports over the quantum of importancethat each should get. While the original party workers are gung-ho about a Centrist pushto the campaign, the turncoats are wary of Bengal’s anti-Right ethos and are not beingable to commit to the party’s hegemonic planks. The BJP is pitching its campaign on theTMC’s “politicisation of institutions”, particularly the police, but that is yet to cut ice giventhe record of its own autocratic methods in States it already governs. Its minority appease-ment plank against Mamata or her COVID management have been blunted by the Bengalleader’s new-found maturity in matters religious, her smooth conduct of the Durga pujaand arresting the pandemic spiral better than the projected scenarios. Besides, after yearsof nurturing and solidifying its vote base in North Bengal, and investing its lot with theGorkhaland movement, the BJP’s key man and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaderBimal Gurung jumped ship and declared support to Mamata. With such hurdles croppingup just six months before the elections, Shah, therefore, has come down to mathemati-cal certainty like working on consolidating the tribal and Dalit vote in the State. And he ischipping away the Trinamool’s strengths, like weaning away Suvendu Adhikari and otherdisgruntled leaders who are not happy with Mamata’s blind reliance on her nephew AbhishekBanerjee and election strategy advisor Prashant Kishor. Shah had poached Mukul Roy,closest to Mamata at one time, to get a sense of her winning strategy. Now he has Adhikari,a popular grassroots leader, an organiser and mobiliser for issues like Nandigram. Bothare not exactly clean, with ED cases against them, but the BJP is willing to manipulatetheir weakness to its own strength. The party is desperate about Bengal for more thanone reason. First, it sees it as a liberal and intellectual outpost that has been its ideologi-cal polarity, and having made inroads in the last Lok Sabha election, it now wants the gloryof a conquest. Second, along with Odisha, Bengal has been a vanguard of the East thathas held out against its juggernaut. Third, the BJP wants to prove that poll arithmetic canoverride cultural opposition to it. Of course, Mamata is used to taking several punchesand emerging stronger in the end. And instead of getting increasingly caught up in a reac-tive game with the BJP, she is now focussing on her “doorstep” appeal, launching newand highlighting existing welfarist schemes. In fact, only she can break the vicious cycleof violence, drive home the message of development and hold the BJP to account on itsreal specific plans for “poriborton.” As for the BJP, it needs an equally charismatic face.Will cricket icon Sourav Ganguly agree to be Shah’s man for the job?

Mission Bengal

NPPA quiet on profitsSir — Generic medicines are con-sidered an economical substitutefor branded drugs. But I wasshocked to notice heavy trademargins in generic medicines at thewholesale market in Delhi’sBhagirath Palace.

A box of 20 strips of 10 tabletseach of Vogliboz-0.3, marketed byKnoll Healthcare Pvt Ltd, with theMaximum Retail Price (MRP) of`100 each (box MRP `2,000),was available with the distributorat `300. It means a whopping 567per cent profit for the retailer.

The National PharmaceuticalPricing Authority (NPPA) shouldimmediately direct generic drugmarketers to reduce the printedMRP to not above the net totaltrade margins of 20-25 per cent.The high trade margins createroom for bribery since govern-ments are the biggest purchasers ofgeneric medicines for their hospi-tals and dispensaries.

Madhu Agrawal,Delhi

Never give up Sir — Before Independence, sixmajor famines from 1870 to 1943ravaged the country and complete-ly crippled its health and economy.But India showed courage and pos-

itivity and didn’t depend on othercountries for survival. The successof the Green Revolution helpeddevelop a strong nation.

Times have changed andtoday we are able to provide foodsecurity to the Gulf countries,including Saudi Arabia and theUAE. It is a historic fruit of unity,hard work and dedication of amulti-cultural nation. The

Government should build bridgeswith our farmers for continuedfood security.

Sunil ChilwalHaldwani

Get back on trackSir — The farmers agitating for twoweeks against the new agricultur-al laws have threatened to blockrailway tracks and highways to the

NCR if their demands are notheeded. It is quite serious.

The Centre has admitted thatthe laws have been made fortraders. If agriculture is a State sub-ject, the Centre has no right tomake laws on it without consult-ing them. Thousands of farmershave been protesting at variousborder points to the Capital. Theyfeel that the new laws are aimed at

benefitting corporates close to theGovernment by weakening themandi system. As the situationturns increasingly explosive, theCentre will be responsible for anyincidents that take place over thecoming days.

Bhagwan ThadaniMumbai

Middle order messSir — Even though India won theT-20 series against Australia by 2-1, the middle-order problemcontinues to cast a shadow overthe team. Since the openers are abit shaky, we need to depend onthe middle order to prop up thescoring.

Trustworthy players likeManish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer,in terrific form in IPL, failed to dojustice to the job at hand. Withmany all-rounders, the Indianteam could try the pinch hitterpolicy in the middle order. Evenan attacking Rishab Pant capitu-lated and the team was depend-ing on Pandya in the end. Whenhe failed, we lost the final matchand the series. This mess has to besorted before the T-20 World Cup.

C.K. Ramanath IyerGhaziabad

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

www.dailypioneer.comfacebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/

op nionVIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2020

06

The long haul ahead to bridging the emissions gap doesn’t present a rosy

picture but there are encouraging signs, too

This distinguished groupof public servants willbring the highest level ofexperience, compassion,and integrity to bear.

US President-elect —Joe Biden

New Parliament building: What's the need?

The “ground-breaking ceremony” for an imposing newParliament building seemed incongruous when thecountry is going through an unprecedented difficult patch

mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic down-turn. The occasion was cheerless in the face of farmers inten-sifying their agitation for repealing the new farm laws.

The bhoomi pujan with chants from Hindu scripturesseemed a display of the predominance of one religion. Themulti-faith prayer that followed was consolatory and therewas no reading from the Constitution. President RamnathKovind was conspicuous by his absence which was per-haps just what the Prime Minister needed to enjoy the lime-light. The Central Vista Project (CVP), sprawling along theheart of the city and costing a few thousands of crores, val-idates the proposition that politics is too often concernedonly with the personal vanities of politicians. There is nojustification for giving precedence to a sprawl of structuresto house Parliament rather than providing housing for allthe homeless, especially when the 93-year-old existing struc-ture has not yet outlived its usefulness. A city where the

destitute sleep on pavements cannot boast of a four-storeytriangular-shaped building —however much its grandeur— in good conscience. The “temple of democracy” shouldsit easy with the reality of life for most citizens. What theSupreme Court's red light to any construction or demoli-tion and felling of trees in the demarcated plot of land willtranslate into is far from clear. Cutting down trees for erect-ing a plethora of concrete structures does not advance thecauses of conservation or curbing pollution.

G. David Milton

Maruthancode

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Year of the pandemic2020 is that in more ways than one, it appears, as

dictionaries unanimously vote for word of the year

HIRANMAY KARLEKAR

They are alleging

lawlessness in Bengal.

I want to ask whether

you are unable to go

out in the streets.

West Bengal CM —Mamata Banerjee

During the lockdown, whenwe were stuck at home, weused to meet daily over videoconferencing and do ourphysical training activities.

India U-16 head coach

—Bibiano Fernandes

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

S O U N D B I T EIf we say the Holocaust happened with Jews in WorldWar II, I don't think that (battle of Bhima Koregaon)was anything less.

Actor—Arjun Rampal

ABOVE 2 DEGREESOF GLOBAL

WARMING, THERECOULD BE AN

INCREASE OF 100MILLION OR MORE

OF THEPOPULATION AT

RISK OF HUNGER...WE NEED TO ACT

QUICKLY

The pre-poll discourse in the State is rarely ideological but aboutintimidatory heft. Both the TMC and BJP can't ignore it

Combat climate change

Checks and balances needed

WHAT CAN BE MORE BEAUTIFUL, SACRED THAN

HAVING A NEW PARLIAMENT INSPIRE US WHEN INDIA

CELEBRATES 75TH YEAR OF FREEDOM.

—PRIME MINISTER

NARENDRA MODI

WHAT WILL BE EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL (THAN THE

NEW PARLIAMENT) WILL BE AN INDIA

WITH NO HUNGRY STOMACHS.

—AIMIM CHIEF

ASADUDDIN OWAISI

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The Governor of Uttar Pradesh (UP) recent-ly promulgated an Ordinance called the UttarPradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion

of Religion Ordinance, 2020. It has been promul-gated to provide for prohibition of unlawful con-versions from one religion to another by misrep-resentation, force, undue influence, coercion,allurement, by any fraudulent means or by mar-riage. The emphasis in the Ordinance is on the pro-hibition of “unlawful conversion.” A conversion isconsidered unlawful if it is due to allurement, coer-cion and so on and also by marriage. An “unlaw-ful conversion” is defined as one that is not inaccordance with the law of the land.

According to the new law, a wo/man intend-ing to convert to another religion needs to informthe District Magistrate or Additional DistrictMagistrate at least 60 days in advance and give adeclaration that the decision is free from any pres-sure or allurement and is being done by one’s freechoice. Yet, another declaration needs to be sub-mitted within 60 days once the conversion takesplace. Only then will the person be able to attaina confirmation certificate that the conversion islawful. The District Magistrate’s Office has toexhibit a copy of the declarations on the noticeboard of the office till the date of confirmation ofconversion.

However, the UP Ordinance is silent withregard to the nature of the law governing conver-sions. It does not provide any explanation and con-templates that whoever is involved in the saidunlawful conversion shall be punished with animprisonment of not less than one year, which mayextend to five years. The accused person is alsoliable to pay a fine. Though the punishment is oneyear to five years, the Ordinance makes the offencecognisable and non-bailable and triable by thecourt of sessions.

Generally, in criminal cases the burden ofproof lies with the prosecution but the Ordinanceimposes this burden upon the person who alleged-ly caused the conversion. And wherever the con-version has been facilitated by any other person,the burden of proof is on them too. It also con-templates that any marriage, which was enteredinto for the sole purpose of unlawful conversionby a man of one religion with a woman of anoth-er religion or vice-versa, either by converting him-self/herself before or after marriage or by convert-ing the wo/man before or after marriage, shall bedeclared void by the family court.

In case, the couple is in an area where the fam-ily court is not established, the civil court havingjurisdiction in the area can try the case and declarethe marriage null and void. There need not be anyindependent adjudication with regard to a decla-ration of any marriage as void as per any other law.However, the fact remains that unless a nexus isestablished between a marriage and unlawful con-version, Section six of the Ordinance, which con-templates marriage to be declared as void by thecourts, is not applicable.

The meaning of conversion by marriage is alsonot explained in the Ordinance and it contemplatesconversion by marriage per-se unlawful. Generallytwo persons belonging to different faiths can getmarried under the provisions of Special MarriageAct. However, in some cases unless there is a con-version and both, the bride and the bridegroombelong to the same faith, the marriage would notbe performed. Conversion would be a prerequi-

site in such cases. It cannot be said thatit is a conversion by marriage. TheOrdinance also contemplates that oncethe person who intends to changehis/her religion has made the declarationbefore the District Magistrate, an inquirywould be conducted by the police withregard to “such an intention of a personto convert.” The report of the policewould be a major factor in decidingwhether a person can change their reli-gion or not. It would also be instrumen-tal in concluding whether the conversionis illegal and thus, void.

The Ordinance also contemplates apost-conversion procedure. It states thata converted individual shall send a dec-laration to the District Magistrate andappear for 21 days thereafter beforehim/her till the objections, if any,received are decided by the DistrictMagistrate. It also contemplates that if theprocedure is not followed the conversionbecomes illegal and void.

Though the Ordinance protectspeople from getting converted due toallurement, coercion and so on, there isa scope for abusing the provisions byrelying upon the police enquiry report.The Ordinance is silent with regard tothe action of the District Magistrate vis-a-vis the police inquiry report. There isa requirement to have a re-look into theprovisions of the Ordinance for the pur-pose of incorporating necessary checksand balances instead of placing morereliance upon a police enquiry report.

However, the UP Government’santi-conversion move is not unique. Inthe past too, several States in the coun-try have passed what are referred to asFreedom of Religion Acts or “anti-con-version laws”. These are mostly State-levellaws that are aimed to regulate involun-tary religious conversions. Odisha wasthe first State to pass such a law in 1967

and the most recent legislation waspassed in Jharkhand and Uttarakhand in2017. Chhattisgarh, Gujarat andHimachal Pradesh passed their“Freedom of Religion Act” in 2000, 2003and 2006 respectively. Taking a cue fromthe others, Rajasthan too passed a sim-ilar Bill in 2006. Arunachal Pradesh hadalready enacted one in 1979 and in 2002Tamil Nadu passed the Tamil NaduProhibition of Forceful Conversion Act.The Supreme Court in the Reverend.Stainislaus Vs. State of Madhya Pradeshcase upheld the provisions of the MadhyaPradesh and Orissa Act. Significantly,Madhya Pradesh enacted the MadhyaPradesh Dharma SwatantrayaAdhinayam Act way back in 1968 andOdisha enacted the Orissa Freedom ofReligion Act in 1967.

The provisions of both the Acts relat-ing to prohibition of forcible conversionand punishment were challenged beforethe respective High Courts and were car-ried to the Apex Court. The SupremeCourt had held that the freedom of reli-gion enshrined in Article 25 of theConstitution is not guaranteed in respectof one religion only but covers all reli-gions alike and it can be properlyenjoyed by a person if s/he exercisesher/his right in a manner commensuratewith freedom of persons following otherreligions. It was further held that free-dom for one is freedom for the other, inequal measure, and there can thereforebe no such thing as a fundamental rightto convert any person to one’s own reli-gion. The Apex Court upheld the pro-visions which prohibit forceful conver-sion in the background of maintenanceof “public order.” The Supreme Courtalso held that if an attempt is made toraise communal passions, e.g. on theground that someone has been “forcibly”converted to another religion, it would

in all probability, give rise to apprehen-sion of breach of public order, affectingthe community at large. However, thepresent Ordinance incorporates a newconcept of conversion by marriage. Itpresumes that every religious conversionis illegal unless the procedure that hasbeen laid down is followed. The term“love jihad” has not been referred to inthe Ordinance and its perusal shows thatthe same is applicable to all religions. Theword “allurement” has been definedwidely, which may ultimately be a play-ing field for the police during its enquiry.

Article 25 of the Constitution ofIndia contemplates that all people areequally entitled to freedom of con-science, the right freely to profess, prac-tice and propagate religion. It means thatthe Constitution guarantees the right topractice, propagate a religion and in theprocess a person may impress upon theother to get converted or herself/himselfchange their religion.

The Ordinance comes into playwhen such a conversion occurs due tothe factors like allurement, coercion andso on. It is inoperative while exercisingfreedom of conscience. The question iswhether the police are equipped suffi-ciently to conduct an enquiry into theseaspects or not, so as to come to a con-clusion that the choice of conversion hasbeen made freely without any other fac-tors. There would be a possibility ofabuse of processes and filing of criminalcases against those persons who propa-gate their faith, on the ground that theyhave instigated the thought of conversionin a person. However, a mere thought ofconversion to another religion cannot bemade an offence unless it manifests intoaction.

(The writer is an Advocate in theAndhra Pradesh and Telangana HighCourts)

There is a requirement to have a re-look into the provisions of the Uttar PradeshProhibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance

analysis 07F I R S T C O L U M N

Reap the gainsof a downtrend

PREM PRAKASH

Investors who want to build a good portfolio overthe long term, should use opportunities like thepresent one, to invest in the financial markets

CHITTARVU RAGHU

THE ORDINANCECOMES INTO PLAY

WHEN ACONVERSION

OCCURS DUE TOTHE FACTORS LIKE

ALLUREMENT,COERCION AND SO

ON. IT IS INOPERATIVE

WHILEEXERCISING

FREEDOM OFCONSCIENCE. THE

QUESTION ISWHETHER THE

POLICE AREEQUIPPED

SUFFICIENTLY TOCONDUCT AN

INQUIRY INTOTHESE ASPECTS

OR NOT SO AS TOCOME TO A

CONCLUSION THATTHE CHOICE OF

CONVERSION HASBEEN MADE

FREELY WITHOUTANY OTHER

FACTORS

The Coronavirus pandemic has stalled international trade and cre-ated heightened volatility in the financial markets. It has impact-ed many businesses and the finances of individuals. People are

revisiting their financial plans in order to sustain their savings for aslong as possible. Those who have been playing the financial marketsfor long, know that such downturns are a great opportunity to rebal-ance their investment portfolios. Many research houses have comeup with data points on how the recovery of the markets has been,post a catastrophic event that has sent the markets into a tailspin. Inmost of the cases it has been found that after a downward trend, themarkets get back to their original level within two years. Hence, investorswho are not looking to time the market and want to build a good port-folio over the long term, should use opportunities like the present one,to invest in the financial markets and reap benefits.

Many investment firms have gone the extra mile to support theirstakeholders during these uncertain times. Webinars were conduct-ed on financial health that focussed on effective fiscal managementduring the lockdown and the turbulent phase that the economy is goingthrough. These firms facilitated a goal-based approach, risk profile analy-sis and rebalancing of strategies which helped the millennials with theirfuture investment plans by tailoring them to their specific requirements.

A plunge in March, followed by a gradual recovery, has createda volatile situation in the financial markets that has lured many peo-ple to dabble in the stock market. At the same time, many existinginvestors who barely traded, have now started doing so. Retail par-ticipation saw a record high, while many inactive clients re-enteredthe market and there was a sharp rise in the number of new clientsin the industry. Despite volatility, many investors were able to gener-ate good returns with the help of financial advisors who adopted var-ious strategies, the most popular being buying at the dip and multi-asset class investing. Buying at the dip is a market timing strategy andmore often than not, investors do not get the timing right. The poten-tial problem with this approach is that you may end up catching a fallingknife. Investors should choose companies that fundamentally have goodbusinesses and sufficient cash flows to withstand a potential down-turn. It is beneficial to create a well-diversified portfolio by investingin multiple asset classes that give a balanced risk exposure over var-ious macroeconomic conditions.

For investors focussed on companies with sustainable compet-itive advantages and long-term secular trends, it’s important to pri-oritise a far-horizon investment outlook over knee-jerk modifications.While investors who focus on short-term stock market momentummay have rebalanced portfolios during the period, staying the coursecan potentially be beneficial. Sticking to a long-term investing strate-gy can serve as a guiding principle through swings on a monthly orquarterly basis. Research companies guide investors with rebalanc-ing techniques as they tend to improve risk-adjusted returns over time,as long as it doesn’t generate excessive tax and transaction costs byreducing portfolio sensitivity to the timing of volatile markets. It alsogels with the markets’ natural tendency to revert to the mean. Manya time, people do not understand and focus on rebalancing, howev-er, this is one of the most important steps to get a consistent return.Rebalancing the portfolio normalises it for one’s age, revised objec-tives, current market conditions and so on. For instance, if one hasinvested `1 crore with 70 per cent in equity and 30 per cent in debtand after a sudden fall in the market, the portfolio composition changesto 60 per cent equity and 40 per cent debt, it is the right time to shiftsome amount from debt to equity, which will bring the portfolio com-position back to 70:30. This way, one will always benefit from anymarket condition and the portfolio, too, will be aligned with long-termobjectives.

Investors have been encouraged by improvements in manufac-turing and metals, better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, hopesof a potential vaccine and extremely low interest rates. Mostly, investorsseem to be looking past the pandemic to the recovery expected in 2021.Due to the expectations of an additional US Government stimulus, theongoing global recovery and an expected rebound in cyclical sectors,the world is likely to see a V-shaped economic rebound. If the RBIcontinues the low interest rate regime for the next one year or so, theyields on Fixed Deposits and other fixed income instruments are goingto be very low. Plus, if we include the impact of income tax the returnsfrom these instruments are not going to beat inflation and one is goingto get a negative real rate of return. All these put together, provide agreat opportunity for investors to participate in the markets and builda portfolio with a long-term objective.

As the overall structure of the market remains positive, partici-pation by retail investors will increase consistently. With economic activ-ity recovering fast, more upgrades in earnings cannot be ruled out.Strong global markets in the future can keep the liquidity abundant inthe system, thus providing support to the overall market.

(The writer is CEO, CapitalVia Global Research Limited.)

In London, during a 2011 inter-national media conferenceorganised by the British Council,

I was approached by a group ofIndian journalists who were curiousto know my views on Pakistan’s for-mer dictator and “strongman”General Pervez Musharraf. I mustclarify that the term “strongman”was used by them, despite the factthat Musharraf had been forced toresign in 2008. This wasn’t the firsttime I had come across Indianspraising Musharraf as a strong-man. So on the last day of the con-ference, I asked one of them toexplain to me their fascination withMusharraf.

“They want their own strong-man, which they never had,” he

chuckled. “But why would theywant one when democratically-elected men and women in yourcountry have done rather well com-pared to all the strongmen that haveruled Pakistan?” I asked.

He replied by saying that India’snew middle-classes feel that theircountry’s political system is corruptand weak and unable to defend itsHindu majority from brazen attacksfrom Pakistan.

This left me scratching myhead: “But India’s economy hasbeen outperforming that ofPakistan’s for years now, and Indiahas a much better image abroad,” Ismiled. “No, boss,” he replied, “whatis the use of a good economy orimage if they can’t stop attacks onour pride and people.” He almostsounded melancholic.

Three years later, India electedthe unabashed nationalist, NarendraModi as its Prime Minister. India’sown “strongman.” The term “strong-men” (in politics) is rooted in thelargely mythical exploits of ancientmonarchs who “ruled like benevo-lent kings but with an iron fist.” It’san expression of a political mas-

culinity driven by fearlessness, fair-ness, ambition and mental andphysical strength. However, themore immediate roots of the termlie in the ways certain authoritari-an rulers and dictators came topower and conducted matters of theState and Government during theCold War (1945-1990).

In a March 11, 2019 essay inForeign Policy, the American polit-ical scientist Erica Frantz writes thatthe size of autocratic regimes peakedin the 1970s, when 75 per cent of thegovernments in the world wereauthoritarian. They were said to beruled by “strongmen.” The term hada negative connotation when usedby political scientists, but it was actu-ally celebrated by those for whom itwas being used. Some of these“strongmen” were romanticisedthrough State propaganda as menwho were boldly protecting theirsocieties from malevolent forces thatwere out to usurp a country’sresources, progress, pride and exis-tence.

After the collapse of the ColdWar in 1990, it was widely believedthat in the defeat and absence of the

Soviet Union and because of the tri-umph of capitalism, a liberal democ-racy would rapidly proliferate in for-mer dictatorships. The era of“strongmen” was understood to beover. Nevertheless, after 1990, theterm “strongmen” did recede, andmany countries adopted democra-cy, in one form or the other. But theterm returned with a bang after2010, mainly on the wings of twodemocracies gradually sliding intoautocracies.

Russia was a “hybrid democra-cy” and like most post-Cold Warhybrid regimes, never fully devel-oped into the kind of liberal democ-racy that most analysts believed itwould eventually evolve into. Morestriking was the case of Turkeywhich, after decades of militaryinterventions, did manage to makea successful transition with the2003 election of Recep Erdogan asthe Prime Minister and the rapiderosion of the political influence ofTurkey’s military. However, Russia’sVladimir Putin and Turkey’sErdogan soon discovered that anauthoritarian set-up can last longerbehind a facade of liberal democra-

cy, compared to the bygone natureof dictatorship, which was openlyantagonistic towards democracy.Their “success” in this respect didnot go unnoticed. After 2014, a wavebegan to sweep across variousregions in which democratically-elected men started to use similartactics, putting themselves at thecentre of an authoritarian set-up butgiving it a veneer of democracy.They all became the new “strong-men.”

More alarmingly, this not onlyhappened in hybrid set-ups in for-mer dictatorships (such as Pakistan,for example) but also in developeddemocracies in various Europeancountries and in India and the US.

According to a detailed study onthe “new strongmen” published inthe journal, Political ResearchExchange, the current breed of“strongmen” share similar character-istics with the authoritarians of theCold War. The only difference is,unlike their Cold War contempo-raries, the new ones come to powerthrough a democratic process. Butthey mould, turn and twist demo-cratic institutions and tools to for-

mulate an autocratic set-up.The study defines the personal-

ities of authoritarians as dark traitswhich include, “narcissism(grandiosity, ego-reinforcementbehaviour, tendency to seek atten-tion and admiration), subclinicalpsychopathy (lack of remorse, insen-sitivity, impulsivity) andMachiavellianism (tendency to usemanipulation and strategic behav-iours).” They embody a push for acentralisation of executive power,hierarchical governance, musculartreatment of opponents and themedia, and the promotion of nation-alism. The study further states thatthe electoral attraction for the newauthoritarians is because of disillu-sionment with established democ-ratic models.

However, a May 10, 2018 reportby the International Association forPolitical Science Studies (IAPSS)posits that “a combination of uncer-tainty with the false perception of anescalating threat has led to anincrease in calls for strong leaders.”It adds that societies are now morevulnerable and under the influenceof authoritarians that provide sim-

ple answers — often fallacies — tothe complex issues of today’s world.

The report argues that, psycho-logically, new autocratic regimes useold authoritarian tactics of inducinganxiety in the polity about fears thatmay be exaggerated, or non-existent.For example, returning to my con-versation with the Indian journal-ist in London, the Modi regime’s“manly” anti-Pakistan bent andactions against ideas such as “lovejihad” may be a carry-over from adecades-old Hindu middle-classanxiety.

According to the German his-torian Markus Daechsel, in theearly 20th century, there was a feel-ing among Hindu nationalists thatthe Hindus lacked militant virtues.Daechel writes that it was widelybelieved by the Hindu middle-classes that “Muslims had a higherbirth rate than Hindus because oftheir unrestrained sexuality.”

Is it possible then that thosemiddle-class Indians who werelooking for a “strongman” had alsothis embedded in their psyches?Perhaps.

(Courtesy: Dawn)

The return of strongmen in politicsLike the authoritarians of the Cold War, the current leaders are thought to provide assertive leadership that is protecting their nations from malevolent forces

NADEEM PARACHA

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2020 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Shares of SpiceJet onFriday gained over 6 per

cent after the firm said it haspartnered with Om Logisticsand also signed a pact withSnowman Logistics, fortransportation of COVID-19vaccine. The stock rose by6.37 per cent to Rs 106 onthe BSE. The airline said its dedicated freighters, operated under theSpiceXpress cargo division, are capable of transporting sensitivedrugs and vaccines in controlled temperatures ranging from (-) 40degrees celsius to (+) 25 degrees celsius, both domestically as wellas internationally. SpiceJet and Snowman Logistics have signed amemorandum of understanding (MoU) for the movement of COVID-19 vaccine to jointly offer seamless air logistics to Snowman clientsand customers by combining their areas of expertise and strength,the airline said in a release. The Ajay Singh-owned private airline,which along with passenger aircraft also runs a dedicated freighterfleet under its SpiceXpress cargo division, also announced partneringwith Om Logistics for COVID-19 vaccine transportation.

India's rank slipped 7 places to 54thin terms of appreciation in

residential prices as rates fell 2.4 percent year-on-year during the July-September quarter, according toproperty consultant Knight Frank.India is at 54th position amongst the56 countries and territories trackedin terms of appreciation in residentialreal estate prices, the consultant

said. In its latest research report 'Global House Price Index Q3 2020',Knight Frank said that India moved 7 spots down in the global homeprice index to 54th rank in Q3 2020 against 47th rank in Q3 2019, witha decline of 2.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in home prices. Whencompared with the June quarter, India's ranking remained unchanged.Turkey is at first position with prices up by 27.3 per cent YoY, followedby New Zealand at 15.4 per cent and Luxembourg with 13.4 per cent.Morocco was the weakest-performing territory in Q3 2020, with homeprices fallen to 3.3 per cent YoY. Knight Frank India Chairman andManaging Director Shishir Baijal said, "In order to combat the adverseeconomic implications of the pandemic, real estate developers startedinnovating their marketing strategies which included financial benefits,discount, and easy payment options to attract buyers."

Piaggio India on Friday said it has

commenced pre-launchbookings for its upcoming160-cc scooter for Aprilia SXR160. The premium scooter iscurrently under production atthe company's Baramati plantand is available for pre-booking at a booking amountof Rs 5,000, the companysaid in a statement. The BS-VIscooter comes with various features like wrap around LEDheadlights, mobile connectivity option, longer, bigger andcomfortable seating, adjustable rear suspension, disc brake amongothers, it added. "It is a great feeling as our premium scooter, theAprilia SXR 160, has started rolling out of the production lines. 2020was a year filled with challenges, but we were determined to fulfil ourpromise of delivering the much-anticipated scooter at the earliest,"Piaggio India Chairman and Managing Director Diego Graffi said. Thecompany believes that Aprilia SXR 160 with its unique next-generation design and technologically advanced features, will createa new everlasting experience for the Aprilia followers, he added.

Bullion refiner MMTC-PAMPon Friday announced setting

up of Bureau of IndianStandard (BIS)-accreditedhallmarking centres in thenational capital as well as TamilNadu. These centres, under thebrand name 'PAMP Assayingand Hallmarking Office'(PAHO), will have fullindependent operations with no

linkage or tie-up with retailers, digital traceability, quick turnaroundtime, and the highest installed capacity, it said in a statement.Speaking on the launch, MMTC-PAMP Managing Director and CEOVikas Singh said PAHO in Delhi and Hosur (Tamil Nadu) wouldcollectively offer the highest installed capacity to hallmark over20,000 pieces per day, an industry record in itself. Currently, MMTC-PAMP is offering a hallmark of gold items and plans to expand theservices for silver and platinum items in the near future.

India 54th in terms of housingprices appreciation globally

Piaggio India commences booking for Aprilia SXR 160

MMTP-PAMP sets up hallmarkingcentres in Delhi, Tamil Nadu

SpiceJet shares gain over 6 pc

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Finance Ministry on Fridaysaid banks have sanctionedloans worth Rs 2,05,563 crore toabout 81 lakh accounts underthe Rs 3-lakh crore EmergencyCredit Line Guarantee Scheme(ECLGS) for the MSME sectorthat was impacted by disrup-tions caused due to the coron-avirus pandemic. While, 40lakh MSME accounts havereceived Rs 1,58,626 crore tillDecember 4, the FinanceMinistry said in a series oftweets.

"Rs 3 lakh cr Collateral-FreeGuaranteed Loans – Budgetaryprovision of Rs 4,000 croremade for the Scheme in FirstSupplementary Demand forGrants for FY 2020-21," a tweetsaid.

Announcing AatmanirbharBharat Package 3.0 last month,Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman had said that Rs 2.05lakh crore sanctioned and Rs

1.52 lakh crore disbursed underECLGS 1.0.

"As part of the AatmanirbharBharat Abhiyan 3.0 (announcedon November 12), ECLGSScheme has been extendedthrough ECLGS 2.0 for the 26stress sectors and health caresector with credit outstand-ing of above Rs 50 croreand up to Rs 500 crore ason February 29, 2020,"a tweet said.

Under ECLGS 2.0,entities with outstandingcredit above Rs 50crore and not exceed-ing Rs 500 crore as onFebruary 29, 2020, which wereless than or equal to 30 days pastdue as on February 29, 2020 areeligible, the ministry said. Theloans provided under ECLGS2.0 will have a five-year tenor,with a 12-month moratoriumon repayment of principal. Theentire Scheme (ECLGS 1.0 andECLGS 2.0) valid till March 31,2021, it said.

Some of the sectors identifiedby the Kamath Committee forone-time debt restructuringincluded power, construction,real estate, textiles, pharmaceu-ticals, logistics, cement, autocomponents and hotel, restau-rants and tourism. The RBI hadin August set up the committeeheaded by former ICICI Bank

chairman K V Kamath for sug-gesting financial parameters tobe factored in the resolutionplans under the 'Resolution

Framework for COVID-19 related Stress' alongwith sector specific

benchmark rangesfor such parame-

ters.Talking about

progress of otherschemes, theFinance Ministry

said Rs 775 crorehave been

released to SmallIndustries Development

Bank of India (SIDBI)under the Rs 1,500 crore 'InterestSubvention for MUDRA-ShishuLoan'.

Of this, Rs 206.73 crorealready disburesed to MemberLending Institutions (MLIs) aspart of the first tranche forimmidiate release of interestsubvention benefit.

With regard to the Kisan

Credit Card (KCC) scheme,another tweet said, it has cov-ered 1.69 crore farmers withsanctioned credit limit of Rs 1.54lakh crore as on December 4,2020. As part of theAatmanirbhar Bharat Package,the government has announcedto cover 2.5 crore farmers underthe KCC scheme with a creditboost of Rs 2 lakh crore througha special saturation drive.

Sharing progress of anotherscheme, another FinanceMinistry tweet said public sec-tor banks (PSBs) have pur-chased bonds and commercialpapers worth Rs 27,794 croreissued by 67 NBFCs under therevamped Partial CreditGuarantee Scheme (PCGS).

"PCGS 2.0-Purchase of port-folio of Rs. 27,794 cr alreadyapproved by banks...Rs 25,000cr. disbursed from AdditionalEmergency Working CapitalFunding for farmers throughNABARD (as on December4)," it said.

Banks sanction Rs 2.05L cr to 81LMSMEs under credit guarantee scheme PNS n NEW DELHI

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshion Friday met his counterpartin the power ministry, R KSingh, and deliberated onsubstituting imported coalwith domestic fuel as part ofinitiatives towards the govern-ment's 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'goal.

During the meeting, bothministers also deliberated onstrategies for removing bottle-necks to augment coal suply inthe country.

"Had a meeting with MoS(IC) for Power and New &Renewable Energy, Shri@ R a j K S i n g h I n d i a .Deliberated on substitutingimported coal with domesticcoal to build an#AatmaNirbharBharat. Alsostrategies for removing bottle-necks to increase coal supplyin the country were dis-cussed," Joshi said in a tweet.

In another tweet, Joshi saidthat he held meeting with OilMinister Dharmendra

Pradhan, Union Minister forChemicals and Fertilisers D VSadananda Gowda and UnionMinister of State for Chemicaland Fertilizers MansukhMandaviya to address variousissues pertaining to TalcherFertilizer Ltd.

"Emphasised on resolvingall issues and timely setting upthe fertilizer plant," Joshitweeted.

Talcher Fertilizers Ltd is ajoint venture between GAILIndia Ltd, Coal India Ltd,Rashtriya Chemicals and

Fertilizers Ltd and FertilizerCorporation of India Ltd(FCIL).

In August, Joshi hadreviewed the progress made inoperational activities ofTalcher Fertilizers Ltd andasked it to expedite the coalgasification project.

The coal gasification-basedammonia-urea project, a first-of-its-kind in the country,would have a design capacityof 2,200 tonnes per day ofammonia and 3,850 tonnesper day of urea, the govern-ment had earlier said.

The state-of-the-art plant atOdisha will produce 100tonne per day of sulphurflakes as a saleable by-product.

The plant will produce 2.38million tonne cubic metresper day of natural gas equiv-alent synthesis gas from coal,the government had said.

Earlier owned by FCIL, theplant stopped production inMarch 1999.

Now, Talcher Fertilizers Ltdis reviving its operations.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Passenger vehicle wholesales inIndia increased by 12.73 percent to 2,85,367 units inNovember as against 2,53,139units in the same month lastyear riding on the back of fes-tive demand, auto industrybody SIAM said on Friday.

According to the latest databy the Society of IndianAutomobile Manufacturers(SIAM), two-wheeler sales rose13.43 per cent to 16,00,379units, compared with 14,10,939units in the same month lastyear.

Motorcycle sales were at10,26,705 units as against8,93,538 units in November

2019, up 14.9 per cent. Scootersales were also up by 9.29 percent at 5,02,561 units, from4,59,851 units in the samemonth last year.

Three-wheeler sales, howev-er, declined by 57.64 per centto 23,626 units last month asagainst 55,778 units inNovember 2019.

Total sales of passenger vehi-cles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers and the quadricyclesduring last month stood at19,09,372 units, up 11.02 percent from 17,19,874 units inNovember 2019.

"We have witnessed anincrease in wholesale num-bers in the month ofNovember, where passenger

vehicles grew by 12.73 percent and two-wheelers by 13.43per cent over the correspond-ing month of last year, primar-ily on account of the festive sea-son," SIAM Director GeneralRajesh Menon said.

The retail sales of two-

wheelers lag behind the whole-sale sales numbers but wouldeven out over a period, asoriginal equipment manufac-turers (OEMs) engage withtheir dealers, he added.

"While the festive seasonbrought back some fervor in

specific segments, the overalleconomic scenario woulddetermine the industry's per-formance going forward,"Menon noted.

The total production of pas-senger vehicles, three-wheelers,two-wheelers and quadricy-cles last month stood at23,19,845 units, as against22,58,290 units in November2019, marking a growth of2.73 per cent.

Last month, the country'slargest carmaker Maruti SuzukiIndia witnessed 12.3 per centincrease in its dispatches todealers at 1,56,244 units.Similarly, Hyundai Motor Indiasaw 9.42 per cent increase inwholesales at 48,800 units.

Kia Motors dispatchesincreased by 50.1 per cent to21,022 units in November,while Mahindra & Mahindrasaw 24.46 per cent rise inwholesales at 21,022 units lastmonth.

In the two-wheeler segment,Hero MotoCorp wholesalesincreased by 13.83 per cent to5,75,957 units, while HondaMotorcycle and Scooter Indiawitnessed 10.54 per cent rise indispatches to dealers lastmonth.

Similarly, TVS MotorCompany witnessed anincrease of 29.58 per cent in itswholesales at 2,47,789 units inNovember, as compared withthe year-ago period.

Festive demand lifts domestic passenger vehicle sales

Crude oilfutures decline on low demandPNS n NEW DELHI

Crude oil futures on Fridayfell by 0.43 per cent to Rs3,462 per barrel as partici-pants reduced their positionson low demand.

On the Multi CommodityExchange, crude oil forDecember delivery eased byRs 15, or 0.43 per cent, to Rs3,462 per barrel with a busi-ness volume of 2,076 lots.

However, globally, WestTexas Intermediate crude oilwas trading 0.53 per cent upat USD 47.03 per barrel,while Brent crude was quot-ing 0.46 per cent higher atUSD 50.48 per barrel in NewYork.

PNS n BEIJING

China's sales of SUVs, mini-vans and sedans rose by dou-ble digits in November as thecountry recovered from thecoronavirus pandemic butwere below pre-virus levels forthe year, an industry groupreported on Friday.

Sales in the industry'sbiggest global market rose11.6% over a year earlier to 2.3million, according to the ChinaAssociation of AutomobileManufacturers. Total vehiclesales, including trucks andbuses, rose 12.6% to 2.8 mil-lion, holding steady atOctober's growth rate.

From January to November,passenger vehicle sales were off

7.6% from the same period of2019, at 17.8 million. Sales ofcommercial vehicles rose 20.6%to 4.7 million. Full-year autosales are on track to decline fora third year after hitting a peakin 2017. China, where the pan-demic began in December,became the first country toreopen its economy after thedisease was declared under

control in March. Novembersales of all-electric and gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles morethan doubled, rising 104.9%over a year earlier. Sales in thefirst 11 months of 2020 edgedback above pre-virus levels,rising 3.9% over a year earlier.

Auto demand already wasweak before China closed fac-tories and dealerships inFebruary to fight the coron-avirus. Consumers are uneasyabout slowing economicgrowth and a tariff war withWashington. The hurts globalautomakers that are looking toChina to propel sales growthand are spending heavily todevelop electric vehicles underpressure to meet Chinese gov-ernment sales quotas.

China’s auto sales rise inNov, but down for the year

PNS n NEW DELHI

Regulator Sebi has barredProfit Mount Advisory Serviceand Right Target AdvisoryService from the capital mar-kets for providing unautho-rised trading tips to investors.

In addition, Profit Mount'sproprietor and partners ofRight Target have also beenrestrained from the capitalmarkets.

Besides, they are prohibitedfrom carrying out investmentadvisory services till furtherorders.

The direction comes afterSecurities and Exchange Boardof India (Sebi) received com-plaint against Profit Mountand Right Target, alleging thatthese are unregistered enti-ties.

Pursuant to this, Sebi con-ducted the preliminary exam-ination and found that thetwo Tamil Nadu-based entitieswere soliciting and inducinginvestors to deal in the securi-ties market on the basis ofinvestment advice, stock tips,intraday calls among others,prima facie, without having the

requisite registration as man-dated under the IA norms.

Sebi, prima facie, found thatProfit Mount and Right Target

had collected nearly Rs 41lakh and close to Rs 44 lakh,respectively, from investorsthrough such services.

By indulging in such activ-ities, they violated the provi-sions of investment advisers(IA) Regulations, Sebi said intwo separate interim orders onWednesday.

Accordingly, the regulatordirected Profit Mount, its pro-prietor M Ashok Kumar; RightTarget, its partners -- DSaravanan, D Murugan, DKumar and M Ashok Kumar-- to "cease and desist from act-

ing as an investment advisor"until further orders.

They have been asked toimmediately withdraw andremove all advertisements inrelation to their investmentadvisory activity until furtherorders.

Further, the regulator pro-hibited them from divertingany funds raised from investorsand restrained from disposingof any assets, whether movableor immovable, includingmoney lying in bank accounts,except with the prior permis-sion of Sebi.

Sebi bans Profit Mount, Right Target from capital market

Gems & jewellery sector paresoutstanding debt by 26 pcPNS n KOLKATA

The gems and jewellery sectorin the country has reduced itsoutstanding debt by 26 percent to USD 7.75 billion in aperiod of 18 months endingOctober this year, a senior offi-cial said on Friday.

The industry has faced dif-ficulties in securing institu-tional credit in the wake of afew bank fraud cases, and thedisruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced jewellersto opt for an "efficient manage-ment" of their finances, Gemand Jewellery ExportPromotion Council (GJEPC)chairman Colin Shah said.

"The gross bank debt ofIndia's gems and jewelleryindustry has reduced by ahealthy rate of 26 per cent

from USD 10.44 billion inMarch 2019 to USD 7.75 bil-lion in October 2020," hesaid.

According to analysts, profitmargins will improve with moreturnover and falling raw mate-rial and other overhead costs."No major delinquency hasbeen reported in the industryduring the COVID-19 pan-demic, reflecting better compli-ance within the sector andgrowing awareness for self-reg-ulation," Shah said.

The GJEPC expects that if thecurrent trend of exports contin-ues, it will end the year withUSD 20-21 billion of shipments.Exports have slowly beenimproving, he said, adding thatthe total shipment was down by26.45 per cent in September andby 19 per cent in October.

I-T refundsworth Rs 1.45lakh cr issued to89L tax payersPNS n NEW DELHI

The Finance Ministry onFriday said the Income TaxDepartment has issuedrefunds worth Rs 1.45 lakhcrore to about 89 lakh taxpay-ers so far this fiscal.

This includes personalincome tax (PIT) refundsduring this period.

"CBDT issues refunds ofover Rs 1,45,619 crore tomore than 89.29 lakh taxpay-ers between 1st April, 2020,to 08th December, 2020," theFinance Ministry said in atweet.

Eros Now targets 50 mn subscribersPNS n MUMBAI

Over the top (OTT) entertain-ment platform Eros Now is tar-geting to increase its sub-scriber base by nearly 14 mil-lion to 50 million by March2023 and upping the contentofferings to attract more cus-tomers, a top official said onFriday.

The OTT platform, alongwith its parent's theatrical arm,has invested USD 1 billion incontent creation over the lastfive years and will continueinvesting, its chief executiveAdil Hussein told PTI.

The platform, which hadmade its services free in the ini-tial part of the lockdown,added 6.9 million subscribersin the first six months of the

fiscal to get the total number ofpaying subscribers to 36.2 mil-lion as of September, he said.

“We will continue to addsubscribers and target to be at50 million subscribers in thenext 18-24 months or byMarch 2023,” Hussein said,adding that the company willlaunch more marketing activ-ities to increase the subscriberbase like the free services dur-ing lockdown.

He said a large part of thenew subscribers are comingfrom tier-3 and 4 cities inIndia and interested in watch-ing original content in theirnative tongues, which has ledthe platform to announce theaddition of 46 new titles ineight languages for 2021.

Hussein said big-budget

content driven by highly paidactors does not work as goodas content with strong story-lines performed by lesserknown talent. The platform'sstrategy will be driven by asimilar understanding of themarket, he said, adding thatgoing ahead, the per unit costof content will go down even

as the overall volume of con-tent goes up.

The company depends onsubscriptions and in-contentadvertising for its revenue, hesaid, adding that it is testing anewer source of revenue gen-eration at present.

Hussein said he expects theaverage revenue per user(ARPU) - which stands at Rs49 at present - to be stable inthe short term and go up overthe medium to long term oncethe stickiness goes up.

At present, expansion insmaller cities is compressingthe revenues, while the largescreen viewing by families intheir living rooms in biggercities is helping to push theaverage revenue per user, heexplained.

Govt issuesdraft ports billfor consultationPNS n NEW DELHI

The government on Fridaysaid it has issued a draft billfor public consultation thataims at bringing more invest-ment in the maritime sector.

The Ministry of Ports,Shipping and Waterways hascirculated draft of IndianPorts Bill 2020 for public con-sultation which will repealand replace the Indian PortsAct, 1908.

"The draft Indian PortsBill, 2020, seeks to, inter alia,enable the structured growthand sustainable developmentof ports to attract invest-ments in the port sector foroptimum utilisation of theIndian coastline by effectiveadministration and manage-ment of ports," the Ministryof Ports, Shipping andWaterways said in a state-ment.

The proposed bill will pro-vide measures to facilitateconservation of ports, takinginto account the prevalent sit-uation with respect to thehigh number of non-opera-tional ports, it said.

It shall further ensuregreater investment in theIndian maritime and portssector through the creation ofimproved, comprehensiveregulatory frameworks forthe creation of new ports andmanagement of existingports, it added.

Sales rose 11.6% overa year earlier to 2.3million, according tothe China Associationof AutomobileManufacturers

Aatma Nirbhar: Imported coal tobe substituted with domestic fuel

You were born in thesame year as India,1947. How have youseen it change?

Yes. When I came back toIndia to introduce a newdance form, there was a lot ofresentment in governmentcultural institutions, Ministryof Culture, and even fromclassical gurus. Not that peo-ple themselves weren’t recep-tive to my experimentalworkshops. They were afraidthat their gurus would getupset. It was my determina-tion and perseverance thatkept me going. I am gratefulto the media as they spokeabout my work.

But yes, the peer criticismwas still around. A veryestablished dancer once saidthat even when you stage oneshow in a year, people talkabout it but they won’t talkabout the 30 to 40 shows wedo in a year. But the reasonwas due to the kind of workthey did and the dance formthat they practiced. Though Ihave studied KathakandKathakali, I do not take anentire tukda from the Indianclassical style in my work. Ijust use the technique. Whileoften what they were doingwas yet another interpreta-tion of Krishna or Shiva. Inthe beginning, the audiencewas limited to writers ormusicians. Slowly, the wordgot around. The best form ofpublicity is word-of-mouth.Everybody went happy whileI stuck to my guns. In thoseearly days, I spent six monthshere and six overseas.

Earlier, I was a solo dancerand very energetic. But now Ido slower movements and itis more difficult to be in syncwith the music than whenthe movement is faster.

What kept you goingdespite the fact thatthe institutions and theestablished artisteswere not accepting?

Those days, it was hardand frustrating to be accept-ed as a liberal artiste but Ihad the support and blessingsof my parents. I could comeback to a happy home andthat was a big blessing. Eventoday, many boys find it hardto rationalise their choice asperformers. My father,

on the other hand, said, ‘I amsorry we do not have enoughconnections to help you out.’Had it been an unhappyhome, I would not have beenable to handle the rejections Ifaced constantly.

How do collaborationsfurther your journey?

A collaboration needs toblend. There needs to besome amount of respect andunderstanding between thecollaborating partners. Weshould be on the same plane.When you are working, youwant the working environ-ment to be stress free.Otherwise, one is not able tocreate. When I collaboratewith somebody, there is aspark and I am able to dothings which I have nevertried before. You need some-one to trigger that change orextend that boundary. Iworked with a great artist,Bahauddin Dagar. We werediscussing something and hesaid, ‘Your performance’. AndI immediately pointed out, ‘Itis not my show but ours. Youare not accompanying me.We are working together tocreate something good.’

How difficult it was toperfect the Jose Limontechnique and the wayit seems to defy gravi-ty? How difficult was itto perfect, especiallywhen you are using it inconjunction with theMartha Graham tech-nique?

I took these classes when Iwas already 24. When youare young, your body is sup-ple. I imbibed only thosethings which my body couldaccept. So I cannot claimperfection in these danceforms. But yes, all that expe-rience of how these schools’practitioners worked withtheir bodies and their breathcontrol influenced me deeply.This was a whole new teach-ing process. I studied manydance forms and ended upusing a lot of Balinese move-ments in my work. Peoplealso see the influence ofJapanese Butoh dance in mywork. All this experi-ence enrichedme as

an individual.Mukhabhinay is an impor-

tant part of your dance tech-nique and that is somethingwhich is clearly Indian in ori-gin...

Mukhabhinay is somethingthat is ingrained in me. Don’tforget that I learnt Kathakand Kathakali for 16 years soit comes naturally. I use it alot but not all the time.

You hitchhiked to theUS. What made you dothat? How have yourtravels contributed toyour art?

I had studied Indian classi-cal dance, beginning withKathak. And then my fatherput the brakes on my lessons.But he had let a boy, and thattoo a Parsi one, take danc-ing lessons in thefirst place.

Destiny called again when Iwatched an American dancecompany perform in the city.A new dimension opened upwhere dancers performed asa collective using a definedspace. Nothing like that exist-ed in India and my fatherdidn’t have the means toinvest in my passion. But Iwas fired by a spirit of adven-ture and just set off. I left thecountry in 1969 on a cargoship with goats, sheep andother workers who would getoff at Dubai or Bahrain.Eventually, the voyage endedat Khorramshahr in Iran. Ihitchhiked across Europe asit was a part of the youth cul-ture then. Nobody thoughtanything about

travelling with strangers.I also travelled to Canada

and Japan. Monuments andplaces that I had just readabout came to life for me. Itravelled the world andexplored different culturesfor approximately eight yearsinstead. I just hitchhiked,studied, absorbed and learnt.I went to Australia and NewZealand on a cheap budget.These travels have ensuredthat I look at each day as agift where I meet more peo-ple. I stayed in a youth hostelpicking up tips to survive.Recently, a friend’s daughtertold me that she was so muchin awe of my experiences. Butnow many young people are

doing it thoughin

a much different form. It ismore hiking rather thanhitchhiking.

Is that why you con-nect to young peoplefrom varied back-grounds? You’ve alsoworked with hearing-impaired children andthose from the SalaamBaalak Trust...

Yes, I worked with childrenof the Salaam Baalak Trustand the drummers ofManipur. And here I canpoint out a difference. Whentravelling on shows, theManipur dancers wait for meto take them out while theones from the trust are sur-vivors and they have theinstinct to explore.

I have worked with thedeaf after I

came across a friend who wasworking with a deaf theatrecompany in Kolkata. I wasnot trained to work withthem but learnt on the job.After a three-week workshop,it was possible to create anentire experience with themable to express themselves. Ilearnt so much from themlike lip-reading and sign lan-guage. I use myself as a cata-lyst and then mentor andnurture them. They becameconfident and were rolemodels.

Earlier, the ones from theTrust performed onBollywood songs and wereapplauded. After workingwith me, they got recognitionas people came up to speakwith them and applaudedthem. They were excitedbecause there was a sense ofachievement as they sawtheir photos in the newspa-pers as well. I am not doingthis for my glorification butrather to demonstrate whatcan be done with hard workand perseverance.

While dancers half yourage follow the set pat-terns, you keep extend-ing your boundaries...What keeps you young?

(Guffaws) I still, by God’sgrace, can dance at my ageand the response, which onegets from the public is anincentive. And I personallyfeel that I still can so whyshould I stop? I keep pushingmyself physically and cre-atively. I have been workingfor 14 years in Manipur.Earlier, it was with the mar-tial artists and now it is withthe drummers. The perfor-mance that is put up now isall very organic while keep-ing their tradition intact. I dofeel tradition is very impor-tant and it gives you ground-ing. When you have a strongfoundation, then you cangrow and are open to absorb-ing and looking at thingswith an eye that is impartial.

Lekin chahathoni

chahiye (But you should havethe desire). Otherwise youare wasting your time andalso that of the person whowants you to be a part of theproject.

Your choice of venueshave been eclectic tosay the least, forinstance, The GreatWall of China, amidartefacts in a museumand more...

People are used to watch-ing a performance in a the-atre. But when I select aspace, it has to speak to me.For example, at Triveni, I willhave people sitting on thestage while the performancetakes place on the steps. Butsome performances workbetter in an enclosed envi-ronment.

With the advent of digi-tal, how do you see per-forming arts changing?

Overseas, there is a lot ofaudio-visual work happeningin production. But I feelwhen you come to see a per-formance, you want to dojust that.

Can artistes afford tobe political, especiallythrough their work?

Yes. The four quotes ofMahatma Gandhi that I haveused for my present workreflect it. When I started, theprotests against CAA had notpicked up but now they areso much more relevant. Thefirst quote is, ‘It is very easyto be a part of the crowd. Ittakes courage to stand alone’.And that is what citizenshave done, the way they haverallied together. The secondone is, ‘I am very disappoint-ed with educated people andhow they have reacted.’ WhileMahatma Gandhi was talkingabout how educated peopledid not shun khadi, today, itis a reference to people whoare saying, ‘I am pro-CAA,’which is disappointing.When I attended protest ral-lies or put up a status onFacebook, someone told me,‘I wouldn’t be affected so Ishouldn’t react.’ But I am

looking at the larger pic-ture. Earlier, all of us

lived, worked, spoke andstood up for each other.

Why not, now?

End of an old world grace

ssopular singer andactor Harry Styles wasin the news this weekfor a thrilling newphotoshoot for Voguemagazine, which was

doubly special considering he isthe first man to appear on thecover. The curly-haired heart-throb was captured wearingmany outfits, from hand-paint-ed corduroy pants to a lacey,frilly ball gown. The picturescaused a stir on social media forthe bold fashion choices, butStyles also received criticismfrom people demanding to“bring back manly men”.

Playing around with fashionrequires skill and courage, andlabels like ‘feminine’ and ‘mas-culine’ serve only as a deterrentfor those seeking to expressthemselves through clothingand makeup. In Harry Styles'words, “When you take away‘There’s clothes for men andthere’s clothes for women,’ bar-riers, obviously you open up thearena in which you can play.”

Considering the thousands oftrends that the fashion industrysees every year, gender noncon-formity is hardly anything revo-lutionary. But in a conservativesetting such as Hyderabad,fashion that does not defineitself by ‘masculine’ or ‘femi-nine’ ideology is slowly amass-ing its own space. Using theever-growing community on

social media, influencers andactors are getting more com-fortable playing around withbright colours, floral print,colour-blocking, frills andfeathers.

Hyderabad-based designerGanesh Nallari, speaking aboutgender-fluid fashion, tells us, “Idon’t design based on trends,because they come and go. Theoutfits I design are what I createaccording to the mood I am in.I’ve noticed that the lines havealways been blurry in India,with men flaunting brightcolours, bling and floral printsand women experimenting withbelts and new jacket styles.”Speaking about his new collec-tion ‘Madhyamak’, based on theidea of centrism, the award-winning designer professes hisidea that “I realised there isman in woman and woman inman.”

Siddharth Batra, a Delhi-based designer and Instagraminfluencer says, “The verybeginning of my content cre-ation journey started with my#GuyBeauty series — a make-up video series that celebratedbeauty for all. It was my person-al beauty routine in the form ofvideos. Of course, I have myshare of unsolicited opinions,constructive (and non-con-structive) criticism, slurs, hatemessages everyday, but it’s all apart of my journey. I take

everything in the right spirit,even if it’s written in the wrongspirit, and make it a point towork harder. More importantly,I take it upon myself to turn ahater into a lover.”

Hyderabad-based Hafsa Syedwho owns a label called Hafsathe couture, a custom-tailoredclothing line, speaks aboutbeing inspired to create cloth-ing. He explains, “I choose anoutfit for the memories, experi-ences, and feelings associatedwith it, not because it has beenpromoted on the covers offamous magazines. I also loveplaying with concepts andcolours and fusing masculineand feminine silhouettes to cre-ate bold outfits while experi-menting with proportions. It isso pleasing to see women sport-ing chic double-breasted suitsthese days and men posing con-fidently in colours that havebeen considered ‘too feminine’in the past. It is this cogentpower of fashion, shatteringconformist dogmas, andencouraging body-positivitythat makes me love the industrywith all my heart.”

The general consensus seemsto be that art is about exploringnew frontiers, and societal con-structs obstruct creators frombringing new things into exis-tence. “We can’t confine our-selves to such a linear dialogue,”concludes Siddharth.

We have always been taught thatour clothes define us, and when celebs break

those rules, all hell breaks loose, asking them toconform to their identities. Some talents from the homeland

give this subject that personal context, adding more background andexplaining the different ways in how unconventional fashion makes the local audiencesreact, as they talk to The Pioneer's SHREYA SRIKONDA

hat is the evidence that plant-basedeating patterns are healthy? Just,have a look at actress Mugdha Viera

Godse’s new fit body! She, who made herBollywood debut with MadhurBhandarkar’s Fashion, is enjoying the newrobust phase in her life. She has recentlytaken to a Mediterranean plant diet tokeep herself fit and is rightly turning outto be a role model for fitness enthusiastsacross the nation.

Getting better and better every day, shehas been trying to add a different essenceonly to aid her fitness goals. She lookslike a dream now and we can definitelyvouch that the cut back is working bigtime. Her diet is rich in vegetables,fruits, legumes, nuts, beans, cerealand grains. “The body functions dif-ferently now than a decade ago. Sowe need to get smarter to make itmore optimised. I had tried differ-ent diets and zeroed in on theMediterranean plant based dietfor my health and wellness. Itworks beautifully and I think Ishould have tried it years ago.It aids all my energy needsand I have more stamina inme these days. So the work-outs have gotten better, mysleep is better too. I wouldrecommend this to anyonewho wants to get fitterand maintain more bal-ance in life,” she shares.Mugdha is acing hergame and we can't helpbut notice and appreci-ate it!

PW

Mugdha Godse's plantdiet working like a dream

Fashion beyond gender norms

SaturdayDecember 12, 2020

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@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

Dressed in a blue ripped jeans, a stripedshirt with a black shawl casually draped

across his shoulders, contemporarydancer Astad Deboo wore his hair in abuzz cut that January afternoon at theTriveni Terrace Café, where we caught

him candid. The air that he exudedbelied the years that he had clocked

having been born in the same year asour country. The world woke up to his

demise yesterday. Here are the excerptsof our conversation with

the maestro, who hadpushed boundaries in

pursuance of his art andcontinued to experiment

till his last breath. By PNS

Sanjay Rao:Ready to do

meaty rolesA

fter huge success with the film Pitta Katha,Sanjay Rao, son of noted actorBrahmaji, is prepping himself up

with three different films. One is aromantic action film, one, an actionthriller and another film deals witha murder mystery thriller. SanjayRao is happy, nervous, and excit-ed about the opportunities hewas offered to showcase his tal-ent in all three different films.

The romantic action film isbeing produced by Don MediaPvt Ltd Banner. The film willstart to roll from next week.

Two more films will begin inJanuary 2021.

Speaking on this occa-sion, Sanjay Rao said“People started likingme after watching PittaKatha. Many peoplehave been asking meabout my next films.I am so excited toshare my upcomingfilm projects as alead actor. AfterPitta Katha, I amdoing a web serieswith Nithya Shetty. Theshooting of the same iscomplete and is torelease soon.”

“Many people think thatI get offers easily becausemy father is a popular actor.But the real world is verydifferent, I only got offersbecause of my talent. I amthankful to my producersand directors who hadgiven me a chance,” he

added. He also said thathe is looking to

work on differ-ent kinds ofroles in thecomingfuture. Ifthe script isexciting, hesays, he isready to takeup negativeroles too,ones thatare impact-ful, meaty,and heavy.

Puri's brother todebut as director

Vijayawada Saturday December 12 2020

10

tollywood

ai Ram Shankar, brother to stardirector Puri Jagannath, is backwith his new film titled Resound.After Bumper Offer, which releasedin 2009, Sai Ram didn’t taste success

with films that came later on. Few ofhis films also began shoot but gotdelayed or cancelled, according toreports. Now, after a break, Sai isback, shooting on sets in Ongole. Thecrew is to shoot for 2 songs and a fewcrucial scenes in the town.

Helmed by debutant directorKrishna Chirammilla, the film hasdebutant Raasi Singh as the femalelead.

Resound was launched in July buthas finally moved to the floors thismonth. Produced by J Suresh Reddy,Raju, and NVN Raja Reddy, the film isto release under the banner of RealReels Arts. Director Sukumar andSurendar Reddy present at the film’slaunch

outed to be an action entertainer, Allu Arun’supcoming film Pushpa, directed by Sukumar, isbased on red sand smuggling. The film’s firstlook poster was unveiled on the occasion ofAllu Arjun’s birthday in May that featured him

in a fierce avatar.The shoot of Pushpa began last month in the

Maredumilli forest in Andhra Pradesh, but later, makershalted the shoot after more than 20 members of the crewhad tested positive for Coronavirus. Now, according tothe latest update, the team of Pushpa is erecting the sets ofdense forest resembling the agency area of Maredumilli inHyderabad for the shoot of Pushpa. Once the sets arereadied, Allu Arjun will resume the shoot.

Last seen on screen in Trivikram Srinivas’ directorialventure Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, Allu Arjun has onemore film in his kitty, a film titled Icon. It is also knownnews that while promoting his last AlaVaikunthapurramuloo, Allu Arjun confirmed doing aproject with AR Murugadoss in the near future.

He will also be soon collaborating with filmmakerKoratala Siva for the first time, who is known to helmseveral blockbuster films such as Srimanthudu, Mirchi,and Bharat Ane Nenu.

Dense forestbeingrecreated forPushpa

fter Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare, actressBhumi Pednekar will be seen playing the lead role inAmazon Prime Video film Durgamati, which is aremake of the Telugu super hit movie Bhaagamathie.The film, which is being touted as a conspiracy thriller

has Bhumi Pednekar is reprising the role of Anushka Shetty. Now, the latter has come in the support of Bhumi Pednekar

and shared best wishes for Bhumi Pednekar and the team ofDurgamati ahead of the film’s premiere on Amazon Prime.Durgamati, is helmed by the director of the original, Ashok.The Arundathi actress took to twitter to send love and wishes tothe Bhumi. She shared a poster of the film, and wrote: “Wishingdearest Bhumi Pednekar, Ashok Garu ,entire cast and crew of#DURGAMATI all the very very very best ... looking forward@bhumipednekar @ashokdirector2 @PrimeVideoIN#DurgamatiOnPrime”

On the work front, Anushka Shetty was last seen inNishabdham.

s

a

t

uring the lockdown, heroVijay Deverakonda cameup with this initiative called‘Middle Class Fund’ to helpthe needy. He, along with

his team, provided ration to peoplewho could not afford and it was donewith utmost transparency.

One of the many who receivedhelp, is a disabled girl fromSrikakulam

district of Andhra Pradesh.Identified as Swapnika Kovvada, thisgirl is limbless, yet that did not deterher spirit and using her mouth, shedrew a beautiful potrait of VijayDeverakonda. She shared the same onTwitter and posted it to Vijay.

Blown away by this, Vijay tweeted,“Sending you lots of loveSwapnika.And taking strength andinspiration from you. Thank you”with a red-heart symbol.

That’s indeed true gratitude fromthe girl and Vijay is known to recog-nise such love and affection.

Vijay touched by differently-abled fan’s gratitude!

d

Anushka sends

love to Bhumi for

Durgamati

As winter comes along, theair gets crisp and dry.

That has a direct effect on themetabolic functioning of thebody. Yoga and Ayurvedastrongly advocate to adaptwith the changing seasons;

hence it becomesimportant to

makethenecessarychanges to yourdiet and exercise.

Nishtha Bijlani, aMumbai based certifiedYoga Expert suggests differ-ent ways to deal with the win-ter chills:

1. Start your day witha warm glass of water.This helps to aid thesluggish digestionduring the wintersand helps clear thebowels effectively.

2. Practice theYogic Kriyas ashereunder:

Kapalbhati:

Kapalbhati isalso known asthe breath offire. It increas-es the agni orfire elementin the body.It improvesthe function-ing of thedigestiveand respi-ratory sys-tems. With regular prac-tice, it helps cleanse thefrontal lobes of the lungs,releases toxins and drains thesinus beds.

Method:

Sit on the mat in a cross-legposition or on a chair withyour back upright. The focusis on active exhalation. Theinhalation is passive. Keep

the eyes and mouth closed asyou start the first round with20 active exhalations.

Release the breath activelythrough the nose and belly.There will be a sound thataccompanies your exhalation.You will notice the belly natu-rally pump inward with everyexhalation. Avoid tensing theface and the rest of the body.

You can gradually increaseto 50 strokes of breath and

more. Practice this earlymorning on an empty

stomach. Avoid dur-

ing pregnancy, menstruationand in case of high BP.

Bhastrika:

Similar to Kapalbhati, thepractice of Bhastrika is donewith active inhalation andexhalation. It raises the heatin the body and helps clearthe toxin build up. It givesgreat power to the lungs andleaves one feeling light andrelaxed.

Method:

Begin in a comfort-able seated posi-

tion on themat or

chair.

Along with the breath we willcreate a downward pullingaction with the hands. Oninhale take your hands upand on exhale, make a fist topull down. Continue this up-down action with the handscoordinating with the breath.Remember to keep both theinhale and exhale active.

Practice this early morningon an empty stomach. Avoidduring pregnancy, menstrua-tion and in case of high BP.

Sukshma Vyayam:

These are gentle move-ments done to lubricate andmobilize joints. Especiallyhelpful in cold dry weatherwhen the joints stiffen up.Practice of Sukshma Vyayamtakes just 10-15 min and ithas the power to unblock thestagnant flow of energy in ourjoints. It sharpens the senses,refreshes the mind andredirects life back in.

Some movementsthat you can do:

Neck movement:Simply move the neck inall 4 directions: up, down,left, right and back to

center.Wrist rotation:Make a fist,

extend yourhands for-

ward atshoul-

der

height. Make outer circleswith your wrists followed byinner circles.

Point & flex the feet: Canbe done standing or seatedwith legs stretched open.Point your toes for ward inplantar flexion and then turnyour toes toward you in dor-siflexion. Keep the movementfrom the ankle joints.

11

Vijayawada Saturday December 12 2020 Health

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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.

Yesterday’s solution

FUN

Dhanurasana is a back-ward bend, also known as thebow pose. Not only doeshelp to effectively open thespine, but also improves res-piration and digestion.

It stretches open the body,releasing all stiffness andtightness. It helps to createsuppleness in the spine andfreeness in the breath.

Method:

Lie down in a proneposition with your bellyrested on the mat. Bendyour knees and grab theouter sides of your feet.Using the strength of yourlegs, pull your chest up, lift-ing it off the mat.Remember to not pull yourfeet down to the hips.

Keep moving the legsback and create the expan-sion in the chest. When youare done, slowly release thefeet and rest on the mat.

Avoid: If you have a backor knee injury.

n our day-to-daybeauty regime,psychologicalpeace and spiri-tual balance play

a relevant role. We neverthink but most of ourskin problem are due tovarious imbalance in ourbody fluids, blood circu-lation, no exercise andstress too.

Apart from its innu-merable health benefits,Yoga also helps to beauti-fy skin. Practising yogadaily is beneficial andhelps eliminate toxinsfrom your body throughsweating, breath-workoutand poses which detoxifythe body and increaseblood circulation, pointsout cosmetic surgeon DrGeeta Grewal.

Here are a few yogaasanas that can help pro-viding you a firm faceand glowing skin:

Increase blood flowsto your face

Standing forward bendand let your head free oruttanasana and vipritakarani. These poses helpblood to rush to yourhead, reverses agingeffect and giving yourcells a rejuvenating boostof oxygen.

Eliminate wrinklesYoga also makes your

skin tighter andsmoother, as you workwith muscles of foreheadand around your eyesthat helps to erase theeffects when you per-formed. When you prac-tice facial yoga like the

lion, the V and smilingfaces, it helps to reduceyour forehead wrinklesby increasing circulation,relaxing muscles andreducing stress.

Glowing skinThe downward facing

Mudras likeMarichyasana,Dhanurasana andhalasana, reduce dullnessand clear the acne, dis-seminating that amazingyoung-looking glow andimprove your complex-ion drastically.

Reduce facial fatAt one point of time,

you will stop liking thechubbiness of yourcheeks and facial fat.Yoga pose for cheeks, lipsand jaw can help you totighten your skin andreduce your facial fat.The cheeks workouts areeasiest workout that youcan do anywhere anytimeto tone and firm yourfacial muscles, cheeksand lips. Some of themare the V, smiling etc.

Exterminate doublechin

Yoga poses like chinlift, rolling the neck, lippull, jaw release, platsy-ma tone help to get chis-eled jaw line and highcheek bone which are inthe trend that define theface.

Get rid of pimplesYoga increases blood

flow, removes toxins andcapture free radicals thathelps you to get rid ofpimples. Pimples mainlycaused due to stress and

hormonal changes. Thus,yoga helps to balancehormones, relax yourbody and relieves stress.Various yoga poses likeuttanasana, trikonasana,kapalbhati, viparitakarani, pavan muktasanacan help you fight withpimples.

Free from acne andscars

Acne and scars arevery common these days;seven out of 10 peopleare facing the problem ofscars and acne. Thiscauses mainly due topoor digestion, imbal-ance hormones, toxica-tion in liver and kidneyand improper blood cir-culation. Pranayambreathing, rabbit pose,child pose, spinal twists,adequate sleep help youto get rid of scars andacne.

Remove dark circlesNatural way to zap

those dark circles away isyoga like hastpadotasan,sambhavi mudra andsurya namaskar.

Faster Hair GrowthYoga is also highly

capable of treating alltypes of hair and scalpproblems. If you havebeen suffering from theproblem of hair loss, youcan try various yogaposes for actual results.Some of the best poses ofyoga for hair growth thatalso help to prevent hairloss are Vajrasana, AdhoMukha Svanasana,Sarvangasan and BalyamYoga.

Dhanurasana:

Yoga for firm faceand glowing skin

I

YOGIC LIFESTYLEFOR WINTERS

This is the season to have warm soupsand meals. Choose to eat light homecooked meals instead of heavy densefoods. As the digestion tends to get slug-gish during winters, it's best to eat earlydinners and keep the heaviest meal forlunch when the sun is the strongest.

Our bodies follow a circadian rhythmwhich moves as per the sun. Hence, the

digestive power isthe strongest atnoon. Stay away fromcold salads, frozen meals andraw food. Include spices, nuts, gheeand honey.

As the season changes, so shall ourroutine. This winter remember to keepyourself warm, nourished and active withthese simple changes to the lifestyle.

3. Eat warm foods

sport 12VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2020

STOKES OPTS OUT, ARCHER RESTED FOR SL TESTSLondon: Star all-rounder Ben Stokes, who is currentlygrieving the loss of his father, and pacer Jofra Archerwere left out of the 16-member England squad for theupcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka. However,both Stokes and Archer are expected to be back for thehigh-octane series against India beginning in February.Veteran keeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow also features inthe squad which also has Jos Buttler and Ben Foakes inits ranks. Essex youngster Dan Lawrence is the onlyrookie face in the squad and has been included after hegarnered the experience of playing 74 first-class games.

DE KOCK TO LEAD SA AGAINST SRI LANKA Johannesburg: Wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton deKock was named South African Test team captain for theupcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka. The 16-member squad includes rookie opener Sarel Erwee,wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne and medium-pacer GlentonStuurman, the trio receiving their maiden call-ups. Eightmonths after South Africa's director of cricket, GraemeSmith had ruled him out, limited over skipper De Kockwas handed the reins of the Test squad for the 2020-21season on a temporary basis with a permanent captainto be announced in the coming months.

NICHOLLS' 117 STEADIES NZ ON DAY 1Wellington: New Zealand's Henry Nicholls rode hisluck to post a crucial century as the hosts, weakened bythe loss of Kane Williamson, survived a shaky start toreach 294/6 on day one of the second Test against theWest Indies on Friday. 29-year old Nicholls survivedmultiple dropped catches at Basin Reserve as hesnapped a 21-month string of low scores with his sixthTest century. At stumps, he was 117 not out with KyleJamieson on one. From being on the ropes at 78/3,Nicholls said Kiwis now considered 400 would be “agood result”.

CLARKE BACKS CUMMINS TO SUCCEED PAINESydney: Former Aussie skipper Michael Clarke ishopeful of pace spearhead Pat Cummins succeeding TimPaine as the country's Test leader when the veteran'sreign comes to an end. With the 36-year-old Painereaching the fag end of his career, a fresh captaincydiscussion has started. While there have been calls toreinstate Steve Smith as skipper, Clarke believesCummins, who was recently appointed the sole vice-captain after previously sharing the role with Travis Head,should be handed the top job when it is time. “Patty'sready for it. I love that they've given him the full-timevice- captaincy,” Clarke told AAP. “Hopefully he gets anopportunity along the way to captain in certain games,whether it be Australia A or whether it be a tour game,whatever it is, which I'm sure he will,” he added.

SOCIEDAD SQUEEZE THROUGH EUROPA K/O Naples: Real Sociedad snatched qualification for the last32 of the Europa League in the final seconds onThursday after Willian Jose's late leveller in a 1-1 draw atNapoli and AZ Alkmaar's shock 2-1 defeat at Rijekaallowed the Spanish side to progress. Young Boys,Molde, Wolfsberg and Maccabi Tel-Aviv rounded off thegroup stage by making Monday's draw in Nyon, wherethey join the 18 already-qualified teams and will be metby eight drop-outs from the Champions League. Napolifinish top of the group on 11 points, two ahead ofSociedad in second who end the group stage a furtherpoint ahead of Alkmaar. Agencies

SINGLES

PTI n SYDNEY

Pace spearhead JaspritBumrah headlined the open-ing day’s play with a maiden

first-class fifty and a couple ofwickets in an impressive all-roundeffort to put India in the driver’sseat against Australia A in the pinkball warm-up game on Friday.

With his unbeaten 55 off 57balls, Bumrah was the top-scorerfor the visitors, who folded for adisappointing 194 in 48.3 overs atthe Sydney Cricket Ground.

The Indians, however, cameback strongly with the ball to bun-dle out Australia for 108 at stumpsas 20 wickets fell on a curtailed dayon which almost an hour was lostdue to heavy rain.

India’s four-pronged paceattack did well to intimidateAustralian youngsters with short-pitched stuff as MohammedShami and Navdeep Saini gotthree wickets apiece.

On a day when the recognisedbatsmen struggled to put runs onthe board, Bumrah, who came intothe game with a Test batting aver-age of 2.9, produced a stellar per-formance with the willow, smash-ing the ball six times to the fenceand twice over it.

The 27-year-old, known forhis wily bowling, reached his half-century in style, hooking a bounc-er by all-rounder Will Sutherlandfor a huge six over the deepsquare-leg fence.

Bumrah and fellow pacerMohammed Siraj stitched a valu-able 71-run partnership for the10th wicket before the Indianinnings ended with a semblance ofrespectively.

Pleasantly surprised with hisbatting heroics, Bumrah’s team-mates got up, clapped and gavehim a guard of honour when hewalked back into the dressingroom.

Earlier, after skipper AjinkyaRahane opted to bat, Prithvi Shaw(40) and Shubman Gill (43) —both 21-year-old batsmen withbright futures — showed enough

glimpses of why they are rated sohighly by almost everyone in theIndian cricket fraternity.

However, the rest of the team-mates including the seasonedRahane, failed to impress on thefirst day of their final tune-upbefore the four-match Test series

beginning December 17 with aday-nighter in Adelaide.

The two specialist wicket-keepers — Wriddhiman Saha (0)and Rishabh Pant (5) — fellcheaply with the former failing toopen his account after the likes ofMayank Agarwal and Hanuma

Vihari were also dismissed early.But the most distraught will be

the duo of Shaw and Gill, both get-ting out after promising so muchwith their dazzling strokes andpositive approach.

The Australians bowled outIndia for a low score but theywouldn’t be too happy with theway their batting panned out dur-ing the day’s play.

While Joe Burns was sent backby a fine Bumrah delivery thatmoved away just enough to takethe beleaguered opener’s edge,what will worry them most is theinjury to Test hopeful CameronGreen. All-rounder Green, whohad scored a hundred in the firstwarm-up game, suffered a concus-sion while bowling after a raspingstraight drive from Bumrah struckhim on the head.

Bumrah (2/33) and Shami(3/29) bowled a terrific opening

spell and beat the outside edge ofMarcus Harris and NicMaddinson a number of timesbefore rain intervened.

On resumption, Harris hit aboundary straightaway after hefound the gap between cover andpoint.

Shami was rewarded for hisperseverance as he picked up thewickets of Harris and BenMcDermott, a hint swing andseam movement aiding him.

Siraj (1/26) then hadMaddinson to leave the hometeam reeling at 52 for four. Shamimade it 56 for five when he hadSean Abbott caught behind.

Jack Wildermuth went for acut against Bumrah but ended upgetting an outside before NavdeepSaini (3/19) sent back WillSutherland, Alex Carey andMitchel Swepson, coming in assecond change.

Bumrah puts India ahead after batting collapseJasprit hits maiden FC fifty as India’s bowling was in a fine form on day 1 of D/Nwarm-up game against Australia A but the same can’t be said about their batting

Jasprit Bumrah plays shot during his unbeaten 55-run innings against Australia A onfirst day of pink ball warm-up game at Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday BCCI/Twitter

PTI n SYDNEY

Australia Test hopeful all-rounder Cameron Green suf-

fered a concussion while bowlingafter a rasping straight drive fromJasprit Bumrah struck him on thehead during the warm-up gameagainst India on Friday.

Bowling his second spell of theday, the 21-year-old was unable toreact in time when Bumrah’s fullblooded drive slipped through hispalms and struck on the right sideof the head.

The all-rounder immediatelywent down and non-strikerMohammed Siraj rushed to checkon him.

After being examined for acouple of minutes by the medicalteam, the all-rounder was back onhis feet as he walked off the fieldfor further assessment. BatsmanPatrick Rowe was named his con-cussion substitute.

“Cameron sustained a mildconcussion while bowling forAustralia A. This is Cameron’s first

concussion. He has returned to theteam hotel and will not play theremaining two days of the tourmatch,” Cricket Australia’s teamdoctor, Pip Inge was quoted as say-ing by ESPNCricinfo. “We will con-tinue to monitor him and providean update on his condition in duecourse,” Inge added.

Green is primed for a Testdebut after scoring an unbeaten125 for Australia A in their firstpractice match, which ended in adraw on Tuesday.

In the second game hereturned with figures of 1/20 in the6.1 overs, taking the crucial wick-et of Shubman Gill.

Green substituted after nasty blow on head

Australia A bowler Cameron Green reacts after he was hit on head during day 1 of India’spink ball warm-up game at Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday cricket.com.au/Twitter

NEW DELHI: Senior India batsmanRohit Sharma on Friday clearedan eagerly-watched fitness test atthe National Cricket Academy inBengaluru and will leave forAustralia on December 14, threedays before the start of the mar-quee Test series against the world’snumber one team. Rohit hadsustained a hamstring injury dur-ing the IPL, which led to himmissing the white-ball leg of theongoing tour. He is also out ofreckoning for the first two Testsbut can now be there for the lasttwo games. “Rohit has cleared thefitness Test and will soon be fly-ing out to Australia,” a seniorBCCI official told PTI. PTI

Rohit clearsfitness test

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