English hansindia 22 01 2018

MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018 HYDERABAD | PAGES 32 | `5.00

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H Simultaneously published from Hyderabad | Warangal | Tirupati | Amaravati | Visakhapatnam | Khammam | Kurnool | Delhi H

A participant highlights issues of women at the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2018 in Mumbai on Sunday

This Budget may not be populist, indicates PM New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated that the upcoming Budget will not be a populist one and said it's a myth that the common man expects "freebies and sops" from the government.

In an interview with Times Now broadcast Sunday night, he also pledged that his government will stay on the course of the reforms agenda that has pulled out India from being among the 'fragile five' economies of the world to being a 'bright spot'. S P11

19 killed in Kabul luxury hotel attack Kabul: Terrorists stormed the upscale Intercontinental Hotel here, triggering heavy fighting with security forces that ended on Sunday leaving 19 persons including all four attackers dead, authorities said. The incident occurred late on Saturday when gunmen burst into the heavily guarded hotel, located atop a hill in the west of the Afghan capital.

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Prez disqualifies 20 AAP MLAs New Delhi: In a big blow to Delhi's ruling AAP, President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday approved the Election Commission's recommendation to disqualify 20 of its MLAs in the o�ce of profit case. While the BJP hailed the move, the AAP said it would approach the courts against it.

The Congress, however, accused the BJP and the Election Commission for delaying the disqualification to help AAP get its nominees elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Following the President's approval, the Union Law and Justice Ministry issued a notification saying that the President has held that the 20 members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly stand disqualified under 15 (1) (a) of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act. These 20 MLAs are Alka Lamba, Adarsh Shastri, Sanjeev Jha, Rajesh Gupta, Kailash Gehlot, Vijendra Garg, Praveen Kumar, Sharad Kumar, Madan Lal Khufiya, Shiv Charan Goyal, Sarita Singh, Naresh Yadav, Rajesh Rishi, Anil Kumar, Som Dutt, Avtar Singh, Sukhvir Singh Dala, Manoj Kumar, Nitin Tyagi and Jarnail Singh.

The Election Commission on Friday recommended disqualification of the 20 AAP MLAs for holding office of profit as Parliamentary Sec-

Unconstitutional, cries AAP New Delhi: Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday described President Ram Nath Kovind’s order disqualifying 20 of its MLAs for holding offices of profit as ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘dangerous for democracy’.

The President on Sunday accepted the Election Commission’s recommendation to disqualify the 20 AAP

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OP Rawat to succeed AK Joti as new CEC New Delhi: Om Prakash Rawat has been appointed new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) succeeding incumbent Achal Kumar Joti to the post, the Law Ministry said on Sunday. AK Joti is expected to hand over the reins of the Election Commission to Rawat on January 23. Former Finance Secretary Ashok Lawasa has been appointed Election Commissioner. As the commission consists of two commissioners besides the CEC, Sunil Arora is the second Election Commissioner along with Lawasa.

OUR BUREAU TDP national president and AP CM Chandrababu Naidu at a party workshop held in Undavalli in Guntur district on Sunday

Not against Centre: Naidu Sure of winning all 175 Assembly seats OUR BUREAU Amaravati: AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has once again made it clear that his government was not against the Centre.

Speaking at a one-day TDP workshop at his residence in Un-

davalli here on Sunday, the Chief Minister clarified that his assertion about the state moving the Supreme Court for bifurcation funds doesn’t mean that he was preparing for a showdown with the Central government.

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Hyderabad: Jana Sena chief and matinee idol Pawn Kalyan will be hitting streets in Telangana from Monday, after coming out of a long sabbatical in public life.

Pawan Kalyan will o�er prayers at the Anjaneya Swamy temple in Kondagattu at 3 pm and then will kick o� his political yatra. He has chosen Kondagattu near Jagtial since he believes it is the most appropriate place for him to begin his foray into active politics. “It was because of Lord Anjaneya that I escaped from an accident here in 2009. This is the reason why I want to start my ex-

pedition from here,” Pawan Kalyan said.

The present exercise is limited to learning from people firsthand the problems they are facing as

UNION HOME MINISTRY CLUELESS

CIC seeks Nizam records New Delhi: Where are the 50year-old records related to the government's recognition of Nawab Mir Barkat Ali Khan (formally known as Mukarram Jah) as the "ruler of Hyderabad State", the Central Information Commission has asked and pulled up the Union Home Ministry which said it was clueless about the crucial file.

Information Commissioner Yashovardhan Azad has also marked a copy of his order to the Union Home Secretary with the recommendation that a committee should be constituted to identify such files of historical importance and ensure that

these are handed over to the National Archives.

"It would also be in order that the process of transfer of files to the Archives, which was initiated in 1981, is monitored in the correct fashion so that chronology is maintained in the transfer of files. This would be a real treas-

ure house for the researchers and scholars as well as the public at large while browsing through the pages of history," he noted in a recent order.

He directed the ministry to conduct a fresh search in the light of the document and if the file is traced, provide a copy of the certified information as sought by RTI applicant Sayed Khaliq.

The roots of the case go the late Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last ruler of the princely state who had nominated his grandson Nawab Mir Barkat Ali Khan as his successor making him the titular Nizam of Hyderabad.

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Tourism policing in Naxal-hit Bastar mooted Raipur: The Chhattisgarh’s Bastar police, which is already fighting the Naxal menace, has now taken up the task of also providing information about the tourist destinations in the region to visitors. The aim is to create a positive perception about Bastar in the country and across the globe.

As a part of the 'tourism policing' concept, the security personnel will provide required information and other assistance to the tourists via the helpdesks to be set at the tourist places. But, the policemen will not act as tourist guides, a senior o�cial said. The first such helpdesk, named as 'BEST COP' (Bastar ensures safe tourism through commu-

OUR BUREAU Hyderabad: Governor of two Telugu states of AP and Telangana ESL Narasimhan on Sunday courted another controversy with his eulogy of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao during his visit to the Kaleshwaram project site on Saturday.

Narasimhan accompanied by his wife visited the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme works and after Harish Rao explained to him how the state was going about in implementing it, the Governor praised both the Chief Minister and the Irrigation Minister sky high.

He described Chandrasekhar Rao as Kaleshwaram Chandrasekhar Rao and Harish Rao as Kaleshwara Rao for their commitment in executing the massive project.

The Congress, which has

Pawan Kalyan to hit Telangana roads from Kondagattu today

Won’t hesitate to cross border: HM Lucknow (Agencies): Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said India has shown it can attack its enemies not only on its soil, but also in a foreign territory, if need be.

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MLAs. Madanlal, one of the 20 disqualified MLAs, said that all hopes hinge upon the judiciary and the party is expecting some relief on Monday.

Reacting to the development, senior AAP leader Ashutosh said, “President’s order to disqualify AAP MLAs is unconstitutional and dangerous for democracy.”

retaries, giving its opinion to the President on a complaint by advocate Prashant Patel, a member of the Hindu Legal Cell, in June 2015, who petitioned then President Pranab Mukherjee against the appointments.

The application by Patel said 21 AAP MLAs, including Jarnail Singh (Rajouri Garden) who resigned to contest the Punjab Assembly polls last year, were appointed Parliamentary Secretaries to Ministers in the Delhi government in violation of the law and Constitution.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit welcomed the approval, saying the decision had contributed to the protection of democratic values. "With his speedy decision, the President has made a major contribution towards protecting democratic values. "People of Delhi feel that these AAP MLAs must return all financial benefits they have taken after the date on which a circular on their appointment and facilities was issued," said state party chief Manoj Tiwari.

Congress Delhi chief Ajay Maken said that if the decision of disqualification had come earlier, the AAP could not have been able to get its candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha.

ESL ATTRACTS OPPN IRE FOR KCR EULOGY

A helpdesk, named as 'BEST COP' (Bastar ensures safe tourism through community-oriented policing), has been set up at a police outpost near the famous Chitrakote waterfall

nity-oriented policing), has been set up at a police outpost near the state's famous Chitrakote waterfall.

"Next time when you come to Bastar's Chitrakote waterfall, walk to the police help desk set up at the

Chitrakote police outpost if you need to ask questions about the routes, destinations, transportation and other facilities," Deputy Inspector General of Police (south Bastar range) Sundarraj P said. "We

will guide the visitors by providing information. However, the police personnel will not act as tourist guides. Our intention is to promote safe and vibrant tourism in Bastar and make our guests feel comfortable," he said.

The attempt, he said, would create a positive perception about the Bastar region not only at the national level but also in the international sphere. Bastar's popular Dussehra festival, the Chitrakote waterfall, the Tirathgarh waterfall, the Kanger Valley National Park and others places attract tourists not only from across the country but also from abroad.

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their representative what he could do to better their lives, Pawan Kalyan said. He would either conduct roadshows or take up padayatra whichever appears appropriate for him on the given day and time. He expressed doubt if he would be able to meet more number of people if he went on foot from one place to another.

According to Jana Sena sources, he will set out for Kondagattu from his o�ce at 9 am. After o�ering prayers to Anjaneya Swamy, he is expected to announce his future course of action.

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Governor ESL Narasimhan, describing Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao as Kaleshwaram Chandrasekhar Rao and Harish Rao as Kaleshwara Rao, praises them for their commitment in executing the massive Kaleshwaram project been angry with the Governor for ‘pulling them up for providing him inaccurate information when they submitted a memorandum on the murder of a village revenue assistant’, alleged that the Governor was not impartial and was heavily on the side of the Chief Minister.

They said they would call on the President and submit a memorandum to him on how partisan Governor ESL had become.

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JUDGES ROW

SC to make work allocation system public soon New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has examined suggestions from stakeholders to bring transparency in allocation of sensitive PILs to judges and is likely to bring in the public domain soon the system he is going to adopt for it, sources close to him said on Sunday.

They said the listing of two petitions demanding an independent probe into the death of CBI special judge B H Loya before a bench headed by the CJI manifests that all issues, including allocation of cases, raised by the four seniormost judges in their controversial January 12 press conference, are being considered.

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TELANGANA

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HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

Smriti Vanam to come up at Nelakondapalli

Four held for illegal transport of PDS rice OUR BUREAU Miryalaguda: Illegal transportation of PDS rice would not be tolerated at any cost and o�enders would be liable for punishment as per the law, Miryalaguda DSP Srinivas asserted.

Producing the four arrested persons in connection with illegal transportation of PDS rice before the media in Miryalaguda on Sunday, the DSP informed that police during the regular vehicle check on the outskirts of Tungapadu in Miryalaguda mandal caught a lorry in which as many as 300 bags, totaling 150 quintals, of PDS rice was being transported. The cops arrested the four accused persons including fair price shop dealer Nageshwar Rao of Adavidevulapally of Damercherla mandal in the district.

He further informed that police were in search of another two accused with regard to the case. Stating that illegal transportation of PDS rice is a crime, he informed that, police would slap criminal cases on the offenders.

ABVP asked to render valuable services to society Nalgonda: Nehru Yuva Kendra national vice-president Perala Chandrashekar advised the leaders of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to inculcate patriotism in students to create a better society.

Addressing the students at the ABVP state-level valedictory meeting in Nalgonda on Sunday, Chandrashekar said ABVP was the only student union working for the welfare of students. He advised the student leaders to render valuable services to the society.

Parishad’s state leader Prasad criticised the State government over its failure in providing quality education to students and employment to youth in its three-and-a-half years rule.

Ayana: Uttarayana Ritu: Shishira Masa: Magha Paksha: Shukla Tidhi: Panchami Nakshatra: P.Bhadrapada Durmuhurtham: 01:00 pm to 01:44 pm, 03:11 pm to 03:55 pm Raahukaalam: 04:39 pm to 06:04 pm Varjyam: 05:07 pm to 06:47 pm

music with his compositions.

This apart, he is a great administrator as was a Tahsildar during the rule of Tana Shah of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty in Golconda.”

This is the second year that the Department of Culture has been conducting Ramadasu Jayanti Utsavams at the instance of the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao who is keen on propagating the greatness of the people who brought laurels to the region, he said. Jwala Narasimha Rao, the PRO of the CMO, reminisced the days he spent in Nelakondapalli.

Earlier, Tummala laid foundation stone for the works of Dhyana Mandiram and Rs 4.36 crore overhead storage reservoir (part of Mission Bhagiratha).

Zilla Parishad chairperson Gadipalli Kavitha, Collector DS Lokesh Kumar, RDO Purnachandra and Market Committee Chairman Sakhamuri Ramesh were among others present.

The three-day Bhakta Ramadasu Jayanti Utsavams begin “The elders of the village have promised to provide a piece of land to make Smriti Vanam more spacious adjacent to Dhyana Mandiram,” the Minister said, referring to the government’s plans to develop the place. Stating that Smriti Vanam will be completed within one year, he said it would be like the one at Bammera in Jangaon district constructed in memory of poet Pothana.

This apart, the ancient Boudha Stupam, 4 km from Nelakondapalli, will also be developed in such a way that the region would soon become a tourist hub, the Minister said.

Department of Culture Director Mamidi Harikrishna said: “Bhakta Ramadasu is one among many great composers who brought accolades to carnatic

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NAMAAZ TIMINGS Tuesday

Nelakondapalli (Khammam): The State government wants to bring back the glory of yesteryears which Nelakondapalli, the native place of saint poet Bhakta Ramadasu alias Kancharla Gopanna of 17th century, the Minister for Roads and Buildings Tummala Nageswara Rao said.

Taking part in the inaugural ceremony of the three-day Bhakta Ramadasu Jayanti Utsavams, jointly organised by Department of Culture, Telangana, and Bhakta Ramadasu Vidwat Kalapeetham here on Sunday, the Minister said the government was committed to propagate the greatness of the saint poet by developing a Smriti Vanam in the place where he lived.

The government will give due importance to saint composer, he said, pointing to the Bhakta Ramadasu Lift Irrigation Scheme that named after him.

HEVALAMBI (1939)

Sensex: NIFTY:

Minister for Roads and Buildings Tummala Nageswara Rao and others taking a look at the sand sculpture of Bhakta Ramadasu in Nelakondapalli in Khammam on Sunday

OUR BUREAU

Energy Minister G jagadish Reddy releasing the Telugu new year Panchangam at a meeting in Nalgonda on Sunday on functioning of Brahman Parishad, the Minister informed that along with Parishad Director Chakilam Anil Kumar he would discuss all the grievances with

3 CPI Maoist couriers arrested OUR BUREAU Kothagudem: Three CPI Maoist couriers were arrested on Sunday during a regular vehiclecheck and patrolling at various places in the district, said Superintendent of Police Amber Kishore Jha. Speaking to news-

men at his office, the SP said detonators, gelatin sticks and wires were recovered from them.

While Madivi Sammaiah and Deva were arrested under the Charla police limits, Mirga Arjun was nabbed in Bhadrachalam.

He said the couriers were carrying the seized material for

Maghrib Isha 6:06 7:22 pm pm

35,511.58 � 251.29 10,894.70 � 77.70

Gold (10g): � 31,110 � Silver (Kg): � 40,000

Releases Telugu new year Panchangam

He added the government was taking all measures to restore lost glory of Brahmins.

Reacting to comments of Sangham state president Banumurthy

Zohar Asr 12:28 4:30 pm pm

INDICES

Jagadish assures help to Brahmins, Vadderas Nalgonda: Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy stated that government was committed for the welfare of Brahmin community in the State.

On Sunday, the Minister participated as chief guest to a meeting organised by Videka Brahman Sangham and Archaka Sangham in Nalgonda. Addressing the gathering after releasing the Vilambi Telugu new year Panchangam, he informed that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was the first person to identify the practical problems of Brahmins, and constituted Brahmin Parishad by allocating Rs 100 crore every year.

Fajr 5.34 am

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OUR BUREAU

TODAY

Maoists. Cases were registered against the trio by the police stations concerned. The SP claimed that the couriers had targeted police personnel. He appreciated the work of SIs in effecting the arrest. Among those present at the press meet were ASP Sunil Dutt and other police officers.

Kothagudem SP Amber Kishore Jha presenting the arrested Maoist couriers and the explosive matreials seized from them before the media in Kothagudem on Sunday

Chairman Ramana Chary for amicable solution.

After formation of Telangana, decision of TTD about shifting of Veda Patashala from Nalgonda has

been withdrawn with his initiation and personnel assurances to o�cials concerned, he remembered.

He listed out various measures taken by the government for the welfare of Brahmins and priests of the temples in the State, including allocation of huge funds for the renovation of historic temples.

Stating that the government was paying attention to the welfare of all sections of the society and progress of the State, he urged the Brahmin community to bless the TRS in next elections too with their immense support.

Later, he participated in Vaddera Sangham meeting held in Nalgonda. Addressing the gathering, he said the government was aware of nomad communities, and has constituted a special corporation for the welfare and development of the members of Vaddera community.

Cheruvugattu temple Brahmotsavams from today OUR BUREAU Nalgonda: Historic Jadala Ramlingeshwara Swamy temple of Cheruvugattu of Narketpally mandal in the district is being readied for annual Brahmotsavams, to begin from Monday.

Temple authorities made elaborate arrangements for week- long celebrations. O�cials concerned expecting visit of 8 lakh devotees during the Brahmotsavams, particularly heavy rush during the celestial wedding of Lord Shiva with his consort Goddess Parvathi on January 24 night.

Chervugattu is a well-known Shivite shrine in Telangana state.

People believe that by praying to Swayambhu lord Shiva of Chervugattu all sorts of illnesses would be cured. As per the sentiments of devotees, if ill health persons sleep on hillock on 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 21 on no moon days will get cured by the blessings of lord Shiva.

Temple Executive O�cer Sykam Anjana Reddy informed that all measures have been taken to conduct Brahmotsavams on a

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Woman stages sit-in at husband’s house OUR BUREAU Siddipet: It seems like there is no end to the domestic violence and harassment for the women everywhere in the State and country as well. Unable to bear the harassment by her in-laws for extra dowry, a woman staged a sit-in protest in front of her husband’s house demanding justice in Siddipet town on Sunday.

Jyothi, who belongs to Kasulabad village of Mirdoddi mandal, was married to Ramesh of Prashanthnagar in Siddipet town in December of 2014. However, she had to face harassment by her in-laws for alleged extra dowry from two weeks after her marriage.

Exasperated by the harassment, the victim, with her parents’ support, resorted to protest in front of her in-laws’ house after her unsuccessful attempt of moving to court for justice.

513 SCCL staff avail services at health camp OUR BUREAU

Cheruvugattu temple grand note. Special attention paid to provide drinking water and toilet facilities for the devotees. Separate queue lines were arranged to avoid any untoward incidents and LED screens have been erected for witnessing celestial wedding. District police have been deployed to maintain the law and order on temple premises, the Executive O�cer added.

Kothagudem: Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) Chief Medical Officer Dr M Srinivas Rao on Sunday said as many as 513 SCCL employees were examined by doctors at a health camp conducted in Singareni hospital.

Nearly, 114 patients received medicines after the check-up.

Doctors enlightened them about diet and made other suggestions, the CMO stated.

Dr Rao urged the SCCL employees to utilise the facilities at the hospital and added that company’s CMD N Sridhar was striving for providing better health facilities to workers.

“The company is arranging health camps every Sunday by roping in well-known doctors,” Dr Rao stated, adding that an Ayurvedic camp would be conducted here on Monday for the benefit of employees.

‘Complete Sundilla, Annaram ayacuts by July’ OUR BUREAU Hyderabad: The two-day Kaleshwaram visit of Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao ended on Sunday where he inspected the execution of various works of Kaleshwaram and asked the o�cials to speed up the works and ensure the Sundilla and Annaram ayacut were completed by JuneJuly this year.

The Minister inspected the works pertaining to Package 6, 7 and 8 in Nandi Medaram of Dhamaram mandal of Peddapalli district. He reviewed the works on Package 8 in Ramdugu mandal in Karimnagar district. He directed the o�cials to speed up the works on Package 7 where damage of lining was reported. He asked the o�cials to complete all the works by June this year. On Sunday morning, the Minister inspected the works on Sundilla, Annaram and Medigadda barrages. He was accompanied by Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) S K Joshi, Engineer-in-Chief Muralidhar Rao and Chief Engineer Venkateshwarlu. The Minister said the government would complete the Medigadda barrage by the end of 2018. He said that modern technology was being used in the construction and every day 2.5 lakh tonnes of cement was being used.

Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao inspecting the works at Kaleshwaram project site

Level II Trauma Centre at OGH soon

HMDA slaps notices on erring engineers, architects

FOR PROVIDING DEFINITIVE CARE FOR SEVERE TRAUMA PATIENTS OUR BUREAU Hyderabad: With a view to provide immediate treatment for accident victims, the Department of Health and Family Welfare identified Osmania General Hospital (OGH) to develop Level II Trauma Centre.

According to operational guidelines, the department has considered the OGH as Level II Trauma Centre as it will provide definitive care for severe trauma patients.

Emergency physicians, surgeons, orthopaedic and anaesthetists are available to the trauma patients immediately on arrival. It would also have an on-call facility for neurosurgeons and paediatricians.

The centre will be equipped with an emergency department, intensive care unit, blood bank, rehabilitation services, broad range of comprehensive diagnostic capabilities and supportive services.

Speaking to The Hans India, Dr B Nagender, Superintendent, OGH said the hospital was nearby the National Highway so it took less time to shift the injured patients. The centre would come up

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HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

MISSION ‘SAVE LIFE’ Centre capable of providing definitive care Physicians, surgeons available on arrival On-call facility for neurosurgeons, paediatricians To have emergency department, ICU, blood bank Rehabilitation services, supportive services to be offered Centre to have multiple discipline approach Life-saving centre to be cost-effective with multiple discipline approach that would make available required orthopaedic, neurosurgeon and anaesthesia specialist, he said.

Explaining the di�erence between emergency department and

trauma centre, Dr Nagender said all hospitals were required to promptly attend to all medical emergencies and hence must have emergency services. “The emergency departments are designed

for a broad scope of minor to severe medical emergencies. While a trauma centre has a focused scope of practice and strict requirements for sta�ng, it has also specialists’ availability and re-

sponse time to cater specifically to the critically injured,” he said.

Regarding trauma centre, the superintendent said the centrebased care not only saved lives, it was a cost-e�ective way of treating major trauma. “It is not an infrastructure concept but a concept in which the appropriate infrastructure, equipment and human resources work in tandem to provide necessary trauma care services to a patient,” he said.

About the overall objective of the centre, he said the centre was aiming to bring down preventable deaths due to road accidents to 10 per cent. “No trauma victim has to be transported for more than 50 kilometres,” he said.

Dr Nagender said the trauma centre could be a specialised area within a hospital building, adjoining to an existing hospital or a selfsu�cient standalone facility in all aspects.

“This will allow patients to make sure that their needs are best met, depending on their clinical condition and local operational policies,” he said.

OUR BUREAU Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) issued notices to 51 licensed architects, structural engineers and technical persons for incomplete applications given for building permissions.

HMDA commissioner T Chiranjeevulu issued notices to the licensed architects and others for incomplete applications. Property owners applied through licensed engineers and architects for building permissions, but the commissioner cancelled the applications as the applications did not provide necessary documents.

The government has issued GO 10 for easing the rules for building permission. Licensed architects, structural engineers and technical persons should

Brave sexagenarian escapes from kidnappers OUR BUREAU

Pawan Kalyan visits St Mary’s Basilica OUR BUREAU Hyderabad: Janasena Party President and film star Pawan Kalyan on Sunday participated in the prayer service at Saint Mary’s Basilica in Secunderabad along with his wife.

The couple accompanied Poland Ambassador to India, Adam Burakowski and team of students from Poland to participate in the prayer service. Reverend Father and Parish Council welcomed the Ambassador and the film star at the Church. Holy mass was held to bless the couple and the visitors from Poland.

Earlier in the day, Janasena leaders welcomed Adam Burakowski at his residence. The duo exchanged national flags of each other’s nation and they had a one on one meeting.

Speaking on this occasion, Pawan Kalyan said that it was appreciable that the students of Poland have come to India to study the culture. The students are from Maharaja School of Poland and Hyderabad Public School.

Pawan said that knowing other countries cultures would help students immensely and improve friendly relations between the nations. He recalled that his wife Anna was a Russian. He said that e�orts would be made to make Telugu films in Poland. Several issues have been discussed. The Ambassador said that there were lot of beautiful locations in Poland which would suit the needs of India films and he thanked the couple for the reception and expressed his happiness in visiting Hyderabad. The duo answered the questions raised by students at the end.

Martial arts students make Guinness record bid

closed location near Toopran, the Bihari men waited for ‘boss’ to arHyderabad: The 68-year-old realtor rive at the place. who was kidnapped on Saturday Even as Anthaiah remained morning managed to escape from blindfolded, a voice familiar to him their clutches by the same night. (in Telugu) said, ‘How are you Mr They had allegedly demanded Rs 20 Anthaiah and how are your propercrore as ransom. Out of seven kidties’. To Anthaiah’s astonishment, nappers, six were speaking Hindi in he also listed out the locations of his Bihari slang and took him to an isoproperties, as if the suspect was lated structure in Toopran in Medak monitoring the realtor for several district. years. The suspect later demanded According to the victim Ch AnRs 20 crore as ransom from Anthathaiah, on Saturday morning (at iah to free him. However, the realtor about 7.30 am), he was returning o�ered him to register some of the home in Chaitanya Nagar in properties under in his name in the Vanasthalipuram after buying place of money, given the strict prohousehold items from a nearby visions post-demonetisation. shop. On his way home, he was inAnthaiah remained blindfolded tercepted by a man who adand without water till 5 pm in dressed him as ‘uncle’, the evening on Saturday. He The pretending to seek was again asked to pro68-year-old some address. Howvide cash, this time Rs 4 ever, when Anthacrore. Later, after he realtor manages iah reached near a to flee as abductors failed to yield to their parked car, the fall asleep; narrates demands, he was taken man opened the upstairs. “By 9 pm the the tale of his door of the car and Biharis who kept an eye ordeal to the pushed him inside, on me fell asleep, after while another man having their dinner. Even police who was inside the car as they were in sound sleep, pulled him inside. Both were I escaped from their clutches speaking Hindi in Bihari slang and and walked more than a kilometre when the victim tried to escape, to find the highway. I walked to a they held him tight. Immediately nearby hotel and fell unconscious. the driver started the car and when Later I was helped by the people Anthaiah started questioning about there who provided some tea and their behaviour, they blindfolded snacks and I reached home by midhim. “I raised my voice and felt sufnight,” he added. focated, but they persisted and kept According to sources, the me blindfolded. Even when I quesVanasthalipuram police identified tioned them, they did not reveal the culprits and took two of them anything,” said the realtor, who earto their custody and also questioned lier served as sarpanch of a village Anthaiah about his dealing with his in Nalgonda district. detractors, particularly about a After taking him to an undisproperty issue in Amangal.

Man held for rape Hyderabad: A 35-year-old woman lodged a complaint against her paramour for raping her minor daughter and threatening to marry her. The accused was taken into custody by Pahadi Shareef police on Sunday. According to police, the woman, a native of Uttar Pradesh developed acquaintance with Jayaveer (21), a native of Madhya Pradesh, while working as labourers which led to illicit relationship. Blinded by new found love, she moved to Vijayawada with him, along with two of her younger children a year ago. However, she returned to Hyderabad and started staying along with all four children at Sriram Colony in Jalpally.

Jayaveer also returned and this time he developed interest in her elder daughter the 15-year-old girl which was abhorred by her mother. Undeterred Jayaveer on several occasions also coaxed the girl and raped her. Later, he put forward his demand and asked the woman to give her hand in marriage. Disgusted by his behaviour, the mother lodged a complaint with the Pahadi Shareef police on Saturday. The police registered a case against accused and took him into custody.

Retired cop’s body found Hyderabad: A 59-year-old retired constable’s body was found lying near a railway track between Budwel and Falaknuma stations on Sunday. A missing case was reported on January 12 by his relatives, after he left for walking and never returned. According to the Railway Police of Kachiguda, Ghouse Mohiuddin left his house in Shastripuram Colony under Mailardevpally police station limits at around 4 pm on January 12. But he failed to return by the evening prompting his kin to lodge a complaint. However, his body was found near railway tracks at Vattipally crossing. “His body was found lying under a culvert and a case of suspicious death was registered. The body was sent to post-mortem to Osmania Hospital,” said M Niranjan Naik, head constable of Kachiguda police station.

Suspicious death of IIIT student Hyderabad: A PhD student of IIIT (International Institute of Information Technology), Hyderabad, died under suspicious circumstances, after consuming unknown pills at his campus hostel in Gachibowli. According to the police, N Raghuram, 26, a first year PhD student and resident of Vanasthalipuram, as part of self-medication, consumed some unknown pills and informed his friends after he started feeling uneasy on Saturday afternoon. He was shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Truck turned turtle; One dead, few injured

Camp making oil from animal carcass raided

Hyderabad: A laborer from Assam died on the spot and five others sustained injuries after a truck carrying them overturned at Tharamathipet junction at outer ring road under Abdullapurmet police station limits on Sunday evening. According to police, the truck which was proceeding from Ragannaguda to Medchal, upon reaching the Tharamathipet hit the divider and overturned. As a result Deepmoll (22), a resident of Jeedimetla and native of Assam died on the spot. While other five who were travelling with him received injuries and were shifted to a private hospital. A case had been registered and the body was shifted for post-mortem..

Hyderabad: The Hayathnagar police on Sunday raided a camp in Pasumamula village, which stockpiled animal bones and other remains, seized oil cans and other material along with a truck loaded with animal carcass. The police took into custody two labors working for a businessman, indulging in making oil from the animal remains. Local veterinary doctor accompanied the policemen during the raid to verify, the kind of material was being used in the oil making. During the investigation, it was found that this isolated place was secretly making the oil for the past few months.

send sketches and other documents, but since they are not giving documents, the HMDA has been rejecting applications.

The commissioner said the authority had the right to cancel the licence and also blacklist them if they indulged in giving incomplete applications. The GO 10 states that the authority can cancel the license if the licensed architecture commits mistakes for three times.

With inconvenience caused to the applicants, the commissioner issued notices to the 51 such licensed architects and other technical persons and asked them to explain in one week why their licence should not be cancelled. If the reply was incomplete and irrelevant, the licence was bound to be cancelled, said the commissioner.

Over-speeding car turns turtle; none hurt OUR BUREAU Hyderabad: An over-speeding car rammed a road divider and somersaulted twice near the residence of cine actor and MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna on Road No 45 in Jubilee Hills, in the wee hours on Sunday.

In what is suspected to be yet another case of drunk driving, the car was proceeding at a high speed from Jubilee Hills checkpost towards Film Nagar. When the car reached the road curve at Balakrishna’s house at around 2 am, it rammed the road divider and overturned twice before landing.

According to police o�cials, the driver, along with a passenger, fled from the spot leaving behind the vehicle indicating that they were in a drunken state. No one was injured in the accident. The Jubilee Hills police rushed to the spot and took up investigation. A pole fitted with CC cameras was damaged in the incident.

GHMC hires pvt agency to remove illegal hoardings Hyderabad: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had called tenders for removal of unauthorized hoardings erected under its limits.

The tender was given to a private agency for removal of unauthorised hoardings.

There are 353 hoardings erected in di�erent places illegally. According to a press note, the confiscated unauthorised hoardings would be weighed and weigh slips will be certified by the concerned authority.

It was found that unauthorised hoardings were found in all the five zones of GHMC and the agency would start removal work on daily basis.

Oral health comes to State govt’s priority list OUR BUREAU Patancheru: As many as 385 students of ShotoKhan martial arts in Sangareddy attempted for Guinness World record by performing most continuous full contact kicks 30/60 in one hour simultaneously on Sunday. The event was organised by Universal ShotoKhan martial arts organisation approved by Karate Association of India (KAI) at Mytri grounds in Patancheru town.

MLA Gudem Mahipal Reddy appeared as chief guest for the event. The students aged between 8-15 years with martial arts background from various schools participated in the event. The feat was

overseen by Guinness World Records’ delegate Jayanth Reddy from Hyderabad.

Jayanth Reddy, who holds 15 Guinness World Records in martial arts, said the attempt was made to break the previous record of more than one lakh full contact kicks continuously in one hour by Hong Kong with more than three lakh kicks in an hour without any break. He said the counting of kicks by the students would be done for each row in slow motion after recording the event which was first time in Telangana. The acknowledgement and approval from Guinness for the feat would take two weeks of time and all the student would be given certificate, he said.

With the recent launch of a Mobile Dental Hospital, poor people who can’t afford to travel to faraway towns can now avail dental treatment at their doorstep OUR BUREAU Hyderabad: As part of community dentistry, Health Minister Dr C Laxma Reddy launched Mobile Dental Hospital here recently. The Minister said in rural areas the public did not care about dental

health which led to serious dental problems. With the Mobile Dental Hospital, the doctors would create awareness about the dental issues, he added.

Speaking to The Hans India, Dr P Bal Reddy, Principal, Osmania Government Dental College and Hospital said this was a new concept, treating patients at their doorstep, as Below Poverty Line (BPL) people were not able to afford to travel from villages to the hospitals in towns. “Such people continuously postpone the dental treatment and due to the delay, they have severe tooth problems.

To conserve the teeth, the community dentistry department has come up with this mobile dental hospital,” he said.

The mobile vehicle will conduct camps, with 10 doctors and five auxiliary sta�. As many as 150 minor treatments will be done per day in the vehicle. In 2017, more than 200 camps were conducted.

The mobile dental clinic launched recently The bus manufactured and designed at New Delhi at a cost of Rs 40 lakh has equipment also. “Mobile Dental hospital is equipped with two dental chairs, Hi-tech dental equipment and with required lighting facilities to check

the patients and do dental treatments. It is equipped with electricity generator, centralised AC facility,” he said.

He said the van is equipped with Dental X-Ray machine and steriliser and modern equipment and

instruments to treat most of the dental procedures and also to perform minor surgical procedures.

Regarding purpose of the vehicle Dr P Bal Reddy said this vehicle was to attend dental camps scheduled throughout the State. At present, the dental doctors were available at dental hospitals like teaching hospitals and Telangana Vaidya Vidhana Parishad (TVVP) hospitals only, he said and added that consequently the oral services were limited to these hospitals as the dental checking equipment is fixed in the hospitals only.

The Principal said, “It is very di�cult to check dental patients in rural areas without equipment.

Thus, the mobile dental hospital will give proper dental services duly checking the dental patients wherever required like villages, tribal areas. Thus, it is useful for rural public who cannot a�ord to attend teaching and TVVP hospitals in cities and towns.”

4

AP

HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

Lab technician arrested for molesting 42-yr-old patient � Arrest follows complaints by a woman patient

� She alleged that the employee tried to remove her sari and molested her

� Police say there is no CCTV inside the lab

OUR BUREAU

Ministers , TDP MPs and legislators participating in a one-day workshop at Undavalli in Gunter district on Sunday

POLAVARAM PROJECT

Centre approved takeover of works by Navayuga: CM OUR BUREAU Amaravati: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the Union government has agreed to the proposal of Navayuga Engineering Company taking over Polavaram works.

Naidu said it would take two years for completion of the project.

Speaking at the Telugu Desam Party workshop at his residence at Undavalli on Sunday, the Chief Minister explained issues related to Polavaram Project to party leaders.

He said the State government could not achieve success in its e�orts to release water from Polavaram through gravity by 2018 as Secretary of Union Water Resources department blocked the tender process.

� Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu says the completion of the multi-purpose project will take another two years � Urges Centre to release Rs 3,000 crore spent by the State government on the project � Rejects Oppn demand for release of white paper on Polavaram Project works � Points out that the State govt has been releasing details of the works executed every Monday “I told the Union government that I have no objection to any firm taking over execution of Polavaram works. Union Minis-

ter Nitin Gadkari wanted us to entrust the project works to a contractor who is willing to take up the works at 2010-11 price level. Navayuga has come forward now and the Union government approved the proposal. The escrow account will be opened in two days for transaction process,” he said.

Explaining the expenditure of the project, he urged the Union government to release dues of around Rs 3,000 crore that were spent by the State government.

But, Naidu said, due to this process (change of project contractor), one season was wasted and it would take two years to complete the project. He said that 76% of earth work, 35% head works, 72% of spillway and other works have been completed so far and upstream co�erdam works

would be started.

Rejecting the demands of opposition parties on release of white paper on Polavaram works, he said the progress of works was being revealed every Monday and no need to release any white paper.

Naidu also said the government was working to create Mahasangamam by linking Godavari-Penna, Nagavali-Vamsadhara and other rivers. “Even all the tributaries will also be linked along with main rivers.

As a result, a Mahasangamam will be created. We have already created Pavitrasangamam by lining Krishna and Godavari,” he pointed out.

The Chief Minister said the government was also working on providing drinking water to every home by spending Rs 22,000 crore in the next three years.

Visakhapatnam: A lab technician, M Kiran Kumar, working at the Medall diagnostic centre on the premises of King George Hospital here was arrested on Sunday on charges of molestation of a woman patient. I Town police arrested the technician of the lab following a complaint by the woman patient, who alleged that the technician molested her while doing a CT scan at the Medall diagnostic centre in on Saturday morning.

According to police, a 42-yearold woman patient of Peda-

Transfers for municipal teachers soon Guntur: Municipal teachers in the state will get transfers very soon. The minister for Municipal Administration P.Narayana has already agreed to conduct transfers to the teachers in the municipal corporations and municipalities in the state after 15-years this year. Responding to the request of the Municipal Teachers Federation, the Municipal Administration minister P.Narayana, assured that the government will conduct the transfers to the Municipal teachers in the month of May. The government is expected to issue a G.O.to this e�ect very soon. After that the regional director of Municipal Administration will conduct transfers for municipalities in the district.

Similarly, the municipal corporation commissioner will conduct transfers for teachers working in the municipal corporation. According to norms, all the municipalities in the district will be taken as a unit. All corporations in the district will be taken as one unit.

According to sources, the municipal corporations, municipalities are preparing the teachers seniority list in the state. Vijayawada and Vizag Municipal Corporations have already given promotions

MACHILIPATNAM PORT

850 acres to be acquired through land pooling MD AMEEN Vijayawada: Krishna district administration has decided to acquire another 1700 acres of land in the coastal villages for construction of deep sea water port in the district headquarters in Machilipatnam. The proposed port needs 5,200 acres land. Out of which, the government has 3,000 acres. And e�orts are on to get another 1700 acres land. Since land acquisition is very costly a�air, the district administration has decided to get 850 acres land under the land pooling scheme (LPS) and another 850 acres under land acquisition process.

Earlier, the o�cials have acquired nearly 600 acres land from the villagers during the last two years. The State government had allotted the port construction works to Navayuga Constructions Limited.

The company is ready to start the works. But, the land acquisition is getting delayed for nearly two years.

District Collector B Lakshmikantham told The Hans India

that the district administration will send teams to the villages and convince the farmers to give the land under the land pooling scheme (LPS). He said the government had successfully taken the lands from the farmers in the capital region of Amaravati and similar approach will be applied in Machilipatnam also for construction of the sea port.

He said the district administration is facing a challenging task of paying several hundred crores to get 1700 acres from the farmers.

He felt land acquisition is very costly a�air since the implementation of Land Acquisition 2013 Bill. He said the district administration has to spend several hundred crores for payment of compensation if 1700 acres land is acquired from the farmers of seven villages. He said land pooling is one of the best options for the district administration to get around 850 acres land.

He said there are many misconceptions among the farmers about the land pooling and allotment of

� The district administration will acquire another 850 acres through land acquisition � While the proposed port requires 5,200 acres of land, the govt currently has 3,000 acres

� Krishna Collector B Lakshmikantham says teams will be sent to villages to convince farmers to give land under the land pooling scheme

land back to the farmers. He said the district administration will try to convince the farmers to come forward to give their land under the LPS. Land acquisition or land pooling will depend on the 900 farmers who own 1700 acres land.

Machilipatnam MP Konakalla Narayana and MLA and Minister for Sports, Law and Justice Kollu Ravindra are vigorously campaigning for the port and trying to educate farmers on the land acquisition and land pooling.

gantyada in the district was admitted to ESI hospital in the city with symptoms of paralysis. She was referred her to KGH on January 19 for better treatment. After examining the patient, KGH doctor Bhanu Prasad recommended for a CT scan of the brain. She was taken to the Medall diagnostic centre on the hospital premises after midnight of same day.

Resident Medical Officer, KGH, KSLG Sastri said Kiran, a technician working as a contract employee at the diagnostic centre had conducted the CT scanning.

Patient’s husband Seshagiri Rao on Sunday met the KGH authori-

ties and lodged a complaint alleging that the CT scan operator had tried to pull the sari of the patient and also molested her.

Later, he lodged a complaint with I Town police station against Kiran Kumar. Confirming the arrest of Kiran, I Town SI Rama Rao said that the CC TV footage recorded taking of patient into the lab only and there was no footage from inside of the lab. “There was no third person when the CT scan was done in the lab. However, based on the complaint, we have registered a case and arrested the accused. He will be produced in court on Monday,” the SI said.

Meanwhile, Kiran colleagues and employees of KGH said that Kiran, who has been working in the lab for the last one-and-ahalf years, was a good technician and there had been no complaints about such behaviour against him so far.

Machilipatnam port was the poll plank in 2014 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Both the TDP and YSRCP leaders had assured the people of Machilipatnam on construction of the port. More than three-and-half years passed since the TDP was voted to power, still land acquisition work has not been completed. Former minister and YSRCP leader Kolusu Parthasarathy alleged that the TDP government had no commitment on construction of the port. He felt the development of Krishna district will depend on the construction of the port.

On the other hand, the Left leaders last year visited some villages and spoke to the farmers. CPI State secretary K Ramakrishna said the Left parties would oppose land acquisition if the government gives less compensation to the farmers.

He demanded that the government should pay compensation as per the 2013 LA Act. He said the Left parties are not against the construction of the port but opposing the forcible land acquisition.

to the teachers because municipal corporation commissioners senior IAS o�cers than the DMA. The director of municipal administration is in favour of giving promotions to the municipal teachers. But remaining corporations and municipalities are delaying in preparation of seniority list of the seniors.

The government has already a issued a G.O. to give promotions to the municipal teachers.

The school assistants will become HMs, similarly, senior HMs will get promotion as deputy educational o�cers in the municipal corporation.

The delay in preparation of seniority list is worrying the municipal teachers. The municipal officials wrote a letter to the school education department to speeding up in preparation of seniority list. Municipal Teachers Federation state president S Ramakrishna said, “Municipal administration minister P Narayana agreed for transfer of teachers in April. If seniority list is prepared the teachers will get promotions. While teachers in Vizag and Vijayawada corporations got promotions,the teachers elsewhere are waiting. We have requested P.Narayana to speed up process for municipal teachers.”

CPI slams CM for ‘legal battle’ threat � Party state secretary Ramakrishna accuses Naidu of trying to mislead people of the state � Asks TDP members of Central Cabinet to come out in support of state’s demands OUR BUREAU Anantapur: CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of trying to deceive the people with his statements like going to Supreme Court against the Union government for not implementing the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. He said that the Chief Minister whiled away time by not initiating any action during this nearly four years rule and is now finally coming up with misleading statements like taking a legal recourse against the Centre.

Ramakrishna, in a release here on Sunday, maintained that if

Naidu was really serious about getting justice to the beleaguered state, he should first ask his MPs to quit the Union Cabinet and come out openly against the betrayal by the Central government.

By doing so they should exert pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to render justice to AP. The CPI state secretary said that the TDP was enjoying power both at the Centre and in the state and by approaching the Supreme Court for justice, it wants to shirk its own political responsibility. The courts cannot be made a scapegoat because of the omissions and commissions of ruling parties, he quipped. The Modi-Naidu duo has taken the people for a ride and betrayed the people of AP, he said.

The CPI state secretary said that the forthcoming state CPI meeting in Kadapa would discuss issues concerning the state, including Special Category Status, implementation of the AP Reorganisation Act and would pass resolutions in this regard.

Farmers see oil palm as an alternative to paddy P V PRASAD Nellore: Since farmers have been facing problems in raising paddy in the rain-fed areas in the district, they are now looking for an alternative crop that gives them sustainable income.

The oil palm cultivation is giving hope for them as it gives easy returns even for 25 years with a minimum annual investment for maintenance of the trees.

Now, out of 95 pc edible oils being imported, oil palm stands first with 70 pc of its stake giving assurance for returns without taking any risk.

It was promoted only in an extent of 1,000 hectares earlier, now some companies are planning to increase the area to around 25,000 hectares within next 5 years by creating awareness among farmers.

They say the formulation of National Policy on Biofuels to achieve 20 pc blending target by 2020 has resulted in ample scope for byproducts in sustainable biodiesel production in the country which is likely to increase the industry’s

S They have been facing problems in raising paddy in the rain-fed areas due to water woes S The area of cul�va�on under oil palm is all set to increase from 1,000 hectares to 25,000 hectares during the next five years S Farmers can earn revenue from the fourth year onwards S While the cost of cul�va�on per acre is Rs 20,000, they can earn Rs 90,000 to Rs one lakh per acre S There is massive poten�al for growth of oil palm industry as the Centre allows 100 per cent FDI in planta�on scope in biodiesel applications and subsequent positive impact on overall market growth.

Palm oil market size in India was valued at $ 5.16 billion in 2015. Increasing demand for edible oils owing to the burgeoning population and improving economic conditions are expected to contribute to the growth.

Industry experts say the oil palm industry in the country presents massive potential for growth since the government has allowed 100 pc FDI in plantation and has also promised huge financial aid to farmers in the upcoming years.

“The Indian industry is highly dependent on imports from Southeast Asian nations, particularly Indone-

sia and Malaysia, which together account for 90 pc of the overall imports. The huge potential for export is assuring the farmers constant revenue returns for next 100 years,” said Ashish Goenka, Director, 3F Oil Palm Agrotech Private Limited.

Consumption in India is also low when compared to the average of the world.

World average has been 22 kg per person and it is only 16 kg in India.

Majority consumption is basically by the food and confectionary industry for its products in the country and the domestic consumption has been reduced due to cut throat competition from the branded products that are publicised in the media enormously. Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd., Cofco Agri Ltd., Cargill India, Edible Group, 3F Industries Ltd., Godrej Agrovet, Adani Wilmar Ltd., Troika India, Aditya Engineers, Sundex Process Engineers Pvt. Ltd., Brissun Technology Pvt. Ltd., Tinytech Udyog, Chempro Technovation Pvt. Ltd. and GlamTech Agro Process Pvt.

Limited are key industry participants and 3F Industries is now concentrating in Andhra Pradesh. Oil palm is being cultivated in West Godavari, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, and Nellore districts. West Godavari stands first with more than 65,000 hectares.

The industry identified around 90,000 hectares of vacant lands in 25 mandals in Nellore district and out of them 25,000 acres would be developed in the coming five years as part of encouraging farmers through creating awareness on National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) programme of the Union government where the farmers will get huge subsidies on cultivation.

“Paddy farmers have to invest huge amount for cultivation and oil palm farmers who started cultivation get revenue from the fourth year till more than 25 years on a regular basis with an annual maintenance cost of Rs. 20,000 per acre.

They will get a minimum of Rs. 90,000- 1 lakh,” said Srinivasa Rao, agri-head of 3F company.

5

TELANGANA

HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

Sketches of new panchayats get finishing touch District Collectors and officials are working overtime to finish the proposals and send them to government on Jan 25 NM SATHEESH Hyderabad: The process of forming new gram panchayats in the State has reached the final stages and the proposals on new panchayats would reach the government by January 25.

Collectors of the 30 districts have already prepared the list of villages which could be made into gram panchayats and have been waiting for forwarding them to the government. The Revenue and Panchayat Raj departments will examine these proposals and finalise the list of

new panchayats by end of January, according to sources.

The government will issue draft notifications and the Collectors will hold public hearings on objections if any. The process may be completed by the third week of February and the new gram panchayats may come into existence by the first week of March.

The Collectors have sent about 100 recommendations on an average from each district for the formation of new panchayats from their respective districts. They have identified vil-

lages which could be made into panchayats as per the guidelines issued by the government.

They identified villages have more than 500 population

O�cial data shows that students are not showing interest in professional and conventional courses including engineering, sciences, humanities and social sciences V R C PHANIHARAN Hyderabad: Higher education sector in Telangana seems to be witnessing a disturbing trend as students are not showing much interest in professional and conventional courses.

According to sources in the Telangana State Council for Higher Education (TSCHE), the trends are continuing for the last four years. The number of colleges in certain courses like Engineering is more than required and the intake is higher in those colleges.

However, what is disturbing is that enrollments in courses having much demand earlier like bachelors and postgraduate degrees in Pharmaceutical studies are also not any better. Similarly, though there is a huge requirement of postgraduates in Engineering colleges, the enrollment is not encouraging.

As per the TSCHE data, at the time of the formation of the State, there were a total of 3,692 colleges in the higher education sector during the 2014-15 academic year.

The total enrollment in these colleges was about 3,77,344 against the intake capacity of 5,23,291.

In the following academic year of 2015-16, the number of colleges has come down to 3,234 but the total intake has gone up to 5,33,112 and the total enrolments have showed an improvement with

BLEAK FUTURE

Professional courses see downward trend

within the existing panchayats and are about 1.5 kms away from the headquarters of the panchayat. Lambada Tandas would also be converted into panchay-

ats. As many as 3,000 new panchayats may be formed.

The officials have already fixed the boundaries of the proposed new panchayats. The Revenue officials have identified the survey numbers to be included in the proposed new gram panchayats.

As the government is in a hurry to form new panchayats, the officials have expedited the process in this regard. The officials are working day in and day out to prepare the proposals so that they reach the government by 25th of this month.

The government wants to conduct elections to the new panchayats along with the existing ones as per the schedule, according to official sources. It has plans to conduct the elections in

February itself and has been putting pressure on the officials to complete the formation of new panchayats at the earliest.

Once the new panchayats are formed, the reservations would be finalised for all panchayats and the list of panchayats to which elections have to be conducted would be sent to the State Election Commission, said the sources.

The government is also eager to introduce the new Panchayat Raj Bill and get it passed in February so that the new rules for conducting the elections to the rural local bodies could be conveyed to the SEC. The government would finalise the system of election of the sarpanch, indirect or direct, in the PR Bill.

Foundling rescued OUR BUREAU Narsapur: The villagers of Kagaz Maddur in Medak district have become a godsend for an abandoned new-born in Narsapur mandal on Sunday. An abandoned baby boy was found bawling in an old defunct open well in the outskirts of the village. The baby was rescued by the villagers and sent to the local government hospital for treatment. The foundling was fine and was just hours old said the doctors who were astonished at the infant being survived with no injuries even thrown in the abandoned well.

Love, law balance brings success in life: Jurists Brahmakumaris organise a seminar on ‘Balancing Law and Love’; delve deep into the power of unconditional love OUR BUREAU

S Number of colleges more than required S High intake in remaining colleges S 3,692 colleges during the 2014-15

S Total enrollment was about 3,77,344 S In 2015-16, number of colleges came down to 3,234, S In 2016-17, about 275 colleges closed down

3,99,387 students joining various courses.

Trends of the last two years show the changing preferences of students. During the 2016-17 academic year, about 275 colleges were closed down in the State. The colleges closed include Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences in the State. With this, “The total number of colleges during the 2016-17 has stood at 2,959. Notwithstanding this, there is a sudden jump in intake, adding about 90,000 new seats during that academic year,” the sources said. But, what worries is that the number of total enrollment of students has come down to 3,76,863, during that academic year, eroding whatever improvement registered in the enrollment during the previous academic year.

“This means the total enrollment of students in various professional and conventional courses in the State had almost receded from that of 2014-15,” said a senior o�cial of the Higher Education department.

Continuing the similar downward trends, during the 2017-18

academic year, the number of colleges have further come down to 2,879 and the total intake capacity of higher education institutions have further gone up from 6, 24,627 during 2016-17 to 6,26,313 during the 2017-18 academic year.

However, the intake of the students has come down from the previous year down to 3,76,863.

But, the total enrollment of students Sciences, Arts, Humanities, Pharmacy, Education and other subjects has touched a four year low with only 3,55,305 enrolling during the 2017-18 academic year, the sources pointed out.

Speaking to The Hans India, a senior o�cial from the Higher Education Department said, “The State stands second among the three major States with higher college density and average enrollment ratio per college as per the All India Survey of Higher Education, 2017-18.

But, the number of students proceeding from bachelors to post graduation in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Basic Sciences and Technology touched a four-year low,” the sources pointed out.

Hyderabad: Stating that there was a need to keep a balance between love and law for personal and professional excellence, various speakers from judicial fraternity said that this could be achieved through Rajayoga.

A seminar on ‘Balancing Law and Love’ was organised by the jurists’ wing of Brahmakumaris here at its o�ce at Krishnanagar on Sunday. Speaking as the chief guest, High Court Judge Justice M Ganga Rao said the Rajayogam would bring out the inner happiness of human beings. He said one could get spirituality through Rajayogam, which would help control the mind.

Justice Ganga Rao stressed the need to bring out the inner happiness and not to go for the materialistic happiness. He shared his experience while in court stating that one couple had come to him for divorce and the issues between them were very small and egoistic.

There was a need to think in a bighearted manner and spirituality would help regaining the inner strength, he said.

Justice M Ganga Rao, Justice V Eshwaraiah and others lighting a lamp to mark inauguration of a seminar on ‘Balancing Law and Love’ organised by the jurists’ wing of Brahmakumaris in Hyderabad on Sunday Justice V Eshwaraiah said there was no need for any law when there was unconditional love.

“There is no true love because there is no true understanding between people,” he said, adding that there were no laws before 200 to 300 years ago. “When values began decreasing in human beings and selfishness plunged into love, then laws had to be made,” said Eshwaraiah. He said that there was a need for removing evil qualities and adopting good qualities within self. “There should have been ‘Satya Yug’ after Mahabharata was written in ‘Dwapar Yug’ but there

is Kalyug now and there is ‘Mahabharat’ in every house. People go for Namaz five times but indulge in violence after coming out.

I have said this even in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries,” said Eshwaraiah.

Small Causes Court Chief Judge Justice M V Ramesh said that life would be success when love and law were balanced. He said that these days, some advocates were money oriented, some were result oriented but very less were in numbers who were work oriented.

If the advocates were work oriented, they could get both money

and result, he added. “When divinity becomes part of life we will become deity,” he said.

Brahmakumaris, Chelapur branch head Sister Rajani said when laws were enforced without love it would not get positive result. “We are forcibly trying to impose values. When there is love, there will be successful implementation of laws. Too much love and lawfulness are also not good,” said Rajani. PRR Education Society secretary P Srinivas Reddy and Ahmadiya Muslim Community secretary Md Kaleem Khan also addressed the gathering.

Adivasis told to focus on resolving issues Hyderabad: Scheduled Tribes Commission chairman Nanda Kumar Sai on Sunday advised Adivasis to focus on resolution of their issues without any di�erences or clashes with other communities. Addressing a press conference here, Nanda Kumar said that Adivasis had fewer opportunities in jobs and education in the past. However, the present government is making e�orts for the growth of

all Adivasis. Therefore, he said instead of having confrontation with others, the community could resolve its problems by making effective representations with the government.

Commenting on demands for scrapping of reservation in jobs and education for STs and other communities, Nanda Kumar said no one could stop reservation which had been provided by the Constitution of India. He said

it was not an easy task to add or remove a community from the reservation list. He said any such move would need legislation.

Tudum Debba State president Soyam Bapu Rao alleged that some migrant groups were enjoying the benefits meant for Adivasis. He asked the government to review the situation and take necessary steps to undo the injustice.

SUPREME COURT KEEPS ‘LOVE’ LIVE! DR H C UPADHYAY

I prefer to be an MP, not Guv: Dattatreya OUR BUREAU Hyderabad: BJP Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya said he would contest the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 than preferring to become a Governor. Addressing media here on Sunday, the former Union Minister said, “I will remain in Praja Bhavan than Raj Bhavan,” and added that he would contest in the next Parliament elections. “The BJP has been gaining strength as an alternative to the TRS in Telangana. It is destined to win the 2019 Parliament elections,” he said.

He found fault with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for his statement that the Centre is not doing enough to devolve powers and funds to the States, to keep up the spirit of the federalism and to empower States.

Besides increasing devolution of taxes from 32 to 42 percent, the Centre headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been liberally releasing funds and according clearances to irrigation projects in the State, he said.

I

ndeed, strange are the ways of passion. When courts are called upon to resolve the passion related crimes, it becomes a herculean task not only for the judges concerned but also for the lawyers and the policemen.

The Supreme Court has encountered one such case recently. On January 19, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao refused to admit the Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the judgement of the Delhi High Court acquitting Mahmood Farooqui, the co-director of a Hindi film, ‘Peepli Live’from the charges of raping an American research scholar.

Brushing aside the argument of the counsel for the petitioner woman that a completely new factual defence argument of consensual sex was made for the first time at the appellate stage, the Court observed: “Let us take it in the correct perspective. The present petitioner and the accused were no strangers to each other. They had a close relationship.” To this, when the petitioner’s counsel reacted that there was no close relationship between them and they were mere acquaintances, the Court explained, “We are not using the term ‘relationship’ colloquially. We mean that they met willingly, made and had drinks together gladly,” adding, “But we are not judging or saying that any such act amounts to waiver of the right to be protected against rape.” The Court also did not agree with the contention of the peti-

tioner’s counsel that the High Court held the victim to be a sterling witness and on the grounds of paucity of time and of the presence of another person, it was clear that she did not consent to the specific sexual activity.

The Court relied upon the first email addressed by the victim to the alleged assailant after the incident which read, “ ...you did become forceful.. I went along because I feared that something bad would happen and things would escalate... In the end, I con-

LEGAL CIRCLES sented because of the pressure from your end and your physical force ... I love you and wish you the best...” and asked the counsel, “ How many instances of rape have you come across where the victim says ‘ I love you’ to the assailant after the incident?” The Court concluded that it was not satisfied and refused to even issue notice at the request of the counsel.

Thus, curtains wrung down on a much hyped case of the year 2015. Accused Farooqui was awarded a seven year jail term for sexually abusing the

research scholar from Columbia University, USA. He was charged under Section 357 (d) read with Explanation 2 of the Indian Penal Code,1860 (IPC).

On appeal, the High Court exonerated the accused by granting him benefit of doubt. The court cast its doubt over the incident and concluded that it was not clear and concluded that it was not clear if there was consent of the victim and if Farooqui was able to understand it. Justice Ashutosh Kumar of Delhi High Court after analysing the facts of the case said, “ It remains in doubt as to whether such an incident, as has been narrated by the prosecutrix (victim), took place and if at all it had taken place, it was without the consent/will of the prosecutrix and if it was without the consent of the prosecutrix, whether the appellant could discern/understand the same.” “ If it appears that some circumstance could be gleaned from such already collected evidence, which ensures to the benefit of the accused, the same cannot be brushed aside on the slender ground that such plea was not taken before the trial court,” the Bench said. The first appellate court also held that consent does not merely mean hesitation or reluctance or a “No” to any sexual advances but has to be an affirmative one in clear terms.

The first appellate court concluded, “Instances of woman behaviour are not unknown that a feeble ‘No’ may mean a ‘Yes’. If the parties are strangers, the same theory may not be applied... But same would not be the situation when

parties are known to each other, are persons of letters and are intellectually/academically proficient, and if, in the past, there have been physical contacts. In such cases, it would be really difficult to decipher whether little or no resistance and a feeble ‘No’, was actually a denial of consent.”

The judgement is bound to send ripples to those so-called progressive groups of women and the NGOs engaged in professing ‘free from all limits sex’ including the indulgence in postmarital affairs who have made it as the ‘business’ to seduce and emotionally trap and blackmail men, particularly wealthy and others in the higher echelons of society. With this judgement, only loud and clear “No” (and not the feeble “No”) to sex which any man of ordinary prudence can understand, would be a necessary ingredient to constitute the offence of rape.

Don’t keep it under wrap At least by now the whole nation knows that all is not well in the highest court. The open revolt by four senior judges of the Supreme Court cannot be taken lightly. There are no takers for the explanation by the ruling BJP combine that it is their ‘internal’ matter and the same should be sorted out by the Supreme Court internally.

In fact, holding a media conference and voicing their so-called ‘grievances’ before the media which is often at the receiving end from the judges saying the media reports cannot be relied upon, is nothing short of brazen indiscipline. It does amount to the contempt

of their own court by these judges. If an ordinary man or for that reason even an advocate commits the contempt of a court, judges frown at him and chide him. They do not hesitate to prosecute the Contemnor and punish him with a jail term and/or fine. This is the legal position prevailing today and rightly so.

The law also provides that a judge could be punished under the Contempt of Court Act for committing the contempt of his own court.

Notwithstanding whether the allegations contained in the letter addressed by the judges to the Chief Justice of India are true or false, notwithstanding the outburst of ‘democracy is in danger’ is true or simply a rhetoric and also notwithstanding whether sinister motives could be attributed to this sordid first of its kind incident, one thing is crystal clear that by washing the dirty linen in public these judges who knew what they were talking and what would be the repercussions in the society and entire legal fraternity in the world have committed wilfully the contempt of the Supreme Court. By their act they have brought disrepute to the whole judiciary and for this unpardonable joint act they deserve to be punished in an exemplary manner.

For keeping the whole matter under a carpet would do greater damage to the country than inflicting appropriate punishment on these erring judges and supporters. After all, in the past have we not punished delinquent sitting as well as retired judges for contempt?

NEWS

6

HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

Centre cuts AP’s estimates for extra share under CSS Amaravati: (PTI) The Centre has cut down the estimates made by the Andhra Pradesh government towards an additional share under Centrally-Sponsored Schemes (CSS) for the period 2015-16 to 2019-20. Discounting the estimates of the state that it should get a sum of Rs 16,447 crore as an additional share under Centrally-Sponsored Schemes for the period 2015-16 to 2019-20, the Centre maintained that the actual amount Andhra Pradesh is eligible for would only be Rs 12,700 crore.

The gap in the calculations between AP and the Centre, which amounts to Rs 3,747 crore, is huge for a state that is reeling under an acute scarcity of funds. Add Rs

AP govt seeks Rs 16,447 cr as additional share under Centrally-Sponsored Schemes from 2025-16 to 2019-20, but Centre says the amount is Rs 12,700 cr, which is Rs 3,747 cr less 435 crore to the variation in the figures for 2015-16 financial year in particular, the aggregate becomes Rs 4,182 crore, a top o�cial in the know of things said on the condition of anonymity. “We could take up one major project

SC to make work allocation system public soon Continued from P1 The Loya case petitions will come up for hearing on Monday.

The sources said that Justice Misra has held deliberations with fellow judges and also taken into account the suggestions put forth by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and a clear-cut roster system is likely to be followed in the apex court for allocation of cases. "The apex court registry is very likely to upload on its website the decision of the CJI on allocation of matters. The system will be brought in the public domain as to who will hear what categories of cases," a highly placed source said.

When contacted, SCBA president Vikas Singh said there was a demand from the bar to follow the roster system of allocation of work prevalent in the Delhi High Court. "We are quite hopeful that the CJI in all likelihood is going to accept our suggestions and all misunderstanding that has come out in the open after the press conference of the four judges can be resolved," Singh said.

He said that a system for allocation of cases identical to that in the Delhi High Court is followed in the Bombay High Court.

During the press conference, the four judges -- justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- had raised various issues, including

the allocation of important and sensitive PILs, and questioned the manner in which the CJI was allocating them to a particular bench. The PILs in the Loya case was one of them which was being heard by a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra who later recused himself from it. The list of the top court's business for January 22 had on January 19 shown that it has been referred to an appropriate bench and late in the evening the website showed that it will be heard by a bench headed by the CJI. Sources said that some of the judges who are the future CJIs -- justices S A Bobde, N V Ramana, U U Lalit and D Y Chandrachud -- have been holding parleys with the CJI to resolve the crisis that hit the judiciary after the January 12 presser. They also said that the judges who have been having talks with the CJI for bringing the house in order were also not happy that the four seniormost judges went public with their grievances.

After January 18, there was no meeting between the CJI and the four judges as Justice Chelameswar was out of the national capital on a scheduled visit to Chennai and Bengaluru.

There is a likelihood that the CJI and the four judges would meet on Monday before the court commences hearings, the sources said.

with that money without having to borrow from foreign agencies.

We can’t obviously forego that,” the o�cial said.

Incidentally, the externallyaided projects is another issue over which the Centre and the

Five dist hospitals to have DNB courses soon Hyderabad:To increase the number of qualified specialists in peripheral areas, very shortly the National Board of Examinations (NBE) is going to give permission to start Diplomate of National Board (DNB) courses in five district hospitals in the State.

According to o�cials, the government has already sent a proposal for starting of DNB courses in district hospitals and area hospitals. The NBE has to give DNB accreditations to the district hospitals which is similar to Medical Council of India (MCI) inspection. Based on accreditation, the DNB courses will be started in these hospitals.

Speaking to The Hans India, Dr K Ramesh Reddy, Director of Medical Education, said recently discussion was held with Dr Abhijat Sheth, President NBE, and found out the di�culties being faced by the stakeholders at the starting level. “NBE pointed out faculty problem. In view of this, the president told us that they would provide some alternative methods for finding the faculty. The NBE will provide some agencies to provide books and journals at very competitive price. Unlike medical colleges which procure books and journals, investing such things is di�cult for district hospitals,” he said. Dr Ramesh Reddy said the NBE wanted to encourage Telangana to start DNB courses in district hospitals and already the courses had been started in King Koti Hospital, Hyderabad. Soon, Sangareddy District Hospital, Tandur District Hospital in Vikarabad district, Khammam District Hospital, Karimnagar District Hospital and Nalgonda District Hospital will start DNB courses, he said.

“Our main concentration is on Obstetrics and Gynaecology (OBG), Paediatric, Orthopaedic, Anaesthesiology, General Medicine and General surgery,” he said and added that these were the basic departments needed at peripheral level especially for the maternal and child health centres (MCH centres). The MCH centres needed OBG, Paediatric and Anaesthesiology specialists, he said. On DNB course, he said it was very e�ective course, considered equivalent to Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Master of Surgery (MS) courses. “As we know, there will be restrictions of increasing the number of PG courses in medical colleges. We have already started 18 DBN seats in a year in Nizamabad Medical College. Same will be started in Mahbubnagar also,” he said.

Dr Ramesh Reddy said all district hospitals above 200-bed capacity or 100-bed single specialties can apply for DNB courses.

“The cost of starting these courses will be very less and PG courses can be started directly without having medical college. Only they need an MoU with the existing medical college,” he said.

ESL attracts Oppn ire for KCR eulogy Continued from P1 On Sunday, the Telangana Congress leaders burst out at Narasimhan wondering if the Governor would rename Raj Bhavan as TRS Bhavan. They advised him to keep in mind that he was occupying a very high constitutional position and that it would be better if he worked within its confines.

Said senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao: “Praising KCR and Harish Rao even before the project is commissioned is objectionable. It was unfortunate that the Governor did not ask the CM why the name of the project which was originally christened after the architect of the Indian Constitution BR Ambedkar was changed. Another leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said ESL had lowered the dignity of the gubernatorial post by

showering praises on KCR and Harish Rao. Not very long ago, the Andhra Pradesh unit of the BJP took up cudgels against the Governor for writing to the AP government seeking a clarification as to why it had not addressed the queries that he had raised when the NALA Bill, after it was passed in the Assembly, was sent to him for his assent.

The Governor wanted to know why the Revenue department was not involved in the change of land use since it might lead to misuse. Since the Governor raised the objection to the Bill and returned it without giving assent, the BJP took up the issue stating that the delay in amendment was hurting the development works. They in fact raised the demand that there should be a Governor exclusively for AP

‘Tourism policing’ in Naxal-hit Bastar mooted Continued from P1 The visitors sometimes face di�culties in communicating with local people or vendors for getting information and other details about the tourist spots due to the language problem and other issues, the DIG said. In view of this, a special training on police-tourist interface was imparted a few days back to around 35 police personnel, including women, deployed at various tourist places in the Bastar district, he said.

They were trained in various soft skills, like e�ective communication, positive body language, exchange of pleasantries with the visitors and concern for environment, he added.

The help desk would provide information about the transportation facilities, important tourist spots and hospitals, the police o�cial said. Initially, the help desk has been set up at the Chitrakote police outpost in the vicinity of the waterfall on a trial basis.

After reviewing its success, the concept would be expanded to other places of tourist importance

in the district, the DIG said.

The aim is to gradually replicate the concept at other tourist destinations in all seven districts of the Bastar division, he added.

Welcoming the initiative as "a good step," the Chhattisgarh Tourism department wants the idea to be taken forwarded in other parts of the state too.

The 'tourism policing' concept has been launched in other states, but, perhaps, for the first time it has been introduced in an area facing the menace of Left Wing Extremism (LWE), Chhattisgarh Tourism Board vice chairman Kedar Nath Gupta said. Chitrakote is the best place to start with as it has been receiving a good footfall of tourists since the past couple of years, he said. The concept should be introduced by the police in other prominent tourist spots as well, Gupta said. He also credited the government initiatives, like the 'Raman Jan Tourism Scheme', for the increase in the number of visitors to the state.

state have been wrangling. The Centre reportedly communicated the discounted figure related to CSS to state government o�cials who were pursuing the issue following a letter written by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the subsequent meeting the Chief Minister had with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As the Centre's position was relayed to the Chief Minister, he called an emergency meeting with Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y S Chowdary, state Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar, AP’s Resident Commissioner in New Delhi Praveen Prakash, Spe-

and that the present Governor was acting in a partisan way by approving a similar Bill of the TS government and raising objections about the similar AP Bill.

Though the TDP was unhappy, it did not voice its protest, but the BJP had done the job for the TDP leaders. After the letter kicked up a storm, the Governor put his signature on the Bill and Raj Bhavan sources clarified that the Governor had only sought a clarification and that the Bill was not sent back for the second time.

The Raj Bhavan sources said as regards Telangana, since the state has been formed out of AP, it could adopt a legislation of the parent state and that it had not come to the Governor's table for assent. Therefore, the sources said, the question of the Governor giving assent to the TS Bill did not arise.

Pawan political yatra begins today from Kondagattu Continued from P1 Later, he would move on to Karimnagar, where he would meet with Jana Sena leaders.

On January 23, at Shubham Gardens on Jagtial Road, at about 10.45 am, he would have a meeting with party functionaries of erstwhile Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nizamabad districts.

After the meeting he will drive to Kothagudem where he would stay for the night. On January 24, he will lead a procession from Kothagudem and would reach Khammam by about 3 pm.

At MB Gardens in the town, he will have a meeting with party workers. After the meeting, he would leave for Hyderabad.

cial Commissioner Rajat Bhargava and other top o�cials here on Saturday to discuss the fallout.

“The Chief Minister was visibly rattled over the Centre's stand, more so in the context of NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman’s observations on the state’s economic growth story,” the o�cial said. On January 5, Naidu wrote a letter to Jaitley stating that AP “tentatively arrived” at Rs 16,447 crore as the sum it “might have received” in the ratio of 90:10 under Centrally-Sponsored Schemes for five years from 2015-16 to 2019-20.

That was part of the special assistance measures the Centre promised to the state in September 2016 in lieu of the special cat-

however, told the Central Information Commission that it never received the file from the ministry.

As per the list of transferred cases, this particular file was not received by NAI and hence it does not possess this file, the Archives o�cial told Azad who was hearing the matter. "She (NAI o�cial) further added that files held by them have been digitised and is available on their website. Thus, though the PIO from National Archives is certain that no such file was received by them, the PIO from MHA did not appear certain about the existence of the file," Azad noted. He said it was interesting to note that the PIO, MHA has not even mentioned whether the document and file have been weeded out as per the retention schedule.

The MHA o�cial also stated that the application does not refer to the subject matter of the file and the enclosure certificate mentioned therein is also missing from the RTI application received by them, Azad said. How-

2014. In the last three years, the Centre released Rs 3,979.5 crore under this head. “Even as per their calculations, we have to get another Rs 3,500 crore but the Centre is now saying we will get another Rs 138.39 crore only,” the Chief Minister said while addressing a workshop of TDP MPs and legislators here on Sunday.

In fact, Naidu had raised this issue also during his meeting with the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister reportedly sent the state’s plea to the Finance Ministry for remarks. Now, the state government is preparing a document afresh listing its case on finances “in specific terms” as reportedly sought by the Prime Minister.

POLICE POWER

A woman activist being forcefully removed by police constables at Telangana Praja Front meeting in Hanamkonda on Sunday

Not against Centre: CM Continued from P1 "When it came to the distribution of assets of the state higher education, the Telangana government did abide by the court orders. Only in such cases, I said the state may seek legal remedy for justice," Naidu pointed out.

“When I met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I have made it amply clear to him that the state wanted the Centre to do justice on all counts,” Naidu said, hinting that he was not in a mood for confrontation with the Centre, as yet.

The Chief Minister waxed eloquent over the prospects of the TDP in the next elections.

He said no party can vanquish the Telugu Desam and this time, unlike in the past, there would be no anti-incumbency factor since the people have seen the

CIC seeks Nizam records Continued from P1 He had sought necessary recognition of the government of India.

A "certificate of recognition" in favour of Mir Barkat Ali Khan as the ruler of the State of Hyderabad was issued by the Union government with e�ect from February 24, 1967 -- the date on which the Nizam died.

After the death of the Nizam, Mir Barkat Ali Khan came into possession of all the moveable and immovable properties of the Nizam making him one of the richest men in India. The certificate remained the centre of several litigations filed by the relatives of Khan, who was the titular Nizam of Hyderabad.

Khaliq has now sought from the Union Home Ministry a certified copy of the certificate from a file dated February 27, 1967.

The ministry transferred the application to the National Archives of India or NAI, saying that around 1,981 instructions were received for transfer of old files to the Archives. The NAI,

egory status. The Chief Minister took up the issue again with the Prime Minister when they met in New Delhi on January 12.

The Union Finance Ministry’s calculation of the state’s gross eligibility under CSS, at a time when AP was expecting an “enhanced funds flow”, came a shocker on top of what was previously delivered in the form of a heavy cut in the revenue deficit computation. While the state claimed a revenue deficit of Rs 16,078.76 crore for the year 201415, as a consequence of the state bifurcation, the Centre cut it down to Rs 7,500 crore.

The Centre was supposed to bridge this deficit in accordance with the AP Reorganisation Act,

ever, on being probed as to what the reference number of the file reveal about the subject matter possibly dealt with in the file, the MHA failed to respond, he said.

Azad said it was unfortunate to note that a file containing such historical details and facts has not been handled in an appropriate manner. "Since the certificate is present on record, there can be no doubt that the file did exist with the Ministry of Home Affairs. The MHA which is a repository of rare and priceless information, like in the instant case, is expected to be much more diligent in their record keeping.

Hence an uncertain and ambiguous reply cannot be accepted from the PIO, MHA," he pointed out. He said perusal of the RTI application itself reveals that the appellant sought certified copy of a particular certificate issued in 1967 under Article 366(22) of the Constitution vide which Nawab Mir Barkat Ali Khan Bahadur had been recognised as "the Ruler of Hyderabad" in succession to his grandfather.

kind of e�ort that is going into the reconstruction of the state.

As the situation is very favourable, the TDP should win all the 175 Assembly seats. He advised the party leaders not to oppose if anyone from other parties showed interest in joining the TDP. Naidu said that decrease in the number of complaints during recent Janmabhoomi programme and positive response to ‘Intintiki Telugu Desam’ programme indicated public pulse in the state. “We can see a transformation among the public.

They have reached a satisfaction level and want to support the TDP. Our experience in delivering good administration and ensuring penetration of technology has helped us to increase satisfaction levels among the people,”

he said. The Chief Minister asked the party leaders why party was weak in some Assembly constituencies even as the welfare schemes were being implemented equally in all the constituencies. Listing the welfare schemes, Naidu said the state government would start Anna Canteens and Unemployment Allowance schemes soon. “If we start these two schemes, that traction with people would be much more,” he said.

The Chief Minister said the government would divide grievances received in Janmabhoomi programme into financial and non-financial. “There will be service standards for resolving non-financial issues. We will also resolve financial issues by extending welfare schemes to all eligible people,” he said.

LAW & ORDER IN AGENCY SATISFACTORY: DGP Utnoor (Adilabad): It is possible to see better results if the police system understands the needs of the people in tune with the times, Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy said, speaking to the o�cials of three districts – Adilabad, Nirmal and Komaram Bheem-Asifabad. The DGP who was here on Sunday as part of his districts’ tour said that society would be strong only if it had a strong law and order system. “Be a true servant of the people,” he said, stressing the need for inculcating accountability among the police force. He told the police to maintain uniformity right through discharging their duties. The government is trying to strengthen the department by providing latest weapons and infrastructure on par with Hyderabad.

Unconstitutional, cries AAP Continued from P1 Alka Lamba, who is among the 20 AAP MLAs disqualified, said the decision was ‘painful’ and the President should have heard them out before arriving at any conclusion. The AAP MLAs had also sought time from the President. The AAP MLAs were appointed parliamentary secretaries and their appointment was described as them holding o�ces of profit by a petitioner.

The AAP has also approached the Delhi high court seeking a stay on EC’s recommendation. The court has listed the case for a hearing on Monday. The disqualifications of the 20 MLAs — including Delhi’s Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot — will not pose an immediate threat to the Kejriwal government, which has 66 legislators, including these people in the 70-member House.

HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

Eat right, eat with everyone else My mom is serving food and never in her entire life has it occurred to her that she can actually sit down along with us and we can all serve our own food –Rima Kallingal, actor

Rima Kallingal

I

t is natural that these days many health experts underline the importance of women eating along with other members of the family, instead of waiting until everyone else has finished eating. Underlying this sound bit of advice is the elemental concern for a woman’s health. Several studies have suggested that self-effacing women, who invariably prioritize the needs of all family members at the cost of their own needs, tend to become victims of anaemia and nutritional deficiency, often with very low iron and calcium levels.

Don’t overdo stress or make-up on wedding day D

on’t go overboard by giving your eyes and lips a dramatic makeover and preferably choose a balance look. Also, ensure you remain stress-free to look your best, suggest experts.

Nalin Verma, co-founder, Euro Chroma Institute of Cosmetolgy and Puniti, beauty expert at 7 Shades by Puniti Unisex Salon, have shared tips: H The main idea of a perfect bridal make-up look is to accentuate the best features, and at the same time, keep the overall look simple, yet gorgeous. As it is, Indian brides are loaded with jewellery and heavy dresses. So, it is best to keep the make-up natural.

H If you want a classic bridal look, opt for vermillion red, coral red, deep red and pink red lip colours. Ditch pastel or nude shades.

H Highlight eyes or lips, not both. Fresh and e�ortless make-up styles are dominating the modern bridal trend. Lips could be kept moist or matte depending on the event.

H For blushing cheeks, shades of pink, red and orange are the colours of choice for most brides.

H Mascara is a good option to give a neat look to the eye lashes.

H In order to obtain a long-lasting look, start by cleansing your face well and then patting it dry to ensure that there are no traces of dirt or oil on the face.

H Indian brides love gold eye make-up since it goes well with their red, fuchsia, or green lehengas, ghagras, or heavy saris. So, if you want to play it safe, this is the colour to go with.

H Paint the eyelids with a gold or peachy pink shade, and use some charcoal shadow on the exterior lid contours to give a subtle, smoky e�ect. You can achieve this by using a brown shade on the inner crease area.

H You can also use golden eye shadow instead of silver for the brow bones.

H If you are hiring a make-up artist, make sure you explain what you need clearly. Explaining things in advance will help you get the look you want. If the make-up artist is new, then it is always recommended to get a trial session before your wedding day.

H Ward o� stress hormones: You need to relax and shun o� all the stress. It is di�cult to practice but stress can take a toll on your skin, making it look worse.

H Take care of pu�y eyes: Use chamomile tea bags over the eyes to make them appear less pu�y. Using normal tea bags may stain your skin.

ASKARI JAFFER

husband's wants are met first. All of this is just to keep her family happy. “I still ren a TedX talk organised in Kerala remember those days when my mother cently, popular Malayalam actor used to do the bed out of her sarees for Rima Kallingal spoke about conme and my brother, but she used to sleep fronting gender discrimination in the film on the floor. I used to ask her why she industry. was sleeping on the floor. She only used “I'm a feminist and my feminism to smile in response. I feel she is the only started with a fish fry. So, once my family God I can see, talk, touch or share my feelis seated around the dining table with my ings with,” expresses Vinay, speaking grand-mom, dad, my brother and myself. about his mother, a homemaker, Sridevi.

My mom is serving food and never in her Fronia Priscilla, a post-graduate stuentire life has it occurred to dent, says, “I still remember They must eat her that she can actually sit in my childhood we did not down along with us and we right and not just have much to eat, even the can all serve our own basic meals rather, but my what’s left over. food. But that story mother never made me feel And this has to is for another day. begin with women anything was missing in my And today, she life. Even during festivals, eating along with does three when there was no money, their family fish fries she would get clothes for and she me, and my brother, my makes sure that the dad. We were not able to a�ord a good oldest one at the table school in those days. She also joined as and the two men at the teacher in the same school to make table get one each. The things less burdensome. And, whatever 12-year-old me sees this I am today is because of the hardships and weeps. I'm deeply hurt, she had faced.” and I demand to know why I am Another daughter Lavanya, says, “After not considered deserving of the fish fry," my father expired, my mother worked as she narrated during the talk. a gardener to fulfil our needs. She was After the talk, she was promptly trolled the most pampered child in her family. on social media. She also received supBut she worked for us and she is my role port from women who agree that even tomodel.” day many women, especially after marWhile it is but natural that a mother riage, put their needs behind those of the takes care of the family’s needs, it is imfamily. Our society has changed a lot over portant that she takes care of herself too. the years, but the practice of prioritising Women who are prone to anemia, calthe needs of men in the family continues. cium deficiency and succumbing to Thus, women of all classes unconsciously health conditions like thyroid and other subscribe to gender discrimination. This hormone related problems after child brings focus to yet another important asbirth and when she reached middle age, pect - Women put the needs of the family should be careful about themsleves. before theirs and in the process ignore They must eat right and not just what’s their health. left over. And this has to begin with Women are genuinely happy women eating along Women put the to serve food to their children with their family. needs of the and husband and eat at the end.

In July, 2017, a twofamily before “I will be happier if my family year-old project in Ratheirs and in the jasthan used an unusual members eat first and I think it’s my a�ection towards them. I am strategy to break this process ignore not sacrificing anything,” says pattern among poor their health Archana, a Hyderabad-based tribal communities. Inbeautician by profession. stead of simply increasWomen never think twice before foring their food supply and access — the going their needs for the welfare of their standard approach for dealing with malfamily. It is always a mother who sees that nutrition — it attempted to break the traher children's needs are fulfilled before dition of prioritising men’s needs first. her own and a wife who sees to it that her And it worked.

I

CONTEST TO CELEBRATE WOMANHOOD

‘

I will be happier if my family members eat first and I think it’s my a�ection towards them.

I am not sacrificing anything – Archana

‘

I still remember in my childhood we did not have much to eat, even the basic meals rather, but my mother never made me feel anything was missing in my life – Fronia Priscilla

‘

After my father expired, my mother worked as a gardener to fulfil our needs. She was the most pampered child in her family. But she worked for us and she is my role model – Lavanya

‘

I still remember those days when my mother used to do the bed out of her sarees for me and my brother, but she used to sleep on the floor –Vinay

A healthy add-on for

FORMULA MILK W

Hyderabadi women entrepreneur Rumana Sinha Sehgal announced ‘Archerz Mrs India-Contest’, organised by Tusshar Dahliwal and Archana Tomer in Hyderabad.

Rumana is set to represent India at Mrs. World Wide - 2018 at Singapore.

hile breast milk is considered the best, for mothers for whom breastfeeding is di�cult or impossible; adding prebiotic to formula milk could enhance memory and learning in babies, researchers suggest.

Among other benefits, breast milk contains natural sources of prebiotics: small, indigestible fibre molecules that promote the growth of good bacteria in the baby's gut, which is not present in the standard formula milk.

The study, conducted on piglets showed that prebiotics included in the infant formula enhanced memory and exploratory behaviour in babies.

"When we provide prebiotics in formula, our results confirm that we can not only benefit gut health, which is known, but we can also influence brain development," said Ryan Dilger, Associate Professor at the University of Illinois.

"We can actually change the way piglets learn and remember by influencing bacteria in the colon," Dilger added.

In the study, reported in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience, starting on the second day of life, piglets were given a cow's milk-based infant formula supplemented with polydextrose (PDX), a synthetic carbohydrate with prebiotic activity, and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), a naturally occurring prebiotic.

Prebiotics in formula milk may boost babies’ memory skills

Piglets are widely considered a more informative model for human infants than mice and rats, their digestive systems, behavioural responses, and brain development are remarkably similar to human infants.

Pigs fed with the prebiotic supplements spent more time playing

with new objects, on a learning and memory test, than pigs who did not receive the supplements.

The preference for novel objects, an indication of natural curiosity, is a sign of healthy brain development and points towards positive development of learning and memory, the researchers said.

EDIT

8

HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

CONTINUANCE OF DISTURBED AREA PROVISIONS IN NAGALAND ������ �� ������� ���� ���� � � ��� ���

It is about morality E

lection Commission’s move to recommend disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs for occupying the post of Parliamentary Secretaries - an o�ce of profit - between March 13, 2015 to September 8, 2016, and the presidential nod to it, has rankled the Opposition and understandably so. The AAP MLAs thus coming under the CEC scanner also failed to get any relief from the Delhi High Court immediately. The HC has posted the matter for Monday. Even if these twenty law makers of AAP get disqualified it would in no way a�ect AAP government as it will still have 46 MLAs in the Assembly. The issue however is not about the stability of the government. It is more of morality, which sadly has hit the lowest in our politics. That the AAP legislators have decided to sound the President in this regard will be of no use as the latter is bound by the EC’s view on matters of o�ce of profit and therefore, their disqualification seems inevitable. The case was against 21 MLAs initially but Rajouri Garden MLA had resigned to contest against Prakash Singh Badal in the Punjab Assembly elections last year. AAP is worried more about the fall-out of the by-elections as it knows that any blow here would be quite telling on its fortunes in the days ahead. How about the implications of this order on other parties in power elsewhere? Currently 11 other States have Parliamentary Secretaries including Telangana, Haryana, Punjab, MP, Rajasthan and Karnataka. In Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Goa, the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries has been challenged and significantly these appointments have been annulled by the High Courts of respective States. A similar case is pending in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana too.

Article 102 (1)(a) says a person shall be disqualified as MP for holding o�ce of profit under the Government of India or the government of any State, other than an o�ce declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder. Article 191(1)(a) has a similar provision for the members of State Assemblies. This controversy has been rocking Indian politics since long. From Sonia Gandhi, to Sharad Pawar to Naveen Patnaik to Somnath Chatterjee, many stalwarts faced the dilemma and controversies over the o�ce of profit issue. Sonia Gandhi resigned from Lok Sabha in 2006 while the EC was considering a petition against her arguing that the Chairpersonship of National Advisory Council (NAC) she was holding was o�ce of profit. There are examples, however, when complaints had been rejected.

BJP had complained against 19 Congress MLAs during Sheila Dikshit regime only to be disappointed while Jaya Bachchan was the first MP to be disqualified for holding o�ce of profit.

AAP is not the only culprit here. Survival is the basic goal of our politicians. Political reality is what keeps the governments going, not morality and to expect anything other than this, is perhaps, immoral on our part. After all, modern Indian politics is all about utilitarianism. Reason has taken a holiday and to expect swachh politics is wrong. Cutting across political parties, our leaders prove this point.

Perception without foresight GAUTAM SEN

T

he Government of India extended the declaration on Disturbed Area provisions in Nagaland till the end of June 2018 under Section 3 of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) 1958. The raison d’être for the extension, as per the Ministry of Home A�airs (MHA) notification of December 30,2017 is that the whole of the state of Nagaland is in such a disturbed and dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary.

Such a declaration designating areas as disturbed remains operative in a few other places in the North-Eastern region. However, a similar declaration and the imposition of AFSPA had been totally withdrawn from Tripura, which was earlier affected by insurgency. Interestingly, Nagaland has had its insurgency situation broadly under control for a number of years stretching back to the previous decade. Further, the extension of the Disturbed Area provisions in Nagaland is all the more surprising because a framework agreement for reconciliation between the Government of India and main insurgent group – the Nationalist Council of Nagalim (Issac-Muivah) (NSCN-IM) was concluded on August 3, 2015. Efforts are under way to include other Naga insurgent groups in the framework, and a ceasefire between the government and the insurgents, negotiated in 1997, has been holding even after the (NSCN-Khaplang) group decided in March 2015 not to be bound by the ceasefire agreement.

The moot point is whether continuance of the Disturbed Area provisions would facilitate progress towards a consummation of the framework agreement of 2015. The existing internal law and order situation in Nagaland as well as the broader security milieu within the state and its periphery has been largely peaceful in recent times.

The only manifest deterioration in the law and order situation in Nagaland was the public upsurge in Kohima and Dimapur in Feb-

Tough for Rajini in politics

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T

amil superstar Rajinikanth will have a tough time in politics. It is estimated that Rajini will end up like Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi who floated Praja Rajyam party. The symbol Rajini indicated while he declared entering into politics is a hit, but the symbol relates with the hand symbol. More than floating a political party, Rajini should share quarter seats with a party that is estimated to come to power in 2021, that will help his party to improve, gain experience and perform well in every poll. Rajinikanth is a hit actor, but when it comes into politics his vision is straight forward and overconfident. The people of Tamil Nadu are satisfied with the work of political parties in the state and there is less scope for Rajinikanth to excel that too being a cinema actor where people hesitate to give power to a cinema actor because of cinema background. He can grab mass voters and youth, but when it comes to literate voters, middle class, upper middle class and rich class voters it will be very tough for him to find a way. Rajini’s e�orts will go in vain unless he comes to a quarter seat sharing with a political party. Rajini is a good cinema actor which is a minus point for him in politics because people these days are favouring politicians with executive background.

V Seshamani, Hyderabad

Kejriwal’s time up

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t’s a slap on the face of Kejriwal as his party’s 20 legislators are disqualified for holding o�ce of profit. With this by polls seem imminent, it is an opportunity to check whether the maverick Kejri still commands the respect of Delhi voters. His party won a record majority of 67 out of 70 seats in Delhi Assembly. He has utterly failed to fulfill even a fraction of huge promises made to Delhiites, people are disillusioned with him and his team. He spent most of the valuable time fiercely pointing out fingers at PM Modi, lieutenant governors of Delhi and other constitutional bodies. For his failure as a street fighter, he felt that the best form of defense is o�ence and people are totally fed up with his antics and his latest past time is that - for victories he is responsible and for failures the EVMs are to be blamed. With this he has become as political clown.

Now the time has come for Delhi voters to judge his performance in the polls. As rightly observed by his erstwhile partner in the great Delhi victory Yogendra Yadav that the political project AAP that has enthused millions, holding a promise of alternative politics is dead. Kejriji remember the quote ‘You cannot fool all the people all the time’.

Rama Krishna M, Kakinada

ruary 2016. The violence then was against the introduction of reserved seats for women in local bodies below the provincial level without the concurrence of traditional ethnic institutions.

This decision of the state government was in contravention of Article 371 of the Constitution.

However, this short-term disturbance was contained by the state government both through the employment of the state and central police forces as well as by engaging in dialogue with civil society groups. Notwithstanding the historical backdrop of militancy in the state, there is no reason to construe that without the legal cover a�orded by the Disturbed Areas Act, normal public security, functioning of state institutions and integrity and unity of the state of Nagaland and India would be undermined.

Isolated incidents and movements of insurgents can be obviated through the oversight provided by the ceasefire monitoring committees in place and the disposition of the state`s police forces, central police units, and the Army in and around Nagaland. The overall situation may not be susceptible to deterioration beyond acceptable levels without the Disturbed Area notification and the concomitant application of the AFSPA. In fact, a former Union Home Secretary, while appraising the need for continuance of the AFSPA (which require the Disturbed Area cover to be operative) had opined that law and order-related casualties are perceptibly on the decline and are also lesser in Nagaland than in a place like Delhi.

There are probably institutional hurdles in the way of withdrawing the Disturbed Areas notification with respect to Nagaland. In all probability, the higher defence services headquarters and the Ministry of Defence as well as agencies like the Intelligence Bureau would have advocated for continuance of the provisions. The government would have taken their views into account and chose the option of maintaining the status quo. However, it is not clear whether the central political leadership attempted to take a

thehansreader@gmail.com

Instil patriotic spirit

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he Supreme Court’s departure from its earlier order mandating cinema halls to play the national anthem before the screening of a movie is welcome. The apex court has left it to the Centre to decide if national anthem should be played in cinema halls, accordingly the matter is left open for cinema halls to decide it.

Some theatre owners say that they will play it as they fear to be labelled anti-national and some violence too if they do not play it. This kind of situation forcing/threatening their personal views on others is a dangerous one. Indeed, patriotism is something that should be in-built, and that requires sincere e�orts right from childhood in schools and at home. One cannot force others to think or behave in a certain way or challenge their love for the country. Widespread propaganda on singing and respecting the national anthem is a better option.

Mahesh Kapasi, New Delhi

Rajiv Kumar unfit for his post

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progressive and long-term view, which envisages an early culmination of the Naga reconciliation process with the insurgents divested of their arms and eventually absorbed into the governance structures of the state. In such a framework, the Disturbed Area notification and AFSPA should not have primacy. The continued designation of the entire state as a Disturbed Area may not be deemed conducive for public morale and will not engender a confidence-building environment towards achieving a satisfactory outcome to the 2015 ad-hoc framework agreement.

The Central government’s decision also denotes lack of confidence in the state government machinery for ensuring security.

Such lacunas cannot be overcome by the statutory cover of the notification under reference.

Moreover, this could also be indicative of the central government`s apprehension to the effect that the state government`s security apparatus, even in concert with supportive central resources, may not be able to ensure optimum security in the state, with a likely negative fallout on the Naga reconciliation

ITI Aayog wants the A P government to be aware: That ‘Its average per capital income is higher than the national per capita income’. Hence, Dr Rajiv Kumar, says “you should not think about the demand of SCS”. All this while, we were Tenali Ramakrishna’s horse running after the fodder held by its rider. Now it is proved that it is only painted broomstick and the projected water body is an illusion. It is a fit case for AP MPs to move a ‘breach of privilege’ against the Central government. Parliament is an eternal institution. Promises made on its floor by the then PM, Manmohan Singh while discussing the A P Reorganisation Bill, 2013 is binding on the successor governments also.

K C Kalkura, Kurnool

Virat Kohli the best of the best

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e, the entire nation, including the cricket governing body, is proud of Indian skipper Virat Kohli for winning the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC cricketer of the year 2017. Lot of credit for this achievement goes to his fitness level and he is a living example for other cricketers to be as fit as he is. Even more, Kohli pushed England cricket captain Joe Root into the second position as the top four slots continued to be occupied by test captain who have all played in past ICC U19 cricket World Cups. Now, he became the second Indian batsman after former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar to reach the 900-point mark in this latest ICC Test Player Rankings. We congratulate him for heightening the national dignity.

A Hammad, New Delhi

process and possibility of a final peace agreement. Such an apprehension however cannot be considered well-founded. In this backdrop, it may be worthwhile for the MHA to consider placing the state under President`s rule after the tenure of the state legislative assembly expires in February 2018, especially given demands for deferment of elements including from the incumbent chief minister. In this evolving scenario, the declaration of the state as a Disturbed Area is neither a judicious instrument nor a protective cover to ensure security and build public morale.

In the North-Eastern public psyche, notifications on Disturbed Areas and AFSPA have been generally viewed as odious, undemocratic and coercive. It is noteworthy that such statutes or notifications have not been promulgated in left-wing extremism a�ected states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

With the promotion of developmental e�orts by successive central governments during the past two decades, and the special initiatives taken by the present central government as part of its `Act East` drive, it may be appropriate

to modify the above-cited statutory declaration apropos Nagaland, if not withdraw it altogether. It will be a curious incongruity to work towards a trans-Asian highway intended to bring about intermingling of cultures, promotion of trade and comprehensive welfare of the people who inhabit the region even as it traverses a `disturbed area` like Nagaland. While Disturbed Area provisions – and also the AFSPA – may only be enabling instruments of last resort for ensuring the maintenance of minimum security thresholds within Nagaland, their utility may only have limited e�cacy.

Furthermore, the disparity in the approach of the Union government vis-à-vis di�erent states may not engender confidence among the people of Nagaland in the Indian governance process.

The declaration of the Disturbed Area provision is fundamentally at odds with the mutually accommodative integration endeavour of the Nagas with the Indian Union as envisioned in the 2015 framework agreement.

The author is a retired IDAS o�cer. The views expressed are the author`s own.

Courtesy: idsa.in

since 1988. After signing of Tashkent agreement in 1966 at the time of our late prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, the dispute seemed to come to an end. Signing of Shimla Agreement in 1972

by Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto made the path for solution in a peaceful way. But due to the unwanted incidents on both the occasions and violation of ceasefire by Pakistan later on, the issue was complicated. The infiltration of Pakistan army into Indian territory resulted in Kargil war 1999. It is worth to be mentioned that India has never initiated a war. We are unable to do anything for Kashmiris except showing empathy.

Raja Sekhar Lella, Ongole

Legal irony, only in India

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ur system of justice allowed a criminal (so declared latter on), to have rule a State (TN) as CM for over two terms and popular and prominent innocent personalities, A Raja, a former Union cabinet minister, to su�er imprisonment for about 15 months and Kanimozhi, daughter of Karunanidhi to remain in jail for over 6 months (who are since declared innocent). Who is responsible and accountable for these aberrations. Let all citizens of this great nation along with the President, the judiciary, the legislature and the executive, ponder and brood over these facts to find appropriate solutions.

AGK Murthi, Hyderabad

No solution to Kashmir conundrum

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hough we have had many legendary prime ministers, prominent national leaders, still the Kashmir conflict has not been resolved for the past 70 years. On several occasions, it was found that terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir was being carried out by Pakistan. In December 2017, the CIA chief also warned Pakistan: “If Islamabad does not eliminate terrorist ‘safe heavens’ in its territory, the US will do ‘everything’ it can do to destroy them.” The Annual Report on Patterns of Global Terrorism 2000 stated that the Pakistani government supports Kashmir insurgency and Kashmiri militant groups. According to the data compiled by South Asian Terrorism Portal (SATP), run by New Delhi-based non-profit Institute for Conflict Management, from 1988 to 7th January 2018, a total of 23,352 terrorists were killed in Jammu & Kashmir dispute. It is distressful to hear that we also lost 6,361 security force personnel and 14,796 civilians due to terrorist violence

KMC authorities unconcerned

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n Kakinada town, despite widening of the main road, the widened road stretch is being used for parking of cars and other vehicles leading to frequent tra�c jams. Most of the big shopping malls like Chandana Bros, Kalaniketan, Kalanjali etc., are without cellars to be used by customers for parking of vehicles, hence all vehicles are parked on the roads in a haphazard manner hindering the free movement of vehicular tra�c. Apart from this, most of the apartments and commercial complexes in the city, cellars are converted in to commercial hubs instead of leaving the cellars for parking, violating town planning norms.

Some apartment owners on the main road even let out cellars to banks for ATMs. Kakinada town is tagged as smart city and the there is tremendous growth of population and fourfold increase in vehicles in recent times. Unless the KMC authorities launch a drive against unauthorised use of cellar spaces in shopping complexes and residential apartments, the town will further su�er tra�c snarls.

Rama Krishna M, Kakinada

������� � ��������� �� �� ��������� ��� �� ������ �� ��� ��������� ����� ����� ������� ��� ������� �� ������ ������������ ���� ������ ��� ���� ����� ��� �������� ���� ����� ������� ����� ����� ���������������� ��������� ��� ��������� ���� ��������� ����� ����� ���� ���� �������� ���� ��� ��� ������� ������ ����������������� ���������� ������� � ���� ������ ��� ��� �����������������

HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

PERSPECTIVES

9

Naidu’s ‘supreme’ gamble with the Centre BULL’S EYE

R PRITHVI RAJ Hyderabad: When it comes to outwitting his opponents in political maneuvers and mindgames, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is almost like a seasoned chess Grand Master, who makes winning moves with gusto.

He has the unique trait of foreseeing possible reactions before he makes a statement. A Machiavellian, whichever way you look at his roller-coaster career, Naidu is always several steps ahead of his friends and foes.

In less than a month’s time, he used the word ‘Supreme Court’.

However, he was guarded. Whenever he uttered the word, he took enough care to sound as though he was not adopting any bellicose posture with the Centre but was only making a gentle reminder to it on its several unfulfilled commitments and broken promises

to the State. While speaking to his party leaders on Saturday at the party-government coordination committee meeting, Naidu explained the context in which he referred to the possibility of the State moving the Supreme Court.

He said he was only referring to legal recourse as the last resort and that he was not indicating any visceral policy shift vis-à-vis Telugu Desam Party’s alliance with the BJP. Naidu is understood to have said, “I was only mentioning Supreme Court as an option. We go to the Centre with a set of pleas. If there is delay, there is always the apex court to turn to. I did not mean or imply anything more than that.” It was a clear indication that he would continue to court the BJP. The first time Naidu referred to Supreme Court was when interacting with the media soon after calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi after more than a year. He used the words when one reporter wanted to know if inter-State problems could be resolved.

Then on the second and final day of the two-day collector’s conference on Friday at Velagapudi while referring to how the State had been at the receiving end with the BJP forgetting its responsibility to suckle it with its

munificence for reconstruction of the capital and execution of Polavaram.

He said he was not seeking anything new or out of turn and that he was asking for what has been promised in the AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014. If this were

not possible, there was the Supreme Court for victims like AP to turn to, he seemed to suggest in the context of why the State is unable to free itself from its financial strait-jacket.

As Naidu is keen on delivering a new Andhra Pradesh for its peo-

ple, it is no wonder that he keeps raising his voice only to the extent that it would not sound as though he was shouting from the rooftop but loud enough for the BJP leaders to listen and read between the lines. That was the reason why he did not find entertain-

ing the black humour which ViceChairman of NITI Aayog Dr Rajiv Kumar tried to come up with saying that AP needed neither special category status nor any handholding from the Centre since it has a robust growth model.

Naidu since the day he took over as the Chief Minister of the truncated AP in 2014, has been trying to keep the BJP in good humour, believing that conciliation was the best approach for him since he does not have any bargaining power with the Centre like he had prior to 2004. He had been saying that he would take whatever the Centre gives besides persuading it for more. As remaining close to the BJP and Modi is essential for him, he bit the bullet even when the attitude of the Centre was sometimes unhelpful and annoying. He is now not in the mood to end the relationship with Modi, though the latter has not been as enthusiastic as he had been in the long political romantic romp that Naidu has been having with him.

There is another reason why Naidu does not want the duet with BJP to end abruptly since at the back of his mind, there is the nagging doubt that Jaganmohan Reddy might fill the void that he would be creating by exiting from the friendship with

saffron party and steal a political march over him.

Since beginning, Jaganmohan Reddy has been eyeing friendship with BJP, threatening to upset the calculations of Naidu in romping home in the next elections as Naidu wants to use Modi’s image this time too like he did in 2014 to win the election. The BJP too has not been unkind to Jaganmohan Reddy though it had not spelt out the nature of its relationship either now or in the near future. The question remains open-ended, as it probably wants to watch the everchanging coalition calculus with Naidu.

At the moment, Naidu wants to know about his own stockvalue as viewed by BJP and probably that is the reason why he has been referring to legal recourse to watch the reaction from the BJP. As he does not want to snap the relationship with the saffron party, he took enough care to sound as though it was an option that existed all the time and that even now he does not want to use it. But the very mentioning of it gave a sneak-peak into Naidu’s mind – he wants to see to what extent he could exert pressure without the pressure becoming pain for the BJP and get what he wants.

Loya case may keep BJP jittery MLAs DISQUALIFICATION

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am Aadmi Party (AAP) has described the Election Commission's recommendation to disqualify 20 of its lawmakers for holding ‘office of profit’ as ‘unconstitutional. An office of profit is a term used in a number of national constitutions to refer to executive appointments. A number of countries forbid members of the Legislature from accepting an office of profit under the Executive as a means to secure the independence of the Legislature and preserve separation of powers.

The term is used in Article 102 (1) (A) of the Indian Constitution. which bars a member of the Indian Parliament from holding an office that would give its occupant the opportunity to gain a financial advantage or benefit. It refers to a post under Central/State government that yields salaries, perks and other benefits.

The actual amount of profit gained during the violation has no bearing on its classification. India had the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1950, 1951, and 1953 exempting certain posts from being recorded as offices of profit.

All these Acts were replaced by the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959. By virtue of Section 3 of the said Act, certain offices did not disqualify their holders from being members of Parliament. The law was again amended in 2006. Earlier, under pressure from the opposition, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had to resign from a few posts. Jaya Bachchan had also met the same fate and was even disqualified from Rajya Sabha. She was acting as the chairperson of Uttar Pradesh Film Development Corporation.

AMULYA GANGULI

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he case relating to the death of BH Loya, the judge who was investigating an alleged extra-judicial killing in Gujarat in which Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah was implicated, is the second legal hurdle which the party is facing.

It crossed the first one with relative ease, but it remains to be seen whether the party will be able to do so this time. The first hurdle was posed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiry into the incidents of mob violence during the Gujarat riots of 2002.The SIT, headed by a former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director, RK Raghavan, and acting under the Supreme Court's supervision, exonerated Narendra Modi, who was the State's Chief Minister at the time of the outbreak.

In the latest case, too, Loya's successor as a CBI judge exonerated Amit Shah. It is not surprising, therefore, that Judge Loya's death was one of the reasons behind the decision of four senior Supreme Court judges to go public against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

Judge Loya's death had remained mostly in the background till a reference was made to it by one of the four dissenting judges and a report

in a magazine a few days ago quoted one of the late judge's relatives to suggest foul play in his sudden death at the relatively early age of 48. There was also talk about an offer of Rs 100 crore to him.

None of this is likely to be relished by the BJP. The reason is that, for one, the focus will continue to be relentlessly on its president, reputedly the second-most powerful man in the country, and, for another, at least two deaths will be closely scrutinised, especially by the prosecuting lawyers-those of Judge Loya in 2014 and of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, who died in the fake shootout nine years earlier. His wife and a companion also died unnatural deaths.

Clearly, it is a messy situation which will be grist to the mills of both the media and of the BJP's political opponents if only because, suddenly, out of the blue, the conditions in Gujarat in the aftermath of the riots will once again come into the limelight along with questions about the kind of pressure which Justice Loya may have faced since the staged shootouts, though not uncommon in India, are not a natural event.

For the BJP, the reopening of the case hasn't come at a convenient time. The party is facing a series of elections during the year, including in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and

Chhattisgarh, where the antiincumbency factor is likely to undermine its prospects. Having narrowly escaped defeat in Gujarat, the party will be nervous about the possibility of suffering further setbacks in the three states.

That the Congress saw the opportunity to use the situation to gain political mileage was evident from Rahul Gandhi's call for a high-level

probe into Judge Loya's death within hours of the press conference by the four judges.

While the BJP's awareness of the damaging potential for the party of the developing situation has made it generally moderate its responses, the party's myriad trolls have shown no such restraint, describing the dissenting judges as the "Gang of Four" and demanding their impeachment.

Surprisingly, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary has echoed the Hindutva netizens by describing what the judges did as a political conspiracy while the BJP's uneasy ally, the Shiv Sena, has taken the opposite view by saying that the ruling party at the Centre wants the judiciary to be deaf and dumb.

The scene could not be murkier.

What after National Register of Citizens?

PUSHPITA DAS

T

he publication of the first draft of the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) of Assam by the Office of the State Coordinator of NRC on December 31, 2017 is an important milestone in dealing with the influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh into that state. The objective behind updating and publishing the 1951 NRC is to compile a list of the names of genuine Indian citizens residing in Assam and, in the process, detect foreigners (read Bangladeshis) who may have illegally entered the state after March 24, 1971. Of the 3.29 crore residents of Assam who applied for the inclusion of their names in the NRC by submitting legacy documents, 1.9 crore names have been included as citizens in the initial list. A second list containing the names of more numbers of citizens is slated to be published in February-March 2018.

The final list containing the names of all Indian citizens in Assam is expected to be published by December 2018 after the disposal of all claims and objections in final registers at various levels.

The publication of the initial NRC list is the outcome of a long

standing demand of the Assamese people to detect and deport illegal Bangladeshi migrants from their state. Early demands for the detection of foreigners based on the NRC of 1951 can be found in the memorandum submitted by the All Assam Students Union (AASU) to the then Prime Minister on February 2, 1980 as well as in the signed petition submitted by 17 members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) of Assam to the Rajya Sabha in June 1980. Yet, the Assam Accord of 1985 did not contain any specific mention of updating the NRC. With regard to the issue of illegal Bangladeshi migrants, clause 5.8 of the Accord merely stipulated that “Foreigners who came to Assam on or after March 25, 1971 shall continue to be detected, deleted and expelled in accordance with law.

It was only in May 2005 that the first step towards updating the NRC of 1951 was taken, when a tripartite meeting between the Centre, the Assam government and AASU was held to review the progress made in the implementation of the Assam Accord.

Given that a proper documentation system does not exist in the country, for most of those whose names do not appear in

the NRC, procuring the required documents, especially birth certificates, in order to prove their relationships with persons

whose names have appeared in the legacy documents and thus establish their citizenship is fraught with difficulties. This is

particularly so in the case of many settlers who have come to Assam from other parts of the country. An even more impor-

tant issue is what happens to those people whose names do not figure in the final NRC and are declared illegal entrants into

the state. The popular rhetoric for dealing with such illegal migrants has always been to deport them to Bangladesh, but this is easier said than done.

Bangladesh has consistently denied that its citizens have illegally migrated to India.

The publication of the updated NRC is indeed a positive step in so far as it puts to rest wild speculations about the extent of the illegal migrant population in Assam and the resulting polarisation that political parties have been exploiting to make electoral gains. However, the absence of any clear policy as to how to deal with the proclaimed illegal migrants has created a sense of unease in the minds of many presently residing in Assam. Further, while the NRC is being updated for Assam, there is no plan to prepare similar NRCs for the other states in the North East where illegal migration continues to be a volatile issue. The need of the hour therefore is for the Union Government to allay apprehensions presently in the minds of the people of Assam and take steps to contain any adverse fallout after the publication of the final draft of the NRC. (Courtesy: https://idsa.in)

10

NATION

Won’t hesitate to cross border: HM

Lawyer kills another in brawl over clients Kanpur (PTI): A heated row over luring clients turned fatal as a lawyer was allegedly shot dead by another in full public view in the congested Gwaltoli area, police said. The shootout triggered panic among locals and passersby who ran to safer places or shut their doors. According to police officials, even as people ran helter skelter, some mustered courage and nabbed the alleged attacker, Mohit (32), and his wife, and handed them over to the police. The two were, however, thrashed before being handed over, they said. Mohit was later admitted at Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) hospital following his critical condition. Senior Superintendent of Police (Kanpur), Akhilesh Kumar Meena, said, "Mohit and Sunil had a tiff over luring clients of each other on slashed fees. They entered into a scuffle after which Mohit asked his wife to get her licenced double barrel gun with which he shot Sunil in the head".

Three NRIs booked in dowry case Phagwara (PTI): Three NRIs, including the husband of a woman, have been booked for allegedly harassing her for dowry, police said here. The accused were identified as US-based NRIs Vikas Kumar (husband), Ajay Kumar (fatherin-law) and Pinki (mother-in- law). They were booked on the basis of a complaint of Ritu Marouk, a Basant Nagar resident, they said. The trio were booked under IPC Sections 498-A ( husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 406 (criminal breach of trust), they said.

The complainant told police that she married Vikas Kumar in April 2015. She claimed that her parents also gave dowry in the marriage.

S S

40,000 flee homes due to Pak shelling R S Pura (PTI): The bustling settlement of Arnia and a chain of border hamlets along the Indo-Pak border now wear an empty look, with over 40,000 villagers abandoning their homes to escape heavy shelling by Pakistani forces. Arnia town, with a population of 18,000, resembles a ghost town with only a few people left each in its adjoining hamlets to take care of animals and guard homes. Farming, schooling, cattle rearing and everything else on which border dwellers survive have come to a halt due to the shelling episodes. Villagers at the forefront of Pakistani shelling say they feel they are in a war zone with sounds of mortar bombs and rattle of automatic weapons booming in the area.

In the hamlets, devastation is visible all around -- blood stains on the floor, broken windows, injured animals and splinter marks on the walls. Dressed in battle fatigues and bullet proof jackets, jawans of the Border Security Forces criss-cross

through borderline hamlets and paddy fields to take position to give a befitting retaliation.

Some families that had initially decided to hold on to their homes have finally decided to move after intense shelling. Night after night, 80-year-old Yashpal and his family huddled together under a bed in one corner of their room as soon as the shelling started. After heavy cross-border shelling for over two days, the family finally decided to leave their home along the India- Pakistan border . On Friday night, the situation got worse and two shells hit our house and damaged it, he said. "It had happened during the 1965 and the 1971 wars. Such large number of mortar bombs had not since fallen in Arnia," he said. Sub Divisional Police O�cer (SDPO), R S Pura, Surinder Choduhary told PTI that, "Arnia town has been vacated. We have evacuated large number of people from Arnia and border hamlets...Most of hamlets are now vacated".

CUTIE PIE

External A�airs Minister Sushma Swaraj greets Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and his family during Sankranti Milan 2018 at his residence in New Delhi on Sunday.

Indian envoy summoned for 5th time by Pakistan Army maps land in Uttar Pradesh photocopy shop

Lucknow (Agencies): Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said India has shown it can attack its enemies not only on its soil, but also in a foreign territory, if need be.

Singh's remarks came almost a week after the Indian Army carried out a "retaliatory action" against Pakistani troops, killing seven of their soldiers and injuring four others along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

"A few months ago, Pakistan, in an act of cowardice, attacked and martyred 17 of our jawans. Prime Minister Narendra Modi consulted all of us on this serious issue, and the Indian Army entered the Pakistani area and killed the militants," Singh said at a public meeting here. "India's image in the world has become that of a strong nation and we have given a strong message to the world that we can attack our enemies not only on our soil, but also in their territory," he said. Singh said India wants to maintain a friendly relationship with its neighbour.

"But Pakistan is not mending its ways," he says.

Pakistan troops violated ceasefire for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday by resorting to heavy shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Noushera, Rajouri and Akhnoor sectors of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad for the fifth time since last one week over the alleged "unprovoked firing" by Indian troops across the Line of Control which, it said, resulted in the death of two people. A bunch of maps related to the Army were found in a photocopy shop in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, police

UN team to visit Pak as pressure builds to prosecute Hafiz Saeed

T

he United Nations Security Council's sanctions monitoring team will visit Islamabad next week for an assessment of Pakistan's compliance with the world body's sanctions regime. "The monitoring team of the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee will be here on Jan 25 and 26," a Pak official told Dawn news. The visit is taking place amid increasing pressure on Pakistan from the US and India with respect to the alleged inadequate implementation of the sanctions on Jamat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and entities linked to him. However, Pakistani officials, insist that the trip is a routine visit. US Heather Nauert had at a briefing said that the US had clearly conveyed its concerns to Pakistan on Hafiz and called for his prosecution "to the fullest extent of the law". She had recalled that Saeed's name was on the UN list of designated terrorists.

said on Saturday, adding that the shop owner has been taken into custody by military intelligence agents. An Army jawan injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan succumbed to injuries on Saturday night, taking the death toll in the border firing in Jammu and Kashmir to 11 since Thursday, police said.

Women show mortar shells at Suchetgarh after shelling from the Pakistani side of the border, in R S Pura Sector, about 25 km from Jammu on Sunday.

TOGADIA WILL BE SACKED: VHP

Dacoit caught, killed by villagers Ranchi (IANS): Villagers caught a dacoit during a raid by a gang of criminals in Jharkhand's Giridih district, beat him up brutally and chopped off his hand, police said on Sunday. The dacoit died at a hospital on Sunday morning. Police said the dacoits had barged into two houses in Ekdawaria village on Saturday night and looted jewellery and other belongings worth over Rs 7 lakh. Villagers learnt of the dacoity and gathered in large numbers, carrying traditional weapons. The criminals fled the village but one of them was caught. He was beaten up and one of his hands was chopped off by the irate villagers. He was later admitted by police to a hospital.

DEATH TOLL IN PAK FIRING CLIMBS TO 11

WAR-LIKE SITUATION

SCAN

HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

New Delhi: In the wake of controversial statements made by International Working President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad Pravin Togadia, a senior member of the Margdarshak Mandal, the highest decision-making body of the VHP, has said that Togadia would be removed from his post for 'indiscipline'. Togadia courted controversy when he alleged that the Rajasthan police was coming for his 'encounter' after he disappeared for several hours on January 15, and accused the Intelligence Bureau of being behind the police cases against him. "Togadia has indulged in indiscipline and he will be shown the door," said senior VHP leader Swami Chinmayanand.

"Most people in the organisation are happy that he has been sidelined. His recent act is a proof of his indiscipline. He won't be tolerated in VHP anymore," he said. Chinmayanand claimed that his stand reflected the general opinion of the Margdarshak Mandal and that "Togadia has no relations with VHP now." However, certain leaders continued to back Togadia.

VHP general secretary Champat Rai said, "Who says Togadia ji has been sidelined by VHP. He is dear to us and to the society."

Togadia has been known for making inflammatory speeches, with 19 criminal cases for making hate speech filed against him by August 2013.

Left votes against alliance with Cong for 2019 polls Kolkata (IANS): The CPI-M's Central Committee on Sunday ruled out, by majority vote, any "understanding or electoral alliance" with the Congress in its draft political resolution for 2019 polls, but General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the final decision will be taken in the party Congress slated to be held in Hyderabad in April. Iterating that the party's main task was to defeat the BJP government at the centre and its policies, which have carried out "unprecedented assaults" and imposed "unprecedented burden" on India and its people, he said the electoral tactics would be decided by the states at the time of polls. In order to meet the "threat" from the BJP, the Central Committee - which concluded its three-day session on Sunday - called for mobilising "all secular democratic forces".

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury failed to convince the party's most powerful decision-making body, the Central Committee (CC), that it was imperative to forge an understanding with the Congress to oust the BJP from power at the centre.

Yechury's draft political resolution was defeated and Prakash Karat's version that rejects any association with the Congress, won the day. "As per the draft political resolution which was adopted by the Central Committee with a 55-33 vote, appropriate electoral tactics will be undertaken, which will ensure maximum pooling of popular votes against the BJP. "How that will be done, when elections come, at that time depending on the concrete situation state to state, we will take a call. But the line that the party will follow, is the line that will be defined by the highest forum, the party Congress, on the basis of which things will be worked out," he said. To a specific query on whether the party would enter into a tie-up with the Congress, Yechury said: "The amended form of the Politburo draft

has been adopted by the Central Committee.. .As per the draft, there would be no understanding or electoral alliance with the Congress."

"Since 2002, we have always said there is no electoral front or alliance with the Congress, because it represents the interest of the Indian ruling classes," he said.

Reminding that the CPI-M-led Left Front had forged an electoral understanding with the Congress in West Bengal during last year's assembly polls, Yechury said "electoral tactics are electoral tactics" but the political resolutions taken here would determine the party's political or tactical line for the next three years based on the final decision by the party Congress.

He said the amended draft, formulated through three meetings of the Politburo and the Central Committee, will be placed before the party Congress.

"Two months ahead of the Congress, the draft will be released to the party rank and file. That will be done in mid February. All units and members have the right to submit amendments to the draft resolution. All amendments will be placed at party Congress," he said.

AAP MLAs disqualification ‘Tughlaqshahi’: Yashwant Sinha New Delhi (Agencies): Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Sunday termed President Ram Nath Kovind's approval of Election Commission's recommendation to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs as "Tughlaqshahi" (arbitrary).

"President's order disqualifying the 20 AAP MLAs is complete miscarriage of natural justice. No hearing, no waiting for High Court's order. It is Tughluqshahi (Tughlaqshahi) of the worst order," he tweeted.

Following Kovind's approval, the Union Law and Justice Ministry issued a notification saying that the President has held that the 20 members of Delhi Legislative Assembly stand disqualified under 15 (1) (a) of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) act.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari welcomed the presidential nod to the Election Commission's recommendation to dis-

President's order disqualifying the 20 AAP MLAs is complete miscarriage of natural justice. No hearing, no waiting for High Court's order. It is Tughluqshahi of the worst order – Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha qualify 20 AAP MLAs, saying that the decision has "protected" India's democratic values. Tiwari demanded for repaying of the benefits enjoyed by the disqualified MLAs as parliamentary secretaries.

"People of Delhi feel that the Aam Aadmi Party MLAs must now return all financial benefits they were given from the day they were appointed as parliamentary secretaries," said Tiwari.

BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, a growing dissenting voice within the party, today backed the Aam Aadmi Party after 20 of its MLAs were recommended to be disqualified by the Election Commission (EC).

Taking to twitter, Sinha said the EC's recommendation is 'politics of vendetta', an apparent jibe at his own party, and congratulated the AAP for its success so far.

He even wrote a small verse in support of the party. "‘AAP’ Aaye, ( AAP came) ‘AAP’ Chhaye, (AAP Shone) ‘AAP’ hi ‘AAP’ Charcha ke Vishaye (AAP and only AAP became talk of the town)!!

Ghar ghar mein, Har khabar mein, (in every home, in every news) Toh phir kis baat ki fikar ‘AAP’ ko?

(Then what worries AAP?)" Politics of vendetta or politics of vested interests just don’t last long.

Don’t worry, be happy!

Union Minister of Railways and Coal, Piyush Goyal, made a surprise inspection of BengaluruRailway Station and saw the maintenance and cleanliness of platforms, waiting rooms and other areas. He also interacted with passengers and later held meeting with the Railway O�cers of South Western Railway. The Minister informed that Minister Ananth Kumar has been actively pursuing and striving for development of an independent Suburban Railway Service in Bengaluru similar to Mumbai Suburban Service for past 22 years. He said that Ananth gave him a complete vision of how the citizens of Bengaluru, which is the IT capital of India, and particularly those who work in Electronic City can be benefitted if good Suburban Transport service is developed.

NATION

HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

Pakistan has not forgotten enmity: Bhagwat

����

A bridal Kangri, an earthen wicker firepot used by the Kashmiri people to keep themselves warm during winter, in Srinagar on Sunday

Two boys killed in grenade blast ������ ������ � ��� ����� ���� ���� ������ �� ������ ��� ��� ��� ����� ����� ������� ���� � ���� ������� �������� �� ��� ������� ������ ���� ��������� ������ ����� ��� ����� ���� ������� �� �������� ���� ���� �� ������� ������ ������� ������������ ���� ���� ������� ���� � ���� ��������� ���� �������� ��� ������� �� ��� �� ��� �������� ���� ����� ������� �� ������ ��� �� ���������

Eight students die in accident ������ ������� ����� �������� ���� ������ ���� � ���� �������� ���� � ����� �� ����� ��� �� ����� �� ��������� �� ������� ������ ����� ����� �������� ���� ��������� �� ��� ���� �� ���������� ��� �� ���� ���� ����� �� ���� �� ����������� ��� ��� ���� �� ��������� ������ �����

Guwahati: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat saidIndiahasforgottenallenmity against Pakistan but same is not the case with the neighbouring country.

Addressing a gathering of RSS 'swayamsevaks' in North- East here, days before three states of theregiongotopolls,theRSSchief said India will survive as long as Hinduism thrives.

"Struggle took place. Pakistan was born. 'Bharatvarsh' forgot the enmitywithPakistanfromAugust 15,1947.Pakistanhasnotforgotten it yet. This is the di�erence betweenHindunatureandothernature," Bhagwat said at the rally.

Bhagwat said all ancient civilisation such as Mahenjodaro, Harappa and our culture developed in places which are now in Pakistan.

"Whydidn'tPakistantell(India) to take another name since every thingof'Bharat'hasemergedfrom here. So we are 'Bharat' and you take any other name.

"Theydidnotsaythisandrather wantedtoseparatefromthename 'Bharat'. Because they know that with the name 'Bharat', Hindutva comes in. And Hindutva is there, so is 'Bharat'," he said.

The RSS chief said that despite its diversity, India was united because of Hindutva.

"We have internal unity based on Hindutva and that is why India is a Hindu Rashtra," he said.

Bhagwat said India gives the world the message of humanity.

"Others talk, but do not behave.

India teaches others with its own behaviour. The world names this nature of 'Bharatvarsh' as Hindutva. That is why the people of 'Bharatvarsh'arecalledHindu,"he said.

"IfthepeopleofIndiaforgetthe Hindutvasentiment,thentheirrelation with the country also gets snapped," he added.

Bhagwat said that during the

89-yr-old man gets relief from SC in 1988 case New Delhi (PTI): Coming to a rescue of an 89-year- old man from West Bengal, the Supreme Court has set aside the three months jail awarded to him for possessing 187 litres of kerosene oil in excess at his ration shop in 1988.

The top court said that it is not interferingwiththeconvictionofMadanMohan Kabiraj but looking at his age, he can be accorded benefit of provisions of Probation of O�enders Act. "Though we are not interfering with the conviction recorded against the appellant herein, having regard to the circumstancesofthiscaseandparticularly the fact that the appellant is 89 years of age and that there is no other blemish againsttheappellant,weareoftheopinionthatthebenefitofprovisionsofProbation of O�enders Act, 1958, be extended in the present case," a bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said. It said that the three months sentence awarded to him by the Calcutta HighCourtissetasideandKabirajisreleased under the provisions of the Probation of O�enders Act, 1958.

Kabiraj through his advocate Dushyant Parashar has challenged the high court order which sentenced him for three-months jail after holding him guilty under provisions of Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

AnFIRwaslodgedagainstKabirajon September 2, 1988, after an inspection ofhisrationshop,whichhewasrunning under the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS), found an excess of 187 litres of kerosene oil.

formation of Bangladesh, the country did not merge with India despite having similarities with it because of lack of Hindu sentiment. "..after partition of Pakistan, why did Bengali-speaking Bangladesh not merge with 'Bharat'? (Because) That sentiment is not there -- Hindu sentiment... If Hindu sentiment is forgotten, then 'Bharat' breaks," he said.

Bhagwat said India has been "struggling"forthousandsofyears despite its benevolent nature and nowmustfighttosafeguarditsculture and the onslaught of people "who have a tendency to attack".

"But we never become enemy, evenwhilefighting.Wedonothate others," he said.

Bhagwat also said that gau-raksha and gau-dependent farming is theonlysolutiontothewoesofIndian farmersand appealed to people to work in this direction.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at an RSS mega rally in Guwahati on Sunday

UP, UP, UP...

Air Forces fighter planes fly past during a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade, at Rajpath in Delhi on Sunday.

11

PICTURESQUE SHIMLA FOR R-DAY

Indian Army personnel during a rehearsal for Republic Day parade at Ridge in Shimla on Sunday.

‘DARWINIAN MODEL WRONG’

Scientists term minister’s evolution remarks illogical New Delhi (IANS): Prominent scientists across the country have dismissed Union Minister Satyapal Singh's views on evolution as "illogical" and "untenable" and came out strongly in favour of the Darwinian model of the evolution against the "creationist" one he championed.

Claiming Charles Darwin's theory of evolution as "scientifically wrong", Singh, who is Minister of State for Human Resource Development, had called for changing Darwin's theory in school and college curriculum as there is no "evidence" that they evolved from apes since "our ancestors haven't mentioned anywhere that they ever saw an ape turning into a human being".

Raghavendra Gadagkar, professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), Bengaluru, told IANS that he wasn't sure whether refuting the claims on a factual basis will cut any ice with the minister since his statement appears to be politically aimed.

"I do not know how useful it is to refute the Minister's statement, on the basis of facts. It seems to be aimed at politically polarising science

FIR against 3 UP cops who refused help to dying teens Saharanpur: AnFIRhasbeenregistered against three police personnel in Uttar Pradesh'sSaharanpurdistrictforrefusing to take two wounded teenagers to a hospital allegedly because they did not wantbloodstainsintheirvehicle,asenior police o�cial said. The delay led to the death of Arpit Khurana and his friend Sunny, both aged 17.

The two were on their way home on Fridaynight,whentheylostcontrolover their motor-bike and it crashed into a pole in Beri Bagh area.

Saharanpur SP (City) Prabal Pratap Singhsaidthethethreepolicemenhave been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. A departmental inquiry has also been initiated against the accused policemen, he said. On the basis of a complaint by an eyewitness, the FIR was registered against the policemen at Janakpuri police station late on Saturday night. Locals rushed to the scene and pulled the teens out of a drain they had fallen into after the crash.

The teenagers were seriously wounded, the SP said, adding that the residents then informed the police on the 'Dial 100' service.

They said the policemen who reached the site refused to take the wounded persons in their vehicle to a hospital. The Dial-100 service has been initiated by the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure better policing through increased number of vehicles, painted in black. The vehicles help respond to emergency after distress calls.

and scientists, and that is the real danger we must guard against. On the basis of facts, the statement is untenable at many levels.

"At the most elementary level, all evidence indicate that humans diverged from our closest living relative (the chimpanzee) about 5 million years ago.

Therefore our ancestors did not have the privilege of witnessing the event and recording it in their scriptures," the former president of Indian National Science Academy said in an email reply.

Amitabh Joshi, an evolutionary biologist at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bengaluru, read in the minister's statement a "cavalier disregard" for the established scientific norms, and also termed it "illogical". "It is very sad that when people who are in power to take decisions a�ecting syllabus etc. show this level of cavalier disregard for what is the standing consensus in the scientific community ... One should be a little careful before making such statements," Joshi, a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, told IANS over the phone.

Raj Govt asks Karni to jointly move SC against Padmaavat Jaipur: The Rajasthan government on Sunday said it has invited the Rajput Karni Sena and Rajput associations to be a party in its review petition in the Supreme Courtagainstitsorderallowingthe release of film "Padmaavat".

Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria told news agency IANS that the invitation was given to "strengthen the case" againsttheHindimoviewhichcritics say distorts Rajput history.

Lokendra Singh Kalvi, the founder of Rajput Karni Sena, told IANS that he was excited over the new development.

HequotedKatariaassayingthat "weshouldallcooperatewitheach other in court to strengthen our case". But the protests against the movie will continue, Kalvi said.

Even after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the states to screen Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Padmaavat', multiplex owners in Gujarat will meet on Monday to take a final call on screening the movie in the state.

���� ������ ��� ��� �� ��������� ��������� �� New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi onSundayindicatedthattheupcomingBudgetwill not be a populist one and said it's a myth that the commonmanexpects"freebiesandsops"fromthe government.

In an interview with Times Now television broadcast tonight, he also pledged thathis government will stay on the course of the reforms agenda that has pulled out India from being among the 'fragile five' economies of the world to being a 'bright spot'. Modi stoutly defended his economic policies,sayingdemonetisationwas"averybigsuccess story" and that he was open to changes in the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) to plug loopholesandmakeitamoree�cient'one-nation-onetax' system. He rejected criticism of providing a jobless growth, saying "lies" were being spread about employment generation and his government's policies were oriented towards creating jobs. Acknowledging farm distress, he said it was the responsibility of the Centre and the state governments to identify and address farmers' issues.

TimesNowprovidedatranscriptoftheinterview ahead of its broadcast. Asked if his government will turn populist in its last full-year Budget before the general elections in 2019, Modi said the issue falls under the ambit of the finance minister and he does not want to interfere in it.

"But those who have seen me as the chief minister (of Gujarat) and also as the prime minister (wouldknow)commonmandoesnotwantallthese things. It is a myth," he said, according to the transcript. The common man, he said, expects honest governance."Hedoesn'tdemandsopsandfreebies.

It is our myth." Modi said his government was

takingdecisionstofulfilltheneedsandaspirations of the common man. Asked specifically if he will resist populism in the Budget to be presented on February 1, he said it needs to be decided if the country needs to grow and become strong, should "this political culture, theCongress culture, be followed". On job-less growth, the prime minister said,"Liesarebeingspreadaboutemploymentgeneration." Explaining in detail, he said the formal sector accounts for 10 per cent of the employment and the remaining 90 per cent jobs are in the informal sector. In last one year, 70 lakh new retirement fund or EPF accounts have been opened for the youth between 18 and 25 years of age, he said.

"Doesn't this show new employment," he asked.

Statingthatthereisnostatisticsforpeopleworking theinformalsector,hesaidtherearenewchartered accountants,lawyers,doctorsandconsultantswho have joined the vocation since 2014.

Bapu’s assassination case records part of Indian heritage: HC New Delhi (PTI): Terming the records pertaining to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination as part of India's "cultural heritage", the Delhi High Court has asked the Centre how it intends to collect and maintain the entire case information as was directed by transparency panel CIC. The poser by Justice Vibhu Bakhru came while hearing a plea by the Ministry of Home A�airs (MHA) challenging an order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) which had directed it to provide the police investigation's original records including the case diaries and final charge sheet to an RTI applicant.

The CIC had also directed Delhi Police to provide information about e�orts made by it to arrest three absconders -- Gangadhar Dahawate, Surya Dev Sharma and Gangadhar Yadav.

The home ministry told the court that it was not the authority which had all the information and it would probably be available with the Min-

istry of Culture, the National Archives or Delhi Police. It also told the court that the Ministry of Culture was working on collecting and preserving the information pertaining to the case as the directions were also issued to it by the CIC. The court, however, said if the records were not available with the home ministry, it can access or call for the same from other authorities.

It asked the home ministry how it intended to ensure maximum implementation of the objective of the CIC order.

"Tell us how you are going to do it," it queried and the ministry's lawyer said he will have to seek instructions.

The court, thereafter, listed the matter for further hearing on February 12.

The CIC order had come on a plea by Odishabased RTI applicant Hemant Panda who had told the commission that he was a researcher and interested in studying the records pertaining to

The CIC had directed Delhi Police to provide information about efforts made by it to arrest three absconders, Gangadhar Dahawate, Surya Dev Sharma and Gangadhar the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi who was shot dead on January 30, 1948 by Nathuram Godse, a right-wing activist.

Panda had claimed that he had studied the records, including those in the repository of the National Archives of India (NAI), but could not find two important documents-- the final charge sheet by Delhi Police and order of execution of Godse.

In his RTI application, Panda had raised three queries on which he needed clarity -- the e�orts made to arrest the absconders in the case, the reasons for acquitting other two accused and whether a copy of final charge sheet and order of execution of Godse are missing from the records.

The CIC had directed Delhi Police to transfer its original records, which show its e�orts to trace the absconders in the case, to the NAI for preservation. The commission had also noted that there was "no o�cial compilation of records at one place about his death".

"The police have a duty to explain what e�orts were taken to arrest three absconding accused or why they could not be traced. The Ministry of Home A�airs has an onerous responsibility to take up this task and place all of those records with the NAI for general access of the public," the CIC had said.

12 SCAN WB inks $ 300m loan for Nepal Kathmandu: The World Bank on Sunday approved a US $ 300 million loan for Nepal as the impoverished nation struggles to raise money to rebuild almost three years after an earthquake killed thousands and flattened homes. Nearly 9,000 people died when a 7.8-magnitude quake struck in April 2015, destroying more than half a million homes. Only one in 10 of those homes has been rebuilt as the third anniversary of the disaster looms and Nepal faces a US $ 1.2 billion shortfall in reconstruction funds, the World Bank said.

PIO conned in HK Hong Kong: An Indian woman based in Hong Kong became the city's latest phone scam victim after a fraudster posing as a consulate official asked her to transfer US $ 2,300 as part of her visa application. The 27-year-old woman studying for a PhD reported the case to police on Friday, after the Indian consulate here told her its office had not asked her to transfer any money for her application.

The victim first received a call on Monday from someone claiming to be "a consulate staff member" who told her she supplied incorrect information on her visa application. She was told over the phone to transfer money to an Indian bank account. She did that and realized that she'd been scammed when she called the consulate to know the status of her application.

One dead in Kinshasa firing Kinshasa: At least one person was killed in Kinshasa on Sunday after security forces opened fire to disperse protesters at a banned march demanding that President Joseph Kabila stand down, the UN and witnesses said. A young woman died after shots were aimed at the entrance to a church in the Kitambo area of the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Baptise Sondji, a former minister and government opponent who is also a doctor, told AFP.

2 migrants dead as boat sinks Madrid: Spain's maritime rescue service says two migrants have died after their boat sank while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores.

The service says that both were men of sub-Saharan origin and that their boat was located late on Saturday about 16 km west of the Island of Alboran. The first man was found dead in the water by a fishing boat that had taken on 32 migrants from the sinking vessel and saved another two who were overboard.

A rescue helicopter and ship arrived in time to pull two more men from the water. The rescue service said one of the men could not be saved.

Roadside bomb kills 12 civilians Kabul: An Afghan official says a roadside bomb that went off early on Sunday has killed at least 12 civilians in the western Herat province. Abdul AhadWalizada, a spokesman for the provincial police chief, says a 13th person was wounded in the explosion, which struck a vehicle in the Gulran district. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Walizada blamed Taliban insurgents.

WORLD ARTILLERY AND AIR STRIKES ON US-BACKED FORCE

Turkish forces push into Syria Azaz: One Syrian refugee was killed, and 32 people were wounded on Sunday in rocket fire on a Turkish town close to the Syrian border, a local o�cial said, a day after the Turkish army began the new operation against Kurdish militia in Syria. Two of those in the line of fire were badly injured, Huseyin Sanverdi, the Mayor of Reyhanli, a small town situated in Hatay province on the Syrian border, said.

The Dogan news agency said that three rockets had hit the centre of Reyhanli, damaging buildings and parked vehicles. Turkish ground forces pushed into northern Syria’s Afrin province on Sunday, the army said, after Turkey launched artillery and air strikes on a US-backed Kurdish militia it aims to sweep from its border. The Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia, supported by the United States but seen as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, said it had repulsed the Turkish forces and their allies after fierce clashes.

Under what the Turkish government has called “Operation Olive Branch”, Turkish air strikes on Saturday pounded YPG positions in Afrin. Turkey sees the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has carried out a deadly, three-decade insurgency in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast. The United States is backing the YPG in Syria, seeing it as an e�ective partner in the fight against Islamic State.“The Olive Branch Operation is going on as planned, and the ground operation has started,” the Turkish army, NATO’s second-largest, said. Prime

Damascus: Syria's army on Sunday announced that it had captured the

‘Jihadi bride’ arrested as she returns to UK London: A British woman who married and gave birth under the Islamic State regime in Syria has become one of the first so-called jihadi brides to be arrested on her return to the UK, a media report has claimed.

The 27-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested at Heathrow Airport under terrorism laws when she landed from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, earlier this month, The Sunday Times reported.

Her two-year-old son, whose nationality remains unclear, has been taken into the care of the state.

Scotland Yard has released the woman on bail, while it continues its investigation. The UK authorities are working on a series of measures to tackle cases of such ISIS brides and children returning to the UK following the terrorist group's defeats in its Syrian and Iraqi strongholds in 2017, the report said.

Aqsa Mahmood, a 22year-old Pakistani-origin suspected ISIS recruiter from Glasgow, has been stripped of her British citi-

zenship to prevent her returning to Britain.

The UK Home Office argues that Mahmood has not been made "stateless" because she is eligible to apply for citizenship in the country where her parents were born, which is Pakistan.

A similar order has been made against another British woman who fled Syria at the end of 2016 after her husband, a prominent British figure in ISIS, died in a battle. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave birth to two children, now aged one and three, in the war zone, which means they have no nationality, the report said. All three remain stranded in Turkey.

The UK's social services departments have been drawing up plans to take into care British children known to have travelled to Syria and Iraq with their families, should their parents bring them back home.

More than 100 British women are thought to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the terror groups.

UN seeks nearly US$ 3 bn to save millions in Yemen Sanaa: The United Nations on Sunday made what it said was a record appeal for aid to Yemen, calling for nearly USD 3 billion in humanitarian relief for the war-torn country. The US $ 2.96 billion will be used to respond to an ever-broadening crisis in Yemen, where war, looming famine, and cholera have killed thousands and put millions of lives at risk.

The appeal, made on behalf of UN agencies and humanitarian partners, came as 11.3 million people "urgently require assistance to survive", UN aid agency OCHA said in a statement. "A generation of children is growing up in su�ering and deprivation," OCHA said. "Nearly two million children are out of school, 1.8 million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, including 400,000 who su�er from severe acute malnutrition and are 10

vital Abu Duhur military airport in the country's northwest, more than two years after losing it to rebels and jihadists.

"After a string of special operations, units from our armed forces, in coordination with allied fighters, succeeded in their military operation and took control of the Abu Duhur military airport in Idlib province," the army said in a statement.

"Engineering units are now dismantling and clearing mines, explosives, and bombs planted by terrorists in the area," he said.

An alliance of jihadists and rebels overran most of Idlib province in 2015, seizing Abu Duhur in September of that year.

Syrian troops had been advancing on the northwest province of Idlib, and Abu Duhur in particular, as part of a fierce o�ensive launched in late December with Russian backing.

Iraq condemns German woman to death for belonging to IS

US govt shutdown: First day ends in standoff

People look at the damage caused by a rocket fired by suspected Syrian Kurdish fighters from Syria, across the border into the town of Kilis in Turkey on Sunday

Syria army retakes key military airport

times more likely to die if they do not receive medical treatment."

More than 9,200 people have been killed in Yemen since 2015, when a Saudi-led military coalition intervened to back the country's internationally-recognised government against Iranbacked rebels. Another nearly 2,200 Yemenis have died of cholera amid deteriorating hygiene and sanitation conditions, the World Health Organisation says. Over the past year, the United Nations' e�orts to address what it has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis have been hampered by a crippling blockade of rebel-held ports by the Saudi-led coalition.

More than three-quarters of Yemen's population -- 22.2 million people -- are now dependent on some form of assistance in Yemen, the United Nations says.

Spain wants exiled ex-Catalan leader arrested if he travels to Denmark Madrid: Spain wants ex-Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont arrested if he travels to Denmark for a university debate from his Belgian exile, Madrid prosecutors said on Sunday. The prosecut i o n service said it would "immediately" have a supreme court judge issue an arrest warrant for the secessionist leader, sacked by Madrid after the Catalan parliament declared independence on October 27, and urge Denmark to hand him over.

Puigdemont fled to Belgium in late October after Madrid sacked his cabinet over their breakaway attempt, but is eyeing a return to power after pro-independence parties won an absolute majority in regional elections in December. At home, however, he risks arrest on charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds. Several fellow separatist lawmakers are already in custody in Spain over their role in the regional parliament unilaterally declaring independence on October 27 and Spain's general prosecutor office said Saturday that "it's inadmissible that the privilege of parliamentary immunity should be interpreted as impunity."

A final decision will rest with the Spanish judge who will have to act in record time to issue the warrant for examination by Danish authorities.

� One dead, 32 hurt � Kurdish militia says attacks repulsed � Pentagon says avoid escalation, focus on defeat of ISIS

Minister Binali Yildirim said the operation would create a 30-km (19-mile) “safe zone”, according to broadcaster HaberTurk. Turkeybacked Free Syrian Army rebel factions had captured a Kurdish village with no resistance and were clearing landmines, a Turkish o�cial said.The YPG said it had repulsed the Turkish forces. “All the Turkish military’s ground attacks against Afrin have been repelled so far and they have been forced to retreat,” Nouri Mahmoudi, a YPG o�cial, said. Since the morning, the combatants have exchanged shelling and clashed along several frontlines around Afrin, he said. The Turkish military said it had hit 153 targets so far, including shelters and hideouts used by Kurdish militants.

HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

Baghdad: An Iraqi court said on Sunday it had condemned to death by hanging a German woman of Moroccan origin after finding her guilty of belonging to the Islamic State jihadist group.

She was sentenced for providing "logistical support and helping the terrorist group to carry out crimes," said court spokesman Abdel SettarBayraqdar. "The accused admitted during interrogations that she left Germany for Syria then Iraq to join IS with her two daughters, who married members of the terrorist organisation," he said. In September 2017, the same court sentenced to death by hanging a Russian man who had been captured in Iraq's second city Mosul and found guilty of fighting for IS. Iraqi forces expelled the jihadists from Mosul in July 2017, ending three years of IS rule in the city. The same month, a German teenage girl suspected of joining IS was arrested in Mosul, according to Germany's justice department. German daily Der Spiegel reported she had been held in Baghdad with three other German women, including one of Moroccan origin. Baghdad declared victory over IS in December after expelling the jihadists from vast areas of Iraq it seized in 2014.

Washington: President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers were locked in a stando� with Democrats on Saturday over the US government shutdown, with Republicans saying they would not negotiate on immigration until the government is reopened.

Funding for federal agencies ran out at midnight with no agreement in Congress, meaning the second year of Trump’s presidency began without a fully functioning government.Democrats stuck to demands that any short-term spending legislation must include protections for young undocumented immigrants known as “Dreamers.” Republicans in turn said they would not negotiate on immigration until Democrats gave them the votes needed to reopen the government.US government workers were told to stay home or, in some cases, work without pay until new funding is approved in the first federal government shutdown since a 16-day funding lapse in October 2013.

The Republican-controlled Senate and House of Representatives held rare weekend sessions on Saturday, facing a political crisis that could a�ect November congressional elections. By about 7 p.m. both chambers resigned themselves to fail-

Afghan security personnel can be seen on the roof of Intercontinental Hotel after an attack in Kabul on Sunday

19 killed as gunmen attack Kabul hotel Kabul: Gunmen dressed in army uniforms who stormed Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel battled Afghan Special Forces for 13 hours in an overnight siege that has since left at least 19 persons dead and caused casualties among hotel guests, o�cials and witnesses said on Sunday.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which saw more than 150 guests flee as parts of the building caught fire, with some shimmying down tied-together sheets from upper-floor windows and others rescued by Afghan forces.Interior Ministry spokesman NajibDanesh said at least five people - four Afghans and one foreigner - were killed and six wounded but the casualty total is almost certainly higher.

Local airline Kam Air said around 40 of its pilots and air crew, many of whom are foreigners, were staying in the hotel and as many as 10 had been killed. But ZamariKamgar, the airline’s deputy director said it was still trying to locate its sta� and did not yet know whether they were

ure and agreed to resume work on Sunday.Both Republicans and Democrats had dug in during the day, each side blaming the other.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate would vote at 0100 EST (0600 GMT) Monday on a bill to fund the government through Feb. 8, unless Democrats agree to hold it sooner.“We’ll be right back at this tomorrow and for as long as it takes” for Democrats to vote for legislation that would reopen the government, McConnell said.

Outside the US Capitol, parks, open-air monuments and Smithsonian museums were open as a second annual women’s rights march took place on the National Mall. But visitors were turned away from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York Harbor.A scheduled trip by Trump and some Cabinet members to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was being assessed on a day-to-day basis, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said.

Republicans said they would refuse to negotiate on immigration until Democrats provide the votes to re-open the government.

Democrats insisted they have been willing to compromise but Republicans backed out of

WOMEN MARCH FOR RIGHTS

Participants in the Women's March gather near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Saturday. On the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, people who participated in rallies and marches in the US and around the world on Saturday, denounced his views on immigration, abortion, LGBT rights, women's rights and more.

all safe.Abdul Rahman Naseri, a guest who was at the hotel for a conference, was in the hall of the hotel when he saw four insurgents dressed in army uniforms.“They were shouting in Pashto (language), ‘Don’t leave any of them alive, good or bad.

Shoot and kill them all,’ one of them shouted,” Naseri said.“I ran to my room on the second floor. I opened the window and tried to get out using a tree but the branch broke and I fell to the ground. I hurt my back and broke a leg.”

It is unclear exactly how many gunmen were involved and even after o�cials said the attack was over, sporadic gunshots and explosions could be heard from the site. Danish said three gunmen were killed, while witnesses said four were involved and the Taliban said five. The raid was the latest in a long series of attacks which have underlined the city’s precarious situation and the ability of militants to mount high profile operations aimed at undermining confidence in the Western-backed government.

deals.“The president will not negotiate on immigration reform until Democrats stop playing games and reopen the government,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.

Marc Short, the White House’s legislative a�airs director, said Trump had been in contact with Republican leaders in Congress during the day, but had not reached out to Democrats.Short said the president likely would be most e�ective making the case for ending the shutdown directly to the American people, and he did not rule out Trump addressing the nation in the coming days.The tough message from the White House and Republicans in Congress led to speculation that Washington could be in for a prolonged political battle.

At the US Capitol, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer delivered a stinging portrayal of Trump as an unreliable negotiating partner, saying the two sides came close to an agreement several times only to have Trump back out at the urging of anti-immigration conservatives.Negotiating with President Trump is like negotiating with Jell-O,” said Schumer, who met Trump at the White House on Friday for a 90minute meeting that had briefly raised hopes.

Emergency declared in Jamaican city as gun crime soars Montego Bay: Jamaica has declared a state of emergency in the island's second city Montego Bay, where authorities are battling to stem a wave of killings. Tourists have been urged to remain in their resorts, following the declaration

by Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Thursday, resulting in the deployment of thousands of members of the military and police in the city of 200,000, home to some of the biggest and most luxurious resorts on the island. The move came days after the United States upgraded its travel advisory to its citizens. Canada and Great Britain issued warnings following the declaration of emergency. "You should limit your movements outside of resorts in the area at this time, and exercise particular care if travelling at night," Britain's foreign o�ce said on its website.

WINDOWS

13

BUSINESS

HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

TODAY’S QUOTE

NON-OPEC COOPERATION

Li-ion BATTERIES FOR EVs

Agricultural export policy soon

Saudi Arabia seeks large framework

Panel seeks Isro technology

“

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khaled al-Faleh on Sunday called for extending cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers beyond 2018 after a deal to shore up crude prices. “We should not limit our efforts to 2018. We need to be talking about a longer framework for our cooperation,” Faleh said in Muscat.

A Panel headed by Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha has recommended commercial use of ISRO’s lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology under the ‘Make In India’ initiative for electric vehicles (EVs).

These days farmers are not only affected by middlemen, but also from the imports. Farmers should get a chance to export also. The draft is ready in this regard. After that, the Government will come out with a policy in this matter

– Suresh Prabhu, Union Commerce Minister

NMDC aims 45 MT output in FY19 � May close current fiscal with 35-37mt iron ore production as against 34.5MT in FY17

Hyderabad: State-owned NMDC Ltd aims to produce about 45 million tonnes (MT) of iron ore during the next financial year as against the expected 35 million tonnes in the current fiscal, said a top o�cial of the PSU. “Last year, we achieved 34.5 million tonnes of production.

This year (FY18) the first two quarters were good. But, unfortunately during the third quarter there was some problem in terms of rains a�ecting railway line. That had taken away oneand-half month time. But, still we are coping with the situation and the production levels are maintained,” N Baijendra Kumar, CMD of NMDC, said.

“We will be at par with that (output) for this year (FY18) if not exceeding it. We are aiming 37 MT for FY18, but we may up a little bit below...35 MT is a safe assumption. We have to go up to 67 MT by 2022. For FY19, we are looking at 43-45 MT production. It again depends on factors like logistics,” Kumar said.

The CMD said he recently wrote a letter to the Chief Secretary of Odisha, requesting the state government to allot the mines that have stopped operations following a Supreme Court order over penalty issues.

He said a high-level team comprising directors of NMDC NK Nanda and PK Satpathy recently met Odisha Chief Secretary AP Padhi to discuss the matter.

(PTI)

OFFLOADING `10-Trn DISTRESSED ASSETS

RBI for online platform Mumbai (PTI): The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has called for putting in place an online trading platform on the lines of the system in the US, to sell distressed assets to ensure more transparency and better price-discovery. Viral Acharya, Deputy Governor at RBI, has opined that such an online trading platform can help create a thriving market for selling bad loans, which is plaguing the domestic banking system, and asked all the stakeholders to come together to develop such a mechanism. The banking system is saddled with over Rs10 trillion of bad loans, which is over 10.2 per cent system wide, as of the September 2017 quarter.

Following a massive spike in stressed assets, the RBI has since last June identified as many as 40 largest stressed accounts and have asked banks to send them to various debt recovery tribunals. These 40 accounts, which include Essar Steel, Bhushan Steel, Bhushan Power, Amtek Auto, Videocon Industries and JP Infra among others, constitute as much as 40 per cent of this Rs 10 trillion dud loans. In the financial stability report released recently, the central

BUSINESS BUREAU Hyderabad: Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd has bagged Bhavanapadu port project from the Andhra Pradesh government. The lone bidder will develop the port in Srikakulam

IBA, Association of Asset Reconstruction Companies and the credit rating agencies can come together to set up what could be the equivalent to the Loan Syndication and Trading Association (LSTA) in the US –Viral Acharya, Dy Governor

bank had warned that the bad loans could spike to 10.8 per cent

by March and to 11.1 per cent by September 2018. “The Indian Banks Association (IBA), Association of Asset Reconstruction Companies (Arcon) and the credit rating agencies can come together to set up what could be the equivalent to the Loan Syndication and Trading Association (LSTA) in the United States,” Acharya told an ARC summit hosted by the industry lobby Assocham over the weekend here.

The Loan Syndication and Trading Association or LSTA is a

loan syndication and trading system, which provides disclosure on credit events, digitisation of loans and legal documents apart from providing an online bidding platform for the sale of such assets, Acharya said.

“My recommendation to you, or at least what I would encourage you, is to discuss whether there is value to building something like this or not. The US and South Korea have built such a platform during their banking crises and then it became an industry standard for doing loan sales thereafter,” the Deputy Governor said. Acharya

AP picks Adani to develop Bhavanapadu Port district. The state Cabinet, which met here on Saturday night, accepted the single bid of Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd for developing the greenfield non-major port at

Bhavanapadu under public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

Adani has o�ered only 2.3 per cent revenue share for the first 30 years, according to a release.

said “it is in the interest of banks to create primary market liquidity to o�oad loans and probably in the interest of asset reconstruction companies to have a secondary market for such assets.”

The deputy governor also said if such a platform is developed then loan sales can occur for risk transfer, perhaps prior to default or becoming an NPA because, maybe somebody wants to come in even before an (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) filing takes place. So, now you don’t have a measure of recovery only at the outcome of the IBC, you could have a measure of recovery even at stress because that will be reflected in the loan sale.

“I think if that is the point at which banks are going to be selling loans then that would be a relevant figure for calculating the expected credit losses and so on,” Acharya said. He said over time with experience and learnings, credit rating agencies can aggregate all these information across the sectors, across companies and can also provide quarterly reports that could help guide banks in calculations of expected credit losses.

Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari made an open o�er to CM N Chandrababu Naidu in December 2015 to develop Bhavanapadu as a satellite port to Visakhapatnam Port, and extend 26 per cent share to the state government.

BioAsia-2018 to kickstart today BUSINESS BUREAU

ment the growth of not only the country’s Life sciences and Hyderabad: The 15th edition of Healthcare industry but will BioAsia, the 3-day annual flagalso strengthen the leadership ship event of the Telangana of Telangana in this field.” government, will start from IT Secretary Jayesh Rajan February 22, 2018, at HICC adds: “Over 1,500 delegates here. The life sciences hub of from over 55 countries with India has been holding the 100 high profile speakers and event with 500 corpothe participarates are partion of staketicipating in holders from the event. pharma and The exhibilife sciences tion at the sectors from event venue national and with about international 100 exTelangana Industry arena. BioAsia has Minister KT Rama hibitors and emerged as the Rao said: “With startups will most preeminent new industrial showcase some of technology and bio- clusters like Pharma the most innovabusiness conven- City and Medical tive products, tion in Asia for life Devices park, services and solusciences, pharma- Hyderabad is ready tions in Life Sciceuticals and to assume ences, Medtech healthcare. and healthcare.” leadership role of Telangana Indus- the life sciences The domestic try Minister KT industry in Asia life sciences secRama Rao said: and the world tor is facing un“With new indusprecedented trial clusters like Pharma City change, driven by a converand Medical Devices park, Hygence of demographic growth, derabad is ready to assume urbanization, digitization, and leadership role of the life scia continued push on financial ences industry in Asia and the inclusion. At the same time, the world. BioAsia has been an inevolving regulatory regime in tegral part of the Hyderabad’s price control, generic drugs, growth story and we are comand the implementation of mitted to magnifying the scale GST has brought healthcare of the event to greater heights. stakeholders back to the drawAs has been the case in the past, ing board. Some of the mega BioAsia 2018 will witness some trends in the sector suggest a of the marquee global leaders need for companies to relook of the industry visiting Hyderat their existing strategies and abad and will certainly augreorient their business models.

Gold moves in narrow Growthmode empanelled Over 20% of TCS hiring in last for Smart City Mission 12 months was outside India range on global cues BUSINESS BUREAU

DR HC UPADHYAY Hyderabad (NVS): Following weakening of US dollar and rumours of the big-players waiting for a further drop in dollar’s exchange value so as to shift gears in favour of yellow metal, sentiment in gold remained from moderate to strong in the international gold market during the week ended Saturday. Experts are of the view that during current year gold would be moving in the range of $1,300-1,400. At present, it is hovering around $1,335-1,340.

The investors are hopeful that US Fed Rates would be revised ble oils such as, groundnut oil, at least four times during the cottonseed oil, rapseed oil, years 2018 and 2019. With gold corn oil etc. During the week, becoming an attractive medium chillies, tamarind, pepper and of investment, silver too, is likely ginger recorded moderate apto gain strength in tandem. preciation while turmeric, At home, while the dealers of tilseeds, garlic and mustard dediamonds and gems got a reclined marginally. prieve from the GST authorities Coriander, jeera, by way of reduction in The dealers of copra and tamarind the GST rate from three per cent to 0.25 diamonds and either remained ungems got a changed or were diper cent, gold and silver jewellers have reprieve from vergent in narrow margin. been left high and dry.

GST rate cut Sugar S-30 for the They were pinning from three first time after several high hopes on the per cent to years touched the GST reduction. May 0.25 per cent lower levels of below be, they will have to Rs3,000 (per quintal) wait for some more thanks to the competition time. among sugar mills following the As the marriage season has commencement of new crushing just set in, there was no perceivseason. The price in Medium able change in demand pattern grade, however, remained firm. for gold and silver ornaments.

In Small grade, the decline has Therefore, the impact of apprebeen to the tune of 15 per cent. ciation in gold price seen in the The mills are o�ering higher global markets was minimal in price to farmers, thereby incurthe local market. During the ring loss of Rs600 – 700 per week, standard gold (24 carats) quintal. The vegetables ruled appreciated by Rs170 and closed higher with the end of winter at Rs31,110 (10 gms). The ornaseason and eventually supplies mental gold too, moved in tanbecoming scarce. dem and was quoted in the range The NECC egg prices were diof Rs28,710-28,810. Silver vergent. The prices ruled in (0.999) remained steady at higher brackets in North India Rs40,000 (per kg). where cold-wave conditions preCommodities vail in most of the places while The sentiment in the wholein the South the prices dipped sale commodity markets at the due to the change of season. In Osmangunj, Begum Bazar, Mir Hyderabad, eggs have remained Alam Mandi, Kukatpally, Dilsteady at Rs402 (per 100) from sukh Nagar, Bowenpally and January 8. On the closing day, Risal Abdullah remained firm.

Varanasi recorded the highest Pulses and cereals remained price of Rs460, while Hospet the subdued so also common edilowest of Rs370.

Hyderabad: Growthmode Consulting Ltd, a city-based HR consulting firm, has been empanelled for the Smart City Mission under Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. The Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting program by the Centre with a mission to develop 100 cities all over the country making them citizen-friendly and sustainable. Growthmode (formerly ZCS Consulting Ltd) offers executive search and HR &OD consulting services to organizations.

M Ramkrishna, founder and

MD, Growthmode, said: “It’s a rare honour bestowed on us.

We operate out of Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi NCR and Mumbai and Internationally from Nairobi & Brisbane. We have more than 30,000 placements, 1,500 exclusive retained search assignments (ERSAs) at VP and above positions & 5,000 people on contract staffing assignments to our credit.”

Growthmode is empanelled as the HR agency for recruitment of personnel for special purpose vehicles (SPV) for key managerial posts (KMPs) and other staffing requirements for the 100 Smart Cities Mission.

New Delhi (PTI): Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest software services firm, hired over 20 per cent of its new recruits in the last one year in international markets as part of its localisation initiatives. In the October-December 2017 quarter alone, the Mumbai- headquartered firm recruited almost 3,000 people from outside India.

“Overall, in the last 12 months, we have recruited 59,700 employees, which includes 12,700 recruited outside India, a good indicator of how our localisation initiatives are progressing,” TCS CEO and Managing Director Rajesh Gopinathan said.

He added that “the company

has always prided ourselves in our ability to attract and retain diverse talent.”

TCS, however, did not provide details of the geographies where hiring was done. “We continue to recruit steadily and in Q3 we added 12,534 employees on a gross basis, of which almost 3,000 were recruited outside India. We closed the quarter with the total

headcount of 390,880 employees,” he said.

Indian IT firms have been ramping up local hiring in o�shore markets to tackle visa-related challenges. While hiring locals in overseas markets often pushes up operational costs for IT outsourcing companies, Indian IT companies are hiring more local talents in o�shore markets to ensure compliance with rules as governments in markets like the US, Australia and New Zealand are tightening their work visa norms. New technologies like automation and artificial intelligence are also making a number of jobs redundant that in turn is impacting hiring at IT firms.

F&O expiry, Q3 in focus FPIs upbeat over Axis Bank, Maruti, Idea, Coal India, & Dr Reddy’s results this week New Delhi (PTI): Earnings of blue chips like Axis Bank and Maruti Suzuki as well as derivatives expiry will dictate the market trend in a holiday-shortened week ahead, say experts. Stock markets will remain closed on Friday for Republic Day. It was the seventh week of gains in a row for the markets.

The BSE Sensex recorded a significant rise of 919.19 points, or 2.65 per cent, to end the week at 35,511.58. The NSE Nifty gained 213.45 points, or 1.99 per cent, and closed the week at 10,894.70.

“Going ahead, the focus of the markets would continue to be on the quarterly results as well as upcoming Budget on February 1.

Volatility is also expected owing to futures and options (F&O) expiry on January 25,” said Teena Virmani, Vice-President – Research, Kotak Securities.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: “For the week ahead, market will closely watch the progress of Q3 results which will dictate the overall trend of the market, while volatility may be heightened due to F&O expiry.”

Companies which are scheduled to announce their results this week include Axis Bank,

Maruti Suzuki India, Canara Bank, Idea Cellular, Coal India, and Dr Reddy's Laboratories.

“The next crucial trigger for the market will be Budget which will increase the volatility for sure and we may see wider moves," said Mustafa Nadeem, CEO, Epic Research. The Sensex recorded a rise of 919.19 points, or 2.65 per cent while the Nifty gained 213.45 points, or 1.99 per cent, in the past week.

Top-6 add over Rs1 Lakh cr in mcap The cumulative market valuation of six of the 10 most valued

firms advanced by Rs 1,07,370.4 crore last week, helped by robust gains in TCS, HDFC and HDFC Bank. The market capitalisation (m-cap) of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) zoomed Rs 34,811.32 crore to Rs 5,65,624.13 crore, emerging as the biggest gainer among the top-10 firms. HDFC's m-cap soared Rs 22,238.48 crore to Rs 3,03,614.28 crore.

encouraging Q3

New Delhi (PTI): Overseas investors have put in a whopping Rs 8,700 crore in the Indian capital markets this month so far on expectation of recovery in corporate earnings and attractive yields. This follows an investment of Rs 2 lakh crore in the capital markets (equity and debt) in the entire 2017. Quantum MF Fund Manager-Fixed Income Pankaj Pathak, however, believes foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) may not be able to repeat this showing in 2018 as withdrawal of liquidity and rate hikes in developed economies pick up.

According to the depositories data, FPIs infused in a net amount of Rs 5,769 crore in equities and Rs 2,940 crore in the debt markets during January 1-19, translating into a net inflow of Rs 8,709 crore.

“The inflow in the current month can be attributed to anticipation of earnings recovery and attractive yields which is expected to further strengthen inflow from foreign investors in current financial year,” said Dinesh Rohira, CEO of 5nance.

Morningstar India’s Senior Ana-

lyst Manager (Research) Himanshu Srivastava said: “Given 2019 (elections) would not be far, the expectation of some other economic reforms from the government would be high. But the major for FPIs going ahead would be to see growth coming back in the domestic economy, which has not yet picked up contrary to the expectation.”

Hyderabad trust to bring change through education MOHAMMED SHAFEEQ Hyderabad: One of the five pillars of Islam, "zakat" is mandatory charity for every well-to-do Muslim. And Hyderabad Zakat and Charitable Trust (HZCT) has shown how this obligatory form of charity can be channelised to bring change in society through education.

With this noble goal, the 25-year-old organisation has been using "zakat" to pull the community out of illiteracy and today more than 24,000 students study in its 106 schools.

The trust made a humble beginning in 1992 when Ghiasuddin Babukhan, a reputed businessman and philanthropist of this city, with some friends and other like-minded people came together to pool their "zakat" for education. "It started with total 'zakat' of just Rs 11 lakh," recalled HZCT chairman Babukhan while talking to IANS. With a firm belief in "empowerment through education and freedom through knowledge", Babukhan and his friends formed a network of schools for poor, mostly in remote villages.

Though these Urdu-medium schools were taken over by the government under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the trust continues to monitor their functioning, appoint teachers, distribute free uniforms and books.

What started with a total "zakat" of just Rs 11 lakh has now expanded to an annual budget of Rs 12 crore and has touched the lives of over a million people in the last two-and-a-half decades, including poor students, orphans and widows in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Every Muslim whose assets reached "nisab" or minimum value (the current market price of 60.65 tolas of silver) has to pay 2.5 per cent annual Islamic tax on his wealth.

"People donate without any hassle. I don't know 99 percent of the donors. I have never met them. We have ensured total transparency. No questions are asked except positive feedback from the donors. Some people come personally to donate huge amounts," said Babukhan.

"I don't know whether there is any

HZCT chairman Babukhan

It also prepares students for various competitive exams like IIT-JEE Mains and Advanced, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, Birla Institute of Technology Science Aptitude Test, and entrance exams to Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research and the National Defence Academy

trust of this size and calibre in India," he added.

HZCT runs its activities professionally as it has 40 dedicated volunteers and a well-paid, full-time sta�. It ensures transparency by publishing annual reports for the donors. Education accounts for over 70 percent of the trust's spending of Rs 107 crore since its inception.

The trust is spending more than Rs 2.5 crore on schools alone and this includes salaries, uniforms, and "Gems of the Nation" cash awards of Rs 10,000 each to girl students who secure 9.3 GPA or above in the 10th Grade.

What is interesting about these schools is 70 percent of the students are girls. The pass percentage is 92 against the average of 57 in government-run

schools.

"Our schools are a success story, not because I am handling it, but because Allah is handling it. For other works there can be several hurdles, but nobody can stop us in the area of education," he said.

"More than 200,000 students have so far passed out of our schools and many have become professionals like doctors and engineers," said Babukhan.

In 1996, Foundation for Economic and Education Development (FEED) was formed to run the institutes established by the trust. FEED set up the Hyderabad Institute of Excellence (HIE) in 2013 to hone the skills of meritorious students from poor and needy families to groom them as leaders with a strong

sense of dignity, integrity, love for the country, and deep religious values.

Spread over 120 acres at Vikarabad near Hyderabad, this residential school boasts of world-class amenities and state-of-the-art infrastructure, providing education from 6th to 12th Grade.

About 50 per cent of the students at HIE are on annual scholarship of Rs 2 lakh each.

It also prepares students for various competitive exams like IIT-JEE Mains and Advanced, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), Birla Institute of Technology Science Aptitude Test (BITSAT), and entrance exams to Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) and the National Defence Academy. In 2017, Hyderabad Institute of Excellence had 100 percent results in the Intermediate (12th Grade) with 13 students scoring above 98 per cent marks.

"The results over the last four years have been excellent as many students got admissions to reputed colleges in different parts of the country and also into IITs and NITs," said Babukhan, who believes that the environment plays an important role in creating leaders.

The education programmes of the trust have so far benefited about 378,000 students. It now plans to focus on education of orphans.

The trust is providing financial aid to 10,000 orphans for education from school level to professional courses.

This year it disbursed Rs 1.60 crore for an orphan scholarship programme.

It also spent Rs 1.70 crore for distribution of foodgrain, Iftar packs and clothes during Ramadan to about 4,000 widows and orphans and also for distribution of "zabiha" meat.

Other works undertaken by HZCT include relief activities during the Gujarat riots and earthquake, and the Kashmir earthquake and floods.

In 2016-17, HZCT spent Rs 5.57 crore on scholarships for professional courses, orphans and physically handicapped, Rs 1.75 crore on welfare schemes like feeding the poor, Rs 0.25 crore on remarriage of young widows, and Rs 0.12 crore on drinking water and borewells.

Lecture on ‘Entrepreneurship at 50’ OUR BUREAU Hyderabad: The sixth Ravi Matthai Memorial Lecture “Entrepreneurship at 50” was delivered by Vishwavir Ahuja, Managing Director & CEO of RBL Bank at Cyber Convention here.

Ahuja is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad IIM-A).He has delivered a captivating speech on how RBL was transformed from a traditional regional bank to a new-age national Bank.

The CEO touched upon key aspects of the Bank’s transformation by reorienting customers as hearth, employees as pillars, community as the cause and shareholder value as the focus.

IGNOU announces dates for MPhil, PhD entrance tests New Delhi: The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) today announced admissions to its Ph.D and M.Phil programmes for July 2018 session in regular mode.

A national-level entrance exam will be conducted on March 4 in selected examination centers across the country, Director of IGNOU Research Unit Prof. Kaustuva Barik said.

The last date to submit application form is Feburary 16 and the online portal for admission to the programmes will be operational from January 23.

Applications are invited for - M.Phil in Sociology, Political Science, Economics, Geography, Translation Studies, Social Work, Commerce, Chemistry and Distance education.

PhD programmes have been o�ered

PONGAL WITH PM

President Ram Nath Kovind

‘Universities should prioritise making students employable’ Gandhinagar: Universities should give top priority to preparing students for employability, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Sunday, lauding Gujarat University for helping many new entrepreneurs through its programmes.

Addressing the varsity's 66th convocation, he said: "Gujarat University is supporting many new entrepreneurs through its Start-up and Entrepreneurship Council.

"The creation of the Council of Skill Development is also a welcome step towards empowering students. Today's universities should give top priority to preparing their students for employability, and for self-employment and entrepreneurship."

The President said that there are many good institutions in Ahmedabad that promote a start-up culture.

Also noting that recently, the Prime Ministers of India and Israel inaugurated the International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology - or iCreate - in Ahmedabad, he said that this will provide world-class facilities to young Indian entrepreneurs and urged students of Gujarat University to take advantage of them.

Bridging gap activities in govt schools DR. G MARY SUNANDA Hyderabad: Students who come to government schools are poor and can converse only in their mother tongue. The textbooks they read have high standards and are the same for English, Telugu and Urdu media. Teachers need students who can critically think and answer questions in discussions and face sheet/style sheet transactions. It is even better if they answer in one word or two words in English.

Students of English medium are also not that good in English, as it is believed that they do not have language competency. Teachers ask questions from previous experiences and knowledge.

When they don’t get the right answer from students, leading questions are asked. Teachers are unable to extract answer in English. This is all because of lack of practice and awareness about their performance.

Teachers’ competencies vary from person to person. To overcome this problem some strategy is in hand--BGA Activity. When students come

individual activity there is stress on conversation and story-telling. Teachers can mix students of di�erent classes for better results.

Three pictures are to be used to help students to learn four major skills of language learning---Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW). Students are divided into the group activ-

in - Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, Library and Information Science, Political Science, Public Administration, History, Gender and Development Studies, Women’s Studies, Geography, Translation Studies, Statistics, Food & Nutritional Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geology, Management, Life Sciences, Commerce, Hindi, Distance Education, Nursing, Social Work, Physics, Chemistry and Biochemistry.

"PhD in Bio-chemistry, Physics, and Life Sciences disciplines would not have entrance exam and would be based on eligibility criteria available on the university's website," Barik said in a statement. Those applying for M.Phil in Economics need not take the entrance exam but have to be eligible as per the criteria.

Incubation centre at IIT-Bhubaneswar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Sankranti celebrations at Vice President Venkaiah Naidu’s house, in New Delhi on Sunday

back to the institution after the summer vacation they have a hangover of holidays. They might forget the entire syllabus. To review what they have learnt and also to equip them with language competencies, they can allow one period for BGA activity.

The strategies for BGA activity include the whole class and group. In the

As recipient of EY entrepreneur of the year 2016, he explained the nuances of entrepreneurship, the advantage of experience, maturity of thought and comfort of financial reserves visà-vis the challenges like inertia, health issues, responsibilities and the need to updated with the latest technological innovations.

Prof. Rakesh Basant, Dean of Alumni A�airs at IIMA expressed his happiness at the activities being undertaken by the Hyderabad chapter of the alumni association.

A large number of alumni of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, government functionaries and leaders from industries attended.

ity. In the individual activity, teachers elicit answers from single students.

This was originally propounded by ELT expert Dr. K L Anandan. One picture of the whole activity must be of a blackboard size.

The picture to be used in group activity, as suggested by the expert, is only one. But one group will get one, depending upon the number of groups. The size of the picture should be bigger than the A4.

The individual activity says, not only one pic but the number of students, say if there are 35 students, the same number pictures should be used. The blackboard is used to write answers given by students. Students describe things, names and places in the picture. They converse in the group activity. They tell a story looking at the picture. The story is edited by the teacher.

There is a time limit to complete this activity ie 16 days. After this activity students can join the mainstream. The month of July is full of academic activities. This is how students become serious about their work. This helps both the student and the teacher.

Bhubaneswar: An incubator "Centre of Excellence for Virtual and Augmented Reality" (VARCoE) will be set up on the IIT-Bhubaneswar, campus, said an o�cial on Friday.

The MSME Department of Odisha government, along with Software Technology Park of India (STPI) and Susmita Bagchi, a noted Odia writer and philanthropist, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IITBhubaneswar, in this regard on Friday.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the centre would be one of its kind in the country, being set up with a unique collaborative partnership between the state government, union government through STPI, a philanthropist and an IIT. He added that the incubator on Virtual Augmented Reality at IIT-Bhubaneswar would be a landmark initiative for promoting research, technology incubation and product development in the country.

The centre will cater to the startups and new generation entrepreneurs working in the area of Virtual Augmented Reality for immersive visualisation and allied areas.

It will undertake state-ofthe-art research, develop testing facility / laboratories for advanced algorithms, applications and methods in aid of Virtual and Augmented Reality for Immersive Visualization and allied areas.

It will help in developing application platforms for specific skill development programs based on the industry need and relevance.

15

HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

CISF begins security consultancy at schools in major cities New Delhi: Two months after it first o�ered security consultancy to schools, CISF experts have begun a mega exercise of auditing some big names in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata to ensure that any Gurugram-like student killing incident does not recur in educational institutions.

The central paramilitary force, that is mandated to guard major Indian civil airports and has a unique security consultancy wing, has also received over Rs 15 lakh of the government prescribed service fee for rendering this service, from few schools.

The consultancy fee is around Rs 4 lakh for an average school.

A blueprint prepared by the force, accessed by PTI, shows that separate team of experts have begun work to provide foolproof security solutions at the Podar Education Network in Mumbai, Oakridge International Schools in Hyderabad and St Xavier's in Kolkata.

"Separate board of o�cers have been constituted and they are on job to draw a professional and sound security plan for the safety of students and sta� of these schools.

"Five more schools across the country have sent in their final approvals and such expert teams will soon begin their work at their facilities too," a senior force o�cial said.

When contacted, CISF Director General (DG) O P Singh said the proposal made by the force to the schools, first in November last year, is getting a "good and positive response."

"I have already said we took up this initiative as part of our responsibility towards the society. We are always happy to ex-

Class: X

Set– II SECTION – A

Reading Comprehension:(1-7) Read the following passage given below ?

Well, the first time when I told them, “Let us plant trees”, the women said they did not know how to plant trees.

So, I asked the foresters to come and teach them, but they were very complicated they are professionals. It became very complicated for the ordinary illiterate women so I told the women, “We shall use our common sense, and just do what we do with other seeds”. Women work on the farms. They’re the ones who cultivate. They’re the ones who produce food, so, I told them that seeds of trees are like any other seeds. So if they were to treat these tree seeds the same way they treat other seeds of food crops, there is no difference. I told them to look for old broken pots even and put seeds there. They will germinate and they will know these are the seedlings from the seeds, they planted and we gave them plastic bags to be able to put those seedlings and to nurture them and when they were about half a meter long then they could go and transplant them on their farms.

In the beginning it was difficult, but they soon gained confidence and they became very competent foresters.

So I called them “Foresters without Diplomas”

2.

3.

4.

Now answer the following questions. Each question has four choices.

Choose the correct answer and write (A) (B) (C) or (D) in your answer booklet :4x1=4 So I told them that seed of trees are like any other seeds. Who does ‘them’ refer to - - A) Wangari Mathai B) Village women C) Foresters D) Women working in farms It became very complicated for ordinary illiterate women - - - Here the complicated thing is A) to teach them B) arrival of the foresters C) becoming professionals D) to know how to plant trees Wangari Mathai told the women to A) cultivate B) produce food C) stop planting trees D) treat the tree seeds the same way they treat other seeds “Foresters without Diplomas” in the above context is A) Wangari Mathai and her group members B) the village women C) the persons who completed their studies in the village D) foresters who were issued diploma certificates

Answer the following sentences in one or two sentences :5. What is the specific message, do your Wangari Mathai wanted to pass?

6. What do you understand by the expression, “In the beginning it was difficult - - -”?

7. Pick out the repetitions used in the text and write down what Mathai is emphasizing?

tend help of our professional services," Singh said.

The senior o�cial, quoted ealier, added that as of today, the force is in talks with about three dozen schools in various parts of the country. "Members of the elite security consultancy wing has been asked to be prepared and move out to schools at a short notice so that this task is carried out as fast as possible.

"The command of the force has categorised this work as a priority subject," the o�cial said.

The force, last year, had dispatched letters to a number of schools in the country o�ering its help in creating a “safe and secure” environment for their students.

The trigger for this all-India exercise by the force was the September, 2017 killing of a Class 2 student of the Ryan International School in Gurugram, who was found dead in the school bathroom with his throat slit.

The force, in its message, had assured the schools that its professional but chargeable security solutions will be custom-made for them like it does for each of its clients.

"It is felt that in the wake of the recent unfortunate incident in one of the reputed schools in the national- capital-region in which a young student lost his life, there is now a need for revisiting the security infrastructure of our schools.

"You will agree that a healthy and secure environment is a right of every child and schools have a major role to play in the providing the same," the CISF letter addressed to the schools read.

The CISF's security audit provides professional advise to schools as to where to install CCTV cameras, where to deploy security sta�, how to check access control, how to train their security sta� and install emergency response gadgets.

The consultancy wing has shared its expertise with over 150 organisations or institutions, including IITs, IIMs, RBI and the National Police Academy in Hyderabad among others.

digest New AI system can negotiate deals better than humans

to us and articulate what it's doing. It has to be able to interact with other people," he said. If two humans were honest with each other and loyal, they would have done as well as two machines, Crandall said.

"As it is, about half of the humans lied at some point. So essentially, this particular algorithm is learning that moral

Novel synthetic vaccine against smallpox developed Toronto: Researchers have developed a new synthetic virus that can lead to the development of a more e�ective vaccine against smallpox in humans.

Researchers from the University of Alberta produced an infectious horsepox virus, which they synthetically reconstructed using a published genome sequence and DNA fragments manufactured entirely by chemical methods.

Horsepox -- an equine disease caused by horsepox virus -- is not a hazard to humans. It is closely related to vaccinia virus, which was used as a vaccine to eradicate human smallpox 40 years ago.

The research showed that the synthetic horsepox virus could provide vaccine protection in a mouse model of poxvirus infection.

"This application of synthetic DNA technology has the potential to revolutionise how we manufacture complex biologicals including recombinant viruses," said David Evans, Pro-

ENGLISH PAPER-I

1.

NEWS

Boston: Scientists have created a new artificial intelligence system that can negotiate a compromise and maintain relationships more e�ectively than humans.

Researchers programmed machines with an algorithm called S# and ran them through a variety of two-player games to see how well they would cooperate in certain relationships.

The team from Brigham Young University (BYU) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US tested machine-machine, human-machine and human-human interactions.

In most instances, machines programmed with S# outperformed humans in finding compromises that benefit both parties. "The end goal is that we understand the mathematics behind cooperation with people and what attributes artificial intelligence (AI) needs to develop social skills," said Jacob Crandall from BYU. "AI needs to be able to respond

MODEL PAPERS

fessor at the University's Li KaShing Institute of Virology.

"These methods advance the capacity to produce next generation vaccines and o�er special promise as a tool for constructing the complicated synthetic viruses that will likely be needed to treat cancer," Evans said.

The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE. The discovery demonstrates how techniques based on the use of synthetic DNA can be used to advance public health measures.

characteristics are good. It's programmed to not lie, and it also learns to maintain cooperation once it emerges," he said.

Researchers further fortified the machines' ability to cooperate by programming them with a range of "cheap talk" phrases. In tests, if human participants cooperated with the machine, the machine might respond with a

"Sweet. We are getting rich!" or "I accept your last proposal."

If the participants tried to betray the machine or back out of a deal with them, they might be met with a trash- talking "Curse you!," "You will pay for that!" or even an "In your face!" Regardless of the game or pairing, cheap talk doubled the amount of cooperation.

When machines used cheap talk, their human counterparts were often unable to tell whether they were playing a human or machine.

The research findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, could have longterm implications for human relationships.

"In society, relationships break down all the time. People that were friends for years all of a sudden become enemies," Crandall said. "Because the machine is often actually better at reaching these compromises than we are, it can potentially teach us how to do this better," he said.

Neutron-star merger continues to brighten Toronto: The afterglow from the neutron-star merger located about 138 million light years away, that sent gravitational waves rippling through the universe, has continued to brighten, scientists have found.

New observations from NASA's orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory indicate that the gamma ray burst unleashed by the collision first detected in August last year is more complex than scientists initially imagined.

"Usually when we see a short gamma-ray burst, the jet emission generated gets bright for a short time as it smashes into the surrounding medium - then fades as the system stops injecting energy into the outflow," said Daryl Haggard, astrophysicist at McGill University in Canada.

"This one is di�erent; it's definitely not a simple, plain-Jane narrow jet," said Haggard. The data could be explained using more complicated models for the remnants of the neutron star merger.

One possibility is that the merger launched a jet that shockheated the surrounding gaseous debris, creating a hot 'cocoon' around the jet that has glowed in X-rays and radio light for many months.

The X-ray observations jibe with radio-wave data reported last month by another team of scientists, which found that those emissions from the collision also continued to brighten over time.

While radio telescopes were able to monitor the afterglow throughout the fall, X-ray and optical observatories were unable to watch it for around three months, because that point in the sky was too close to the Sun during that period.

"When the source emerged from that blind spot in the sky in early December, our Chandra team jumped at the chance to see what was going on," said John Ruan, a postdoctoral researcher at the McGill Space Institute new paper.

3x2=6

(8-12) Read the following except from the Never-Never Nest :Jack : Sit down, Aunt jane, you must be tired – and we’ve shown you every thing now. : What do you think of our little nest, Aunt Jane.

Jill AuntJane : What do you think of our little nest, Aunt Jane? I think its wonderful my dears. The furniture – and the car – and the piano – and the refrigerator and the radio – what’s it – it’s wonderful, really wonderful! : And we owe it all to you.

Jack Aunt Jane : Yes, Jack, that’s what worrying me.

Jack : Worrying you, Aunt Jane?

Aunt Jane : Yes, that cheque I gave you for your wedding present – it was only two hundred pounds, wasn’t it?

I didn’t put two thou sand by mistake? : Why no, Aunt Jane, What on earth made you think that?

Jill Aunt Jane : (relieved) Well, that’s all right. But I still don’t altogether understand. This house – its very lovely – but doesn’t cost a great deal for rent? : Rent? Oh no. We don’t pay rent.

Jack Aunt Jane : But, Jack, if you don’t pay rent, you’ll get turned out – into the street – And that would never do.

You’ve Jill and the baby to think of now, you know. : No, no, Aunt Jane. You misunderstood me. We don’t pay rent because the house is ours.

Jack Aunt Jane : YOURS? : Why yes; you just pay ten pounds and its yours.

Jill Now answer the following questions. Each question has four choices. Choose the correct answer and write (A) (B) (C) or (D) in your answer booklet :3x1=3 8. “What do you think of our little next, Aunt Jane? What does little nest refer to?

A) The house of Aunt Jane B) The own house of Jack and Jill C) The house of the Jack and Jill bought on installment basis D) The rented house of Jack and Jill 9. “What on earth made you think that?” What is the tone of this expression?

A) agony B) anger C) happiness D) surprise 10. What type of text is this excerpt?

A) Play script B) Narrative C) Report D) Interview 2x1=2 Answer the following in one or two sentences :11. “Aunt Jane is worrying about something”, What is it?

12. Do you support buying things on the installment basis? Give reasons.

Section – B (Vocabulary & Grammar) (13-17) Read the passage given below. Five sentences in the passage is numbered (13-17) at the beginning. Each of these sentences has an error. Correct and re-write them in the answer booklet :5x 1=5 Abel : (13) It didn’t take you long to start divide things between you. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. (14) since your mother died, I has lived part of time with you, Amelia, and part with you, Lizzie. (15) well, I shall made a new will, leaving all my bits of things to who ever I’m living with when I die. How does that strike you?

Mr Jordan : (16) You know, father, its quite time you came live with us again (17) we’d make you very comfortably.

(18-22) Complete the passage choosing the right word from the box given below. Each blank is numbered. Write the correct word in your answer booklet :5x½=2½ abjectly, reappeared, standing, stopped, shortly, imperiously, ulter The next morning the boys were there again, and a man was ___(18) at the gate watching them. I ___(19) and looked, just to see what the white boy was making his little servant do. To my ___(20) astonishment the little dark boy was striding ____(21) up and down the lawn, while the white youngster walked ____(22) behind him.

(23-27) Some words in the passage are underlined. Re-write the underline words in your answer booklet as directed :5x½=2½ ‘Oh, I shall die because of that stupid donkey’ groaned (23) the potter to his wife. ‘He has only brought us trouble.’

The next day he went with his wife to the capital. The king was pleased (24) to see them and ordered the potter to lead the army into the battle the next day. The enemy were not far from the gates of the city. A splendid house had been prepared for the potter and his wife. The horse which would carry him in to battle (25) was ready in the stable. That night the potter could not sleep. He was nervous and worry (26) because he did not know how to ride a house. ‘If I fall off, everybody will laugh at me’, he thought. He also thought he would (27) get up very early tomorrow and practice riding the horse.

Write the synonym of the underlined word.

23.

24.

Write the antonym of the underlined word.

25.

Replace the word with the equivalent one.

26.

Write the correct form of the underlined word.

27.

Replace the word with a correct one.

Section – C Creative Writing 28. A significant move to project India’s cultural unity has been the holding of festivals of India in various parts of the world. Now, write an essay describing how ‘National festivals’ promote national integrity. You may use the following points for the description.

10 marks a) kind of festival b) nature of celebration c) secular aspect of celebration (or) Read the following poem : This morning she bought green, ‘Methi’ In the market, choosing the freshest bunch, Picked up a white radish Imagined the crunch it would make Between her teeth, the sweet sharp taste, Then put it aside, thinking it, An extravagance, counted her coins, Out carefully, tied them, a small bundle, Into her saree at the waist; Came home faced her mother-in-laws Dark looks, took The leaves and chopped them; Her hands stained yellow from the juice; Cut an onion, fine and cooked, The whole thing in the pot over the stove Shielding her face from the heat.

Write a choreography script on the above poem. While writing the choreography script keep the following details: Title – theme – instances of the theme – locations - characters involved – sequence of actions.

29. The people of Koko village have no money to buy a land somewhere. They wanted to express their grief to solve their problems.

Now prepare a “Message” to be sent to the villager of Koko village to the Government of Italy to resolve the problem.

5 marks

Ather Sulthana, Nagarjuna High School, SR Nagar, Hyderabad

16

SPORTS

HYDERABAD MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

Nadal, Wozniacki, Dimitrov on course England's Jos Buttler celebrates after scoring a century in the ODI against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday

England clinch ODI series Sydney: England's Jos Buttler struck a belligerent unbeaten 100 to set up a 16-run win over Australia in the third one-day international on Sunday, as the touring side took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

The right-handed batsman produced late fireworks to complete his fifth ODI hundred on the last ball of England's innings, helping them reach an unlikely 302-6 in their 50 overs after Australia won the toss and put them in.

The hosts, who won the Ashes series 4-0, lost wickets at crucial junctures in reply and fell short in their chase, reaching 286 for six in their 50 overs.

So proud of the guys today," England captain Eoin Morgan said at the presentation. "I thought Jos was probably the di�erence in the sides, certainly with the bat."

"He paced his innings to perfection. He took the responsibility on his shoulders and ... played anchor in one way, until the last five or six overs."

Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis scored 56 in 43 balls and added 74 in a sixth-wicket stand with wicketkeeper Tim Paine, who made 31 in 35 balls, to give the hosts hope of victory, but the target proved beyond

their reach. Aaron Finch continued his strong run with the bat with a 62 in 53 balls after backto-back centuries in the first two ODIs but the opener's dismissal in the 21st over to leg-spinner Adil Rashid severely hampered the hosts' progress.

Finch reviewed the umpire's lbw decision but replays showed the ball was clipping the leg stump and the on-field decision was upheld.

Australia captain Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh were going along nicely in a fourth-wicket stand of 68 before the former was given out caught behind o� fast bowler Mark Wood with wicketkeeper Buttler clinging on to a low, one-handed grab.

The umpires went to the television room to check the catch but there was no conclusive evidence to rule it out, much to the disappointment of Smith and the Sydney crowd.

Wood was England's best bowler with 2-46 in his 10 overs while Rashid also dismissed Marsh for 55 for his second wicket for the touring side, who lost Liam Plunkett to a left hamstring injury when the paceman was in his second over.

Earlier, Buttler and Chris Woakes propped up England's innings.

Melbourne: Although it was far from easy, all the big names like Rafael Nadal, Grigor Dimitrov and Caroline Wozniacki made it through to the quarter-finals on Sunday, with the Day 7 action providing some great contests for the 63,000 fans in attendance at the Australian Open.

With a final score of 6-3, 6-7 (47), 6-3, 6-3, you might think that world number one Nadal had a comfortable 4-set victory over Argentinian Diego Schwartzman.

However the Spaniard was pushed to the limit during the match and had to fight hard for every game, reports Xinhua news agency.

In the end, the precision of the 16-time Grand Slam winner, was enough to get Nadal into the remaining eight.

It was a similar story for world No.3 Dimitrov, when he faced home crowd favourite Nick Kyrgios.

But the gripping, nail biting battle, was made even more tense

when o�cials controversially called the Australian for several foot faults.

Eventually, the Bulgarian was able to survive the power serve of Kyrgios and take the victory 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3).

In the other matches, sixth seed Marin Cilic got past Pablo Carreno Busta in four sets and England's Kyle Edmund continued his dream run at the tournament by overcoming Andrea Seppi. Edmund won 6-7 (4-7), 75, 6-2, 6-3 to book a place in the last-8 round in a Grand Slam for the first time.

Cilic of Croatia prevailed 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (9-7) to register his 100th Grand Slam career match win, securing him a place in the quarter-finals of a major for the 11th time, reports Efe. "This is a beautiful (landmark) and I hope I can gather three more here," Cilic said after the match that lasted nearly three and a half hours.

Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov reacts after winning the first set against Australia's Nick Kyrgios in their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne on Sunday

ETHIOPIANS RULE MUMBAI ROADS

Hyd, CFI post big wins Hyderabad: Hyderabad crushed Sri Lanka by eight wickets while CFI scored a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Jharkhand on the first day of the fifth Rajiv Gandhi All India Under-19 T-20 Day/Night Cricket Championship here on Sunday.

Earlier, the event got-o� to a colourful start with State Congress chief N Uttam Kumar

Action shot from the India-Belgium four-nation hockey final

Belgium pip India to hockey title Auckland: India went down fighting 1-2 to Belgium in a thrilling final of the first-leg of the Four-Nation Invitational tournament at the Blake Park, in Tauranga, New Zealand, on Sunday.

Tom Boon (4th minute) and Sebastien Dockier (36th) were on target for Belgium while Mandeep Singh (19th) was India's lone goal-scorer.

Belgium won a penalty-corner within three minutes of the game but Loick Luypaert's dragflick was superbly rendered ine�ective by India's first runner Chinglensana Kangujam.

Almost immediately India had a great opportunity to score, as a dribbling Dilpreet Singh made a beautiful turn at the top of the circle to dodge a Belgian defender and then slice the ball across to Lalit Upadhyay.

The latter positioned himself in front of the post, but, sadly, the latter could not get a nudge on the ball.

Belgium, in the meanwhile, mounted pressure on India with a goal through Boon in the fourth minute.

With three seconds to go for the first hooter, India won a penalty-corner but Rupinder Pal Singh's fierce hit to the right bottom of the post was saved by a Belgian defender.

India overcame a slow start in the second quarter and gained momentum, creating potential

Kramnik halts Anand run Wijk Aan Zee: Viswanathan Anand's quest for a record sixth title su�ered a setback as he slumped to a shock defeat against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the seventh round of the Tata Steel Masters chess tournament, in this Dutch city on Sunday. Having done quite well so far, Anand went for unwarranted complications against Kramnik who was at his best to match his opponent.

Vladimir Kramnik Results after round 7 Masters: Viswanathan Anand (IND, 4) lost to Vladimir Kramnik (RUS, 4.5); Maxim Matlakov (RUS, 3.5) drew with B Adhiban (IND, 1.5); Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE, 5.5) beat Wei Yi (CHN, 2.5); Wesley So (USA, 4.5) drew with Anish Giri (NED, 4.5); Sergey Karjakin (RUS, 4) beat Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2); Gawain Jones (ENG, 3.5) drew with Peter Svidler (RUS, 3.5); Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 4.5) beat Hou Yifan (CHN, 1); Challengers: Vidit Gujrathi (IND, 5) drew with Lucas van Foreest (NED, 4); D Harika (2.5) lost to Matthias Bluebaum (GER, 3.5); Michal Krasnekow (POL, 3) drew with Anton Korobov (UKR, 6); Bassem Amin (EGY, 3) drew with Je�ery Xiong (USA, 3); Aryan Tari (NOR, 3.5) beat Olga Girya (RUS, 2.5); Jorden van Foreest (NED, 3) drew with Benjamin Bok (NED, 3); Erwin L'Ami (NED, 3.5) drew with Dmitry Gordievsky (NED, 3.5).

Mumbai Marathon elite women gold medal winner Amane Gobena (centre), silver medal winner Kenya's Bornes Kitur (left) and bronze finisher Ethipoia's Shuko Genemo pose after the medal ceremony in Mumbai on Sunday. All athletes belong to Ethiopia.

Compatriot Solomon Deksisa clocked 2:09:34 to annex the men marathon title.

Shumet Akalnaw (Eth) and Joshua Kipkorir (Kenya) took the next two places

OUR BUREAU

In the women's bracket, world number two Caroline Wozniacki cruised her way into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Magdalena Rybarikova.

Wozniacki, a former world No. 1, had not reached the last-8 round since 2012 when she lost to now retired Kim Clijsters of Belgium.

"Six years ago. All I can say is that I think I'm in a good place, I think I'm hitting the ball well and everything's been going well in the last year-and-a-half. It's been good," Wozniacki said after the win.

World No.4 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine thrashed Denisa Allertova 6-3, 6-0, Belgium's Elise Mertens got the better of Petra Martic 7-6(5), 7-5 and Carla Suarez Navarro edged out Anett Kontaveit 4-6, 6-4, 8-6.

"It's more pressure but it gives you confidence," the Ukrainian said in reference to her possibly winning the Australian Open title as she is one of the favourites.

Reddy inaugurating it while taking strike to mark its commencement.

Former Rajya Sabha member, V Hanumantha Rao and Working President of Cricket Federation of India (CFI) and Organising Secretary S Srikanth Goud graced the occasion.

Results: Sri Lanka 66 in 17.3 overs (Sashank Reddy 3/12 , Ashish Srivastava 2/6) lost to Hyderabad 69 for two in 6.1 overs

(Prajwal Rao 27no); Uttar Pradesh 155 for five in 16 overs (Siddharth Srivastava 51no, Sangram 29, Arfath 5/28 ) bt Andhra Pradesh 111 for nine wickets in 16 overs (Arfath 30, Siddharth Srivastava 2/13 ,Rahul 2/7); Jharkhand 138 for seven wickets in 16 overs (Shekar Sharma 43, Nishanth 46, Zainuddin 4/12) lost to CFI 139 for two wickets in 15.2 overs (Ajay 55no, Zainuddin 60no).

PCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy goes for a back-foot shot to formally inaugurate the fifth Rajiv Gandhi All India Under-19 T20 Day/Night Cricket Championship in Hyderabad on Sunday. Former Member of Parliament V Hanumantha Rao keeps wickets while Organising Secretary S Srikanth Goud is to his right Photo: Srinivas Setty

circle penetrations. In the 19th minute defender Rupinder Pal Singh intercepted a Belgian long pass to find Manpreet in the midfield, who then sliced the ball to the center of the circle.

Mandeep Singh was quick to react and beat goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch with a push for India’s equaliser.

The next few minutes saw India work hard to hold the ball but a structured Belgian defence was tough to break.

Meanwhile, Sreejesh made an excellent save in the 21st minute when Thomas Briels took a shot on goal, ensuring both teams went into the half-time break in a stalemate.

It was advantage Belgium as they scored at the start of the third quarter when Gauthier Boccard used a powerful reverse hit from the top of the striking circle.

Sreejesh brought o� a fine save but Sebastien Dockier was quick to pick the rebound as he found the gap and smashed the ball past India’s goalkeeper.

Though Belgium won three back-to-back penalty-corners towards the end of the third quarter, Manpreet Singh was unrelenting as the first runner to ensure no goal was scored.

On January 24, India will take on hosts New Zealand in the first match of the second leg in the Four-Nation Invitational tournament.

Jamshedpur beat Delhi Jamshedpur: Jamshedpur FC staged a stunning comeback to edge out Delhi Dynamos FC 32 in an exciting Indian Super League (ISL) clash here on Sunday.

Kalu Uche (20th, 22nd minutes) struck twice in quick succession to give Delhi the upper hand. But the hosts scored through Tiri (29th), Raju Yumnam (54th) and Matheus Trindade (86th) to clinch a well deserved victory.

Jamshedpur thus rose a couple of rungs to fifth on the league table with 16 points from 11 matches. Delhi started on the front foot and Kalu gave the visitors the lead with a powerful header. Nandhakumar Sekar received the ball on the left wing and picked up the striker.

Super win for Punjab

Marathas eye semifinal slot

Kolkata: Punjab edged past Karnataka via super over in a Group A Super League tie of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 cricket tournament at the Jadavpur University campus ground here on Sunday.

Put in to bat first, Karnataka posted 158/7 in 20 overs with Punjab also recording an identical score losing nine wickets.

In the super over, Punjab batted first with out-of-favour India southpaw Yuvraj Singh (5 not out) and Mandeep Singh (10 not out) scoring 15 o� Krishnappa Gowtham's six balls.

In reply, Karun Nair (8) and Aniruddha (2) could only manage 10 for Karnataka.

The result means the Harbhajan Singh-led Punjab started their campaign on a high note, logging four points in their opening Super League game.

In another game at the same venue, Mumbai beat Jharkhand by 13 runs after putting up 170/5 on the board.

Jharkhand won the toss and elected to field but Siddhesh Lad (46) and Aditya Tare (45) played well to help Mumbai post a formidable total.

In reply, Virat Singh struck a whirlwind 49-ball 81 but the other batsmen could not support him as they could manage only 157/7 in 20 overs.

New Delhi: Veer Marathas inched closer to a semi-final berth by overpowering Delhi Sultans 5-2 in a Pro Wrestling League (PWL) contest at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.

Vasilisa Marzaluik, the 2017 World Championship silver medallist, handed the Marathas an impregnable 4-2 lead in the seven-bout tie when she breezed past Egypt's Samar Hamza of Delhi Sultans by pinning her down for a 6-0 win in the women's 76 kilogram category.

Earlier, Commonwealth Championship silver medallist Parveen Rana set up the victory for the Marathas by easily taking down Vinod Omprakash 4-0 in the men's 74 kilogram category.

Rana got o� to a flying start as he scored two points in the first round. He survived a late scare though, as Vinod, who replaced injury hit Sushil Kumar, almost tied him down.

In the fourth bout of the day, Marathas' Marwa Amri romped past 2017 Commonwealth Championship silver medallist Sangeeta Phogat in the women's 57kg section to level the tie 2-2.

Marwa pinned Sangeeta down for a comfortable 4-0 win in the first round itself.

Earlier in the day, Veer Marathas won the toss and blocked men's 65kg World Cham-

Veer Maratha's Parveen Rana beats Delhi Sultan's Vinod Omprakash pion Haji Aliev while the Sultans used the opportunity to put Ritu Malik out of action.

In the lung opener, the Sultans got o� to a winning start as Sandeep Tomar registered his fourth consecutive win, pinning his compatriot Naveen Kumar.

Sandeep dominated his opponent from the word go and came into his element in the second round when he rolled his opponent and overpowered him.

Veer Marathas' Ritu Phogat promptly restored parity, defeating African Championship gold medallist Maroi Meizen in a lopsided a�air.

Maroi tried to put up a sti� defence but Ritu brought out all the tricks up her sleeve and took an impregnable 14-1 lead at the break.

Ritu continued to overshadow her opponent and extended her lead to 17-1 to win on technical superiority.

World Championship bronze medallist Aslan Alborov, however, maintained his unbeaten run in the league to help the Sultans regain the lead by winning the 92kg clash.

In a clash between titans, Alborov narrowly beat Georgi Keteov of Veer Marathas 3-1 to give the Sultans a slight edge. Both the wrestlers began cautiously, waiting for the other to make the big move. Alborov found an opening as the first period was drawing to a close, rolling his burly opponent to take a 3-0 lead. Keteov tried to fight in the second period but could not find it past the defence.