The NEWS you like-March 2020

EDITORIAL

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s on February 28, 2020, China has reported a total of 78,959 cases of COVID-19 (Corona Virus) to WHO, including 2791 deaths. Outside China, there were 4351 cases in 49 countries, and 67 deaths.

VOL:8 I SSUE: 2 I MARCH, 2020 `30 Editor -in-Chief B. G. Rajeswar Editor A . Rammohan Rao Chief of The Bureau D. Bal Reddy Correspondents P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy P. Ramamohana Reddy M. Vittal Setty, Mallesh Babu, G.P. Nagaraju

Reporters M.Praveen Kumar Mandha Ravi Kumar Photographers M. Vijay Bhaskar S. Sridhar, Shair Ali Baig Cover & Layout ACK. Venkata Srujan General Manager Mohd. Nizamuddin Chief Executive (Marketing) Venkata K. Ganjam (GK) Chief - Business & LifeStyle K. Bharath Reddy Marketing Associate M. Akhil Raj Shaker The News You Like Phone: 9701141377, 9848133363 E-mail: thenewscoordinator@gmail.com Website: thenews.co.in Address for correspondance: #3-5-890, Flat No. 203, Paras Chambers, Beside Telangana Tourism Bldg, Himayatnagar, Hyderabad-500029. Phone: 98481 33363, 97011 41377. email: 24thenews@gmail.com thenewscoordinator@gmail.com Printed, Published And Owned By Ramya Sree , Printed At S.M.S. Press, H.No.11-38, Pragathi Nagar, P&T Colony, Saroor Nagar, Dist Ranga Reddy – 60, Published At The News Publications, H.No.334, B, Prajay Sai Gardens, Keesara Mandal, Dist - Ranga Reddy, Telangana Editor : A. Rammohan Rao

Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Netherlands and Nigeria have all reported their first cases in the end of February 2020. All these cases have links to Italy, according to World Health Organisation (WHO). As many 24 cases have been exported from Italy to 14 countries, and 97 cases have been exported from Iran to 11 countries. The continued increase in the number of cases, and the number of affected countries over the last few days, are clearly of concern. Epidemiologists from WHO have been monitoring these developments continuously and it has increased assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of impact of COVID-19 to very high at a global level. What WHO sees at the moment is linked epidemics of COVID-19 in several countries, but most cases can still be traced to known contacts or clusters of cases. WHO has not found evidence as yet that the virus is spreading freely in communities. As long as that’s the case, the world still has a chance of containing this virus, if robust action is taken to detect cases early, isolate and care for patients and trace contacts. However, there are different scenarios in different countries, and different scenarios within the same country. The key to containing this virus is to break the chains of transmission. The situation calls for all countries to educate their populations, to expand surveillance, to find, isolate and care for every case, to trace every contact, and to take an all-of-government and all-of-society approach – this is not a job of the health ministry alone. At the same time, work is also progressing on vaccines and therapeutics. More than 20 vaccines are under development globally, and several therapeutics are in clinical trials. WHO expect the first results in a few weeks. But there is no need to wait for vaccines and therapeutics. There are things every individual can do to protect themselves and others. The risk depends on where you live, your age and general health. One should follow the national guidance and consult local health professionals.

Editor-in-Chief

Note: Focus/Infocus features are marketing initiatives, any legal disputes comes under the jurisdiction of courts in Hyderabad

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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CONTENT

UP tu rns gold mine 8

Dirty Doctors Eerie calm in N-E Delhi 17

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Freedom is precious gift 22 THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020

CONTENT

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Theatre Commands 28

NBFCs Under Scanner

Cong asks leaders to introspect 43

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Wild Woes 50 THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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THE NATION

Modi, Trump vow to strengthen strategic partnership THE NEWS BUREAU

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rime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald J Trump vowed to strengthen IndiaUS comprehensive global strategic partnership, anchored in mutual trust, shared interests, goodwill and robust engagement of their citizens. Trump was on a state visit to India on February 24 and 25. The two leaders pledged to deepen defence and security cooperation, especially through greater maritime and space domain awareness and information sharing; joint cooperation; exchange of military liaison; advanced training and expanded exercises between all services and special forces; closer collaboration on co-development and co-production of advanced defence components, equipment and platforms; and partnership between their defence industries.

Noting that a strong and capable Indian military supports peace, stability, and order in the Indo-Pacific, and reaffirming his pledge to support the transfer to India of advanced US military technology, President Trump welcomed India’s recent decision to procure MH-60R naval and AH64E Apache helicopters. Modi and Trump resolved to enhance security of their homelands through cooperation and to jointly fight international crimes like human trafficking, terrorism and violent extremism, drug-trafficking and crimes in cyberspace. Modi and Trump recognized the increasing importance of the trade and investment dimension of the Indo-US relationship, and the need for long-term trade stability that will benefit both the economies. They agreed to promptly conclude the ongoing negotiations,

which they hope can become phase one of a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement that reflects the true ambition and full potential of the bilateral commercial relations, advancing prosperity, investment, and job creation in both countries. During his two-day official visit, Trump accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat and laid a wreath at his Samadhi. Earlier, US President and the First Lady arrived at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for ceremonial welcome, where they were greeted by President Ram Nath Kovind, his wife and Prime Minister Modi. A guard of honour was presented to the US President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. They were given a memorable welcome ‘Namaste Trump’ in Ahmedabad and the couple also visited Taj Mahal.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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THE NATION

3,000 tonnes of gold reserves found in UP's Sonbhadra THE NEWS BUREAU

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n estimated 3,000 tonnes of gold reserves have been found in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra district, the Department of Geology and Mining confirmed recently. According to current prices, the value of this amount of gold could be around Rs 12 lakh crore. Sonbhadra is counted among the most backward districts of the country. The area of the hill where the gold was found is said to be 108 hectares. An order for its auction has also been issued through e-tendering. A seven-member team was constituted for geo-tagging of mineral sites, and their report will be submitted to the Department of

Mining, Lucknow by February 22. Sonbhadra District Mining Officer K.K. Rai told IANS that a team of Department of Geology and Mining and Geological Survey of India (GSI) is engaged in this task. He said that work on the site started after 2005 and the report has just been received. It is estimated to hold about 3,000 tonnes of gold. The GSI is conducting an aerial survey of the quarry area for which two helicopters have been deployed. Rai said it is being assessed how much land comes under the revenue department and under the forest department so that the process of permission from the forest department for mining can begin.

The state government has also expedited the process of leasing these mines. For the mining, the process of geo-tagging has been started before the auction process. E-tendering will be done as soon as the demarcation work is completed. There is also a strong possibility of presence of other precious minerals, including uranium, in the hills of the region. Geophysical survey is underway by helicopter in many parts of the district. Electromagnetic and spectrometer devices are being used in the survey. Part of these instruments hang under the helicopter which conducts a flying survey at an altitude of 60-80 meters above the ground surface.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

THE NATION

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26/11 attacks were actually planned for 27/9

THE NEWS BUREAU

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he 2008 Mumbai terror strikes that took place on 26/11 were originally planned for September 27 that year and the Lashkar-e-

Taiba wanted terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab, who was the only one to be nabbed alive, was supposed to have a Hindu identity. Moreover, the absconding Indian mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar had plans

to eliminate him. These sensational revelations have come in the high-profile exMumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria's book "Let Me Say It Now", released recently.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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THE NATION

According to Maria, the LeT wanted him to be killed as a Bengaluru resident "Samir Dinesh Chaudhari", with a red thread tied around his wrist to portray the attack as a case of "Hindu Terror". However, that plan did not work out and the police nabbed Ajmal Amir Kasab, who was from Faridkot in Pakistan. The attacks were originally planned for September 27, 2008, which was the 27th day of Ramadan fasting, but for reasons Maria has not specified, it was postponed to finally happen after two months, on November 26 that year. Maria also revealed that the fugitive mafia don, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar -- who is a wanted accused in the March 1993 Mumbai serial attacks -- had ironically been assigned the task of killing Kasab with the help of LeT and Pakistan's ISI. This would ostensibly erase the only living evidence of their heinous act. Both the cases (1993 and 2008) were investigated by the former Mumbai ex-top cop.

Accordingly, Maria said it became his "first priority" to ensure Kasab's safety, particularly in view of perceptible anger and hostility among the Mumbai Police personnel, besides the external threats. The Mumbai policemen's angst stemmed from the fact that around 16 Mumbai Police personnel, besides at least two NSG commandos were killed in the 60-hour terror operation at 11 locations in barely a five-square km area of south Mumbai in 2008, plus the 150 civilian casualties including around 26 foreigners. Citing earlier reports that the 26/11 attackers carried fake identity cards of Hyderabad's Arunodaya College, he said that similar fraudulent ICard was planned even for Kasab. Kasab and his friend Muzaffar Lal Khan had joined LeT for robberies to improve their financial well being, get weapons and training to achieve this, and had nothing to with 'jihad' (holy crusade), Maria says in the book. After Kasab's arrest, Maria who had interrogated him said he

(Kasab) believed that Muslims were barred from offering 'namaaz' and mosques were locked up in India. To clear his misconceptions, Maria instructed Ramesh Mahale, one of the investigating team members, to take him to a mosque near Metro Cinema in a vehicle. Witnessing the 'namaaz' in progress with his eyes, Kasab was quite bewildered as he even considered the daily five times 'azaan' (call to prayer for the Muslim faithful) -- which he could hear in the police lockup -- as a figment of his imagination. During his several days of interrogation of Kasab after arrest, Maria said he acquired a deep insight into the psyche of terrorists' operations, and the daily interactions forged a sort of bond between them, with Kasab soon addressing him respectfully as 'Janab' (Sir). Kasab, 25, underwent a full trial in Indian courts and was finally hanged secretly in Pune's Yerawada Central Jail on November 21, 2012 and buried at an unknown location.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

COVER STORY

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Revenue officials Rotting in corruption Cops sleeping on FIRs D. BAL REDDY

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hether or not the actual farmers received any relief through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-

KISAN) and the popular Agriculture Investment Support Scheme (Rytu Bandhu) of Telangana, but many revenue officials and some landlords who have already their lands are minting money out of the

two schemes. While the revenue officials who are responsible for the accuracy of the beneficiaries’ data are resorting to gross corruption, misconduct and grave irregularities, the politi-

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

12 COVER STORY cal bosses in the government are looking the other way. Documents available with The News indicate massive fraud in PM-KISAN and Rytu Bandhu schemes in Nalgonda and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts. According to one FIR lodged in Chandampet police station in Nalgonda district but falling under Rachakonda Police Commissionerate, some corrupt revenue officials have created false records and made wrong entries in revenue records with respect to over 10,000 acres of government land in return for huge amount of bribes and with an illegal understanding with private persons. The complaint was lodged by none other than Chandampet Tahsildar, Gugulothu Deshya. According to the complaint, B Ravindra Raju, Nayab Tahsildar of Chandampet, M Srinivas Shankar of Nalgonda, Sk. Chand Basha,

DAO/RDO, Md. Yousuf, Tahsildar, L Nagalaxmi, VRO, Rekulagadda, B Anjaiah, VRO and Bhukya Srinu, Junior Assistant have made illegal entries in revenue records with respect to government lands and forest lands in survey number 50 of Achampet Patti village, survey number 8 of Rekulagadda village, survey number 50 and 133 of Kambalapally village of Chandampet mandal in favour of private persons. Based on the complaint, Chandampet police registered a criminal case (104/2019) on 25.09.2019 under sections 409, 419, 420, 464, 465, 468 R/w 34 of Indian Penal Code. One of the accused, Ravindra Raju even tried to secure anticipatory bail from the High Court but the same was refused. Even as the pretence of investigation is underway, those who managed to get their names or their benami holders names entered in

the revenue records continue to claim PM-KISAN and Rytu Bandhu benefit, thus looting public money. But neither the revenue department, nor the police or the government itself did anything concrete to stop misappropriation of funds at least after the incumbent Tahsildar filed a case. While this loot of public money was underway, another case of similar nature happened in Ghatkesar Mandal of Medchal-Malkajgiri district. Documents available with The News show that M Janardhan Reddy, M Krishna Reddy, M Venkat Reddy, M Pratap Reddy and M Surender Reddy, pattedars of agricultural land in survey numbers 315, 316 and 317 of Pratapa Singaram Village, Ghatkesar Mandal, converted Ac. 25.17 Gts. of land into house sites and sold the plots since 1988 through

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

COVER STORY 13

The then Ghatkeshar Thahasildar N. Rajeswar Reddy

their General Power of Attorney (vide Document No. 135/1988, dated 04.04.1988) M Buchi Reddy. The bonafide plot purchasers did not get mutate their names in revenue records. However, most of them applied and secured LRS from HMDA, took house building permission from Pratapsingaram gram panchayat and some of them even availed bank loans. The revenue records displayed in possession column that plots exist in Ac. 25-17 Gts. However, couple of surviving pattedars and legal heirs of other pattedars in collusion with the then Tahsildar, N Rajeshwar Reddy got issued a proceeding on the pretext of ratification of entries in pahanis

and secured pattedar passbooks and title deeds in their favour and are availing Rytu Bandhu benefits. The plot owners have approached the Revenue Divisional Officer challenging the proceedings, while the pattedars and their legal heirs approached civil courts by suppressing facts and obtained injunction in fraudulent manner. Meanwhile, the District Collector ordered an enquiry into the matter and the present Tahsildar after thorough enquiry and field inspection submitted a report stating that the lands in survey numbers 315, 316 and 317 are not agricultural lands but plots exist in the lands. Based on the report, the

bonafide plot owners filed individual complaints with the authorities concerned and also approached the Medipally police requesting them to register a criminal case against the former Tahsildar and the private persons for swindling public funds by tampering revenue records in a fraudulent manner. The complaint was filed against former Tahsildar and private persons for entering into criminal conspiracy for tampering revenue records, making incorrect entries by framing incorrect record by public servants in collusion with private persons, causing wrongful loss to the state exchequer through Rytu Bandhu scheme. Though the Medipally police

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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by tered Regis ice of R I F l et Po rict t damp Chan gonda Dis Nal

registered a case under various provisions of IPC and SC, ST (POA) Act, the investigation officer is progressing at snail’s pace and even advised the victims to compromise with the previous pattedars. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Rachakonda police is planning to hand over these cases to Crime Investigation Department (CID) and wash its hands on the pretext of the magnitude of the case. While this is so, a journalist and activist, G Srinivas, who had filed complaint in public interest with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Vigilance & Enforcement and even with the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, is now set to approach the Central Bureau of In-

by tered Regis a Police R I F akond Rach

vestigation after the misappropriation of PM-KISAN and Rytu Bandhu funds in Nalgonda district came to light. Speaking to The News, Srinivas said he has checked with PMKISAN web portal and found the names of previous pattedars of land in survey numbers 315, 316 & 317 as beneficiaries of PM-KISAN scheme. He also said that the names of illegal pattedars of Chandampet mandal are found in PM-KISAN portal as beneficiaries. Most of these pattedars are believed to be benamis of some revenue officials and some influential private persons, who could be politicians. Since they are looting central gov-

ernment funds, it comes under the purview of CBI, he said adding that he will lodge a complaint with the Prime Minister’s office and also CBI. He further said that scores of land lords around Hyderabad who have sold their lands after converting them into house plots through Gram Panchayat layouts, are now claiming PM-KISAN and Rytu Bandhu benefits in collusion with local revenue officials. It is a massive scam. Unless the governments are committed to go to the roots of it, the loot of public money cannot be stopped, Srinivas said.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

SCANDAL

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Political agenda through public funds

THE NEWS BUREAU

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t appears the TRS government or the ardent followers of its chief K Chandrasekhar Rao working in government departments are leaving no stone unturned to idolize him at the cost of public money.

In a way, political agenda of the TRS is taken ahead with public money, thanks to the ‘faithful’ officials in the government departments. One such official is IFS officer, B. Shafiullah, presently secretary of the Telangana Minorities Residential Educational Institutions.

This ‘great man’ has issued an order vide Proc.No. C/Acad/ TMREIS/ 571-2/2019-20, dated 12.02.2020, releasing Rs. 10,000 for each minority residential institution with a direction to celebrate the birthday of chief minister K Chandra Sekhar Rao. The order of Shafiullah also

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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SCANDAL

Shafiullah-IFS, Who released funds to minority schools for celebration of KCRs birthday

directs that the programme should be conducted in all minority institutions involving parents, students, teachers, local officials/MLAs with a specific agenda. And lo! What is the agenda? During the celebrations awareness should be created among the audiences on the role of chief minister in formation of Telangana, establishment of minorities residential schools, chief minister’s initiatives like Mission Bhageeratha, Palle Pragath and Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project etc.

The great man also issued directions to provide a ‘special lunch’ to all the parents, guests, students and staff and distribute ‘special sweet’ to the parents, students and staff. Shafiullah was ‘very kind’ in releasing Rs. 21,10,000/- not from his pocket but from the public funds for the celebration of KCR’s birthday. And the prescribed agenda clearly shows that the programme was intended to ‘nurture’ support for TRS since childhood. The very first line of Shafiullah’s order reads, “It is decided to

celebrate the Birthday of Sri. K. Chandrasekhar Rao…..”. However, it has not been mentioned who decided and on whose instructions. What is more interesting is that this particular department is being run with many retired officials allegedly at the behest of one retired IPS officer. It is openly being commented that the department has become a rehabilitation center for ‘select’ retired officials, even as gross irregularities, misappropriation of public funds and mismanagement of the institutions goes on abated.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

SCAM

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AP V&E unearths huge scam in IMS

VISHNU VARDHAN REDDY

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orruption has no boundaries and it has been proved again. Following in the footsteps of the corrupt officials of Telangana’s Insurance Medical Services (IMS), Andhra Pradesh IMS officials too have misappropriated public funds to the tune of Rs. 1000 crore. This shocking revelation came after the Vigilance & Enforcement department of Andhra Pradesh conducted a thorough enquiry. According to the findings of the V&E department, Dr B Ravi Kumar, Dr C K Ramesh Kumar and Dr G Vijaya Kumar, who worked as Directors of IMS in the past five years have issued purchase orders for procurement of drugs, medical equipment, surgical items, lab kits and furniture worth Rs.975.79 Cr in violation of procedures and guidelines issued by the AP government and ESI Corporation from time to time.

The three corrupt officials did not constitute Drug Procurement Committee and issued procurement orders without inviting open tenders thereby causing huge wrongful loss to the government exchequer. They procured most of the drugs under non-rate contract instead of rate contract. The corrupt officials purchased drugs and medicines from rate contract and non-rate contract firms worth Rs.698.36 crore, though the total budget allocation for the purchase of drugs and medicines during their tenure was only Rs.293.51 Crore. Thus, they have made excess purchases worth Rs.404.86 Crore by violating the procedural guidelines. Further, the Directors procured drugs worth Rs.89.58 Cr from Non-Rate Contract firms during 2014-15 to 2018-19, whereas the rate contract firms were ready to supply the same material for Rs.38.56 Crore. Thus, the corrupt

officials have paid an excess amount of Rs.51.02 Crore. Also, the corrupt officials purchased lab kits on nomination basis. The investigators also found that drugs, surgical items, BP Apparatus, Pulse Oximeters, Weighing Machines, Stethoscopes, Nebulizers, Ambronac Tablets, Hair growth stimulators, Tooth Pastes (Sensodyne), Kneepads, Tables, chairs, racks, cots, beds, computers and peripherals and equipments like stretchers, Operation cots, etc. worth Rs. 2.32 Crore were lying unused in the stores of ESI Hospitals and Dispensaries without any utilisation for the past one year. They also found most of the quotations were fabricated and non-rate contract firms belong to benamis of the accused in the misappropriation. The report named several employees responsible for the misappropriation and recommended stern action as per law.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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GLOBAL

Google sued by New Mexico AG for spying on kids in classrooms THE NEWS BUREAU

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oogle has been sued by New Mexico's Attorney General Hector Balderas who said that the tech giant used its educational products, such as Chromebooks, to spy on the state's children and families. "The consequences of Google's tracking cannot be overstated: Children are being monitored by one of the largest data mining companies in the world, at school, at home, on mobile devices, without their knowledge and without the permission of their parents," the

lawsuit said, according to a recent report in The New York Times. According to the lawsuit, Google was involved in collecting the personal information through a programme it has with New Mexico's school districts, in which it provides Chromebooks and access to G Suite for Education apps such as Google Docs, Gmail, and Calendar for free. The lawsuit added: Today, more than half of the nation's public schools -- and 90 million students and teachers globally -- use free Google Education apps like Gmail and Google Docs.

More than 25 million students and teachers also use Chromebooks, laptops that run on the company's Chrome operating system. The New Mexico complaint comes in the wake of broader scrutiny on Google from a coalition of 50 state attorneys general -- including Balderas -- across the country. They're investigating Google's digital advertising operation, as well as other aspects of the company's business, in a highprofile antitrust probe, according to CNET.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

GLOBAL

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Coronavirus not pandemic yet, but world should be ready: WHO THE NEWS BUREAU

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he World Health Organisation has said it is too early now to call the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic yet, but the world should do more to prepare for such an eventuality, according to reports. The WHO said countries should be "in a phase of preparedness" for a pandemic, when an infectious disease spreads easily from person to person in various parts of the world, the BBC reported. More cases of the virus, which causes respiratory disease Covid19, continue to emerge, with worrying outbreaks in South Korea, Italy and Iran. However, most infections are in China, the original source of the virus, where 77,000 people have the disease and nearly 2,600 have died. Over 1,200 cases have been confirmed in about 30 other countries and there have been more than 20 deaths. Italy reported three more deaths on Monday, raising the total there to six. Worldwide stock markets saw sharp falls because of

concerns about the economic impact of the virus. China said it would postpone the annual meeting of the National People's Congress next month, to

"continue the efforts" against the coronavirus. This is the first time the meeting has been postponed since 1978.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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THE NATION

Eerie calm prevails in north-east Delhi THE NEWS BUREAU

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n eerie calm descended on the streets of north-east Delhi where rioters unleashed a wave of violence, burning shops, showrooms, petrol pumps and killing people for 48 hours. Top police brass said there were adequate numbers of police personnel deployed. There were areas in Maujpur, Karawal Nagar, Chand Bagh, Joharpuri, Shiv Puri, Jafrabad, Kardampuri and other places across the north-east region of the city which became completely inaccessible for the police

personnel and people were left to fend for themselves. Almost everywhere in northeast Delhi, tension is palpable as burnt buses, cars, scooters, bikes and auto rickshaws are scattered on the road. Every third shop on the main road is either robbed or burnt. "It was complete mayhem," said a resident of Bhajanpura. Many houses are still smouldering as fire brigade could not reach the places to douse the flames. "We were not allowed by the police due to safety reasons at various places," said a fireman at Joharpuri. At Joharpuri and Karawal

Nagar, Special Commissioner of Police S.N. Srivastav, who has been tasked with controlling the situation, found that people armed with bricks were sitting on the rooftops after which he issued direction to his men to disarm them and catch the perpetrators. Meanwhile, the death toll has climbed to 33 in the deadliest violence after clashes between pro and anti-CAA protesters turned violent in northeast Delhi. An intelligence Bureau official was found dead and his body was recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh area.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

THE NATION

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ArtiďŹ cial limbs to be lighter in weight, long lasting

THE NEWS BUREAU

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rtificial limbs (prostheses) made in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the King George's Medical University in Lucknow will now have increased longevity and will also become lightweight with change in material and manufacturing methods. Shagun Singh, who heads the workshop in the department, said, "We are gradually shifting from thermosetting plastic to polypropylene plastic for making prosthesis. Patients will get the benefit as the artificial limbs made from it will be

lighter and long lasting." In thermosetting plastic, the workshop staff was required to fill cotton stock and fibre glass to make it tough to sustain the pressure. But in most cases of first-time users, this material did not last more than a year. The new material (polypropylene plastic) is designed to last longer, she said. Singh said that a key issue was wear and tear of the pressure points in the earlier material. Since the new material is tougher and can sustain more pressure at pressure points (the places where the body weight comes upon the prosthesis) the wear and tear will be less.

She further explained that the manufacturing method had also been changed and instead of manual work for shaping pressure points, vacuum pumps will now give it shape. This reduces air pockets and chance of breakage to increase the accuracy. The types of prosthesis that will use changed material include below knee, above knee, through knee, above ankle, partial foot, above elbow and below elbow prosthesis. Trials have already begun, and people have responded well to prostheses made with the new material.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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THE NATION

Treat freedom with sense of responsibility: Navy chief

THE NEWS BUREAU

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ndian Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh has said that freedom is a precious gift and "one must treat this with great reverence, respect and a sense of responsibility". Addressing the veterans and youngsters after paying homage to the martyrs at Noida Shaheed Smarak during the annual wreath laying ceremony, Admiral Singh said, "On this solemn occasion, I would like to salute these bravehearts and reassure the families of the martyrs that the supreme sacrifice made by them will always be remembered." Talking about martyrs, he quotes 'for our tomorrow you gave

up your today'. On behalf of Indian Navy, he also presented the model of INS Chennai and P-15A Guided Missile Destroyer. The memorial, which was built by the residents of Noida after Kargil war casualties, was dedicated to the nation by the then three defence service chiefs in the year 2002. "This memorial is a constant reminder to us of the true meaning of freedom and that freedom when threatened has to be protected at a great price. This memorial has rightfully become an iconic landmark and serves as a source of inspiration to all country men and women; young or old," the Indian Navy chief said. To youngsters present during the occasion, he further stated that

they are symbols of free India and the future of this nation. "Freedom is a precious gift that you must treat with great reverence, respect and a sense of responsibility. This memorial must forever remind us that many young lives enshrined in this memorial are the reason why we are safe and secure," he said. He then pointed, "Those who die in defence of the country gave up two lives - the one they were living and the one they would have lived. They gave up everything for their country for us". He then said a quote which he had read once. "Our flags do not fly because the wind moves it, it flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it," Admiral Singh said.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

THE NATION 23

Northeast would be problem-free

before 2024 polls: Amit Shah THE NEWS BUREAU

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nion Home Minister Amit Shah promised to make all the northeastern states "problem free" before the 2024 general elections. Addressing a gathering at Itanagar on the occasion of 34th Statehood Day of Arunachal Pradesh, Shah said that there would be no existence of any dispute or contention in the region when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would approach people to vote for them in the Lok Sabha elections. He said that the Central government is committed to solve all the problem in northeast like disputes

among the states, boundary clash, issues related to tribes, terrorism and many more. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants the whole northeast problem free. We would come in front of you with a problem-free northeast while seeking blessings of citizens here after five years during general elections in 2024," Shah said. The Home Minister assured that there would have been the beginning of a new and golden future of northeast when his party would approach the people for votes. The BJP almost doubled its parliamentary seat count in the northeast in the last Lok Sabha elections

in 2019 over 2014 as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) bagged 17 of the total 25 seats in the region. The NDA had 10 seats, eight of them by the BJP, from the eight northeastern states in 2014. The BJP bagged all the four seats in Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura and one of the two constituencies in Manipur. The party virtually painted Assam saffron by winning nine of the 10 of the state's total 14 seats it had contested, leaving four for two allies that failed to win any. By winning a total of 14 seats from four states, the BJP gained six seats over its 2014 tally.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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THE NATION

Ram Mandir: Modi invited for foundation stone laying THE NEWS BUREAU

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op members of Ram Mandir Trust tasked with overseeing preparations for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and invited him for 'bhoomi pujan' and foundation stone laying. Nritya Gopal Das, president of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, general secretary Champat Rai and Govind Giri, treasurer of the Trust, met the Prime Minister on February 20 and also briefed him about the first meeting of the Trust held the previous day. The next meeting of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust might be held in Ayodhya in the first week of March, sources said.

Meanwhile, Das, the president of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, has provided signatory authority to trustee Anil Mishra who would be now able to approve any decision on behalf of Das. The Trust held a marathon meeting on February 19 following

which Das was appointed the President of the Trust and Rai was made the General Secretary. In the meeting, as many as 9 committees for construction of Ram temple were set up and all members were given responsibilities related to construction of the temple.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

THE NATION 25

Govt examining change in laws to curb rape & murder as proposed by 'Disha's' parents THE NEWS BUREAU

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n request of parents of 'Disha', the Hyderabad veterinarian who was gangraped and murdered on November 27 last year, the Union Ministry of Law and Justice is examining a proposal to ensure expeditious "justice in cases of barbarous and heinous crimes". Disha's parents had sought changes in laws dealing with "cruellest of crimes against women" and also suggested to punish those who post adult content on social media. On behalf of Disha's parents, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy, who belongs to Hyderabad, has written to the Law Ministry to examine the points suggested by the grieving parents. In his letter addressed to Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Law and Justice, Reddy writes,"The petitioners (Disha's parents) have offered certain suggestions to ensure justice in cases of heinous crimes. I have asked the officers concerned in my ministry to examine these carefully." The MoS(Home) requested the Law Minister to examine the suggestions by the legal affair department too, with an objective to curb heinous crimes. Acknowledging Reddy's proposal on February 13 last week, the Law Ministry is examining the points from a legal perspective, sources said.

In their two-page proposal to the Home Ministry, Disha's parents have cited years of delay in execution of punishment in Nirbhaya rape case. For quick delivery of justice, the parents suggested to amend rules pertaining to appointment of Special Investigating Officer and not to assign him/her any other duties till a charge sheet is filed. They also proposed that till a case comes to the logical conclu-

sion including examination of witnesses, bail should not be given to the accused. The parents suggested that in heinous crimes such as rape and murder, the entire case should be disposed of within 365 days. "The time period of 365 days means that from the date of registration of an FIR to hanging, all judicial processes from lower court to the Supreme Court, including mercy petition before the President, should be finalised," the letter said. The parents who lost their

daughter, a veterinary doctor, in a gruesome gang rape followed by brutal killing, said that a sense of insecurity is prevailing among the families who are struck by such crimes -- "committed at will and without any fear of law." In order to pay a fitting homage to Disha, Nirbhaya, Samatha, Manasa (and many other victims of heinous crimes), the country should ensure quicker justice within one month so that that criminals are given the severest punishment of death," says the letter. Disha's parents also requested the government to conduct a study to find out why such crimes are taking place in India, a country known for its traditions and virtues of respecting women. Disha's parents also pointed out that despite a ban, growing number of porn sites are adding fuel to the fire, and are primarily responsible for a spike in sex-related crimes against women. "We suggest a ban all such porn sites and punishment to those who post adult content on social media, especially live rape clips. Such adult content is easily available on smart phones," the parents said, recommending, "introduction of a special subject in all schools for all classes till 12th with subjects such as gender equality, respect for laws of the country and non-discrimination towards all sections of people.

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THE NATION

CABINET APPROVES BILL TO PROTECT WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

THE NEWS BUREAU

FORM IV Statement about ownership and other particulars about newspaper (The News You Like) to be published in the first issue every year after the last day of February 1. Place of publication : Rangareddi 2. Periodicity of its publication : Monthly 3. Printer’s Name Nationality Address

: Ramya Sree : Indian : H.No.11-38, Pragathi Nagar, P&T Colony, Saroor Nagar, Dist Rangareddi – 500 060.

4. Publisher’s Name Nationality Address

: Ramya Sree : Indian : H.No.11-38, PragathiNagar, P&T Colony, Saroor Nagar, Dist Rangareddi – 500 060.

5. Editor’s Name Nationality Address

: A. Rammohan Rao : Indian : H.No.334,B, Prajay Sai Gardens, Keesara Mandal, Dist - Rangareddi, A.P

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he Union Cabinet has approved the 'Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill 2020', intended to protect women's reproductive rights. Calling it "historic Bill", Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said that the Bill aimed for the welfare of women in the country as it proposes law to establish a national registry. "A national board and the state board will be set up to help implement the legal framework. A central database of clinics and banks will also be established," Irani said, adding those indulging in embryo sale and trafficking can be fined and even put behind bars as per the provisions of the bill. The Bill is expected to be introduced in Parliament in the next phase of the Budget session which will commence on March 2 and continue till April 3. Irani said that the government has taken various path-breaking steps to protect women's reproductive rights.

6. Names and addresses of : individuals who own the newspaper and partners or shareholders holding more than one per cent of the total capital I, Ramya Sree, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date: 1-3-2020

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

Sd/Signature of the Publisher

THE NATION 27

Defence think tank IDSA renamed after Manohar Parrikar THE NEWS BUREAU

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he government has renamed the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) as Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses on Tuesday. The decision has been taken to honour the commitment and legacy of late Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. "It will align the vision and aspiration of the premier defence institute with the contribution of the former Defence Minister and Padma Bhushan awardee," the Ministry of Defence said. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chairs the executive committee of the institute's society. "An epitome of integrity and dedication in public life, throughout

his career, the late Manohar Parrikar showed a tremendous fighting spirit, taking on the odds with fearlessness," the ministry said. Parrikar was Defence Minister from November 9, 2014 to March 14, 2017 and steered the ministry through tough challenges of attacks like Pathankot and Uri and responded to these with exemplary boldness. An autonomous body under Ministry of Defence, IDSA was established as a registered society in New Delhi in 1965, dedicated to objective research and policy for relevant studies on all aspects of defence and security. Its aim is to promote national and international security through the generation and dissemination of knowledge on defence and securityrelated issues. To achieve its goals,

the institute undertakes scholarly research, policy-oriented research, dissemination of research findings, training and capacity building and public education. IDSA has a well-qualified multidisciplinary research faculty drawn from academia, defence forces and others representing a diversity of views. Research at the institute is driven by a comprehen sive agenda and the need to provide impartial analyses and policy recommendations. Since its inception, IDSA has served as a forum to debate important aspects of national and international security. The institute conducts several national and international conferences every year and regularly holds roundtables and workshops on important developments.

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THE NATION

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ndia will have two to five theatre commands by 2022, said Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat. He pointed that in the southern part of the country, India will have a Peninsula command by integrating existing naval eastern and eastern Naval command centres and the Jammu and Kashmir would come under a single be command theatre. The peninsula command under the Navy that will deal with maritime security should come in earlier as directive for a study is expected to be out by March 31. It would spread from Sir Creek in Arabian Sea to Sunderbans in Bay of Bengal. The study should be completed within three to four months and by the end of next year the command under one naval commander should start functioning, General Rawat said. He also said that by end of the year a study for theaterisation or joint commands will be in place. By 2022 theatre commands should roll out. The number of theatre commands could vary from two to five, the CDS added. The Chief of Defence Staff is mandated to set up joint commands comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force - in addition to two existing ones. There are 19 commands as of now and only two of these are triservice commands. These are the Andaman and Nicobar Command and the Strategic Forces Command, which is in charge of nuclear assets. General Rawat added that there is an option of having either one command for China or two sepa-

India will have theatre commands by 2022: CDS

rate commands; one East of Nepal and another West of Nepal. Similarly for Pakistan, a separate command for J&K is on the cards, while a separate one for the international border South of Jammu. While the Army and the Air Force have seven commands each, the Navy has three commands. It's felt that reducing the commands and making them function under one umbrella with representation from all three forces - depending on the region and threat assessment - will make the military more effective. China and the US function under this model, and there have been suggestions that the Indian military follows a similar tri-

service command system. According to some of the recommendations, the commands can be reduced from existing 19 to 9 with a tri-service mix. This will also include the strategic forces command, cyber command and Special Operations Command. The Air Force will be the lead agency for Air Defence Command that has already been announced. General Rawat said that March 31 the study will be completed and the report should be ready by April 10. The implementation order for the air defence command is expected by year end, General Rawat said. He also said joint training, and uniformity in procurement procedures will be a key priority.

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THE NATION 29

Avoid 'nationalism', it refers to Hitler: RSS THE NEWS BUREAU

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SS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said people should desist from using the word "nationalism" as it has connotations of "Hitler and Nazism". "Do not use the word 'Nationalism'. Use 'National', 'Nationality', 'Nation'. The meaning of 'Nationalism' is Hitler, Nazism and Fascism. The aim of the Sangh is to boost the feeling of patriotism and feeling of Hinduism," said Bhagwat at an RSS programme in Ranchi on February 20. He said "The aim of Sangh is nothing more than uniting the Hindu society. It does not mean that Sangh interferes in federal system of the country. The Swayamsevaks are dedicated to their aim. By feeling proud of the

culture of our country we have to work to take the country to new heights. We have to make India a world 'Guru'."

"Sangh does not want to become big for itself and same is the case with India. Many countries which became too big met their downfall. In today's world the superpowers use the world's resources for themselves and try to impose their will on other countries. The scholars feel that any country becoming big is not good for the world." "When India has become big then it has served the interest of the world. Today the world needs us. It is not that India will become world Guru by speeches of Sangh. No one will say thank you in making of the country. The country gives us everything and we should learn that we also have to contribute for the country," said Bhagwat.

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REGIONAL

Father wants daughter to rot in jail for pro-Pak slogans

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he father of Bengaluru girl Amulya, who was arrested and jailed on sedition charges on February 21, condemned his 19-yearold daughter for shouting pro-Pakistan slogans at an antiCAA rally a day ago. "I condemn Amulya for shouting pro-Pakistan slogan at the rally and disown her views on CAA, NRC or NPR. I was not aware about her act till a friend called and told me about it last night," Oswald Noronha told a local news channel from his home in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru district. Noronha also alleged that he

was forced to chant "Bharat maata ki jai" by Bajrang Dal activists who barged into his house earlier in the day and vandalised it. Earlier in the day, Amulya was sent to 14-day judicial custody after police arrested and produced her before a local magistrate in a sedition case, filed suo motu against her. Noronha said: "I also advised her not to criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for enacting the CAA. She does not listen to us. She has gone out of our control. I am sad and unhappy that she got into trouble for her views." "I told her not to talk in that

manner on several occasions," Noronha recalled. Distancing from Amulya's social and political activism, Noronha told a Kannada news channel that his daughter should rot in jail and police should break her bones. "Let her rot in jail and let police break her bones for what she said and did. I don't support what she said and will not approach lawyers for her bail. She has committed a grave mistake," he said. According to media reports, Noronha was an environment activist who participated in Appiko Chaluvali, a southern version of the Chipko movement that was started by Pandurang Hegde in 1983 to save trees in the rich bio-diverse Western Ghats region in the state. On the Bajrang Dal attack, he said: "I agreed to repeat whatever they asked me to say only to save myself and my house from being further damaged." Noronha filed a complaint with the police against some unidentified BJP activists for allegedly attacking his house at Koppa for Amulya's pro-Pakistan slogans. "The activists vandalised our house, smashed window glass panes and flower pots and damaged furniture," Noronha said in the complaint. The local police provided security to Noronha's house as he was staying alone after his wife shifted to her parents' home, fearing more attacks by right-wing elements.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

REGIONAL

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Good news on Cauvery Delta soon: TN CM

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amil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami has said the government will soon come out with a good news regarding declaration of Cauvery delta region as Protected

Special Agriculture Zone (PSAZ). Speaking in the Assembly, Palaniswami said the announcement about declaring the Cauvery delta region as PSAZ was made by him while laying the foundation stone for the Advanced Institute for Integrated Research on Livestock and Animal Sciences (AIIRLIVAS) in Salem district recently. According to him, discussions have been held with legal experts on the subject and good news that would make the farmers happy will soon come out. Palaniswami said there are legal

issues that have to be sorted out while declaring the Cauvery delta region as PSAZ. After discussing with the legal experts, an official announcement would be made in the Assembly, Palaniswami said. The Leader of Opposition and DMK President M.K. Stalin said the announcement of PSAZ will be good only when the hydrocarbon exploration projects are cancelled. Stalin said the announcement should be brought as a law or a resolution in the Assembly and his party would extend full support.

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POLITICAL

Rahul Gandhi likely to become party president again THE NEWS BUREAU

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ahul Gandhi is set to return as party President in April, according to party sources in New Delhi. It is expected to be after the Budget Session and might coincide with Baisakhi, the harvest festival. The Congress is mulling on calling a plenary session in April just to formalise Gandhi's re-appointment. In 2017, Rahul Gandhi was elected President un-

opposed following demand from different quarters of the party, but after the drubbing faced by the party in the 2019 General Elections that saw the Congress barely getting over 50 seats, losing out to even being called the Opposition, Gandhi resigned in May taking the responsibility of poll debacle. Rejecting apprehensions, a party leader said: "The leader must be accepted from Mizoram to Porbandar and the party is considering all the factors in place. The

leader has to be a homogeneous entity accepted to all. "So nobody can guide us to chose our leader. It is the party which will decide who will lead the us. And not somebody from outside." The Congress Working Committee (CWC) appointed Sonia Gandhi as interim President in August last year. While many party leaders have been demanding the appointment of the party president, including Shashi Tharoor, who has been advocating elections to the CWC, said: "I renew my appeal to CWC to hold leadership elections to energise workers and inspire voters." The Kerala MP added: "Some have asked who should vote for what. I was referring to my earlier call -- eight months ago -- for elections among the 10,000 party workers who constitute the 'AICC plus PCC delegates' list. These should be for the elected seats in the CWC as well as for the Party Presidency." While Congress has reacted sharply to Tharoor and other leaders statements, Randeep Surjewala the chief spokesperson said: "Those who are talking of CWC should go and read the resolution which appointed Sonia Gandhi as Interim head of the party." Maharashtra leader, Sanjay Nirupam said: "Its inane discussion. No one from outside the family can lead Congress at this juncture. RahulGandhi is the only leader who can lead the party and can save it. Other leaders are just a group leader & such leaders at the helm will encourage more groupism. Period!" Nirupam's reaction came after late Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit's son, Sandeep Dikshit in an interview questioned the party's "continued inaction" mode. And also named senior leaders who should contribute "more" in the decision making. The working Committee will take a call as and when required, it had said. The Congress has been decimated to its lowest level in the just concluded elections and once more the question of leadership is being raised from within the party. The Congress leader said that if Rahul gandhi had been President the result could have been better in various state election especially in Haryana and Maharashtra.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

POLITICAL

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C o n g a s k s l e a d e r s t o i n t r o s p e c t a b o u t t h e i r r o l e s i n p a r t y THE NEWS BUREAU

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fter two Congress leaders Ajay Maken and Milind Deora - engaged in a war of words on social media, the party has cautioned all its leaders to refrain from such things in public, avoid commenting on the matters of other states and advised them to introspect about their role in the party. The Congress also told Deora not to comment on the Delhi election results. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "People make such remark in the heat of the moment, but it should not be treated (as an) affront." Party leaders need to look after their own performance, responsibilities and their commitment towards the party, Surjewala said.

A war of words erupted between Deora and Ex-DPCC chief Ajay Maken on Twitter after the former Mumbai Congress president praised the Arvind Kejriwal government of Delhi. Deora in his tweet on Sunday said, "Sharing a lesser known & welcome fact - the @ArvindKejriwal-led Delhi Government doubled its revenues to Rs 60,000 crore & maintained a revenue surplus over the last 5 years. Food for thought: Delhi is now one of India's most fiscally prudent governments." Maken was the first to react to Deora's tweet as he said, "Brother, you want to leave @INCIndia Please do - Then propagate half baked facts!" He even compared the revenue generation in Delhi from 19971998 onwards and claimed that it

grew at 14.87 per cent CAGR during the Congress regime, while during the AAP's regime the growth has been only 9.90 per cent CAGR. Deora hit back on Monday morning as he said, "Brother, I would never undermine Sheila Dikshit's stellar performance as Delhi CM. That's your specialty. But it's never too late to change! Instead of advocating an alliance with AAP, if only you had highlighted Sheila ji's achievements, @INCIndia would've been in power today." Earlier, former AAP MLA from Chandni Chowk, Alka Lamba, who joined the Congress to unsuccessfully fight the 2020 Assembly elections, too had attacked Deora, considered close to Rahul Gandhi.

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LEGAL

Rule of law fundamental feature of modern Constitutions: CJI THE NEWS BUREAU

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hief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde has said that the most fundamental feature of majority of modern constitutions is the idea of the "rule of law". The Chief Justice, while speaking at the International Judges' Conference on "Judiciary and the Changing World" at the Supreme Court, said a feature often neglected is a chapter on fundamental duties (in the Constitution) which imposes on every citizen the duties to abide by. He said there are more than 50 countries in the world having specific provisions with regard to fundamental duties in their respective constitutions. "At the heart of the Constitution is the individual whose rights are recognised as 'fundamental'. These rights have been beautifully balanced with the demands of public order, morality and health," the Chief Justice said. He insisted that the Constitution also created a strong and independent judiciary, which is separated from the executive and the legislature. "We have strived at every turn, not just as a judicial institution, but also as a citizenry to keep these basic ideals intact," he added.

Bobde said that right from 1950, the judiciary looked for inspiration from across the globe to find creative solutions to constitutional problems. "In the first important case on fundamental rights, (A.K. Gopalan

vs State of Madras), the Supreme Court quoted law from the American, Japanese, Irish, Canadian, Australian and English courts. Ever since, we have not shied away from looking for inspiration, wherever possible," said the Chief Justice. He also emphasised on the role of technology in the changing the world. "The Zeitgeist of our times has been incredible technological

advancement," he said. "Judiciaries all over the world are dealing with this kind of change -- what might be called a rights revolution, a technological revolution and a demographic revolution. Our decisions no longer impact only those who live in our jurisdiction, but also those who live in other jurisdictions, somewhere far away," the Chief Justice said. Speaking on the historical perspective of rule of law, the Chief Justice cited the 2,000-year-old history of Indian jurisprudence and said, "Before these cultures reached our shores, India had a wellestablished system of courts. The rules were all contained in the scriptures which prescribed a mandatory open hearing in courts, in the presence of officials of the court. For example, the Vyasa Smriti provides the various stages of a valid decision." Attorney General K.K. Venugopal also spoke at the gathering on the relationship between law and poverty, and referred to the steps and welfare projects undertaken by successive governments to eradicate poverty.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

LEGAL

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SC's no to plea on minority status

based on state-wise population THE NEWS BUREAU

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he Supreme Court recently declined to examine a plea seeking to define the word 'minority' and insisting on framing guidelines to accord the minority status based on

population of every state of a particular community. A bench headed by Justices R.F. Nariman and comprising S. Ravindra Bhat allowed BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay to withdraw the plea. The top court also granted

him the liberty to approach the appropriate forum to seek relief in the matter. Senior advocate Vikas Singh representing Upadhyay contended before the court that the word 'minority' needs to be defined and followed by guidelines for their identification in every state in compliance with

the top court verdict of 2002. The counsel contended that the expression 'minority' has been used in Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution, but it has nowhere been defined. The petitioner contended the Census 2011 state that Hindus are actual minority in Laddakh, Mizoram, Lakshdweep, Kashmir, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur. The court observed the remedy on this case lies elsewhere and not within the ambit of the top court. The senior advocate submitted before the bench that he would like to withdraw the plea, but would like to have liberty to move the ap-

propriate forum. The bench dismissed the plea as withdrawn. The plea cited Census of 2011 states that Hindus are merely 1 per cent in Laddakh, 2.75 per cent in Mizoram, 2.77 per cent in Lakshdweep, 4 per cent in Kashmir, 8.74 per cent in Nagaland, 11.52 per cent in Meghalaya, 29 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh, 38.49 per cent in Punjab and 41.29 per cent in Manipur. "But, their minority rights are being siphoned illegally and arbitrarily to the majority population because neither the Centre nor the respective state has notified them as a 'minority' under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission of Minorities Act. Thus, Hindus are being deprived of their basic rights, guaranteed under the Article 30," the plea said.

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LEGAL

Breakdown of marriage does not end parental responsibilities: SC

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he Supreme Court has ruled that in a child custody battle, the rights of the child need to be respected as he/she is entitled to the love of both parents, and even if there is a breakdown of marriage, it does not signify the end of parental responsibility, as it is the child who suffers the most in a matrimonial dispute. A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and A.M. Khanwilkar said: "While deciding the matters of custody of the child, primary and paramount consideration is always the welfare of the child. The courts should decide the issue of custody on a paramount consideration which is in the best interest of the child who is the victim in the custody battle." In a custody battle, the top court observed that no matter which parent wins but the child is always

the loser and it is the children who pay the heaviest price as they are shattered when the courts, through its judicial process, tells them to go with the parent whom he or she deems fit. The ruling came as the court heard a husband assailing the 2015 order of the Delhi High Court which partly allowed the appeal with the direction to the wife to comply with the consent terms, especially on the visitation rights of the husband to meet the son, who is now 11 years old. At the same time, visitation rights to meet the daughter, now 14 years old, were declined. It was also observed that if the daughter wishes to meet her father, she can do so at her own desire. In 2016, the Delhi High Court directed a psychotherapist to ascertain the relationship of the children with their father and paternal grandparents before they joined the

sole custody of their mother. The civil matrimonial appeal was filed in the apex court, which held: "The child pays heavy price of being deprived of the love and affection of their parents for which they were never at fault but are always the loser which at no stage could be compensated monetarily or otherwise." In 2017, the apex court ruled, against the backdrop of a strained relationship between parents, that for the time being, it is in the interest of the children to be sent in a boarding school, as at this stage, it is not in their interest to have the exclusive company of either their father or their mother. The top court also made interim arrangements regarding custody/visitation rights of the parents. While disposing the appeals, the top court said that its 2017 order shall continue until further orders and the parties are at liberty to take steps in filing of a custody/guardianship petition for the minor children before the competent court of jurisdiction. "And taking note of the interest of the minor children as a paramount consideration being the sufferers of the matrimonial discord, if such an application is filed by either of the party, that may be decided by the court independently without being influenced/inhibited by the observations made in the instant proceedings expeditiously in accordance with law," said the top court.

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THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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LEGAL

Cabinet nod to set up nd 22 Law Commission

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he Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on February 19 approved the setting up of the 22nd Law Commission. The commission, constituted for a period of three years from the date of publication of the order in the official gazette, will consist of a full-time Chairperson, four fulltime Members (including the Member-Secretary) and the Secretaries, Legal Affairs and the Legislative Departments as ex-officio Members, and not more than five part-time Members.

The Law Commission is a nonstatutory body constituted by the government from time to time. Originally constituted in 1955, it is re-constituted every three years. The tenure of the 21st Law Commission was up to August 31, 2018. The various Law Commissions have been able to make an important contribution towards the progressive development and codification of law of the country and have so far submitted 277 reports. The Law Commission shall, on a reference made to it by the Central Government or suo motu, undertake research in law and

review of existing laws in India for making reforms and enacting new legislations. They also undertake studies and research for bringing reforms in the justice delivery system for elimination of delay in procedures, speedy disposal of cases, and reduction in cost of litigation. They also identifies laws which are no longer needed or relevant and can be immediately repealed, examine existing laws in the light of Directive Principles of State Policy and suggest ways of improvement and reform and also suggest such legislation as might be necessary to implement the Directive Principles and to attain the objectives set out in the preamble of the Constitution. The Commissions also consider and convey to the government its views on any subject relating to law and judicial administration that may be specifically referred to it by the government through the Ministry of Law and Justice (Department of Legal Affairs), consider the requests for providing research to any foreign countries as may be referred to it by the Government through the Ministry of Law and Justice (Department of Legal Affairs), take all such measures as may be necessary to harness law and the legal process in the service of the poor, revise the Central Acts of general importance so as to simplify them and remove anomalies, ambiguities and inequities.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

LEGAL

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SC Collegium equally liable for delay in judge appointments: AG THE NEWS BUREAU

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he Centre told the Supreme Court that its Collegium is equally responsible for the delay in the appointment of judges, noting that the government completes the process of clearing a recommendation in an average of 127 days whereas the Collegium takes an average of 119 days. The response from the Centre came when it was questioned on the delay in the appointment of the judges. It recommended, in order to fine-tune the exercise of clearing names, the top court introspect and clear the hurdles within the judiciary causing this delay. Arguing before a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph, Attorney General (AG) K.K. Venugopal contended why should the Centre be blamed for the inordinate delay against the backdrop of High Courts consuming nearly five years in sending names for the appointments. "Why question the government for this 100 odd days in vetting a name... High courts across the country have not even recommended the names for appointment of judges for 199 out of 396 vacancies. Let the High Courts reform themselves first," he said. The AG pointed out that the Bombay, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh High Courts have taken more than five years to recommend names for appointments to high courts. In the previous hearing on the

matter, the court had asked Venugopal to make pictorial representation, through a chart, on the timeline on the judicial appointments in high courts and the Supreme Court. The AG explained the court through the chat that various authorities under the Centre took 127 days to clear the name of a judge, and this includes the report from the Intelligence Bureau (IB). As the court questioned the AG

on the length of the time consumed in this IB report, he said: "The number of days taken by the government after receiving inputs from the IB is 127 days. Whereas, the Collegium takes 119 days." He also explained the court the process involved in verifying the IB report, if it were to be adverse on the name of the recommended judge. The AG, in his arguments, cited the statistics deciphering the overall vacancies in the High Courts and also identified the list of names of judges pending before the central authorities. Justice Joseph insisted that once the names have cleared by the Collegium, then the

government is bound to process these appointments into effect. The AG contested this observation, stating that the government has a duty to see the process of appointing judges. He cited the "rate of rejection" of names by the Collegium was around 35 per cent. At this, the court observed: "It seems the Collegium of high courts and the Supreme Court do not appear to be on the same page." The bench also queried the AG as to what are hurdles which obstruct the government from bringing a new law on this delay in the appointment of judges. The AG replied if this were to be the case, then the government could introduce another amendment, if this suggestion were to come from the court. Venugopal said the apex court could issue notices to all 25 High Courts and seek their response on the delay. The court replied that it could only work towards making this system smooth, as nearly 40 per cent of chairs in the high courts are presently vacant. At the end of the hearing, the top court sought response from the Registrar Generals of all high courts in connection with the vacancies and the tentative timeline on the process of sending recommendations. The bench is hearing a transfer petition, originating from Odisha, where lawyers were on strike in many districts seeking circuit benches of the high court in other parts of the state.

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LEGAL

Subordinate judiciary not eligible for

direct recruitment as DJ: SC THE NEWS BUREAU

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he Supreme Court on February 19 ruled that the members of the subordinate judicial services cannot be considered eligible for appointment as district judges through the way of direct recruitment. In its verdict, a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said: "In the cases where such in service incumbents have been appointed by way of direct recruitment from bar, we find no merit in the petitions and due to dismissal of the writ petitions filed by the judicial officers. As sequel, no fruits can be ripened on the basis of selection without eligibility, they cannot continue as District Judges."

The top court observed the posts of district judges is limited for lawyers, having a minimum of seven years of experience of continuous practice at the Bar. "Advocate has to be continuing in practice for not less than 7 years as on the cut-off date and at the time of appointment as district judge," it observed. The court also observed that the members of judicial service having 7 years' experience of practice before they have joined the service or having combined experience of 7 years as a lawyer and member of the judiciary are not eligible to apply for direct recruitment as district judges. The top court interpreted Article 233 sub clause 2 of the

Constitution for its verdict. The provision states that a person who is already in the service of the Union or of the State shall not be eligible to be appointed as a district judge. "The rules framed by the High Court prohibiting judicial service officers from staking claim to the post of District Judge against the posts reserved for Advocates by way of direct recruitment, cannot be said to be ultra vires and are in conformity with Articles 14, 16 and 233 of the Constitution," said the court. However, the apex court noted that the members of subordinate judiciary can be considered for the post of district Judge by way of promotion.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

BUSINESS THE NEWS BUREAU

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he Indian retail market is estimated to cross $1 trillion-mark by 2025 and top five retailers could take on a bigger slice of the industry, reaching over 10 per cent market share each in the next decade, according to a new report. The Indian retail market is likely to hit $1.1-$1.3 trillion dollar mark from 0.7 trillion in 2019 -- a 9-11 per cent CAGR growth -driven by multiple structural, socio-demographic and economic drivers fueling consumption, said the report by Retailers Association of India (RAI) along with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) titled "Retail 4.0: Winning the 20s." "The market is still fragmented and offers an opportunity for the top five retailers to more than double their share from less then 5 per cent to over 10 per cent in the next decade," said Abheek Singhi, Managing Director and Senior Partner, BCG. "Winning in the 20s will require retailers to rethink their value proposition and operating model. Precipitating and participating in ecosystems will be a key driver of success," he added. India's long term consumption and retail growth drivers are expected to provide a strong foundation for future growth. "Building cost-efficient and technology-enabled operations and partnerships would be key to success in the days to come," said Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, the Retailers Association of India. However, in the past few months, the economy witnessed signs of a consumption slowdown. "The extent of this slowdown varies across categories, channels and geographies, like product cate-

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Indian retail market to reach $1 trillion by 2025

gories such as white goods and mobile phones delivered double digit growth; e-commerce and physical multi-category organised retail grew robustly and the FMCG sector grew by 7 per cent over the past 12 months," said the report. The strength of multiple structural, sociodemographic and economic drivers can sustain high growth in the industry over the 20s, the findings showed. "Increased margin pressures, retail space crunch, rising costs are putting considerable strain on business models - pushing retailers to innovate to win in the next decade," the report added. Consumer needs will evolve gradually but distinctly across multiple dimensions such as personalisation, trust in brands as well as omni-channel affinity.

Retailers, in parallel, will continuously innovate to address challenges posed by the changing external environment. New data and technology driven trends will disrupt retail, along with new competitive forces which will challenge the rules of the game. Lastly, regulatory moves would have a large impact as well - could be positive or muted for the industry. "The real size of prize for retail has been achieved when concepts and operations are scalable, driving sustained profitability. The fourth wave is likely to be shaped by retailers who innovate their business models to stay ahead of a constantly evolving market," said Rachit Mathur, Managing Director and Partner, BCG.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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BUSINESS

Hackers surpassed $82 million in bug bounties THE NEWS BUREAU

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he concept of hacking as a viable career has become a reality as full-time ethical hackers have earned more than $82 million in bug bounties on HackerOne to dat and the community has expanded to over 600,000 with nearly 850 hackers registering any given day. Nearly 18 per cent of these describe themselves as full-time hackers, searching for vulnerabilities and making the internet safer for everyone, according to San Francisco-based bug bounty platform HackerOne's "2020 Hacker Report". Hackers from the 170 countries including India are working daily to protect 1,700 companies and government agencies - including Zomato and OnePlus -- on the HackerOne platform. Hackers in the US earned 19 per cent of all bounties last year, with India (10 per cent), Russia (8 per cent), China (7 per cent), Germany (5 per cent), and Canada (4 per cent) rounding out the top six highest-earning countries. "Hackers are a global force for good, working together to secure our interconnected society," said Luke Tucker, Senior Director of the Global Hacker Community. "Their reasons for hacking may vary, but the results are consistently impressing the growing ranks of organizations embracing hackers

through crowdsourced security" leaving us all a lot safer than before," Tucker added. Hackers from Switzerland and Austria earned over 950 per cent more than in the previous year, and hackers from Singapore, China, and other countries in the APAC region earned over 250 per cent more than in 2018. Hacking also provides valuable professional experience, with 78 per cent of hackers using their hacking experience to help them find or better compete for a career opportunity. Nearly 40 per cent of hackers devote 20 hours or more per week to their search for vulnerabilities," the findings showed. Hackers earned approximately $40 million in bounties in 2019 alone, which is nearly equal to the bounty totals for all preceding years combined. At the end of this past year, hackers had cumulatively earned more than $82 million for valid vulnerability reports.

In addition to the seven hackers who have passed the $1 million earnings milestone, 13 more hit $500,000 in lifetime earnings. No industry or profession has experienced an evolution quite like hacking. "It started in the darkest underbelly of the internet, where hackers roamed the online world in search of vulnerabilities. It later grew into a respectable hobby, something that talented people could do on the side. Now it's a professional calling," said Tucker. Food delivery platform Zomato has paid more than $100,000 (over Rs 70 lakh) to 435 hackers till date for finding and fixing bugs on its platform. OnePlus has set up a Security Response Centre that would offer a bug bounty to security experts, who discover and report on potential threats to the company's systems. Rewards for qualifying bugs reports will be in the $50-$7,000 range.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

BUSINESS

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Top 50 NBFCs under RBI lens THE NEWS BUREAU

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eserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das has said that top 50 non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) were being monitored closely, hinting at the RBI's focus on early detection of risks signs or any contagion effect on the credit system. "The asset-liability management (ALM) position and other relevant aspects of the top 50 NBFCs are being closely monitored. It covers all NBFCs with asset size above Rs 5,000 crore. The ALM of top 51-100 NBFCs is also being examined by the respective regional offices of the RBI," Das said at the 'Banking landscape in the 21st century' seminar. The NBFC sector has seen a lot of turmoil, starting with a series of defaults by Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), that forced the government to intervene and exposed weaknesses in the sector. Then Dewan Housing Finance Corp also entered a crisis phase making the RBI to keep close vigil. The RBI was having regualar interaction with statutory auditors, credit rating agencies, credit information firms, mutual funds and banks having large exposures to NBFCs, he said. "In addition to the four pillars of supervision -- on-site inspection, off-site surveillance, market intelligence and reports of statutory auditors (SAs) -- a fifth pillar of supervision in the form of periodic interaction with stakeholders, including statutory auditors, credit rating agencies, credit information

firms, mutual funds and banks having large exposures to NBFCs has been instituted to have a clearer understanding of the emerging risks and developments in the sector," he said. It would ensure availability of critical information, whenever required, he said. On the co-operative banks, he said the RBI had developed a robust stress-testing framework for urban cooperative banks (UCBs). It also acts as early warning system for co-operative banks with timely identification of weak banks for appropriate action. It's a shift from reactive to proactive supervisory approach, intended to ensure surveillance of UCBs' vulnerabilities. Moreover, as on December 31, 2019, over 90 per cent of these banks are now on the core banking solution, although efforts are required to standardise solutions and have a robust set of internal controls implemented for improved outcomes. The CAMELS (capital, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity and systems & control) su-

pervisory rating methodology for UCBs has also been revised. "We have taken steps to bring UCBs under the CRILC reporting framework and issued draft guidelines on exposure norms to mitigate credit concentration risk and enhancement in the priority sector lending targets to further financial inclusion," he said. To improve governance, the RBI had issued guidelines on formation of the UCB board of management (BOM) with deposit size of Rs 1,000 crore, he said. "To have appropriate regulatory powers in respect of co-operative banks, almost on par with those over banking firms, certain amendments in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 have been proposed," the RBI Governor said. The RBI move follows the sanctionining of personal loans by PMC Bank in August by throwing of all rules to the wind. Also, it was over and above the Rs 2,500 crore loan that HDIL had ceased repaying and which the cooperative bank failed to classify as bad loan.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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BUSINESS

'Global Investors meet a step towards making J&K industrial hub' THE NEWS BUREAU

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dvisor to the Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor, Farooq Khan, has reiterated that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will flourish in the times to come and in this regard the Global Investors' Summit is the first step. Addressing a conference of the Confederation of India Industry (CII) titled Re-Imagine J&K "Turning Potential to Opportunities", Khan, who was the chief guest on the occasion, appreciated the efforts of the CII in organising the event on this theme. The aim of the Conference was to accelerate the development process besides promotion of key sectors. The Conference was also at-

tended by entrepreneurs, industrialists, government officials, financial institutions, academic institutes, researchers and policy planners. On the occasion, Khan also shared ideas with young entrepreneurs on the significance of branding of local products to attract the consumers globally thereby creating new avenues. Speaking on the occasion, Sameer Gupta, Chairman, CII Northern Region and Managing Director, Jakson Limited, congratulated the government for a new version of J&K after its reorganization, adding that employment creation needs a strategic boost and the key sectors to be propelled for more job generation include the tourism ecosystem, infrastructure

development, entrepreneurship, Information Technology and agriculture and food processing. Ravi Shankar Sharma, Additional Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, discussed the need for infrastructure development in J&K while emphasizing on investments in the housing and urban sectors. Sajad Hussain Ganai, Director Technical Education, said Industry has a close connection with technical education which is an interface between industry and academia supplementing human resource for the industrial world. Chairman of CII J&K Council, Farooq Amin, said Jammu and Kashmir has immense potential to become the economic power house of the country.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

BUSINESS THE NEWS BUREAU

W

omen in entrepreneurship can generate transformational employment in India and generate 150-170 million jobs, which is more than 25 per cent of the new jobs required for the entire working age population by 2030, according to a new report. A joint report by Bain & Company and Google titled "Women Entrepreneurship in India - Powering the economy with her", underlines the need to accelerate efforts to grow women entrepreneurs in India in both quantity and quality to solve employment challenges in the country. "In spite of India's economic progress in the last decade, women's participation in the labour force has declined and is expected to be under pressure due to labour trends, technological disruption and constraining social barriers," said lead author Megha Chawla, Partner, Bain & Company. "Unlocking entrepreneurship amongst women in India is a complex effort, but it provides an unprecedented opportunity to change the economic and social trajectory of India and its women for generations to come," Chawla added. "This will drive tremendous job creation and also deliver transformational social and personal outcomes for women," she added. The report identified six dominant segments of women entrepreneurs and estimates India to have 13.5-15.7 million women-owned enterprises, representing approximately 20 per cent of all enterprises today. In many cases, women are named as owners for financial and administrative reasons with no

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'Women entrepreneurship can create 150-170 mn jobs in India'

active role to play, which overstates true entrepreneurship amongst women. Of all women-owned enterprises, a majority are single person enterprises, with the largest group represented by rural non-farm home-based business owners at 38 per cent, followed by urban selfemployed women solopreneurs at 31 per cent, who usually work from home. According to the study, the other dominant segments include rural agripreneurs who are farmbased business owners at 18 per cent and small business owners at 14 per cent - split across urban (6 per cent) and rural (8 per cent) employing less than 10 employees and contributing most to employment generation. Finally, there are the scalers, who employ more than 10 people and account for less than one per cent. In total, these women entrepreneurs provide direct employment to an estimated 22 to 27 million people today. The report projects an opportunity to accelerate both quantity and quality of entrepreneurship to

create over 30 million womenowned enterprises out of which 12 million can generate employment. "At Google we have been investing in scaled skilling efforts across SMBs, Startups and overcoming the digital gender gap in the country through the Internet Saathi program. Across all our programs, we have seen that women are hungry for opportunities to grow their household incomes," said Sapna Chadha, Senior Country Marketing Director, Google India and Southeast Asia. "Hundreds of women in rural India want to learn more about doing business and many have already made the start to enhance their livelihoods. We are already running a pilot accelerator program for rural entrepreneurs from our Internet Saathi network," Chadha added. According to Chadha, this joint effort report with Bain is a start to better understand the barriers facing the various types of women entrepreneurs across India and find synergies with like-minded companies and the government to accelerate women entrepreneurship in the country.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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ECONOMY

THE NEWS BUREAU

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JP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy described the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as the 'biggest madness' of 21st century and called for radical reforms like abolishing income tax to achieve 10 per cent growth rate to make the country an economic superpower by 2030. He said the country has to do something radical given the last one year of economic crisis. The BJP leader exuded confidence that by 2030 India will become the most developed country and challenge the US, but said for this the country will have to grow at 10 per cent per annum. He was delivering a talk on "India: An Economic Superpower by 2030", organised in Hyderabad by the Pragna Bharati. He also called the GST the biggest madness of 21st century. "This GST is so complicated that nobody understands which form to fill or where they want it to be uploaded. Somebody came from Barmer in Rajasthan. He said we don't have electricity, how can we upload. I said upload it on your head and go to the Prime Minister and tell him," Swamy said. Stating that shortage of demand is the problem currently faced by the country, Swamy called for putting money in the hands of people so that they can spend and create the demand to keep the economic cycle moving. The Rajya Sabha MP said that India can become an economic superpower by implementing some economic reforms. "If you want 10 per cent growth rate, the investment rate to the GDP should be 37 per cent and 3.7 per cent should be your efficiency

GST biggest madness

of the century : Subramnian Swamy

factor and not 5 per cent as it is today. Efficiency in use of capital should be the objective," he said. For improving the efficiency, he called for fighting corruption. "I will abolish income tax because it is a source of corruption," he said. Swami also called for rewarding those who invest. "Don't terrorise the investors," he said, while terming GST as the biggest madness of the 21st century. He also called for conferring the country's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, on former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao for the reforms he introduced during his tenure. He noted that there had been no improvement in the reforms brought by Rao. Pointing out that the growth rate between 1947 and 1990 was a mere 3.5 per cent, he blamed former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for this, and said that Nehru

adopted the Soviet model of economy which had failed even in the Soviet Union. Stressing the need for reforms and for focus on macro economics, Swamy also made certain remarks while referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I tell the PM that Ujwala, free gas distribution, startup... all this is micro economics. What you need is macro economics to get the engine of the economy moving. Abolish income tax. The rate of savings will go up and along with what you get from abroad, the rate of investment will rise and the growth rate will go up. "My regret is that I am unable to persuade the PM to think like me," Swami said and hoped that when all other methods would not work, the PM would adopt his method.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

ENVIRONMENT

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First animal that lives without breathing oxygen discovered THE NEWS BUREAU

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esearchers have accidentally discovered the first nonoxygen breathing animal. The tiny, less than 10-celled parasite Henneguya Salminicola lives in salmon muscle, according to a study Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. As it evolved, the animal, which is a myxozoan relative of jellyfish and corals, gave up breathing and consuming oxygen to produce energy. "Aerobic respiration was thought to be ubiquitous in animals, but now we confirmed that this is not the case," said Dorothee Huchon, Professor at Tel Aviv University in Israel. "Our discovery shows that evolution can go in strange directions. Aerobic respiration is a major

source of energy, and yet we found an animal that gave up this critical pathway," Huchon added. Some other organisms like fungi, amoebas or ciliate lineages in anaerobic environments have lost the ability to breathe over time. The new study demonstrated that the same can happen to an animal -- possibly because the parasite happens to live in an anaerobic environment. The parasite's anaerobic nature was an accidental discovery. While assembling the Henneguya genome, Huchon found that it did not include a mitochondrial genome. The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell where oxygen is captured to make energy, so its absence indicated that the animal was not breathing oxygen. Until the new discovery, there

was a debate regarding the possibility that organisms belonging to the animal kingdom could survive in anaerobic environments. The assumption that all animals are breathing oxygen was based, among other things, on the fact that animals are multicellular, highly developed organisms, which first appeared on Earth when oxygen levels rose. "It's not yet clear to us how the parasite generates energy," Huchon said. "It may be drawing it from the surrounding fish cells, or it may have a different type of respiration such as oxygen-free breathing, which typically characterizes anaerobic non-animal organisms," Huchon said. The discovery bears enormous significance for evolutionary research, Huchon said.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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ENVIRONMENT

Many climate change messages on

Twitter written by bots THE NEWS BUREAU

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lot of messages denying the effects of global warming might actually have been written by bots as new research from Brown University in the US found that about 25 per cent of the tweets about climate change that they analysed were produced by automated accounts. Bots are non-personal or automated accounts that post content to social media platforms. While the findings of the study are yet to be published, The Guardian newspaper reported them after seeing the draft study.

The results suggest that online conversations about climate change are often distorted due to the activities of the bots. According to a report in the BBC on Saturday, the research team at Brown University analysed 6.5 million tweets from around the time US President Donald Trump revealed his intention to remove the US from the Paris climate accord in 2017. The analysis showed a quarter of tweets on climate change were likely posted by bots. "These findings suggest a substantial impact of mechanized bots in amplifying denials messages about climate change, including

support for Trump's withdrawal from the Paris agreement," stated the draft study, according to The Guardian. The study could not identify the people responsible for setting up the bots that were trained to post climate denial messages on Twitter. For the study, the researchers used a tool from Indiana University called Botometer, which uses an algorithm to assign a score to Twitter accounts based upon the likelihood they are automated. The researchers found that only five per cent of tweets advocating action to protect the environment were produced by bots.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

ENVIRONMENT 49

80% Indian bird species population on decline THE NEWS BUREAU

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lmost 80 per cent of the 867 species of birds population in India has been on decline in the past five years, according to a report to which over 15,500 birdwatchers from across the country contributed. It also expressed high concern for conservation of 101 species. More than one crore observations were made by the birdwatchers. They were uploaded to the eBird platform to evaluate the distribution range of these 867 Indian birds, over long-term (25 plus years) and present (past 5 years). According to the report, 58 species on the long-term trend are in strong decline and 77 species in moderate decline. According to the current trend, 72 species are in the strong decline. Those in high decline included raptors, migratory shorebirds and

habitat specialists, which included Small Minivet, Common Woodshrike, Short Toed Snake, Cotton Teal Little Stint, Large Cuckooshrike, Common Greenshank, Rufous Tailed Lark, Oriental Skylark, Yellow fronted pied woodpecker, Indian Thick-knee Eagle, Little Pratinkole, Sirkeer Malkoha, Blue Rock Thrush, Crested TreeSwift and Redneck Falcon. It was found birds that fed on invertebrate had declined as a whole. While 101 species required immediate concern, 319 species moderate concern, 442 species low concern for conservation. "The assessment is based on three indices. Two are indices of change in abundance: long-term trend and current annual trend (over 5 years), and the third is a measure of distribution range size," the report says. "Using these three indices to-

gether with the IUCN Red List (Red List of Threatened Species), each specie was classified into categories of conservation concern for India. Overall decline in species demands research into their causes. To protect the high concern species, attention from conservation policy, management and funding are required. "Many earlier bird conservation decisions were not based on much evidence. This report helps bring much-needed data on these issues," said Dhananjai Mohan of the Wildlife Institute of India. Painting a rosy picture, the report says the number of Indian national bird peafowl had increased significantly over the past decades. The number of sparrow was found to be roughly stable across the country, despite declining in in major cities.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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WILD LIFE

One-third of animal and plant species could be extinct by 2070 THE NEWS BUREAU

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esearchers have revealed that one in three species of plants and animals could face extinction by 2070 because of climate change. The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, estimated broad-scale extinction patterns from climate change by incorporating data from recent climaterelated extinctions and from rates of species movements. "By analysing the change in 19 climatic variables at each site, we could determine which variables drive local extinctions and how much change a population can tolerate without going extinct," said study researcher Cristian RomanPalacios from University of Arizona. "We also estimated how quickly populations can move to try and escape rising temperatures. When we put all of these pieces of information together for each species, we can come up with detailed estimates of global extinction rates for hundreds of plant and animal species," Roman-Palacios added. For the findings, the researchers analysed data from 538 species and 581 sites around the world and focused on plant and animal species that were surveyed at the same sites over time, at least 10 years apart. They generated climate data from the time of the earliest survey of each site and the more recent survey.

They found that 44 per cent of the 538 species had already gone extinct at one or more sites. The study identified maximum annual temperatures -- the hottest daily highs in summer -- as the key variable that best explains whether a population will go extinct. Surprisingly, the researchers found that average yearly temperatures showed smaller changes at sites with local extinction, even though average temperatures are widely used as a proxy for overall climate change. "This means that using changes in mean annual temperatures to predict extinction from climate change might be positively misleading," said study researcher John J. Wiens. Previous studies have focused on dispersal - or migration to cooler habitats - as a means for species to "escape" from warming climates. However, the authors of the

current study found that most species will not be able to disperse quickly enough to avoid extinction, based on their past rates of movement. Instead, they found that many species were able to tolerate some increases in maximum temperatures, but only up to a point. They found that about 50 per cent of the species had local extinctions if maximum temperatures increased by more than 0.5 degrees Celsius, and 95 per cent if temperatures increase by more than 2.9 degrees Celsius. "If we stick to the Paris Agreement to combat climate change, we may lose fewer than two out of every 10 plant and animal species on Earth by 2070," Wiens said. "But if humans cause larger temperature increases, we could lose more than a third or even half of all animal and plant species, based on our results," Wiens added.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

WILD LIFE

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Giraffe extinct in 7 countries, warn experts

THE NEWS BUREAU

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century ago, more than one million giraffe used to roam across sub-Saharan Africa. But these gentle giants are now extinct in at least seven countries with only 100,000 left in fragmented populations across the continent, wildlife experts warned. Their decline by 40 per cent over the past 30 years means that giraffes are now listed as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List. Two-subspecies - Nubian and Kordofan giraffe -are listed as 'Critically Endangered' and two others - reticulated and Masai giraffe - as 'Endangered'. In a bid to halt this decline, priority conservation measures have been submitted to the ongoing Conven-

tion on the Conservation on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) by Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe. CMS is the only UN treaty that addresses migratory species and their habitats. Delegates at the ongoing 13th meeting of the CMS COP13, which India is hosting for the first time, in Gandhinagar will also consider the need for guidance and implementation tools to mitigate the impacts of linear infrastructure on migratory species. This iconic six-metre-tall herbivore used to roam 28 African countries and is now extinct in at least seven: Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria and Senegal. Infrastructure developments like roads, railways, powerlines, and pipelines have created barriers to migration, fragmenting giraffe populations and their habitats. Habitat loss and degradation have also been fuelled by wildfire, livestock incursions and illegal encroachment by humans. Poaching, snaring and trade for bushmeat, skins, tails and traditional medicine have further put the giraffe's survival in doubt. Diseases, civil unrest, climate change, human population growth, lack of law enforcement, and lack of awareness of giraffe conservation exacerbate these threats. To protect giraffes, range states and experts are calling for Africa-wide collaboration and conservation strategies. The CMS Concerted Action for the Giraffe includes the development of an Africa-wide giraffe conservation strategy to complement national ones. The concerted action proposes more transboundary coordination and collaboration across countries to improve information exchange and monitor trends of giraffe populations. An online international giraffe database will be developed to help improve the understanding of the population status as well as the movements of the giraffe.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

52

WILD LIFE

Better monitoring may

help save lions in India THE NEWS BUREAU

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n alternative method of monitoring endangered lions in India can help improve estimates of their numbers and also in making informed conservation policy and management decisions. New conservation practices have helped increase the number of Asiatic lions from 50 to 500 in the Gir Forests of Gujarat. Accurate estimates are needed for better conservation efforts, according to a study published in the journal PLOS ONE. The existing methods, particularly a technique known as total counts, can miss some and doublecount others. Also, they provide limited information on the spatial density. Conserving this sub-specie of lions with the use of best scientific methods is a global priority and responsibility, according to authors of the study from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). In the new study, Keshab Gogoi and his colleagues have demonstrated an alternative method for monitoring Asiatic lions. "Our research addresses this priority by developing a robust approach to their population assessment and monitoring, which can be used for all lion populations across the world," said an author. Gogoi and colleagues used whisker patterns and permanent

body marks to identify lions using a computer programme, and analysed the data with a mathematical modeling method known as 'spatially explicit capture recapture' to estimate the lion density. They also assessed the prey density and other factors that could influence the lion density. The researchers identified 67 lions of the 368 sightings within the 725 sq km study area in the Gir Forests, estimating an overall density of 8.53 lions per 100 sq km. They found the prey density didn't appear to influence the lion density variations in the study area.

The lion density was higher in the flat valley habitats (as opposed to rugged or elevated areas) and near sites where food had been placed to attract lions for tourists to see them. The study suggests that baiting lions for tourism affects their natural density patterns, in line with other researches that baiting disrupts lion behaviour and social dynamics. The authors said the alternative monitoring method could be used to assess lions across their range (in India and Africa) and better conservation efforts.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

RESEARCH

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Scientists use AI model to identify powerful new antibiotic THE NEWS BUREAU

U

S researchers used an artificial intelligence algorithm to identify a powerful new antibiotic compound, which could kill many of the world's most problematic disease-causing bacteria in lab tests. The study published in the journal Cell showed that it could kill some strains that are resistant to all known antibiotics and also clear infections in two different mouse models. Scientists with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created a machine-learning computer model looking for chemical features that make molecules effec-

tive at killing E. coli. They trained the model on about 2,500 molecules, including about 1,700 FDA-approved drugs and a set of 800 natural products with diverse structures and a wide range of bioactivities. After training, the algorithm was tested on a library of about 6,000 compounds, finally helping identify a molecule that was predicted to have strong antibacterial activity and had a chemical structure different from any existing antibiotics. The molecule called halicin, previously investigated as possible diabetes drug, was tested against dozens of bacterial strains isolated

from patients and grown in lab dishes. It was able to kill many that are resistant to treatment like Mycobacterium tuberculosis, according to the study. In a mice test, halicin-containing ointment completely cleared the infections of A. baumannii, which is resistant to all known antibiotics, within 24 hours. In another study, the researchers found that E. coli did not develop any resistance to halicin during a 30-day treatment period. The researchers are planning to work with a pharmaceutical company or nonprofit organization, in hopes of developing the new antibiotic for use in humans.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

54

RESEARCH

THE NEWS BUREAU

A

n Indian-origin scientist in Australia, Professor SS Vasan, is reportedly very close to the development of a vaccine against the virus. The professor, along with a group of other scientists, have for the first time successfully grown a batch of the virus, outside of China, in an amount sufficient enough to be studied. The findings of the studies will then be used for developing a vaccine that will protect against the virus. Vasan holds a BE and MSc in

Indian-origin scientist's work could

help develop coronavirus vaccine Chemistry from BITS Pilani and an MSc in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru. He works as the Dangerous Pathogens Team Leader at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia. He also happens to be the principal investigator of this project. Along with other scientists, Vasan was selected by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI is a “public-private coalition” based in Norway, which aims to curb epidemics by speeding up the vaccine development process. It was decided that the work would take place at CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL). This high-containment facility located in the city of Geelong in Australia is one of only six facilities in the world that has clearance to deal with such high

risk pathogens. In 2014, following a sporadic ‘outbreak’ of the MERS causing virus which affected hundreds of people, samples from across the world were sent to this lab. The lab had been opened following the SARS pandemic years prior and has been at the forefront of studying the family of coronaviruses which are responsible for both SARS and MERS and now the novel Coronavirus (nCoV 2019). The goal of the research being undertaken is to identify key characteristics of the virus and gain a better understanding of how it functions. This information will then be used to create a vaccine accordingly. Researchers at Doherty Institute isolated the virus from an infected individual’s sample. This was then grown in a lab environment where it will now be used for further

studies. According to scientists, including Professor Vasan, by isolating the virus outside an infected individual, it makes it easier for them to observe and study the virus. This would in turn potentially allow them to develop vaccines quickly. Since nCoV shares a lot of similarities with the viruses which caused SARS and MERS, most individuals who are infected with this virus present with similar symptoms to these diseases. A cluster of pneumonia-like symptoms were first noticed in December 2019 in China’s Wuhan city. Within a span of almost two months, it has spread to over 20 countries with over 20,000 cases having been reported worldwide, a majority of which have been from China. World Health Organisation (WHO) officials declared the outbreak a public health emergency in January.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

TECHNOLOGY

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Tech Mahindra launches

‘Blockchain District Accelerator Program’

THE NEWS BUREAU

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ech Mahindra has announced the launch of the T- Block Accelerator, the inaugural accelerator program for the Telangana Blockchain District in partnership with Government of Telangana and IBC Media, an innovation management company. The launch event was organised at Tech Mahindra Infocity Campus in Hyderabad and was well represented by government dignitaries, blockchain startups, educational institutes and members from the developer community. The launch of T-Block is a step in continuation of Telangana government’s endeavour to make Telangana as the ‘Blockchain Capital of the World’. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had been signed between the Government of Telangana and Tech Mahindra to this effect in 2018.

This initiative is aimed at startups that have a strong blockchain usecase; thereby accelerating the startup growth and contributing to the growth of the overall industry. Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary ITE&C Department, Government of Telangana, said, “The state of Telangana is committed to its vision of positioning Hyderabad as one of the leading Blockchain cities of the world. We are happy to set in motion the first edition of the T-Block Accelerator program. This accelerator will be a torch-bearer to multiple future blockchain accelerators in the country and we are excited to partner with Tech Mahindra to identify and promote innovative blockchain-based solutions to solve real-world problems.” Through this initiative, Tech Mahindra, will enable creation of an ecosystem which will empower startups to solve tough business

problems for clients across diverse industry verticals. The Telangana government will help provide the required regulatory framework to enable and promote Blockchain growth. Rajesh Dhuddu, Global Practice Leader, Blockchain, Tech Mahindra, said, “As part of our TechMNxt charter, we at Tech Mahindra have been bullish in our efforts to expand blockchain adoption in India and globally. Our partnership with the state government for the Telangana Blockchain District stems from our desire to build a world-class support infrastructure for blockchain startups and make Hyderabad a destination of choice among several new-age entrepreneurs and blockchain evangelists. We look forward to successfully running the T-Block Accelerator and building the public blockchain ecosystem in India.” The registrations for the TBlock Accelerator will be open from February 3, 2020 with a oneweek boot camp, followed by a four-week-long intensive training programme. Participating startups will receive mentorship and guidance from leading experts in the startup and blockchain space. The programme includes workshops, presentations, discussions, and assignments designed to impart the practical knowledge required to build relevant blockchain products with real-world applications.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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TECHNOLOGY

Google removes 600 ‘disruptive’ apps from Play Store THE NEWS BUREAU

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oogle has removed nearly 600 "disruptive" Android apps from its Play Store, along with banning their developers who tricked users to click on ads. According to the company, one area of focus for the Ads team is developing new ways to detect disruptive ads shown outside of the app - for example, out-of-context ads from an app not currently in use. "This behaviour violates Google policies, so Google removes these apps from both AdMob and Play Store," the company said in a statement. "Our investigations are ongoing and when we find violations we will continue to take action," Google added. According to Scott Spencer, VP,

Product Management, Google Ads, one of the biggest threats to ad-supported content is ad fraud, a pervasive issue for users, developers, and advertisers alike. "Google blacklisted numerous bad actors that were found to be committing large scale invalid traffic and ad fraud, which violates Google policies," said Spencer. In 2019, Google removed tens of thousands of apps and developers that were found to be in violation of its policies.

"Taking corrective action was an imperative step in protecting advertiser dollars, leveling the playing field for legitimate publishers, and removing bad app experiences for users," said the tech giant. As industry regulations evolve, Google is providing tools for app publishers to manage their compliance strategy, maintain user trust, and minimise the risk of losing revenue. "Android is making fundamental platform changes to minimise interruptions in app experiences and keep the user more in control of what's shown on their screen," informed Google. In addition to fighting ad fraud, the Google Play and Ads teams both announced new steps to help ensure that ad content served in apps for children is appropriate for their intended users.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

TECHNOLOGY

57

More information may sometimes

lead to worse decisions THE NEWS BUREAU

I

nformation overload may not always be a good thing. Researchers have found that in certain circumstances, having more background information may actually lead people to take worse decisions. The study, published in the journal Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, may help reframe the idea of how we use the mountain of data extracted from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms and how healthcare professionals and financial advisors present this new information to their patients and clients. "Being accurate is not enough for information to be useful," said Samantha Kleinberg, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, US. "It's assumed that AI and Machine Learning will uncover great information, we'll give it to people and they'll make good decisions. However, the basic point of the paper is that there is a step missing: we need to help people build upon what they already know and understand how they will use the new information," Kleinberg added. For example, when doctors communicate information to patients, such as recommending blood pressure medication or explaining risk factors for diabetes,

people may be thinking about the cost of medication or alternative ways to reach the same goal. "So, if you don't understand all these other beliefs, it's really hard to treat them in an effective way," said Kleinberg. For the study, the researchers asked 4,000 participants a series of questions about topics with which they would have varying degrees of familiarity. Some participants were asked to make decisions on scenarios they could not possibly be familiar with. Other participants were asked about more familiar topics i.e. choosing how to reduce risk in a retirement portfolio or deciding between specific meals and activities to manage bodyweight. The team compared whether people did better or worse with new information or were just using what they already knew. The researchers found that prior knowledge got in the way of choosing the best outcome. Kleinberg found the same to be true when she posed a problem about health and exercise, as it relates to diabetes.

When people without diabetes read the problem, they treated the new information at face value, believed it and used it successfully. People with diabetes, however, started second-guessing what they knew and as in the previous example, did much worse. "In situations where people do not have background knowledge, they become more confident with the new information and make better decisions," said Kleinberg. "So there's a big difference in how we interpret the information we are given and how it affects our decision making when it relates to things we already know vs. when it's in a new or unfamiliar setting," she added. Kleinberg cautioned that the point of the paper is not that information is bad. She argued only that in order to help people make better decisions, it is important to better understand what people already know and tailor information based on that mental model. Started in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the oldest technological institutes in the US.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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AGRI-NEWS

ICRISAT launches new facility to accelerate plant life-cycle THE NEWS BUREAU

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iving a major boost to the efforts to modernise crop breeding, the International Crops Research Institute for the SemiArid Tropics (ICRISAT) at Hyderabad launched new facility, which is projected to significantly lower time and cost of crop varietal development. Called RapidGen, this facility has in it the technology that can make plants zoom through their lifecycle to quickly reproduce and bear seeds. Where it normally takes about a decade to develop new varieties, RapidGen can help cut that down by about 40 per cent, scientists at ICRISAT said. The state-of-the-art facility, a first for any public sector agricultural research institution, will accel-

erate plant lifecycle in light, temperature and humidity-controlled conditions. Presently, breeding a new crop variety takes about a decade or more, with six or seven years spent in seasonal generational advancements to arrive at the elite lines that go for testing and release as varieties. RapidGen will shorten the sixseven year window significantly. "Climate and exponential population growth have to be considered for rapid development of improved food crops is essential. But we also need to look at what has been achieved to sustain food security and achieve nutrition security," said Dr Peter Carberry, Director General, ICRISAT. "With facilities like RapidGen, crop breeders can overcome the limitations of seasons and photoperiod to develop the elite generations

in fraction of the time and cost it would take if done in fields." Dr Kiran K Sharma, Deputy Director General, Research, ICRISAT, told the media persons that protocols for chickpea, groundnut, pearl millet and sorghum are already in place. "Protocol development is the first step before a breeding program can take advantage of facilities like RapidGen. With their development, our partners and collaborators, both public and private, can integrated these modern techniques into their breeding programmes." ICRISAT is collaborating with several agricultural research institutes under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), State Agriculture Universities and industry partners to mainstream rapid cycling of the crops for which protocols have already been standardised.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

AGRI-NEWS

59

Cabinet nod for making PM crop insurance scheme voluntary THE NEWS BUREAU

T

he Union Cabinet has approved to make the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) voluntary for farmers, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said. Tomar said that the decision was taken in the Cabinet meeting following complaints regarding the scheme launched in April 2016. PMFBY is compulsory for farmers availing of crop loans and Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) accounts for notified crops, while it is voluntary for others. The scheme provides comprehensive crop insurance from presowing to the post-harvest period against non-preventable natural risks at an extremely low premium of 2 per cent for kharif crops, 1.5 per cent for rabi crops, and 5 per cent for horticulture and commercial crops. The decision at the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will lead to the revamp of PMFBY and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) to address the existing challenges in the implementation of crop insurance schemes. It is proposed to modify certain parameters and provisions of the ongoing schemes of PMFBY and RWBCIS under which allocation of business to insurance companies will be done for three years. "Options will be given to the

states and Union Territories to choose the scale of finance or district-level Value of Notional Average Yield (NAY), that is NAY Minimum Support Price (MSP), as sum insured for any district crop combination (both PMFBY and RWBCIS). Farm gate price will be considered for the other crops for which MSP is not declared," a Cabinet statement said. The central subsidy under PMFBY and RWBCIS is to be limited for premium rates up to 30 per cent for unirrigated areas or crops and 25 per cent for irrigated areas. Crops and districts having 50 per cent or more irrigated area will be considered as irrigated areas or districts. There would be flexibility for the states and Union Territories to implement the scheme with an option to select any or many of ad-

ditional risk covers or features like prevented sowing, localised calamity, mid-season adversity, and post-harvest losses, the statement said. Further, the states and UTs can offer specific single-peril risk or insurance covers, like hailstorm, under the PMFBY even with or without opting for base cover (both PMFBY and RWBCIS). States will not be allowed to implement the scheme in subsequent seasons in case of considerable delay by them in the release of requisite premium subsidy to insurance companies concerned beyond a prescribed time limit. Cut-off dates for invoking this provision for Kharif and Rabi seasons will be March 31 and September 30 of successive years respectively for both PMFBY and RWBCIS, the Agriculture Minister

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AGRI-NEWS

said. "For estimation of crop losses or admissible claims, two-step process is to be adopted based on 'defined deviation matrix' using specific triggers like weather indicators, satellite indicators, for each area along with normal ranges and deviation ranges. Only areas with deviations will be subject to Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) for assessment of yield loss (PMFBY)," said the Minister. In case of non-provision of yield data beyond cut-off date by the states to insurance companies, claims are to be settled based on yield arrived through use of Technology solution (PMFBY alone). Enrolment under the scheme is to be made voluntary for all farmers in both PMFBY and RWBCIS and the central share in premium subsidy is to be increased to 90 per cent for northeastern states from the existing sharing

pattern of 50:50. Provisioning of at least 3 per cent of the total allocation for the scheme is to be made by the Centre and implementing state governments for administrative expenses. This shall be subject to an upper cap fixed by DAC&FW Dipartment of the Agriculture Ministry for each state for both PMFBY and RWBCIS. Besides, the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) in consultation with other stakeholders and agencies will prepare and develop state-specific alternative risk mitigation programme for crops and areas having a high rate of premium. "As the scheme is being made voluntary for all farmers, therefore, to provide financial support and effective risk mitigation tools through crop insurance, especially to 151 districts that are highly

water stressed (including 29 doubly stressed because of low farmers income and drought), a separate scheme would be prepared," the Minister said. The provisions and parameters of the scheme and operational guidelines of the PMFBY and RWBCIS shall be modified to incorporate the above said modifications and shall be made operational from Kharif 2020 season, he said. These changes are expected to help farmers manage the risk in agriculture production in a better way and succeed in stabilising farm incomes and increase coverage in the northeastern region. "These changes will enable quick and accurate yield estimation, leading to faster claims settlement. These changes are proposed to be implemented from Kharif' 2020 season throughout the country."

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

TECH-TROUBLE 61

Stress around data costs Indian ďŹ rms

Rs 33,216 cr annually THE NEWS BUREAU

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oss of productivity due to procrastination and sick leave stemming from stress around information, data and technology issues cost Indian companies Rs 33,216 crore every year, according to a new report released on February 26. Over 85 per cent of employees in India reported feeling overwhelmed or unhappy when working with data, the highest percentage globally, according to the research from Accenture and data analytics and business intelligence platform Qlik. Companies lose an average of more than eight working days per employee, annually, said the report. While on one hand, the report maps India as the world's most data literate country, the report also highlighted the rising workplace stress amongst Indian professionals stemming from information, data and technology issues. Data is a gold mine that can fuel a culture of innovation and growth. However, when employees struggle to make sense of data, productivity and business value can be affected. "No one questions the value of data -- but many companies need to re-invent their approach to data governance, analysis and decisionmaking. This means ensuring that their workforce has the tools and training necessary to deliver on the new opportunities that data presents," said Sanjeev Vohra, Group

Technology Officer and Global Lead for Accenture's Data Business Group. "Data-driven companies that focus on continuous learning will be more productive and gain a competitive edge," Vohra said. The survey involved 9,000 employees around the world, including 1,000 in India. The report titled "The Human Impact of Data Literacy" identified two ways in which the data literacy gap is causing a disconnect and impacting Indian organisations' ability to thrive in the data-driven economy. First, despite nearly all employees (83 percent) recognising data as an asset, few are using it to inform decision-making. India has the highest data literacy level globally, with close to half reporting being confident in their data literacy skills -- their ability to read, understand, ques-

tion and work with data. Interestingly, while more than half of employees trust their decisions more when based on data, four in five still frequently defer to a "gut feeling" rather than datadriven insights when making decisions. Second, a lack of data skills is shrinking productivity as 85 per cent of employees reported feeling overwhelmed or unhappy when working with data. A surprising 47 percent of surveyed employees even stated that they would find an alternative method to complete the task without using data at all. Seven in 10 respondents reported that data-overload has contributed to workplace stress, culminating in six in 10 employees (64 percent) of the local workforce taking at least one day of sick leave due to stress related to information, data and technology issues.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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TECH-TROUBLE

THE NEWS BUREAU

P

eople who use smartphone for texting while walking are twice as likely to have an accident or near miss than taking a call or listening to music, a new study suggests. According to the findings, published in the journal Injury Prevention, smartphone texting is linked to compromised pedestrian safety

'Pedestrian distraction' has become a recognised safety issue as more and more people use their smartphones or hand held devices while walking on the pavement and crossing roads. To try and gauge the potential impact on road safety of handheld/hands-free device activities, including talking on the phone, text messaging, browsing and listening

Texting while walking

more dangerous

with higher rates of 'near misses'. "Given the ubiquity of smartphones, social media, apps, digital video and streaming music, which has infiltrated most aspects of daily life, distracted walking and street cross will be a road safety issue for the foreseeable future," said study researchers from University of Calgary in Canada. Worldwide, around 270,000 pedestrians die every year, accounting for around a fifth of all road traffic deaths.

to music, the researchers looked for published evidence. From among 33 relevant studies, they pooled the data from 14 (involving 872 people) and systematically reviewed the data from another eight. They looked specifically at: time taken to start walking or begin crossing the road; missed opportunities to cross safely; time taken to cross the road; looking left and right before or during crossing; and collisions and close calls with other

pedestrians and vehicles. The pooled data analysis showed that listening to music wasn't associated with any heightened risk of potentially harmful pedestrian behaviours. According to the researchers, talking on the phone was associated with a small increase in the time taken to start crossing the road and slightly more missed opportunities to cross the road safely. Text messaging emerged as the potentially most harmful behaviour, the study said. It was associated with significantly lower rates of looking left and right, right before or while crossing the road, and with moderately increased rates of collisions and close calls with other pedestrians or vehicles. It also affected the time taken to cross a road and missed opportunities to cross safely, but to a lesser extent. The review of the eight observational studies revealed that the percentage of pedestrians who were distracted ranged from 12 to 45 per cent, and that behaviours were influenced by several factors, including gender, time of day, solo or group crossing, and walking speed. And as signage and public awareness campaigns don't seem to alter pedestrian behaviour, "Establishing the relationship between distracted walking behaviour and crash risk is an essential research need," the researchers concluded.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

CRIME

NIA, military intel to probe Pak-made bullets in Kerala THE NEWS BUREAU

T

he Military intelligence has arrived in Kerala and will be joining the NIA, which is expected to begin probe into the recovery of 14 Pakistan-made bullets from Kulathupuzha. These bullets were found on Saturday about 70 km from here in Kulathupuzha that borders the forests of Tamil Nadu. The bullets were packed in a plastic bag and covered in a Malayalam newspaper printed from Kollam. Two youths travelling on a bike,

found the suspicious pacakage and after uncovering the bullets, immediately informed the police. According to the police, the bullets had initials of POF, which has been preliminarily identified as Pakistan Ordinance Factory and is believed to have been made in 1981-82. State police chief Loknath Behra immediately asked the Crime Branch to begin the probe. With the Military Intelligence officials already in town it was just the antiterror National Investigation Age ncy officials who were expected now for the probe to begin.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020

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CRIME

THE NEWS BUREAU

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he Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has clarified that it issued notices to 127 people in Hyderabad to substantiate their claims for getting Aadhaar cards, though the notices clearly asked them to prove their citizenship. With reports of Aadhaar card holders receiving notices creating panic among residents, UIDAI clarified that the notices were issued to 127 people after its regional office in Hyderabad received reports from the Telangana police that they obtained Aadhaar on false pretences. Preliminary enquiry found them to be illegal immigrants who were not qualified to obtain Aadhaar number. However, the notices clearly asked them to appear before the inquiry officer on February 20 along with "necessary documents in original to prove all your claims of citizenship". Mohammed Sattar Khan, an auto-rickshaw driver, is among those issued notices by the UIDAI. They were asked to appear before the inquiry officer at a function hall in Balapur in the old city of Hyderabad. They were directed to appear before Amita Bindroo, Deputy Director and Inquiry Officer, with all necessary documents in original to prove "all your claims of citizenship and if you are not an Indian national, to prove that you have entered the territory of India legally and your stay is valid". Reacting to media reports, UIDAI's head office in Delhi clarified that Aadhaar card has nothing to do with the citizenship. "Aadhaar is not a document of citizenship and UIDAI has been

Notices issued to 127 people on Hyd police's report: UIDAI

mandated under the Aadhaar Act to ascertain residency of a person in India for 182 days prior to applying for Aadhaar," UIDAI. However, it also cited Supreme Court's order that Aadhaar should not be issued to illegal immigrants. The authority postponed the personal hearing to May to give these people more time to collect their original documents. Meanwhile, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi demanded suspension of the Deputy Director for issuing the notices. "The words used in the notice are verification of citizenship (not validity of Aadhaar). So will UIDAI suspend the Deputy Direc-

tor who issued this notice? They clearly exceeded their powers by issuing this notice. It was a bad faith and biased exercise of their powers,"tweeted Owaisi. The MP said UIDAI did not follow due procedure and abused its powers, resulting in panic among people. The AIMIM also asked Telangana Director General of Police Mahender Reddy to confirm if the police shared a list of 127 names with the UIDAI. "Can they tell us on what grounds? Since UIDAI has now shifted the responsibility to the Telangana police, it is their responsibility to clear the air."

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020

EDU-VOICE

65

PROF. G. NARSIMULU

TS universities need

Dynamic VCs to promoting quality education T

he Telangana state government under the guidance of chief minister K.C.R. finally decided to appoint executive counsel members as well as Vice Chancellors for universities in the state. Osmania, Kakatiya, Telangana, Mahatama Gandhi,palmuru, satavahana, Telugu and open universities are presently working without fulltime VCs. These posts are vacant for more than six months and senior IAS officers were assigned as in-charge Vicechancellors of these universities. The recent suicide of former research scholar in Osmania University and unrest among the university campus made the government to pay attention to problems faced by the universities. In this direction the government is seriously to appoint Executive members as well as Vice chancellors to the universities. The Osmania university teacher association recently met the education minister and other prominent personnel in TRS party and requested to appoint Vice chancellors and recruitment of teachers to be

taken up immediately so that new leadership at university will tackle the student's problems and reorganise curriculum to compete with private universities which are going in a big way from next academic year in Telangana state. Osmania university with 100 yrs of establishment having its students who turned tobe great academicians, scientists, politicians and another walk of life not only India but also Abroad. Faculties like science, arts, social sciences, Engineering with dedicated professors could able to get several research projects from reputed institutes of abroad and Within the country. The senior professors were actively involved in teaching, research and extension activities. The societal Problems were also taken care of them. But these were olden days of these traditional universities like Osmania and Kakatiya universities. Now the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff was not carried out over more than two decades.Even for non-teaching staff in Osmania university not recruited over thirty-five years and

temporarily appointed staff are working without any job security.It was more worst in case of newly opened universities like palmuru, Telangana, Mahatma and sathavahana universities, no non-teaching staff were appointed and outsourcing and contract Teachers are engaged on yearly basis. The government of Telangana even cleared to recruit more than one thousand teaching staff till now the recruitment was not initiated by the vice-chancellors of these universities due to non-clearance from various agencies in the state as well as central government. Looking at the courses offered and curriculum framework of these universities are not up to the Mark and irrelevant to the present needs of the society and most of the time universities producing Graduates and Postgraduates without any requisite qualifications and their calibre restricted to become government employees only. Once they are appointed as government employees they never bothered to improve their academic calibre. Caste and local political influence and money

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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EDU-VOICE

play an important role in the recruitment of teachers and vicechancellors of these universities. When the government is initiated to recruit the vice-chancellors of the universities, the so-called professors of these universities are going round the political bosses with their academic resumes and using their caste and community background. The so-called aspirants even offering money to get these important positions for a tenure period of three years. Osmania University, Kakatiya University in Telangana state were witnessed proactive role played by the students and academic paternity during pre and Post-independence as well as the first and second phase of agitation under the leadership of KCR for a separate state of Telangana state. During the academic year 2021-2022, the government has given the Approval to start ten private universities with appropriate course structures and the courses are need-based. The course work covers theoretic as well as practicum part. Each student is regularly monitored by the teaching staff. The recruitment of teaching staff is based purely on merit and they are encouraged to involve more on industry-based research work. The industry will sponsor research projects. The management of these private universities is more interested to promote quality-based education rather making its students' mere employees of private and government institutions further it’s clientele wanted to become entrepreneurs. To strengthen traditional universities like Osmania, Kakatiya and rest of the universities need revamping of the entire infrastructure and men power development. Allocation of adequate

financial assistance and recruitment of teaching faculty and Vicechancellors are to be appointed based on academic and research excellence but not on the basis of caste and community. The tenure of the vice-chancellors will be of Five years on par with central universities.,so that the vice-chancellors will have enough

and infrastructure facilities. Even in the case of performance of the teachers in universities will be evaluated every year and accordingly promotions, as well as Deportation, will be carried out. The students are encouraged to join research projects of their relevant areas and encourage them to become owners of enterprises but

time to revamp the administration for the betterment of its students. The qualified teachers are encouraged to interact with industrial and research institutions for designing the relevant curriculum and courses. The courses are designed based on the interest and aptitude of the students. The government of Telangana should encourage each university to get excellence in one or two areas. So that it will attract students from abroad. To make the university excellence the government should provide liberal funds

not employees. The state government of Telangana university should appoint higher education commission and study central government draft education report and come with relevant higher education Policies for over a period of twenty years so that traditional universities along with the private universities will serve the society in a pragmatic way in shaping its clientele. (The Author is a retired professor Lifelong Education Osmania university Hyderabad.)

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

DEFENCE COLUMN

67

WG CDR TJ REDDY VSM (RETD)

D

uring early 1990s women officers started being inducted as Short Service Commission (SSC) officers in armed forces, with a maximum tenure of 14 years. In 1991-92 when women were being inducted for the first time in the Air Force, guidelines in vogue. For induction of women in many countries had been taken into account since most western countries had elaborate systems and procedures including guide-

(in JAG and education branches). The Supreme Court order on 15 Feb 2020 extends grant of PC in all the ten non-battlefield services to all and also held them eligible to hold command posts. The litigation was waged first in Delhi HC from 2006 to 2010 (won by the women SSC officers) and then in the SC from 2010 till now. More significantly, the SC order said that those women officers who do not opt for PC despite 14 years of service ‘will

as gender stereotypes prevalent in society to deny the opportunity to women officers. The issue of women in combat units was not before the court. The induction has been confined only into officer cadre. The IAF, which has been most progressive on this count, has now women in all branches including fighter pilots and has also cleared PC for women in all branches. According to 2019 figures, women comprise

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN ARMED FORCES

PRACTICALITIES SHOULD

ALSO TO BE PERCEIVED lines for Commanders. IAF took an informed decision. It is later that other services followed suit. From 2011 with court’s intervention grant of Permanent Commission (PC) in judge advocate general (JAG) and education branches of three services were started. On Feb 25, 2019 Govt issued orders for grant of PC to new SSC women officers in eight combat support arms/services(signal, engineers, army aviation, air defence, electronics & mechanical engineers, army service corps, army ordnance corps and intelligence), but not to those SSC officers already serving

be entitled to continue in service until they attain 20 years of pensionable service’. The order clarified “exercising option by women SSC officers for grant of PC should be on the same terms as their male counterparts, and the blanket nonconsideration of women for criteria or command appointments with individuated justification by the Army cannot be sustained in law, trashing the weaker sex argument”. SC also observed that "Women in the Army is an evolutionary process," but It struck down the government arguments of physiological limitations and social norms

13% in the IAF, compared to only 3.8% in the Indian Army, and 6% of Indian Navy. Army has confirmed that it has prepared a road map for granting PC to women officers. There are 1653 women officers as against 41000 male officers in the 13 lakh strong Indian Army. Empowerment of women: True empowerment of women has different connotations in different professions and different fields. There are several fields wherein women excel and work under exactly the same terms and conditions as men. There are ample opportunities for women outside the military. It may

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

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DEFENCE COLUMN

be prudent not to compare these with the military which operates in a different environment under most adverse conditions in a battle environment, more particularly in the army. Everyone agrees that women per se would not want to either seek or be granted any concessions. But the Army is definitely not one of the fields where total gender equality is possible. When it comes to hardships, there will be women who must be given special treatment. And when it comes to promotions, they must be treated as equal. If they are left out for good reasons it could be labelled as harassment or injustice or at least male bias. Judiciary has generally never been exposed to matters military. This is not to say they cannot comprehend the rigors and ethos of military life. Understanding is one thing and squarely facing the reality is another. Judiciary goes by the Preamble, Constitution and decides the issues on the basis of the law. The women in western democracies have not been known to be exposed to personal violence. To say there are women in combat roles in these counties does not give a true and honest situational awareness of the type of battlefields, terrains, enemy opposition that Indian military faces, notwithstanding increasing global awareness to wrongdoings and non-adherence to Geneva conventions. The very different social and cultural mores in these countries have little relevance to the context of India's Armed Forces, particularly the Army which has a large

number of rural youth in its ranks, unlike Air Force and Navy. It must, however, be mentioned that not much is known if services are considering inducting women at below officer level where, as technicians, office assistants and other white-collar jobs like record and storekeepers, accountants etc thousands of them would be more suitable. Possibly the military has not shifted focus to consider this step. The Army now is recruiting women as jawans in the Corps of Military Police. Perhaps the next logical evolving step unfolding

may be the entry of women in National Defence Academy, before considering women in other ranks. The day may not be far if judiciary orders this too if a case is filed by the likes of Mrs Lekhi and Mrs Aishwarya. The Government itself has not attempted to shift the focus of the argument in the case before the Supreme Court that lead to the verdict. I have not seen any reference in the argument that if women must have and be given equal opportunity for command functions competing with men, then why there have been no demands to abolish separate cate-

gories/events for men and women in sports, athletics (barring circus events) at every level right upto Olympics. No demand, no proposals because the opponents are not going to give any concessions just because there are women also on either side. The constitution is silent. The military is a different proposition. Lawyers place before Courts and learned judges as proof of good democratic values where equality must be done, shown, practised and enforced. Parties on the other side have no answer to counter this and possibly do not harbour inclination to defeat the plea. The order is out, the die is cast. President has said that by issuing this order the Supreme Court of India has led ‘progressive social transformation’. The Prime Minister has said, “People’s faith in the judiciary is strong”. Services have to resolve this ruling within themselves. IAF being the pioneer in many respects can do this easily and smartly. The utility of women must be exploited for value addition both towards operational and administrative excellence. As one of the critics stated, If that forces women to march at the head of parade contingents, then let them do so, which seems to make many people very happy, and no one would object. (Author A Wing Commander was a Fighter Controller who actively participated in 1965and 1971 wars. He was awarded VSM(VishishtSeva Medal) by the President of India in January 1976. Views expressed by the author are personal.)

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

SHOBHA’S PAT ON MIND 69

DR SHOBHA RAJU

Lack of Karuna (Grace) creates

Fertile ground for contagious diseases “

N andu! I have a doubt” I told my husband who was very serious because something went wrong. “What?”, he asked. “Puliraju ki AIDS vastundaa? (Will Puliraju get aids?)”, I asked. He gave an angry look but burst out into laughter. “Puliraju ki AIDS vastundaa?” is a theme line which we were everywhere on the walls, streets, on cinema screens, on hoardings during the last decade. That theme line struck to a person like me, whose world is music, literature and devotion, - at a time when the situation was grave, - to make the scene lighter. Dear readers! Just imagine how aggressively the theme line could have been promoted! In 2003, I had been to Rajahmundry to give concerts on the eve of Godavari “Pushkarams”. Hoardings bearing the captions such as the above were erected all over on the banks of Godavari in Rajahmundry and other places. They outnumbered the religious ones.

Instead of telling people not to commit wrong, they started erecting signboards which said, “Use protective armour” to commit the wrong. Inevitable! Human dignity and value system have fallen down to such a low level that all the inhibitions and sensitivities had to be shed to create the awareness of AIDS. The rate of AIDS’s contagiousness is very less compared to New Carona virus. Deadly Carona is attacking the world aggressively and speedily. So far no vaccine is invented for its cure. Why is it that we don’t see any hoarding containing caution or awareness? Because

we don’t get alert until it comes to our neck? If the world has to worry much about anything and take immediate action in that direction, it’s Coronavirus first and anything and everything, next. May be in China, even big hospitals were built on a war footing and precautionary measures are seriously and meticulously taken up. China and Afghanistan are our neighbours. It doesn’t take much time for Carona to invade India. Our politics is inclined towards populist schemes to rob the vote bank but not interested in the welfare of the voters genuinely. Management of the epidemic

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SHOBHA’S PAT ON MIND

will be very tough in India in view of the virus nature. Because we don’t have the medical infrastructure required to handle it. So the first step is to take measures to arrest the virus from coming into India. We should be more alert than at Pakistan India LOC. If once in, the virus kills the whole nation. Screen tests have to be conducted at every entrance to India and if found positive to the test, the affected have to be strictly isolated. On war footing, people have to be trained and employed for this. Why not the hoardings be erected advising people to take precautionary measures? Small precautions like covering the mouth while coughing and talking, covering mouth and nose while sneezing. When running nose is there, not to come to public places, be confined to homes, etc. I observe most of the people wiping the noses with hands and serving, shaking hands, holding public utility goods such as taps, tumblers etc. if you observe, you’ll find every second person if not every person, is coughing or has running nose. I have observed well educated and richly dressed up people also doing this. They are doing consciously or unconsciously? People have to be educated and en-

lightened as was done in case of dowry. A TV channel used to run a promo, saying “The one who asked for dowry is a donkey”. Like that, a promo saying, “The one who coughs and sneezes without covering mouth is an educated brute”. Investments have to be made and invited for the research in Ayurveda & Homeopathy also apart from Allopathy and systems of medicines have to be effectively, evidentially and scientifically established. Hygiene has to be promoted among people and brought to a point that its respectable to be hygienic and not just wearing trendy clothes and jewellery. From the subtle perspective, Carona seems to be a curse of nature on humanity. The more human harbours stinking thoughts, the more is its effect on the human body and on nature which is the body of the Cosmic Mind. As humans are polluting the Cosmic fabric by a variety of corruptions, nature is losing its patience and retarding. Unless humans shift their love from money to humanity, the onslaught of nature will not stop. Manipulations, cunning schemes, cheating, backbiting, backstabbing, trying to loot others’ property, position and opportunity has to be immediately stopped with

the study of realised souls like Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Yoganandaji and practising meditation. To sum up, medicine and tonic is Love. It should be practised from the bottom of the heart. It connects soul to soul with threads of light. That connection energizes everyone. As pure love is pure energy, it cleanses the pollution formed around Chakras due to pollution in thoughts. This cleansing eradicates the disease in the body as well as in the mind. It enhances the resistance for the disease. Prayer, earnest prayer attracts divine grace which heals a disease faster. Many saints still live on in subtle bodies. They all aid us in connecting to Cosmic Being, whom we call Paramatma, when our prayer is earnest. That is The Ultimate Healing. Connection with The Cosmic Being. St Annamayya sings, “Konaro konaro meeru koorimi mandu, uniki maniki kella okkate mandu” (Take this friendly medicine. For existence and for living, this is The Only Medicine.) It’s the tonic that has given a great span of life to Brahma, The Creator. It is spread over all the worlds as The Truth. As is obvious to all the worlds, this is The Medicine that is settled brightly near the Holy Tank, (Koneru) on Sri Venkatadri. Taking all the possible precautions practically, let us take this Divine Medicine, which doesn’t cost money, which has no side effects, which has no expiry date. The medicine is the holy name of God! Om Namo Narayanaya! (The author is a well-known musician, Devotional singer, writer and composer.)

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MARCH 2020

The News You Like March, 2020

RNI No: APENG/2013/48048 P.R. No. RNP/HD/1187/2020-22 (DOP: 1st of Every Month; DOP: 8/9-3-2020)