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PAGES: 72 VOL.8 | ISSUE: 1, FEBRUARY, 2020
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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VOL:8 I SSUE:1 I FEBRUARY, 2020 `30 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 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
Note: Focus/Infocus features are marketing initiatives, any legal disputes comes under the jurisdiction of courts in Hyderabad
EDITORIAL
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ime and tide wait for none. Most of us have heard this saying as middle school students. But professional responsibilities teach journalists how riding over the tide and running with the time are part of the game. While middle school wisdom makes all of us live in the present, lessons taught by profession helps media persons to be relevant to present times. Irrespective of training one gets in history journalists take pride in telling that ‘we are writing history in a hurry.’ We at ‘The News’ from the very first issue(Feb.2013) have been focusing on running with the time and riding the tide of everchanging social, political, economic developments. ‘The News’ has presented national and regional news developments without any favour or fear. Exposed greedy politicians, corrupt bureaucrats and shady businessmen. There is a number of instances, where our investigative stories have become instrumental in bringing these men before the law of the nation. We have consciously chosen a path less travelled. Naturally, our riding on the tide of news waves was not smooth surfing on a relatively calm sea. It was swimming against the rising tides in the sea on a full moon day. Court cases were filed against us. Some people tried other means to silence us. As it didn’t yield the results they expected, some First Issue (February 2013) others tried to take the law into their hands The News by threatening the reporters and management. As our vision is clear as full-moonlight of larger public interest we have steered out of those stormy situations. Readers and wellwishers unstinted support was always there to shelter us onshore. Looking back these achievements of the last seven years makes us reasonably proud and humble. Our hearts are filled with happiness and gratitude for all the support, encouragement, sincere criticism. We promise to serve with the same dedication, and stand up to the expectations of our readers and well-wishers, being a responsible national new magazine. We will strive to bring relevant, real stories at the earliest to your notice through our stories, features. It will be our endeavour to present a clear picture to our readers in the middle of chaos and information explosion. On behalf of the staff at ‘The News’, I profusely thank you all our dear readers, well-wishers for your unstinted support. Jai Hind!
(A Rammohan Rao)
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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CONTENT
Rural youth turn teache’s 7
Peace agreement with
Bodo groups 37
Govt to get Rs 1 lakh crore 35
Beware of Nalla Shiva gang 40
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
CONTENT
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Rytu Bandhu funds Swindled in Ghatkesar Mandal 47
Modi-Shah’s agenda
Next things? 53
Rajinikanth in a controversy 49
Govt. to withdraw NSG 67
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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STATE
Hyd. students develop Solar pool skimmer to clean lakes
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THE NEWS BUREAU
n an effort to conserve Hyderabad’s fast-disappearing lakes, a team of students from a city college has made a solar pool skimmer that can clean debris while skimming water along the surface of the pool. A group of students from Hyderabad Institute of Technology and Management (HITAM) Alankar Achadian, Anjali Verma, Rahil Hussain and Karthik Katta developed this skimmer under the guidance of faculty members from their college outreach centre. When they found that a lake in Pochampally was dying due to algal and microbial growth, these students decided to build something that would help save the lake. The motor of the skimmer,
which runs on solar power, has been made from scrap material. Santosh Naik, one of the project guides, says: "This triangle-shaped pool cleaner, which is around two feet in length and half feet in breadth, has a floatable chamber attached to its bottom that can collect the trash. It’s fitted with a camera and can be controlled via Bluetooth. We can see the trash being collected from a remote location. At one go, it can collect 10 kg of trash." This project, which won the Intinta Innovator award from the Telangana government, was created as part of the college’s outreach programme.The product will be ready for sale by March this year and it was developed under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan. Each
unit of this skimmer, which costs around Rs 15,000, can give a fresh lease of life to lakes choking under algal bloom and other debris. Ever wondered where the construction debris is ending up? It is into the lakes and it is being done not allegedly by the real estate mafia but by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). Concrete is alkaline in nature and thus it rises the levels of pH which reduces the level of nutrients in soil and water.In several parts of the city, citizens are taking upon themselves and forming groups to remove the debris. The idols from Safilguda Lake, Kapra Lake and other nearby lakes are being dumped behind the Rachakonda Commissionerate.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
STATE
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Coding skills imparted
Rural youth turn teache’s
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THE NEWS BUREAU
he Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA) successfully conducted a six-day pilot training on introducing coding skills at the school level. During the six-day training, TITA members trained 54 participants from 18 government schools in Makthal constituency of Wanaparthy district. These participants represent the Innovation Clubs at the school. One teacher and two students, one each from Class VIII and IX from these clubs are trained now. These resource persons, who are termed as Telangana Early
Coders will turn mentors to teach coding to select students at their respective schools from January 17. The training will go on for two weeks. TITA will make a report on its observations on this pilot and submit it to the State Government on in February first week. This pilot project is in line with suggestions made by IT Minister KT Rama Rao on the need to expose students to coding skills. The State Government is thinking to offer coding at the school level to inculcate problem-solving skills among students and also orient them to entrepreneurial possibilities as they evolve. Coding at schools is a joint initiative of the
Departments of Education and ITe&C. TITA has partnered with State Government to do the pilot. In the six-day training that began on January 6, TITA members have exposed students and teachers in programming in Scratch and Python and also coding without the use of computer using ProGame. The pilot enabled students, who earlier were not even exposed to computers, to create games on their own. They also designed and executed apple & ball game and rocket launcher using Scratch. They also devised a calculator, a quiz and a dice game using Python language. On the last day of training, a test was conducted to assess their
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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STATE
learning. All the participants have passed the test and scored an average mark of 91%. The organisers put 40 per cent as a threshold to declare the pass. Once the training begins post
vacations, one TITA member will oversee four schools for the remainder of the pilot project. The event is to go on till Feb 1 and TITA will submit the report to the Government on Feb 3, said TITA
Global President Sundeep Kumar Makthala. The students showed great promise and if they are trained properly on coding they can be on a par with engineering graduates, he said. The six-day programme training happened in Makthal constituency covering Atmakur and Amarchintha mandals in Wanaparthy district. Atmakur and Amarachinta MEO Bhaskar Singh lauded the effort of TITA members in imparting training in coding. He lauded the efforts of teachers who made it to the module. TITA thanked MV Raman School Chairman and MPP Sridhar Goud for hosting the training at school. TITA will provide laptops for a month for students to train under the programme and it will bear the costs, said Makthala. TITA members Nanda Kumar, Razeem, Shravan, Sajid, Nehmed, Sameer and Winks representatives Vinay, Amar, Sai, Venkateshwarlu aided in the training.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
STATE
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Hyderabad World’s most dynamic city
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THE NEWS BUREAU
yderabad has once again emerged as the world’s most dynamic city from the real estate perspective. According to the JLL City Momentum Index 2020 released in third week of January. Telangana’s capital has topped 130 major cities, reclaiming the honour it had won back in 2018. As per the rankings, Hyderabad stands first among top-20 dynamic cities of the world, followed by Bengaluru at second place. "Hyderabad recorded the highest office net absorption in 2019 (as a proportion of existing stock) of any city globally, while it is also among the world’s best performing cities for prime office rental growth. A thriving technology sector is driving this momentum, with the city’s reputation receiving a further boost last year with the opening of a large campus by Amazon. It has joined fellow
tech giants that include Apple, Google and Facebook, who have all established a presence in Hyderabad in recent years," the JLL City Momentum Index 2020 report said. It may be mentioned here that when Telangana state came into being in 2014, Hyderabad had not even featured in the list of 20 most dynamic cities in the world in that year’s edition of JLL City Momentum Index. However, over the years, the city improved its ranking to reach the top spot. Five other Indian cities -Chen nai (5th), Delhi (6th), Pune (12th), Kolkata (16th) and Mumbai (20th) - also found a place in the top-20 dynamic cities list. The JLL City Momentum Index 2020 report pointed out that an active real estate market helped Hyderabad get elevated to the top spot in the overall rankings. Various other reports related to real estate and office space absorption released recently, including by Knight Frank India and CBRE
South Asia, highlighted the robust and booming nature of real estate in Hyderabad. Speaking at the launch of JLL City Momentum Index 2020 report in the city, IT Minister KT Rama Rao said, "In 2014 we were not on the list. Over the years, step by step, we moved to where we belong on the top of the charts. This is not a co-incidence. A total of 130 cities were analysed based on data by credible agencies such as Oxford Economy and UN and after careful consideration, they acknowledged Hyderabad." He said, "Investments will continue to pour in, commercial real estate will continue to boom, with the focus on business expansion which will be complemented with innovation policies like TS-iPASS. In terms of socioeconomic development goals, Hyderabad is leading from the front. We will continue to do the job we are doing, as the city grows."
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HEALTH
IIT-Hyd. develops combination therapy
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THE NEWS BUREAU
team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)- Hyderabad have developed an effective combination therapy for cancer treatment, which combines the usually-used technique of chemotherapy with photothermal therapy (PTT). The motive behind developing a combination of therapies was to come out with a technique to treat cancer with minimal or no sideeffects at all, as the current approaches including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy have adverse side-effects said the researchers. The treatment has been developed by researchers from the department of biomedical engineering, IIT-Hyderabad. For
the combination therapy, the researchers used a naturally-derived anti-cancer agent called ‘CfAC’ that is extracted from the plant Anthocephalous Cadamba, which has shown efficacy in destroying cancer cells. Dr Aravind Kumar Rengan, assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, who headed the research said, ‘’In photothermal therapy, a material that converts light to heat is specifically sent to the tumour location, and when irradiated, causes ablation or destruction of the host cancer cells. IR780 is one such dye that absorbs near-infrared light and generates reactive oxygen species that kill the host cell. This dye is loaded onto a suitable carrier material and targeted at the cancer tissues,” he added.
The researchers used liposomes - lipid nanoparticles a hundred thousand times smaller than the width of a single human hair - as the carriers for the IR780 because of their low toxicity, flexibility, biocompatibility, biodegradability and non-immunogenicity. The team loaded liposomes not only with IR780 dye but also with CfAC. These liposomes were tested against human breast cancer cells that were introduced into mice groups. “We have demonstrated the synergistic and enhanced therapeutic benefits of combinational therapy against breast cancer with minimal/no adverse effects using biocompatible and biodegradable nanomaterials,” Dr Aravind said.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
COVER STORY
Spirited Seven Years of
The NewS Speed has become symbol of modern life. everything food delivery to learning skill quickness is regarded efficiency. As modern life goes so is News. Newspapers are presenting stories in unprecedented manner. Similarly Television channels not only bombarding News but updating the new stories reported. News at breakfast time wills greater details by lunch time. when one comes back from office news bulletin at dinner time will have much more news along with updates. This as become an impossible for common reader to make since of happening s around him / her. This exactly made us to think of a solution. where one can update his understanding about the developments in short period of time. And some of the people who have missed news for few days can also should be able to follow further news developments. with this idea ‘The News’ has emerged. In February 2013 the first issue has came before readers. The response from readers and critics was encouraging. with that we went on adding new features and sections to make ‘The News’ an authentic National News Magazine. In last seven years ‘The News’ has not only grown in terms of copies but its reach has expanded. we have carried stories of politicians to continuously win by manipulating voters his managing voters list to suit their sectarian needs on the basis of Religion. Land grabbers who have become a mafia controlling Government officers, ministers and become a manse in state capital and other cities. ‘The News’ also carried such investigative stories on rampant corruption in go. Officers especially in GHMC, Corporations like APPCO. Private sector his no different has for has corruption is content. This has penetrated in to sum of the key areas of Govt. Out sourcing. Investigative Journalism always involves risk. Persons, organizations exposed will resort to many methods to prevent further exposing of their misdeeds. Media world over is experiencing this from the beginning. The News too had its share of such experience. But could with stand such attempts. On this occasion we are presenting gliampses of major cover stories. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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12 COVER STORY
FEBRUARY 2013
It was not just a momentary emotional outburst. It was not of course the concern for the safety and welfare of Muslim community. It was a deliberate, well-schemed display of megalomania which could turn thousands of ignorant, illiterate people go into religious frenzy and keep the fire of hatred towards other community in flames. Yes, Akabaruddin Owaisi’s hate speech is more than what meets the eye.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
MARCH 2013
COVER STORY 13
If central intelligence agencies failed in pin-pointing Hyderabad as the terror target, the state police - particularly the CI cell- equally failed too, as it could not uncover the terror module in time and preempt the strike. yet another serial blasts, more gory deaths, hundreds of grievously wounded victims-as far as Hyderabad is concerned this is nothing new. Even as the common people in the historic city are yet to recover from the shock, big shots at the high corridors of power and air-conditioned television studios are busy discussing Afzal Guru’s execution, the chances of retaliation by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its front Indian Mujahideen (IM), Indian Intelligence’ failure. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
14 COVER STORY
JUNE 2013
While everyone notices the works for Hyderabad Metro Rail fast progressing, no one sees pillars shaking, cracks formed and a portion of one pillar caving in. It looks like even the media is being managed to keep certain disturbing things under wraps. The News gets you the ground reality Metro Rail works are progressing at a brisk pace. Everything looks hunky dory, and the entire city is eagerly waiting to see the changed face of Hyderabad. Despite the traffic snarls that the construction of the coveted railway lines create, everyone seems to be excited at the prospect of having the first of its kind (in many ways) infrastructural marvel in our own city. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
COVER STORY 15
In a barefaced white collar robbery, some local cable operators are swindling crores of rupees of public money in the name of cable television channels in connivance with corrupt I&PR officials making a mockery of the system While the entire world is witnessing television onslaught in mass media market, the twin cities are creating history of sorts, by innumerable channels set up illegally, fleecing crores of rupees of public money and fanning communal hatred in sensitive areas of the old city.
OCTOBER 2013
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
16 COVER STORY
JANUARY 2014
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
Aadmi bolta uska dodo baap, uski biwi bolti uska dodo shohar aur unke bachche pareshaan hai unke asli baap kaun (Head of the family claims he has two fathers, while his wife claims she has two husbands and their children are confused as to who is their actual father). This is not a reel life sequence but it is a real life situation wherein scores of individuals resorted to this irregularity for securing more than one voter ID card during the special summary revision, 2014. And, All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leaders are allegedly behind this grave irregularity.
APRIL 2014
COVER STORY 17
Devout muslims donated from times immemorial innumerable properties for Wakf - meant for the benefit of poor muslims. The Wakf properties mean nothing but the properties of the God Allah. However, over a period of time, those in power corridors - mostly from muslim community and some non-muslims, in collusion with corrupt government officials - have manipulated the records and grabbed the Allah’s properties, thereby committing a great sin. Investigations by The News reveal shocking tales of grabbing wakf properties. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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COVER STORY
MAY 2014 Polling in select polling stations where the MIM had complete control in twin cities picked up momentum from 3 pm. Thousands of bogus votes got registered by the MIM leaders in different areas of the twin cities got polled in the three hours following which the percentage reached 52.79, almost four percent lower than 2009 elections. The rigging is said to be heavy in Yakutpura, Chandrayangutta, Chariminar, Bahadurpura, Goshamahal, Malakpet, Nampally, Karwan, Jubilee Hills and Rajendranagar Assembly constituencies.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
COVER STORY
SEPTEMBER 2014
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Some cops never change their ways. They feel they are the unquestioned kings in their jurisdiction. Such cops never recollect the oath they had taken while joining the duty. They never feel ashamed to violate the rule book while doling out undue favours for law breakers, in return for illegal gratification. Despite tall claims by the higher echelons of the department and the political bosses, black sheep is always present in the ranks of police department playing with the lives of common people. In doing so, they become so dishonest and act illegal that they deserve to be called ‘crooked cops’. We bring you a few instances in which police officers concerned had been crooked causing serious harm for the victims.
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COVER STORY
NOVEMBER 2014
Our policemen do not have time to spend with family. They do not enjoy weekends and parties. While the entire world celebrates some festival or the other, they keep vigil to prevent untoward incidents. They even sacrifice their lives. Yet they are looked down upon by the so-called civilised society One more Police Commemoration Day. It is with pride we remember the gallant policemen who embraced death while protecting the society from lawbreakers and delinquents. They ventured into the wild to flush out the ultras, they faced and wiped out organized crime gangs, they fearlessly confronted terrorists who wanted to create unrest in the country‌ and in the bold and dedicated battle against the instruments of evil, to ensure peaceful and protected lives for the common man, hundreds of them fell to the enemies’ bullets. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
COVER STORY
MAY 2015
A group of people including APCO chairman M Hanumantha Rao, marketing officer of Hyderabad and Secunderabad Varaprasad, procurement officer Prasada Reddy, one of the directors of APCO from Kadapa district Gujjala Srinu and some others have allegedly been siphoning off hundreds of crores denying livelihood for thousands of weavers working on handlooms.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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22 COVER STORY
SEPTEMBER 2015
The garbage vehicles wing of the GHMC is stinking with corruption as the officials, politicians and departments responsible for preventing corruption remain mute spectators to the ongoing corrupt activities. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the civic body of the state capital is supposed to be an efficient, transparent and clean organization to ensure smooth functioning thereby enhancing the image of the Telangana capital.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
COVER STORY
WAKF SPECIAL / APRIL 2014
The Wakf Special, published by The News, is only the tip of an iceberg. It contains a few stories which explain the deceitful tactics of the politicians, particularly the MIM and Congress leaders, corrupt officials of various government departments and the Wakf Board. Wakf Protection and RTI activist, Moullim Mohsin Bin Hussain Al Kasary took a lot of pains, faced threats and severe financial and personal hardships for years to collect the information, authentic documents to prove his point Wakf Properties were indeed grabbed. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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COVER STORY
SEPTEMBER 2016
Police and criminals exchanged fire. Three criminals including their leader died in the encounter. Normally these kinds of police encounters never attract any sustained attention from general public except kith and kin of the persons killed. But when dreaded gangster, mafia leader with Maoist background Mohammed Nayeemuddin was gunned down by Telangana police at Shadnagar close to state capital in Mahaboobnagar it unprecedentedly gave a jolt to police, politicians and media in Telangana state (TS). As the Special Investigative Team (SIT) appointed by state government probing into criminals activities startling information about the three key sections of democracy had worked hand in glove with Nayeem gang has started coming out. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
COVER STORY 25
After much deliberations with various stakeholders, Narendra Modi led NDA government has announced a Special Assistance Measure(SAM) to Andhra Pradesh State on September first week. Opposition parties immediately called for a statewide bandh demanding special status which didn’t evoke much response. The initial scepticism over special package evaporated after Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu accepted special package and thanked PM Narendra Modi. Telugu Desam Party(TDP) leaders, with the help of media, worked overtime to drive home the point that central government is keen on helping the bifurcated state. Union Minister M. Venkayya Naidu and the state BJP leadership acted shrewdly to assure Andhra People that Narendra Modi government is hell bent on helping Andhra Pradesh.
OCTOBER 2016
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
26 COVER STORY
JANUARY 2017
Several questions are being raised over the cause of ill-health that resulted in former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister late J Jayalalitha hospitalisation and over 75 days of treatment that was shrouded with mysteries When the doctors in Chennai’s renowned Apollo Hospital announced at the midnight of December 5, after prolonged suspense, that Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was no more, millions of Tamilians broke down, several died of shock and the whole State wailed inconsolably. And then, the enticing pinup-turned-fiery politico, got one of the most respectable funerals Tamil Nadu has ever witnessed, on Marina Beach along with two other legends in Tamil political history, Annadurai and M G Ramachandran. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
JUNE 2017
COVER STORY 27
The Miyapur land scam, described by the authorities as a conspiracy between the directors of a few private infrastructure development companies and a corrupt sub-registrar, appears to be not so simple. Instead, sources say, the plan to grab the government lands was actually designed by some politicians in power. However, the plan bounced back due to differences over sharing the booty between the officials involved in the entire process. The sub-registrar offices mention only those lands in the prohibitory register against which the government publishes gazette declaring certain lands were government lands. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
28 COVER STORY
The hubbub of questioning film personalities in connection with the much hyped drug racket has almost died down. The Prohibition and Excise officials appear to have failed to find anything big by questioning about a dozen film personalities. Instead, the direction of investigations brought to the fore the ground realities such as political pressure under which the enforcement agencies work when big stakes are involved, sources told . Leaving aside the educational institutions where hundreds of students are addicted to drugs, the excise officials chose to grill film personalities obviously to grab attention besides appeasing the political bosses, the sources said.
AUGUST 2017
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
COVER STORY 29
JANUARY 2018
Party (BJP), which fell one short of a ton in the Gujarat Assembly elections, managed to reach the three figure mark with the support of an independent, who was actually from the Cong. Ratansinh Rathore, the newly-elected independent legislator from Lunawada constituency, has sent a letter to the Governor of Gujarat, O.P. Kohli, declaring his intent of lending support to the BJP government. Rathore was a Congressman for over two decades, but was denied a ticket to contest from Lunawada constituency by the grand old party. The Congress instead fielded Paranjayadityasinhji Parmar for the seat. Rathore therefore decided to contest independently. Rathore was later expelled from the Congress as he had refused to withdraw his nomination from the election.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
30 COVER STORY
AUGUST 2018
Water is essential for life. The amount of fresh water on earth is limited, and its quality is under constant pressure. Preserving the quality of fresh water is important for the drinking-water supply, food production and recreational water use. Water quality can be compromised by the presence of infectious agents, toxic chemicals, and radiological hazards, according to World Health Organization. In this background, it is important to know that many of us have heard of reverse osmosis water, but might not be completely clear as to what it actually is. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
COVER STORY 31
FEBRUARY 2019 The BJP government has finally taken it’s trump card out. It could get the node of Parliament and approval of President for its strategic ‘10% reservations for the economically weaker sections.’ Opponents think otherwise. This historic helpful move by BJP government taking note discrimination, disadvantage faced by poorer sections of socalled ‘Upper Cast’ started facing criticism and propaganda Projecting as it’s against other weaker sections who are presently enjoying reservations.
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MARCH 2019
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
In spite of many concessions, giving special protections, and flooding funds under various schemes Kashmir still burning. Anti India forces are ruling the roost. No leader in Kashmir worth his name is able to speak out against ingratitude of people who enjoy funds – facilities – protection. As many in mainstream media, mostly filled with leftists and influenced by western propaganda(read anti-Indian proMuslim) are only finding fault with the Indian government. Naturally, opposition parties also do the same thing with an eye on vote bank in the rest of India. This has led to a situation where the anti-Indian, proPak attitude is receiving encouragement in Kashmir.
MAY 2019
COVER STORY 33
Suicides in a way are murders. Murders committed by people who hurt, insult, deprive, exploit few defenceless, innocent, weak individuals. This is true in the case twenty-one teenagers who took their lives for goof up of irresponsible government officials, politicians. This is the latest human tragedy in Telangana state which attracted the attention of the country. Boys and girls who wrote Intermediate exams expected respectable marks and at least get through were given mark sheets which present them miserable failures. Because of this on one side a massive uproar has surfaced in Telangana with Hyderabad as a centre and other side innocent teens in many districts have committed suicides. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
34 COVER STORY
DECEMBER 2019
Telugu states have become centres of rampant corruption. Corruption in these states is more than what it was in Bihar. They have earned disgraceful distinction last year itself when a survey conducted by Transparency International-India and the Centre for Media Studies in New Delhi has for the first time Centre for Media Studies(CMS). Both Telangana and Andhra Prades states are recognized for leading corruption. As per this survey 'India Corruption Study' Tamil Nadu holds the worst record of being the Most Corrupt among 13 states in India. Telangana is only next to Tamil Nadu in this category. Andhra Pradesh is at Fourth Position. Even in latest Telangana emerged to be India’s 5th most corrupt state, while the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh substantially improved it’s postion by stands at 13th position. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
THE NATION 35
Enemy properties
Govt to get Rs 1 lakh crore
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THE NEWS BUREAU
he Centre on Thursday announced the formation of committees and a group of ministers to sell properties of Chinese and Pakistani nationals seized by the Indian government after the 1962 war against China and the 1965 and 1971 wars against Pakistan. There are 9,406 'enemy properties', worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, hundreds of crores worth of enemy shares and gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 38 lakh held by the government. The Enemy Property Act enacted in 1968 regulates such properties. The act was amended in 2017 to ensure that the heirs of those who migrated to Pakistan and China will have no claim over the properties left behind in India. Pakistan had also sold similar Indianowned properties it had seized (including in East Pakistan). This was in violation of the Tashkent Declaration signed in 1966 that said that the two countries would discuss the return of the assets taken over by either side in connection with the 1965 war. There are 9,280 such properties left behind by Pakistani nationals and 126 by Chinese nationals. Of the total properties left behind by those who took Pakistani citizenship, 4,991 are in Uttar Pradesh, 2,735 in West Bengal and 487 in Delhi. The highest number of properties left by Chinese nationals is in Meghalaya (57). West Bengal has 29 such properties and Assam
seven. Check out the full list here. The government has been trying to sell the seized assets. Last year it appointed a committee to help sell over 6.5 crore shares that were under the custody of the Custodian of Enemy Property for India and raised Rs 1,874 crore including Rs 1,150 crore from the sale of 4.44 crore shares of IT major Wipro. It had sold Rs 779 crore worth of such shares in 2018-19. The Centre still holds shares of 257 listed companies and 327 unlisted companies. In March 2019, the Union Cabinet had also cleared the mechanism for monetisation of im-
movable 'enemy property' assets, a process it now wants to speed up. At a time when a slowing economy has put pressure on government revenues, asset monetisation (of which selling enemy properties is a part) offers a way to raise money in the short term. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea, Bharti Telecom and Tata Teleservices, which together owe over Rs 1 lakh crore in AGR-related dues to the government missed the January 23 deadline to pay up while Reliance Jio cleared its dues of Rs 195 crore.
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INTERNATIONAL
Cyberattack
Why Bezos's phone hacked?
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THE NEWS BUREAU
he mobile phone of Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man and founder-CEO of Amazon was hacked in 2018 after he received a video file on WhatsApp from the personal account of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, The Guardian reports. The crown prince - better known by acronym MBS - and Bezos were exchanging regular messages on May 1, 2018, when an "unsolicited file" was sent. The file infiltrated Bezos's mobile phone and transferred large amounts of data. Later, United Nations investigators said they had concluded with "reasonable certainty" that Bezos's phone was hacked from MBS's account, and called for an immediate investigation. The story has many
subplots, worthy of a crime drama. Here's what you need to know:
Bezos owns the Washington Post in his personal capacity. The Post has been critical of Saudi Arabia and crown prince, for Kingdom's treatment of human rights activists and the war in Yemen, among others. The Post has been critical of US President Donald Trump as well. The Post, at the time of the hack also had a prominent columnist who wrote against MBS: Jamal Khashoggi, who was later, in October 2018, killed by Saudi agents inside a consulate in Istanbul. Early last year, Bezos in a blog post said the chief executive of a US the tabloid had been blackmailing him with intimate photos and text messages. Bezos said his investment in the Post has made him
an enemy for certain powerful people; "President Trump is one of those people," he said. Later, Bezos's security chief said the Saudi government had gained access to his boss's phone. When the US tabloid, the National Enquirer, published stories about Bezos's extra-marital affair, the billionaire was in the midst of a divorce from his wife. Bezos is now in a relationship with his girlfriend. The New York Times later reported that chief executive of National Enquirer, David Pecker, had met MBS in 2017. Pecker is also a close ally of Trump. Trump had also tweeted about the Enquirer articles against Bezos - "far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post," he said.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
THE NATION 37
Peace agreement with Bodo groups
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THE NEWS BUREAU
he Government of India has signed a tripartite agreement with representatives of all factions of banned organisation National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) at Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).The Bodo students group All Bodo Students’ Union was also a signatory of the peace accord. Addressing the media on the occasion, Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured that the agreement signed between Assam government, Centre and the Bodo representatives will herald a golded future for Assam and the Bodo people. The peace accord ensures political and economic benefits for the Bodo people, without compromising the territorial integrity of the Assam state. This will be the third peace accord to be signed in the last 27 years since the violent movement for a separate Bodoland state
began. The violent movement has claimed thousands of lives and destruction worth several crores. The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Chief Hagrama Mohilary, in his speech on the occasion of Republic day celebration in Kokrajhar, welcomed the decision of the central government to schedule Bodo accord with NDFB and ABSU on Monday. He expressed his hope that the accord will bring peace and development in the region. The convener of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), and Assam’s Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had asserted that no new village or area would be added to the BTAD under the new agreement. Allaying the concerns of Bodo representatives, Sarma had said on Saturday in Guwahati that as per the new accord, the Centre would not upgrade the state’s ‘Bodoland Territorial Area Districts’ (BTAD) to a Union Territory.
Following this, Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said all stakeholders of the Bodo society signed this agreement, reaffirming the territorial integrity of Assam. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, 1,550 cadres along with 130 weapons will surrender on January 30. As the Home Minister, I want to assure all representatives that all promises will be fulfilled in a timebound manner.The Home Minister was keen to conclude the accord as early as possible to end the protected Bodo insurgency in Assam so that a lasting peace is returned to the Bodo-dominated areas in the state, an official had said The peace agreement was signed amidst the calls to severe Assam and the North-East from the rest of the country by some people. Earlier last week, a video had gone viral in which one of the co-organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protest, urged Muslims to organise themselves to cut-off Assam and NorthEast from the rest of India.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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BUSINESS
After Indian mobile market
Is China eyeing automakers?
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THE NEWS BUREAU
s the country has celebrated its 71st Republic Day we are losing industry after industry to China. The dragon which has only grown fierce - threatening across the spectrum. China has slowly but strategically spread its presence in the Indian IT/technology and allied sectors in India, and there seems no stopping. From smartphones to automobile/electric vehicles, from digital payments and consumer electronics to social media, Chinese companies have created massive ripples in the country in the last couple of years, while American giants like Amazon and Facebook/WhatsApp face political heat.
China, which is a fastestgrowing trillion-dollar economy with a current GDP of $14.14 trillion is on the path to becoming a $20 trillion economy by 2024 and India is its "sweet spot" -- with millions of consumers buying Chinese goods which have decimated domestic players in certain sectors. Take the case of the smartphone industry. According to Hong Kongbased Counterpoint Research, Chinese smartphone brands captured 72 per cent of the market in 2019 compared to 60 per cent a year ago. A behemoth like the BBK Group (the parent company of OPPO, Vivo, Realme and OnePlus brands) captured 37 per cent market share while Xiaomi (along
with Redmi and POCO brands) came second at 28 per cent. Led by Xiaomi and BBK Group, the Chinese brands have invested heavily in manufacturing devices and accessories in India. Xiaomi currently has seven smartphone manufacturing plants in India in partnership with Taiwanese multinational electronics company Foxconn and Singapore-based technological manufacturer Flex Ltd.More than 99 per cent of smartphones that are sold in India are manufactured locally. Across these seven plants, Xiaomi has employed more than 25,000 people. Xiaomi also locally sources and assembles PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly) in India. It has invested in setting up a smart TV
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
BUSINESS
manufacturing plant in partnership with Dixon Technologies in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. The company last year infused Rs 3,500 crore into its Indian business unit. Vivo has committed Rs 7,500 crore as part of its India expansion plan while Chinese company TCL is investing Rs 2,200 crore in Tirupati for plants that will produce mobile handsets and TV screens. Amid the onslaught, where do you see domestic players like Micromax, Intex, Lava and Karbonn (known as 'MILK' brand)? According to Navkendar Singh, Research Director, IDC India, while we cannot rule out any player making a comeback, especially in such a dynamic market like India, it looks nearly impossible for Indian mobile phones brands to win back any relevant portion of the market. "China-based brands have been in India for almost 5 years plus now. In this time, apart from snatching the market share almost entirely from the other brands, they have gained immense knowledge about the workings of the India market in terms of consumer thinking, preferences, channel dynamics
and marketing interventions," Singh told IANS. The Chinese brands are continuously committing resources and investments in all these key areas."Moreover, with more than 3/4th of the market being with 5 players, it is becoming increasingly challenging for any new or old brands like Indian brands to attempt any sustained comeback," Singh elaborated. So what are the options for the Indian smartphone players? "Indian brands can surely look at the feature phone segment, where almost all major Chinabased brands have chosen to stay away from (expect Shenzhen-based Transsion Group which is the leader). Also, their brand salience remains strong with that consumer segment and Tier II and III markets," said the IDC executive. Cut to the Auto Expo 2020 and you will have a better understanding of how Chinese companies muscle their ways.Top Chinese firms such as SAIC (owner of MG Motors), BYD (maker of electric buses and batteries), Great Wall (which is the biggest SUV maker in China) and FAW Haima, among
39
others, have reserved nearly 20 per cent space in the annual jamboree of carmakers and industry leaders, at a time when the Indian automobile industry is going through a severe slowdown. Bucking the slowdown trend, SAIC has recorded healthy sales ever since it launched the Hector SUV. At present, the carmaker's first offering SUV Hector has an order book of 20,000 bookings. It has till date sold nearly 16,000 units of Hector since its launch in July 2019. The Chinese automobile major has now launched its first electric offering called ZS EV, at a starting price of Rs 20.88 lakh. The company said that it has secured an overwhelming response for the new-age electric SUV, with over 2,800 bookings in 27 days. To let its EVs run smoothly in India, MG Motor India is building a five-way EV charging ecosystem in association with major domain players. China's leading EV company, Sunra, has expressed interest in setting up a factory in the country as it sees India emerging as the world's biggest market for electric bikes in the next four to five years. The EV firm has partnered with 16 private companies in Delhi. Nearly six e-bike models of Sunra are under the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) test and two of its models are available in some of the showrooms. According to a TechSci Research report, the electric vehicle market in India is forecast to reach nearly $2 billion by the financial year 2023. As the Indian government firms up its EV plans, Chinese companies have already set their eyes on the EV sector roadmap in the country.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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COPS & CROOKS
THE NEWS BUREAU
n organized gang in Hyderabad comprising some women and transgenders headed by a self-styled socio-political leader is resorting to extortions in the garb of financing. The gang leader Nalla Srikanth aka Nalla Shiva operates mainly in Panjagutta area. Initially he collects contributions from businessmen on the pretext of organizing community festivals like Vinayaka Chaviti. During the interactions, he scouts for prospective victims among businessmen who are in need of funds for running the businesses. Ones the businessmen borrow
Beware of Nalla Shiva gang Gang has the blessing of Addl. DCP & ACP
money from Shiva, he collects blank signed cheques, promissory notes and even signed blank stamp papers. He will never return those documents even after the borrowers repay the money. He will then start his extortion plan on the strength of the signed blank documents. It is at this point of time Shiva will bring his associates into picture. The associates are none other than some women and transgenders speaking filthy language and who are ready to create nuisance at the offices and residences of the borrowers. Afraid of being insult and humiliation, the borrowers give their consent to fulfill the undue demands of Shiva and land in a debt trap which has no end. And Shiva is said to have the
blessings of some police officials. Among those who allegedly support the gang include additional deputy commissioner of police, Venkateshwarlu, presently working in Madhapur zone of Cyberabad and assistant commissioner of police, A. Vijay Kumar (Now Retired). Incidentally, both the officials have worked in the past as ACsP of Panjagutta division. The nefarious activities of Shiva and his gang came to light when two of his victims Soma Shekar and R Srinivas, partners of an educational consultancy lodged complaints against the gang with the Panjagutta police. According to the police investigation, Shiva was introduced to Soma Shekar and Srinivas by their common friend Shailender. When
the duo started their office in Panjagutta, Shiva offered loan for their business in 2017. Since there was genuine need, Soma Shekar in all borrowed Rs. 30 lakhs in all from Shiva. He had to give signed blank cheques, promissory notes and signed blank stamp papers as guarantee to Shiva. Later, taking advantage of the blank documents, Shiva collected Rs. 82 lakh from Soma Shekar and still demanded Rs. 45 lakh towards final settlement of the loan. Shiva also extorted Rs. 45 lakh from Soma Shekar towards expenses for Assembly Elections. Soma Shekar was forced to pay the margin money and the installments of luxury vehicle bought by Shiva. When Soma Shekar refused to fulfill the undue demands of Shiva,
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
the latter went to the businessman’s office, disrobed himself and sent live video threatening that if Soma Shekar failed to meet his demands, his female associates will do the similar thing at the residence of Soma Shekar to create nuisance and damage the reputation in the locality. Shiva compelled Soma Shekar and Srinivas to issue a cheque to Park Hyatt Hotel towards the bill for the birthday celebrations of Shiva’s daughter. However, the duo failed to honour cheque as they had no funds in their accounts due to which the hotel management filed a case against them. Further, Shiva threatened to damage the reputation of Soma Shekar and his father in their native place by creating nuisance along with his female and transgender associates. Besides, the gang took away satellite equipment worth Rs. 28 lakh from Soma Shekar’s office and returned them only after obtaining a cheque from Soma Shekar’s wife for Rs. 15 lakh. He intentionally presented the cheque though request was made not to present the same and filed a case against Soma Shekar’s wife. What more! Shiva and his associates whisked away Soma Shekar at least twice and assaulted him in moving cars and also at his residence apart from abusing him and his family members in most filthy language. Shiva also threatened to implicate Soma Shekar and his family members in SC, ST atrocities case. The gang also made the victims buy air tickets for Delhi and back to Hyderabad worth about Rs. 7 lakhs using credit cards. Similarly, Shiva lent Rs. 2 lakh to Srinivas and extorted Rs. 6 lakh keeping the borrower under threat of creating nuisance with the assistance of his women and transgen-
COPS & CROOKS 41
der associates. In all, Shiva and his gang extorted about Rs. 1 crore from the two businessmen. The victims were subjected to immense physical and psychological torture by the gang. Unable to bear the torture any further, the victims with the advice and help of well wishers filed cases with Panjagutta police. After investigation, police arrested the gang members Anamagandla Shiva Kumar, Azeema
unissa Begum @ Azeema, Anamagandla Uday Kumar, G. Sara swathi, Sabiya Begum and Naresh, while kingpin Shiva and another of his associate A. Sai Kumar surrendered before the court. Now, Shiva is sending death threats to Soma Shekar and Srinivas by proclaiming at the court that he will kill the duo and their family members for filing cases and sending him and his associates to prison.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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HERITAGE
Charminar area needs redesign
Bring back to shape D
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espite the State government efforts through its various initiatives, to revamp the Charminar area results are not encouraging The heritage value of Old City has been decreasing through the years. This is has come out clear in a recent study. It is reported that in an Italian journal where the authors stress on the need to redesign the Charminar area so that it reclaims its past glory. The Charminar is a massive arch built by Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah, in 1591 to commemorate the end of the plague in the city. The symbol of the city, the Charminar, is an impressive square monument with four minarets. The arch is illuminated daily in the evening, an unforgettable sight indeed. The structure is of IndoIslamic architecture with some Persian elements. The city of Hyderabad was divided into four divisions equally around the Charminar. The study called ‘Revitalisation of Historic Core of Hyderabad’ by architects Rahul Palagani and Santoshi Ramya, published by Politecnico di Milano, a university in Italy, concentrates on the Pathergatti road in Charminar and shows how it transformed over the years, to now, when there is barely any space for
people to walk.It lists the heritage buildings in the area and writes the problems with it. About the Mir Alam Mandi Market, it says, “The cultural mix of Old City is very clearly visible here. The problem is clearly that the space is completely in ruins and
tourist attraction due to the lack of visitors”. The researchers recommended various ways in which these structures could be revitalised. With regard to the Shah Khurshid Rath Khana, which was earlier used as stables and where a logistics company stands now, the researchers say, "The ground plan structure with a large inner courtyard and arcades is suitable for any wide community activity." And for Pathergatti, the study says, "The main problem of traffic urgently needs to be regulated, and the lively use as the main shopping street should be maintained." It also provided various architectural designs on how the area could be restructured.
HeRITAGe wALk
it is in very dire state which needs immediate attention”. On Makabbara Nabab Kalyana, the study says, “The tomb is no longer used for religious purposes. Informal residents are using it. This always occurs when it is not used. They are not perceived as a value for the city, nor do they serve as a
Heritage Walks were conducted to increase awareness in people. These walks are usually arranged on route Charminar to Chowmahalla. Almost a dozen of historic components were shown on 1.5km long route to the visitors.A documentary movie of the Heritage Walk was also made. The study ‘Revitalisation of Historic Core of Hyderabad’ talks about the transformation of Pathergatti road from a wide stretch to a narrow one where there is barely any space for visitors to walk.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
IMAPCT
43
Massive scam in APCO TS Lokayukta endorses The News expose Likely to order CID probe
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THE NEWS BUREAU
ational periodical The News has always been courageous in publishing reports with authentic documents. And its efforts have not gone waste. The magazine’s expose on a massive procurement scandal worth around Rs. 600 crore prior to
2015 has been recognized by the Telangana State Lokayukta. It may be recalled the magazine has exposed how a group of people including the then chairman of APCO, M Hanumantha Rao, Marketing officer Varaprasad, procurement officer Prasada Reddy, Kadapa district weavers’ society
president of that time Gujjala Srinu and some others siphoned off hundreds of crores of Rupees. The scam originally began in the year 2010 when the school education department decided to procure school uniforms as part of Rajiv Vidya Mission’s (RVM) Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) from
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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IMAPCT
APCO. Documents clearly showed that the school uniforms, meant to be supplied for government and quasi-government school students free of cost, must be procured from ‘APCO only’ so as to provide employment to the local weavers. The documents also show that the government has issued instructions that APCO should exhaust the stock of material of local weavers first and shall also provide them work up to the time frame stipulated before the APCO procures any additional requirement either from any power looms within the state or outside. However, Gujjala Srinu formed a ring of corrupt officials in the APCO and bypassed the government orders to make quick bucks denying a livelihood to the handloom weavers across the state. APCO procured a huge quantity of cloth from power looms and clothmaking industries outside the state. Varaprasad, who was working in the livery division of APCO and posted at its godown at Secunderabad and his colleague Prasad Reddy who were entrusted with the responsibility of inspecting the cloth that reach the godown and certify whether it was actually made by handloom weavers, issued false certificates. While some other employees including the chairman Hanumantha Rao helped the kingpin in getting payments in the name of 20 weaver’s societies registered in Kadapa district, which are said to be the Benami societies run by Gujjala Srinu, the group was able to manage even the officials of Rajiv Vidya Mission and the school education department and got extended the deadlines to supply the cloth according to their convenience. When social activist K. Venkata Narayana, inspired by The News
report, requested information under Right to Information Act, the management of APCO simply refused saying their organization does not come under the RTI Act. Consequently, he approached Lokayukta seeking action against the scamsters. The Lokayukta got investigated the matter through its investigation wing thoroughly. Deputy Director of Investigation in the institution of Lokayukta in a report submitted to the Director of Investigations stated that the magnitude of scam is very high and huge. It requires huge number of staff and resources to investigate. If agreed we may
suggest that the investigation of this case may be entrusted to the Crime Investigation Department. The Lokayukta has posted the matter to February 26 directing Venkata Narayana to file his objections if any to the report of the deputy director. Meanwhile, it is learnt that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has ordered a probe into the alleged irregularities in the distribution of school uniforms to students across the state by the APCO. Sources said the probe will be carried out by the Vigilance and Enforcement Department.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
EDU-VOICE
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PROF. G. NARSIMULU
Teacher education
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Degree for sale in Telugu states
he Supreme Court of India appointed Justice Varma committee to probe into the functioning of teacher education institutions and came with suitable measures and suggested that the curriculum in teacher education should be redesigned and duration of the course should be extended from one year to two years with four semesters. The National Council for teacher education An autonomous body at national level conducted several workshops and seminars and came with two years teacher education programmes named a Bachelor of education and Master of education with effect 2015-16 academic year. NCTE with its regional offices accorded permission to shift from a one-year duration to two years with four-semester duration in entire states. Under united Andhra Pradesh, the higher education department had approved the new curriculum of the teacher education offering B Ed and M Ed courses through university education departments. For BEd course with one unit 50 and another unit of 50 students strength total of 100 was given to the colleges with sufficient infrastructure and 1+16 qualified teaching staff were recruited and given renewals
every year and staff were paid salaries in time through Bank not liquid cash. Twenty years back there was very much demand for teacher education course and there were every year teachers were appointed through district selection committees. The stand-alone teacher education colleges used to collect lakhs of rupees as management quota fees. For thousands of seats more than two lakh students used to write the EDCET. Later the demand for admission to teacher education courses was slowly coming down as the recruitment of teachers were not done over many years and in the place of regular teachers government used to appoint voluntary teachers on yearly basis. The recruitment of primary teachers was restricted to students of Diet students and students of BEd were eligible only school assistants who used to teach high school students. When this situation was there all of sudden the government of India shifted its focus on teacher education and modified curriculum with four semesters was introduced in entire country from2015-16 academic year onwards. During the year 2018, the
NCTE has relaxed its rule and Students of B Ed may be allowed to compete for secondary school teachers however they should complete six months course after they are selected and appointed in school education. This has somewhat created demand for BEd course in Telugu speaking states of India. During the year 2019 more than forty-four, thousands of students in Telangana state wrote EDCET For 19750 seats available in 222 Colleges operating in Telangana state, out of 15000 convenor quota only 12 465 seats were filled and in the case of Andhra Pradesh below ten thousand students used to write EDCET every year and more seats were available in hundreds of stand-alone teacher education colleges. To fill up the seats in teacher education colleges, the management used to get from other states and given all concessions and they used to manage With university authorities and without entrance examination, they used to admit under management quota. The university officials never conduct periodic inspections and only during affiliation time used to conduct nominal inspections and grant affiliation with certain conditions like
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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EDU-VOICE
appointing sufficient and qualified staff etc. Majority of the colleges in both Telugu speaking states never appoint 1+16 teaching staff and they used to run the classes with four to five regular staff. Sometimes the management member used to conduct the classes. At the time of inspections, teachers are hired for one day and they will disappear the next day. The revised curriculum of BEd and MEd stress more on practicum and less stress is given on the teaching part, Inspite of the new two years course introduced majority of the teacher educators were not aware of the curriculum still follow old pattern of the course. At the university level no sufficient staff available and universities like Osmania, Kakatiya universities find difficult to monitor colleges under their service as they don't have sufficient teaching staff. As the duration of the course is four semesters and each semester has 100 working days and examinations and evaluation os major task and they didn’t have time to evaluate course effectiveness. Draft committee on revised education
commission of India stated that teacher education has been beleaguered with mediocrity as well as rampant corruption due to commercialisation.Most Institutions today providing teacher education are small colleges in the private sector that offers only a single narrow programme and where there is a general lack of commitment to the need for rigorous and quality in teacher preparation. According to the Justice JS Verma commission (2012)constituted by the Supreme Court stated that the majority of this stand-alone teaching institutes, over 100000 in number are not even Attempting serious teacher education instructions but are selling degrees for a price. Inspite of seriousness in the commissions, the remedial measures suggested and new curriculum introduced over the years still the teacher education sector is being neglected and private management used to mint money in the name of teacher education institutions.The draft committee on higher education suggested that the would-be teachers are given Highest quality training in content, pedagogy and
practice by moving the teacher education system into multidisciplinary colleges and universities. Establishing the four years integrated Bachelor degree as the minimum qualification for all teachers. Commenting on poor regulatory mechanisms of the universities in the country the commission has serious commented that regulatory efforts so far have neither been able to curb the corruption rampant in the system nor enforce basic standards for quality and contributing to the growth of excellence and innovation in this sector. Further commission on higher education stated that teacher preparation is an activity that requires Multidisciplinary perspectives and knowledge. The formation of disposition and values and the development of practice under the mentors. Teachers must be grounded in Indian values Etc, knowledge and traditions, while also being well versed in the latest advances in education and pedagogy. (Author is a Retired professor Life long education Osmania University Hyderabad)
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
SCAM
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Passbooks issued for house plots
Rytu Bandhu funds Swindled in Ghatkesar Mandal A
SI refuses to receive complaint; SHO says he will look into the matter
THE NEWS BUREAU
griculture Investment Support Scheme, popularly known as Rytu Bandhu, is the much hyped populist scheme of the TRS dispensation. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao claims time and again that land records had been streamlined and made error free. However, the truth seems to be something else. In many places, select people who have ‘clout’, particularly those whose fathers and forefathers have sold agricultural lands by converting them into plots but the bonafide purchasers of plots did not get their names mutated in revenue records, ‘managed’ to secure orders in their favour from the revenue officials concerned and got their names entered in the pahanis. And then, they are receiving Rytu Bandhu benefits. Thus, in some places, pattadar passbooks have been issued for house plots and Rytu Bandhu funds are released for those plots for the ‘so-called pattadars’. For instance, about a dozen influential persons in Pratapsingaram village of Ghatkesar Mandal of
K. Narsingh Rathod, Sub Inspector Medipalli P.S
Medchal-Malkajgiri district, in collusion with previous Tahsildar of Ghatkesar Mandal have resorted to this scandal. 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
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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SCAM
sold the plots since 1988 through 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
The then Ghatkeshar Thahasildar N. Rajeswar Reddy
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 Medipalli 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
Medchal Collector Shifted
Collector and District Magistrate of Medchal-Malkajgiri district has been transferred and posted as Collector of Bhadradri Kothagudem district. While Medchal district is considered as a prime posting, Kothagudem district is considered loop line in the official circles. It may be recalled the transfer comes at a time when news about gross irregularities in the implementation of Rytu Bandhu scheme in Medchal-Malkajgiri district came to light and the District Collector has ordered an enquiry, particularly with respect to tampering of revenue records in Ghatkesar Mandal.
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. However, the Sub-Inspector concerned, Narsing Rathod refused to receive the complaint without even looking into the complaint and simply saying that they will not entertain any complaint related to land. He was not ready even to go through the complaint despite explaining that it was not a civil litigation but related to criminal offense involving commission of cognizable offenses and the police are bound to register FIR. When contacted, Station House Officer, B Anji Reddy told The News that he was not apprised about the criminal nature of the complaint. He said he would speak to the complainants directly and do the needful as per law.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
POLITICS
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Rajinikanth in a controversy
Referring Periyar’s 1971 Salem event
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THE NEWS BUREAU
amil film actor Rajinikanth, who has announced his intention to enter Tamil Nadu politics has recently (21 January) set the imprint for his political foray by refusing to apologise for a statement he made last week on a rally held at Salem in 1971 by Dravida Kazhagam (DK) founder “Periyar” E V Ramasamy. Speaking at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Tughlak Tamil magazine. In his speech made at the event on 14 January (Tuesday), Rajinikanth
said that the magazine, edited by Cho Ramaswamy, was the only one to cover the aforementioned 1971 event in which Hindu Gods “Ram and Sita’s effigies without clothes were paraded, garlanded with footwear”.Rajinikanth also said that despite the attempts of the then DMK government, headed by Karunanidhi, seizing the copies of that issue of Thuglak, a few copies did manage to reach the market. After Rajinikanth’s remarks, many Dravidian party leaders refused that any such incident had occurred and demanded an apology
from the superstar. Soon after the statement by Rajinikanth on the 1971 Salem rally of the DK founder, a section, claiming to be Periyar followers, demanded an apology from the actor. Quite a few cases were also filed by these activists against Rajinikanth in various parts of the State. Earlier on Tuesday, DK general secretary K Veeramani told the media in Thoothukudi that Rajinikanth was misleading the people on “Periyar” and he would “pay the price for such comments”. A complaint has also been filed against him, and re-
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
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POLITICS
portedly, his effigies were burnt by Dravidian outfits. However, the superstar refused to apologise and said that his comment was factual. Rajinikanth’s other comment might have piqued the Dravidian party leaders. He said, “If someone had 'Murasoli' (DMK’s official organ) in his hand he will be known as DMK man. But if someone had 'Thuglak' he would be known as an intellectual.”
wHAT IS THe 1971 eveNT RAJINIkANTH ReFeRRed TO?
The event Rajinikanth referred to was a ‘superstition eradication conference’ organised by Periyar in 1971 in Salem. A book by Dalit Theology and Dalit Liberation: Problems, Paradigms and Possibilities By Peniel Rajkumar quotes S Robertson for details of the event as “. In 1971, Periyar organised a superstition eradication campaign in Salem. In this conference, Rama’s image was taken in the procession and was beaten by sandals. Hindu deities were obscenely portrayed. The effigy of Rama was burned publicly. Posters revealing
the lust of and the birth of the Hindu deities were found everywhere. Many other photos depicted naked idols and erotic scenes from mythology.” The Hindu on January 25, 1971, has published an article titled ‘Demonstration against obscene tableaux: “The tableaux included obscene pictures of the birth of
Lord Murugan, penance of sages and Mohini Avatara, a 10-foot long image of Lord Rama was carried on a vehicle and dozens of people kept beating it with chappals”.The report added that Periyar “seated on a tractor, was at the rear of the procession”, and an image of Lord Rama cut out in wood was set on fire at the end of the procession. In another 31 January 1971 report, The Hindu quoted Karunanidhi himself saying that he was sorry that such obscenity had taken place: “[Karunanidhi] told journalists in Madurai that Periyar had the right to think on revolutionary lines, but no government would be prepared to implement all his revolutionary ideas.. he said he was sorry to learn from newspaper reports about the obscene tableaux in the DK-sponsored procession and the police permitting the procession. The feelings of some people would have been hurt and he could quite understand it.” An Outlook report (by G.C. Shekha) dated r20 November 2017 describes the attempts of the
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POLITICS Karunanidhi-led government to curb the news of what had happened at the conference reaching the masses:“.. in February 1971 when Thuglak, edited by Cho Ramaswamy, came under fire for publishing photographs of a Dravidar Kazhagam’s procession in Salem that had depicted Hindu gods Rama and Sita in the nude with a garland of slippers around their neck” “Karunanidhi had initially denied that any such denigration had happened at Salem, but Thuglak countered his claim with photographic evidence. Even as the police came to the Ananda Vikatan press to seize the copies, bundles of the fortnightly were flung over the compound wall and found their way to the market, where they were sold at a premium” “The irrepressible Cho published a cartoon in the next edition that showed
Karunanidhi as the circulationcum-advertising agent for Thuglak for having created a demand for his fledgeling magazine. An EPW March 1991 report also referred to the happenings at the Salem conference as “nothing unusual.. as it was a part of the tradition of the DK politics”.It also stated that the Democratic Front (Congress (O) and allies) at the time stridently utilised this in 1971 election campaign, and that the Dravidian party had to go into a damage-control mode. Based on these factual reports, it has become quite clear that the event with an obscene depiction of Hindu deities, including “Hindu gods Rama and Sita in the nude with a garland of slippers around their neck” was indeed organised by Periyar in 1971 in Salem. As he has his facts clear, Rajinikanth said
51
he had not referred to any fictitious event. Addressing the media in Chennai. He produced a photocopy of 1971 rally published by Outlook in 2017 and on social media, a report of Illustrated Weekly on the rally was reproduced. The film star said even former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tamil Nadu state president K N Lakshmanan had supported his statement pointing out how he took part in a protest against the rally. “There is a controversy that I have said something that has not happened. I have not said anything that has not happened. Some people want me to regret and apologise for the statement. Sorry, I humbly tell them that I am not going to regret or apologise (for making the statement),” the actor said.
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52
THE NATION
Row over Saibaba birthplace
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aharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray managed to placate residents of Shirdi whom he assured that Pathri will be developed as a religious place and not as the birthplace of Saibaba.Shirdi town had observed a bandh on Sunday over a row over the birthplace of the 19th-century saint. In a meeting which was also attended by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat, Uddhav told the Shirdi representatives that they could have consulted with him before going for the bandh. Later, BJP MLA Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil told reporters that the outcome of the meeting was satisfactory and hence they have decided to call off the agitation.Patil said they had no objection on the infrastructure development of Pathri under the
religious places development scheme. “Unnecessary controversy should not be stoked.” Babajani Durani, the NCP legislator from Pathri, said he and other representatives would meet the CM and submit documentary evidence and historical references that prove Saibaba was born at Pathri in Parbhani district. He said that in the 1967 government gazette, it was clearly mentioned that Saibaba was born at Pathri. “Documents cannot speak a lie. Besides, there are other references also. If the residence of Shirdi has documents to refute our claim, then they should put in the public domain. I have been a trustee of Pathari Saibaba Janmasthal Samiti since 1978. We are going to develop this place as the birthplace of Saibaba.” Durani also said that they are not against Shirdi as Samadhi Sthal of Saibaba, but the
town should not object Pathri as the birthplace. Parbhani’s guardian minister Nawab Malik, meanwhile, said the claim of Pathri as the birthplace of Saibaba was made by President Ram Nath Kovind.“The signature of presidents is present on things that are approved and implemented. If the BJP legislator has any issue, then he should write to the President of India,” Malik said.Residents of Shirdi feared that if Pathri is developed as the birthplace of Saibaba, then devotees will flock there. Meanwhile the villagers of Dhoopkheda in Aurangabad district have demanded funds worth Rs 50 crore for development of the place claiming that Saibaba was first spotted in their village.Locals passed a resolution demanding funds for infrastructure development, said village sarpanch.
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THE NATION
53
Modi-Shah’s agenda
Next things? I
BY: D.K. SINGH
f you want to understand the plight of opposition leaders in India, roll out a mat to play Twister. Now imagine you are Rahul Gandhi and the referee is Narendra Modi holding the spinner. Every time he spins it, you must twist and twirl your body to touch the coloured circles on the mat - left foot yellow, right-hand red, right foot green - until you are tied up in knots. Now you know how helpless Rahul Gandhi must feel when Modi or Amit Shah keep spinning the wheel, leaving opposition leaders in a tangled mess. By the time the opposition gathers the
‘suit-boot ki sarkar’ ammunition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already told jingoistic tales about surgical strikes on terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Just when the opposition prepares to puncture the ruling party’s ‘achhe din’ bubble, Modi moves on to talk about Balakot airstrikes. Then comes the criminalisation of triple talaq, invalidation of Article 370, Supreme Court verdict paving way for the construction of a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and so on. The opposition leaders are under constant pressure to react and they end up fumbling for words, invariably.
Blame it on the intellectual bankruptcy or sheer cussedness of opposition leaders. Or credit ModiAmit Shah’s earthy politics and grasp of the people’s pulse. They always have their political adversaries on a Twister mat. The opposition just can’t anticipate the duo’s next move, forget outwitting or outmanoeuvring them.
A POLITICAL TwISTeR
The political fracas over the CAA, the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) is the latest example. Don’t be mistaken by the sit-in protests at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh or at Lucknow’s Clock Tower. The citizens might be out on the roads
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54 THE NATION
protesting, but the opposition leaders are still in their drawing rooms, still assessing the pros and cons. When TV visuals of the protesters pull on their heartstrings and they can’t hold themselves back anymore, they react — on Twitter. The result: It’s the BJP that’s on the offensive on the CAA-NRIC. You must give it to the diehard optimists in the opposition camp. They believe that the BJP has finally ‘exhausted’ its core issues — Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, removal of Article 370 and the uniform civil code (the third partially addressed through the criminalisation of triple talaq). “Ab baat karne ko unke paas kya raha (what do they have left to talk about now)? You can’t talk about the same issues four years later,” an elated Congress leader told me one January evening. He and most of his colleagues in the opposition camp are mistaken though. The BJP has at least three new core issues to replace the old ones, which would keep the opposition leaders on the Twister mat for a long time to come. Before we come to these new issues, let me also share a recent exchange with a BJP leader. “If the Congress were in power and the
state of our economy was what it is now, we would have had thousands of bullock carts and tractors, filled with farmers and youth, outside Parliament building, outside the PM’s and ministers’ offices and residences. We would be going door-to-door to apprise the people of this mess. Magar opposition walon ko rajniti karni hi nahin aati (but the opposition doesn’t know how to do politics).”
So, what are the new core agendas of the BJP? The first one is, of course, the CAA-NRIC. Just count the number of times Modi and Shah speak about the CAA in a day. As for the NRIC, neither of them has said that it won’t be implemented in future. Every time they issue a clarification, the caveat is “not now”. The NRIC is another Ayodhya for the BJP, which doesn’t have to be resolved immediately. It has long-term political use. The second core issue is going to be the population control policy. I would call it the new uniform civil code in terms of its political potential for the BJP. Prime Minister Modi flagged his concerns about population explosion in last year’s Independence Day address.
THe New CORe AGeNdA
Remember how the government’s think tank NITI Aayog convened a meeting on population stabilisation last month, only to defer it. There was no immediacy to it. The CAA/NPR/NRIC debate was generating enough heat. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has kept the issue alive though. The Sangh is not specifying a two-child norm and would like the BJP-led government to take a call on this, but it doesn’t require a genius to guess which way the debate would eventually turn. BJP strategists may already be grinning ear to ear in anticipation of the rift in the opposition camp over the population policy. Perceived privileges enjoyed by the minorities are the third issue the BJP is preparing to focus on. In response to a petition challenging the allocation of Rs 4,700 crore for minority welfare schemes on the plea that it’s discriminatory against Hindus, the Modi government has already said that the petition raises “substantial question of law” and it should be referred to a five-judge Constitution bench.The petition was filed by Sanatan Hindu Dharam lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who was also the VHP’s counsel in the Ayodhya case. The petitioner has challenged the utilisation of taxpayers’ money to “appease a section of society”. While the Supreme Court is seized with this issue, BJP and RSS leaders are said to be looking closely at the rights and privileges enjoyed by minority educational institutions, from madrasas to universities. The issue of appointments in minority educational institutions is already in the Supreme Court. (Courtesy: The Print)
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THE NATION
55
Anti-CAA protests No blanket order on invoking NSA: SC
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he Supreme court made it clear that it cannot issue blanket orders restraining authorities from invoking the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against people protesting the enactment of Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). NSA cannot be allowed to be misused, the top court said but added that there cannot be a general command as public properties are being burnt during the protests and it may be organised. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Indira Banerjee refused to entertain a plea challenging the imposition of NSA in few states as also in the national capital amid anti-CAA protests."We are of the opinion that general writ will not lie in this case. We cannot invoke powers under Article 32. We agree that the NSA should not be misused but there cannot be a general command. This will create chaos," the bench said. Petitioner-advocate ML Sharma said that anti-CAA protests are going on peacefully in Shaheen Bagh area of Delhi and other places and states should not be allowed to invoke the stringent law against the protestors. “You show us a specific instance, where it has been done. We cannot issue a blanket order. If a general direction is passed this will create a chaos. You don't know what is going on in Calcutta, Tripura and Assam. Properties are being burnt and that may be organised. We don't know the an-
tecedents of people,� the court top said. Sharma persisted with seeking relief saying that people protesting peacefully may be booked under the law and the court should protect them. To this the bench said, "If a person is involved in violence and involved in say hundred criminal cases. Then what would government do? Will, not the government act?" It asked Sharma to file an amended petition showing some specific instances where NSA has been invoked against the ant-CAA protestors. The bench told Sharma that he can also file an intervention application in the pending cases challenging the validity of CAA and seek appropriate relief. Sharma then sought and the court was granted permission to file amended petition. Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on January 10 had extended detaining powers to Delhi Police under the NSA for a three-
month period starting January 19.This allows police to detain a person for 12 months without a trial. "The cause of actions arose on January 10, when respondents (states) imposed the NSA Act for next three months with effect from January 19 in Delhi as well as in Andhra Pradesh by the state government to arrest and detain...for protests against a person holding office of the prime minister and ministers in the Central government...," the plea said, seeking a direction to quash the notification. The plea also sought that it be declared that the NSA cannot be used against protesters. Besides, it sought a compensation of Rs 50,00,000 each to those who have been detained so far under the NSA for "mental agony, defamation in society and loss of reputation". Protests are taking place at various places in the country against the enactment of CAA and exercise of National Population Register (NPR).
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56
DEFENCE COLUMN
WG CDR TJ REDDY VSM (RETD)
CAA & the armed forces
Indianness is the religion
I
s India going through turbulent times? So it seems, with the ongoing rallies, pro and against Citizenship(Amendment) Act CAA, National Population Register (NPR) and National Register for Citizens (NRC) in different parts of the country besides seemingly orchestrated agitations in university campuses one end and some experts saying at the other end that the state of the economy is literally moribund. It is well and widely known that, though we got independence 72 years ago, till to date, there is no system in force to identify the legal citizens. It is also well known but not openly acknowledged that there are many unnatural occupants and unpatriotic millions of dubious citizens in the country. It may not be right to term whoever opposing the implementation of the enacted laws as unpatriotic and say that the parties inciting the violence have no love for the country. But surely the arson and destruction caused by the antisocial elements and acts of people belonging to certain segments of the population are anti-national. No genuine citizen of the country torches the public and private prop-
erties to express opposition. Is it not necessary to know for the sake of the country who are these anti-national and anti-social elements? Very few countries in the globe are perhaps as considerate as India in endowing free and unfathomable opportunities to the people of the minority to live and flourish availing boundless constitutional lenience. The issue is distorted and manipulated by some of the morally blemished politicians, religious fundamentalists and factionalism through spread of disinformation leading to widespread public disorder. For armed forces ‘Indianness is the religion’. Is it not then their duty to protect the religion they believe in? How are the armed forces different when it comes to protecting their religion? Armed Forces, be in uniform or out of it, the nation expects them to be torchbearers for the safety of countrymen. Do they then not have the right to know for whom they are ready to fight and sacrifice? Should they not be bound to support the Government policies which are meant to do good to the people and useful for the development of the State, irrespective of which Gov-
ernment is in power. I came across a cartoon, in the aftermath of protests against mass rape and murder in the case of Disha in Telangana, depicting: ‘Hang Rapists’: Let us not support it at any cost, after all, we all have sons. Then, what should be the stand of those who have daughters? It is and has been the opposite chorus – we must support it. The situation on CAA & NRC seems similar. It is necessary in this context to acknowledge and appreciate that If Hindus and Sikhs despite having witnessed all the blood bath, violence and partition of their Land in 1947 always stood by the party in power (congress), it is a testimony of their firm belief on Secularism and their Tolerance, besides the display of resolve and strength of character. It reminds the saying:‘In USA, it’s called TERRORISM, In Pakistan, it’s called JIHAD, In India, it’s called SECULARISM’. It cannot also be forgotten that the Assam Movement of 19791985 was a movement against illegal immigrants in Assam - led by All Assam Students Union(AASU) and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad(AAGSP) -
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was to compel the Indian government to identify and expel illegal(mostly Bangladeshi) immigrants and protect and provide constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to the indigenous Assamese people. If the supremacy of the Constitution of India and the Rule of Law is to be held, and peace to prevail for meaningful development across the country the present situation selectively engineered by anti-national elements has to be tackled immediately and effectively. It is in this context the armed forces of the union sense the need to keep themselves abreast of the happenings, which must have made the previous Chief of the Army Staff (now the first CDS) to express his views against the perpetration of violence- “leadership is not about guiding masses to carry out arson and violence across the country”. Constitution does not give freedom of goondaism, it only guarantees to all people some fundamental rights, including the right of free expression of dissent to the government’s policies, demonstrations, satyagrahas, dharnas etc. However, the same article 19 also puts a rider on the freedom of expression, saying the State may impose reasonable restrictions on this right. In other words, the State would be well within its powers to ensure that this very precious right is not abused or misused by anybody. Therefore, stringent actions to curtail arson, destroying or damaging the public properties and ensuring the safety and security of the people with the use of force, are perfectly justified. Merely holding the national flag in the hands and falsely swearing by the Constitution does not make anti-national and anti-social
DEFENCE COLUMN 57
elements patriotic and law-abiding citizens. The views expressed by the present COAS – “We are an Army of people and for people. Conduct of the Army will be guided by its ‘allegiance’ to the Constitution and its core values of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity” must be seen in this context. Let me end with one of my favourite quotes:‘The World suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because
of the silence of good people’. Unknown (Author A Wing Commander from Administration branch in the IAF, 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. He is currently the President of Air Force Association AP &Telangana branch. Views expressed above by the author are his own).
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
58
SPACE TECHNLOGY
China’s Gigantic telescope
Hunt for life beyond earth
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hina on Saturday officially opened operations of the world’s largest radio telescope, which it will use for space research and help in the hunt for extraterrestrial life, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, is the size of 30 football fields and has been hewed out of a mountain in the southwestern province of Guizhou. It is also known by the name “Sky Eye” in China. Xinhua reported that the tele-
scope had received national approval to start operations. It finished construction in 2016 and has been undergoing debugging and tests in the years since.
FAST’s Chief Engineer Jiang Peng told Xinhua that the telescope’s trial operations had so far been reliable and stable, and that its sensitivity was more than 2.5 times that of the world’s second-largest telescope. The project has also obtained some valuable scientific data over
AdveRTISeMeNT
that time and is expected to help lead to some breakthroughs in areas such as low-frequency gravitational wave detection and interstellar molecules in the next three to five years, Xinhua said. Advancing China’s space programme is a priority for Beijing, and the country has set a target to catch up with Russia and the United States and become a major space power by 2030. Beijing plans to launch construction of its own manned space station next year.
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SPACE TECHNLOGY 59
Ms. Vyom Mitra to ride F
India’s test space flight
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inally it’s a “young woman” who will ride to space in the first test flight of the human space mission, Gaganyaan. Her name is 'Vyommitra' a combination of the Sanskrit words Vyoma (Space) and Mitra (friend). ISRO unveiled its first ‘woman’ astronaut to an international gathering recently. Seated at a desk in a uniform and sporting her name on a custom-made ISRO identity badge, Vyommitra created a sensation as she introduced herself to ISRO Chairman K. Sivan and Principal Scientific Adviser K. Vijay Raghavan at the symposium on human space flight. Dr. Sivan said Vyomamitra is humanoid and it will simulate the human functions required for space before real astronauts take off before August 2022. Two trial flights without a crew will take place with a humanoid — the first around December 2020 and the second around July 2021. Vyommitra is the result of a year-long toil of the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit, Thiruvananthapuram, according to IISU Director D. Sam Dayala Dev. ISRO will send the human-resembling model in a space capsule around the end of 2020 or early 2021 to study how she - and later real astronauts — respond to living outside earth in controlled zero-gravity conditions. She can detect and give out warnings if environmental changes within the cabin get uncomfortable to astronauts and change the air
condition, Dr Dayala Dev said. She can take up postures suited for launch and tasks and take commands. Even before orbiting astronauts on India's first manned mission to space in December 2021, ISRO will send the 'lady robot', in the unmanned Gaganyaan spacecraft. Explaining her role in the mission, the robot said: "I can monitor through module parameters, alert you and perform life support operations. I can perform activities like switch panel operations..." This after ISRO chairman K Sivan had said last year: "We want to make sure that this mission serves a purpose beyond displaying our ability to send humans and bring them back safely." He said that ISRO would fly the humanoid in the two unmanned flights (in December 2020 and July 2021, according to the space agency) planned before the actual human spaceflight mission in early 2022. Vyommitra is expected to
conduct a handful of experiments in space from at least 10 areas on both occasions. These range from testing medical equipment in space to microbiological experiments such as biological air filters and biosensors, and from life support and biomedical waste management to monitoring toxic gases. She will also simulate human functions in space and also interact with the environment control life support system. "It will be simulating exactly the human functions there (in space). It will check whether the system is right. This will be very useful to simulate as if a human is flying," Sivan added. Elaborating on the Gaganyaan mission further, he said the space agency has already developed and demonstrated key technologies such as having an operational launcher with a 10-tonne payload capability to lower orbit, demonstration of mission design and management and recovery systems like space-qualified parachutes.
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60 SPACE TECHNLOGY
ISRO's GSAT-30 satellite
Launched successfully
I
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ndia's "high power" communication satellite GSAT-30, aimed at providing high- quality television, telecommunications and broadcasting services, was successfully launched onboard Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. "India's communication satellite #GSAT30 was successfully launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by #Ariane5 #VA251. Thanks for your support !!!" ISRO tweeted soon after deploying the satellite into the transfer orbit. Blasting off from the Ariane Launch Complex in Kourou, a French territory located in the northeastern coast of South
America at 2:35 a.m IST, European launch provider Arianespace's Aria ne 5 vehicle-injected GSAT-30 into the orbit in a flawless flight lasting about 38 minutes and 25 seconds. Confirming the successful launch, Arianespace CEO Stphane Isral too tweeted, "A strong start to 2020 as #Ariane5 successfully deploys its two satellite passengers EUTELSAT KONNECT and GSAT-30 into geostationary transfer orbit! I appreciate the trust from the two customers on this mission. ISRO's U R Rao Satellite Centre Director P Kunhikrishnan, who was present in Kourou, congratulated the ISRO community and Arianespace team on the successful launch.
Calling it an "excellent start" to 2020 for ISRO with the launch, he said, "The mission team at the master control facility have already acquired the satellite and they will immediately complete the postlaunch operations." ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took over the command and control of GSAT-30 immediately after its separation from the launch vehicle and preliminary health checks of the satellite revealed its normal health, the space agency said in a statement later in the day. In the days ahead, orbit-raising manoeuvres will be performed to place the satellite in Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the
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equator) by using its onboard propulsion system. During the final stages of its orbit raising operations, the two solar arrays and the antenna reflectors of GSAT-30 will be deployed, ISRO said adding following this, the satellite will be put in its final orbital configuration. The satellite will be operational after the successful completion of all in-orbit tests. The 3,357-kg satellite, which was deployed from the lower passenger position of Ariane-5 launch vehicle (VA 251) into to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), is configured on ISRO's enhanced I-3K Bus structure to provide communication services from geostationary orbit in C and Ku bands. The satellite derives its heritage from ISRO's earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series, and is equipped with 12 C and 12 Ku band transponders.GSAT-30 is to serve as a replacement to the "ageing" INSAT-4A spacecraft services with
SPACE TECHNLOGY 61
enhanced coverage, ISRO has said. "GSAT-30 has a unique configuration of providing flexible frequency segments and flexible coverage. The satellite will provide communication services to Indian mainland and islands through Kuband and wide coverage covering Gulf countries, a large number of Asian countries and Australia through C-band," ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan was quoted as saying. With a mission life of 15 years, GSAT-30 is an operational communication satellite for DTH, television uplink and VSAT services. The Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO has said the communication payload of GSAT-30 is specifically designed and optimised to maximise the number of transponders on the spacecraft bus. "GSAT-30 will provide DTH Television Services, connectivity to VSATs for ATM, stock-exchange, television uplinking and teleport services, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) and e-gover-
nance applications. The satellite will also be used for bulk data transfer for a host of emerging telecommunication applications," Sivan said. One Ku-band beacon downlink signal is transmitted for ground-tracking purpose, the space agency has noted. For its initial flight of 2020, Arianespace orbited EUTELSAT KONNECT, a telecommunication satellite for the operator Eutelsat, along with GSAT-30, using an Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Centre. EUTELSAT KONNECT which was produced by Thales Alenia Space for Eutelsat was riding in the upper position of Ariane 5's payload arrangement, and was released first in the flight sequence at 27 minutes following liftoff.Since the launch of India's APPLE experimental satellite on Ariane Flight L03 in 1981, Arianespace has orbited 24 satellites, including GSAT-30, for the Indian space agency.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
62 THE NATION
National Air Carier for grab
Sale, sale, sale! T
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he Government of India (GoI) has decided to completely exit Air India, including in units Air India Express (AIXL) and Air India SATS (AISATS), in what is seen a major step to ensure success in its second attempt at divesting the national carrier. The GoI has given an ‘in-principle’ approval for the strategic disinvestment of Air India by way of transfer of management control and sale of 100 per cent equity share capital of AI held by GoI, which will include AI’s shareholding interest of 100 per cent in AIXL and 50 per cent in AISATS," the Expression of Interest (EoI) document released on January 27 stated.The last date to submit the EoI is March 17, and the govern-
ment will intimate the qualified bidders by March 31. A successful sale of Air India is imperative for the government to meet its disinvestment target. Moreover, the airline, which is dependent on government largesse to run its operations, needs a new owner to keep flying. The government invited bids to sell 100% stake in Air India for the second time after its previous attempt failed. In 2018, the government had invited bids for sale of 76% equity in the company but did not get even a single bidder though the Union commerce minister last week claimed: "If I was not a minister today, I would be bidding for Air India." The government has sweetened the deal by offering to sell 100% of
its stake (and give complete operational freedom to the new owner) in AI and AI Express instead of 76% earlier. It has also reduced the debt that bidders are expected to take over by almost a third — from Rs 33,392 crore (debt of Rs 24,576 crore + current liabilities of Rs 8,816 crore) to Rs 23,286 crore mainly on account of an aircraft purchase. The net worth criteria have also been slashed from Rs 5,000 crore earlier to Rs 3,500 crore. The government has also proposed to sell 50% stake in the ground handling JV AI-SATS. The government will take away liabilities due to the income tax department, against customs duty, service tax dues and guarantee fee or penal charge due to it. The iconic Nariman Point headquarters in Mumbai and the corporate HQ in Delhi are not part of the transaction, though the successful bidder will be allowed to use it for a couple of years. Four Boeing 747s will be retained by the government for VIP use. AI has a fleet of 121 aircraft, the debt of Rs 58,283 crore (as on March 31, 2019) with contingent liabilities of another Rs 3,178 crore, 13,629 employees, wage arrears of Rs 1,383.7 crore and around a dozen recognised trade unions. AI Express, on the other hand, has 25 Boeing 737s in its fleet and Rs 1,791 crore of debt. Full story here.
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THE NATION
63
ILO report 2020
Global unemployment on rise
G
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lobal unemployment is estimated to increase by around 2.5 million in 2020, the United Nations’ International Labour Organisation report has revealed. The World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2020 (WESO) report states that global unemployment has been stable for the last nine years but slowing global growth means not enough new jobs are being generated to absorb new entrants to the labour market. “For millions of ordinary people, it’s increasingly difficult to build better lives through work. Persisting and substantial workrelated inequalities and exclusion are preventing them from finding decent work and better futures. That’s an extremely serious finding that has profound and worrying implications for social cohesion,” ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said. Currently, there are approximately 188 million unemployed people in the world in addition to the 165 million people who are underpaid.A further 120 million have either given up actively searching for work or otherwise lack access to the labour market, according to the report. According to the report, around 470 million people are affected worldwide. The ILO report said that moderate or extreme working poverty is expected to edge up in 2020-21 in developing countries. “Labour underutilization and poor-quality jobs mean our
economies and societies are missing out on the potential benefits of a huge pool of human talent,” said the report’s lead author, Stefan Kühn. “We will only find a sustainable, inclusive path of development if we tackle these kinds of labour market inequalities and gaps in access to decent work.” Many in India suggest self-employment as a solution to unemployment in our country. Does self-employment really pay in India? The World Employment and Social Outlook 2020 report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) damns the concept of selfemployment in India, saying that the self-employed in India earn just about 20% of what the average salaried worker earns. Of course, part of the reason why the self employed will earn less is because of the absence of employer contribution to social security such as a provident fund or medical and
health insurance. More than two-thirds of the people who can be classified under the category of the self-employed including perhaps the pakora sellers earn no more than Rs 7,500 per month. In fact, 2 out of every 5 self-employed people earn up to Rs 5,000 per month. While a majority, 60% of India’s self-employed are farmers, there are also a high number of workers employed in the 'gig economy', such as drivers of cab aggregator companies like Ola and Uber, who are counted as selfemployed. They, in fact, are counted among the better earning self-employed with average earnings of Rs 10,000 per month. That's more than the average earnings of an Indian farmer, who earns less than Rs 9,000 per month. And let's not forget the humble pakora sellers, who average about Rs 6,000 a month in earnings - as per 'official' estimates.
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THE NATION
disqualification petitions
SC suggests Separate body T
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he Supreme Court has urged the Parliament to look into the creation of an independent and permanent body to decide on disqualification petitions against lawmakers. The apex court has felt this step is needed as Speakers could act in a partisan manner. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Rohinton F Nariman during the third week of January sought to prod Parliament to revisit the rationale behind giving exclusive powers to the Speaker for deciding disqualification petitions since his views could be coloured as he is still a member of a political party. Supreme court said that the Speaker cannot sit on a disqualification petition indefinitely. A prompt decision within a reasonable time is a must, it underlined — preferably within three months. The Supreme court was hearing a case related to the disqualification of Forest and Environment Minister Thounaojam Shyamkumar in Manipur who won on a Congress ticket in 2017 but later joined the BJP-led government in the state. The plea of his disqualification was still pending with the Speaker. Stressing the need for either a permanent body or some other independent mechanism, the court took note of a clutch of recent cases that sought to question the independence of the Speaker. “Parliament may seriously consider amending the Constitution to sub-
stitute the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies as arbiter of disputes concerning disqualification which arises under the Tenth Schedule with a permanent Tribunal headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court, or some other outside independent
mechanism to ensure that such disputes are decided both swiftly and impartially,” the bench said. “It is time that Parliament has a rethink on whether disqualification petitions ought to be entrusted to a Speaker as a quasi-judicial authority when such Speaker continues to belong to a particular political party either de jure or de facto,” the Supreme Court said.
HOw POweRFuL SHOuLd THe SPeAkeR ReALLY Be?
A Speaker represents the House and is required to be impartial to uphold the traditions of parliamentary democracy. He also enjoys a unique position. A government may fall if a simple majority of
members present in the House votes against it during a trust vote. But to remove a Speaker, the number of votes against him must be higher than half of the total strength of the House. Before being chosen to head the House, a Speaker is like any other MLA or MP who contested the election on a party ticket. Even after he leaves the post, he stands a chance to become a minister and therefore harbours political ambitions. Not the best scenarios for him to act in a non-partisan manner. The Constitution had entrusted the Speaker with the power to disqualify an MLA to maintain the sanctity and purity of the polity of the House. Instead, it has become a weapon to help the ruling party maintain its numbers when in crisis. So, there have been cases of MLAs being disqualified even after petitions for removal of the Speaker has been moved or even when the MLAs didn't officially leave the party or defy party directives (like in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in 2016). In 1992, the Speaker of the Manipur assembly disqualified an MLA. The SC set it aside. The Speaker refused to obey the SC order and was summoned in contempt. Still, he refused to appear. While ordering the Union government to produce him before the SC, the court said, "no one in the country is above the law and governance is not of men but of rule of law."
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
GUEST COLUMN
65
BY - B. NAGABUSHANAM
An unsung Hero from filmgoers Some are born great. Upon some the greatness is thrust upon. And some achieve greatness. yderabad is a major centre for the film industry now. Not only Telugu and other southern language films but Bollywood producers are flocking to the pearl city for film shootings. Apart from studios, the film lovers have been playing in promotion of Hyderabad in cinema circles. Filmgoers association (Andhra Pradesh Cinegoers Association -APCA) has made an unparallel contribution towards that. The founder of this unique organization Late B. Kishan’s untiring, excruciating pains have made it reach the glory, name and fame for APCA film world. Even in the realm of culture, the fine arts and higher education late4 Kishan’s contribution was commendable. Having contributed to various areas of public interest due to his inexhaustible bundle of energies is remembered fondly by many in Hyderabad. To bring in the elements of a healthy cinema, he had proposed and practised voting system and arranged the Ballot Boxes in the cinema halls in the Twin Cities. He was also a bitter critic of the obscene films and also staged Dharnas in the different theatres in
H
the Twin Cities as a mass protest. To have transparency and integrity and to encourage the good films and the promising artistes, B. Kishan took active steps to form the Awards Committee every year with a sitting High Court Judge as the Chairman of the Telugu Film Awards Committee. (Sri P.Siva Shankar) the Committee thereupon used to watch the screening of the Prospective entries of the deserving award-winning films to have the impartial judgment. APCA journey has begun 50 years back when Kishan was a student leader and General Secretary of Osmania University students Union. He had established for the maiden time an association called "Andhra Pradesh Cinegoers Association" in 1969 in the wake of the First Telangana agitation with late Ireni Lingaiah, the then M.L.C. as the first founder President and himself as the founder General Secretary till his eternity and eponymously identified with it. Kishan has organized a number of events to promote healthy cinema and prepare film viewers to support such films. The first-ever film Awards function at the Ravindra Tagore Auditorium in the Osmania University in 1970 with Late K.Brahamanda Reddy, the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
as a Chief Guest was a big hit. APCA has organized the welcome felicitations function to late Padma Vibhushan Akkineni Nageshwara Rao for his generous gesture to settle down in Hyderabad when Akkineni was making ripples then as s Super Star in MADRAS (Chennai). Similarly, Kishan also felicitated the entire cast and crew of “Dasara Bullodu” film that was a thrilling success in those days (1972). It was with a huge gathering of the cine-goers. Silver Jubilee function of late Adi Narayana Rao, the famous Music Director and Producer and late Anjali Devi, the renowned artiste in the Institute of Engineers, Khairatabad in 1972 were also organized. He also organized the Silver Jubilee function of late Kongara Jagaiah in 1975. It was a monumental success with 50,000 strong Audience watching the event in the Public Garden, Hyderabad. As a first APCA organized the week-long film festivals of Late. NTR, Late ANR and the Film Festivals of Late Shoban Babu and T.Sarada, the leading artistes of those days. Seminar on the development of Telugu film Industry in 1975 to attract the artistes to shift from Chennai to Hyderabad – an unforgettable move in the annals of
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66 GUEST COLUMN
the Tollywood’s History, paving the way for the entire Telugu Industry to shift to Hyderabad lock, stock and barrel’. The then veterans present were Late Dukkipati MadhusudhanRao, D.Rama Naidu, D.V.S Raju, Peketi Sivaram etc., Late I.K.Gujral, the then Information Minister and the former Prime Minister was the Chief Guest. Under Kishan’s leadership APCA also successfully organized the Annual Awards Functions in Warangal, Miryalaguda, and other cities in A.P and even once in Chennai in 1984 in TAMIL NADU with superstars like Rajani Kant and Chiranjeevi quite triumphantly. Sri G.S.Varadha Chary Honorary President of the Cinegoers Association and a leading veteran Journalist and late Anjaneya Sastry of Cineherald from Hyderabad were the guests of honour on the occasion. Given his social background and economic status, late Bollaram
Kishan led an exemplary, eventful and exuberant life carving a niche in the heart of millions of cinegoers and social activities. Last but not least was his felicitation in the word Telugu conference held in 1975 in Hyderabad as a token of services to the Telugu Cinema rendered and was personally feted and honoured by Late Jalagam Vengal Rao, then CM at LB Stadium, Hyderabad. He has organized a Friendly Cricket Match between the North V/s the South Film Stars in LB Stadium in 1972 to raise the funds for Dr Ambedkar College to which Late G. Venkataswamy was the Chairman then and netted mindboggling proceeds of about 22 Lakhs Dr.Ambethekar College, Chikkadapally which has now metamorphosed in to the size and shape of a Deemed University in Hyderabad unhesitatingly in the graffiti of academic excellence.
However, Kishan and late Peketi Shivaram, the Producer-Director were mainly instrumental in the successful conduct of the friendly match. While the former was Incharge of the flight to bring the Hindi Starts such as late Raj Kapoor and several others from Mumbai, the latter was the good Samaritan to bring the Telugu Stars like late N.T.Rama Rao, who later became the C.M of Andhra Pradesh in 1983 and several others from Chennai (Madras). The illustrious career of B. Kishan -- spanned over (46) years - was completely dedicated to the "A.P Cinegoers' Association.. He also actively participated in the Bonalu Festival and the Ganesh Chavithi Festival with a huge culmination of the crowds gathering in and around the historic Charminar. (The author is former Member of Executive Council Osmania University.)
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
THE NATION
67
Free from VIP duties A
Govt. to withdraw NSG
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fter effecting a major VIP security cut and withdrawal of SPG cover from the Gandhis, the Union government has now decided to completely remove NSG commandos from this task, official sources said. This will be after over two decades that the ‘black cat’ commandos of the elite counter-terror force will be taken out from VIP protection duties, a task not originally charted for it when the force was conceptualised
and raised in 1984. The force provides proximate and mobile security cover - commandos armed with sophisticated assault weapons - under the top ‘Z+’ category to 13 ‘high-risk’ VIPs that entails about two dozen personnel for each one of them. Officials in the security establishment told that the protection duties of NSG, which include giving security to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will soon be transferred to paramilitary
forces. The other NSG protectees include ex-CMs Mayawati, Mulayam Singh, Chandrababu Naidu, Parkash Singh Badal and Farooq Abdullah, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, BJP leader and former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani. Official sources said the Union Home Ministry “is of the view” that the National Security Guard (NSG) should concentrate on its original charter of handling specific tasks of counter-terrorist and anti-hijack op-
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erations and that the task of securing high-risk VIPs was proving to be a “burden” on its limited and special capabilities. “The NSG needs to go back to its original mandate of counterterror and anti-hijack duties. That is the reason behind the latest move,” a senior official in the security establishment said. The removal of VIP security duties from the NSG will result in freeing about 450 commandos, who will be used to enhance the fighting components of the force that is spread across five hubs in the country and a main garrison in Gurugram near Delhi, officials said. As per a plan being worked out, the security of the VIPs under NSG cover could be handed over to paramilitary forces such as the CRPF and the CISF which already provide security to about 130 prominent persons jointly. The CRPF was recently handed over the security of five ex-SPG protec tees - former PM Manmohan Singh
and his wife, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her children Priyanka and Rahul - apart from securing Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.The Central Reserve Police Force is well suited for handling the new task, officials said. The Central Industrial Security Force
protects VIPs like NSA Ajit Doval and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat among others, they added. The plan to relieve NSG from VIP security tasks has been in the making since 2012 when NSG
commanders foresaw an event where simultaneous terror attacks could be witnessed at one time on multiple centres in the country and the commandos will have to be rushed in different directions. “The 26/11 Mumbai attack involved some 400 NSG commandos over three days. Considering we have multiple terror hits at one go, NSG needs to have a good number of fighting commandos and some in the strike reserves to replace them,” a senior official had then said. After a major security review by the Modi 2.0 government in July last year, 1,300 commandos had been freed as the Centre removed or scaled down the security cover of as many as 350 politicians and former and present lawmakers.The charter of the elite force states that it is a combat unit “specially equipped and trained to deal with specific situations and is, therefore, to be used only in exceptional circumstances to thwart serious acts of terrorism.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | FEBRUARY 2020
SHOBHA’S PAT ON MIND 69
DR SHOBHA RAJU
Mechanics of fruitful prayer
E
radication of thought-pollution through Divine Music is the moto to start Annamacharya Bhavana Vahini( ABV) It’s an organisation started in 1983. ABV’s anniversary is celebrated as “Dedication Day”. Incidentally, it also happens to be my birthday. My first job was the first artiste of TTD for exclusive propagation of Annamacharya Sankeertanas. Second, The Project Officer of Rama Rasa Vahini, Bhadrachalam Devasthanam at Endowments Dept in Hyderabad. Due to some bitter experiences, I resolved not to work under anyone. On my birthday, my father gave me one hundred and sixteen rupees as a gift and said that that was his humble contribution to the sacred task, I wanted to carry on as a freelancer. The same evening we convened a meeting and flagged off ABV. That’s how the anniversary of ABV and my birthday fell on the same day. It was in 2010. Ramana (our assistant) proposed a few plans for celebrating the Dedication Day. I felt them be a bit beyond our capacity due to lack of finance. I
advised him just to invite ten orphans and organize for their lunch. I returned from my tour and was checking the updates from Ramana. He told me that he organized a hundred and ten orphans from an orphanage and thirty-five from another. He didn’t adhere to the number I had advised. That’s okay. But I asked him how he was going to get those orphans to He told me that two buses have to be organized to bring them to Annamayyapuram (Name of the area where ABV is located). It’s an expensive proposal, which we couldn’t afford. Already we had deficits. I was angry at him and spoke to him a bit harshly for being unmindful. I was composing a song. Around eleven at night, I called Ramana for a glass of hot water. There was no response. I called him on the phone. No answer. I went downstairs. Nandu (my husband) was watching TV. On my enquiry, he said that Ramana had gone out saying that he would be back soon. Both the mobiles, Ramana uses were left on the
dining table itself. It was twelvethirty in the night. Ramana didn’t come back. I got panicked. Called all his friends, associates. ABV’s associates....no trace. I usually say that he is a d-given son to me. But I realised then, how much I was bonded. I didn’t feel like eating. I couldn’t sleep. I prayed, I cried...all my close relations & friends visited me. His brothers came to Hyderabad from Tirupathi and started searching for him. They wanted me to announce in TV channels. friends and relatives form Intelligence and security departments have advised me to report to police it would be my fault of not reporting. I wasn’t so sad and tensed even when I was leaving Tirupati, resigning to my sacred job of Annamacharya Project. That was in the month of November. It was Kartika Shuddha Ekadashi. I took the head bath and went to Annamayyapuram. Our regular priest went to his home town entrusting his work to his son. I asked him to get leaves of Bilva tree & perform Archana. I told
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Swami, “I am going out in search of Ramana. I don’t know how You do it. I must come back with Ramana”. Went to “Annamacharya Sadanam”, a hall at Annamayyapuram and meditated for twenty minutes. Raja Rajeswari & Suresh, students of ABV were there at some work. I asked them whether they would like to accompany me and I asked Ashok a friend of Ramana to drive us to the Ashram where Ramana spent a day as Nandu scolded him for some
name was also Narayana Teertha. This is his room. Can you sing one Keertana (devotional song) to my grandmother please?”, asked Swami Narayana Teertha. That was one of my richest and profound experiences in life! I sang “Narayana! Te Namo Namo!”, a Sanskrit composition of St Annamayya. Whenever I sing, I sing with devotion. But that time was unusual. I felt..it wasn’t just my vocal chords singing. Every cell in my body was singing. I wasn’t at
mistake, previously. I could understand that to be the old Ashram of St. Samartha Ramadas, in the old city. Present Pontiff is Sri Narayana Teertha. On enquiry came to know that no one like Ramana had come then, though he had been there once earlier. There were many small temples of different deities. I prayed at every temple. Finally, Sri Narayana Teertha took me to a small room. An old lady was on the bed. “She is my grandmother. Aged ninetyeight years. My grand father’s
all conscious of the outer world. It was a celestial experience. A kind of pointedness....a feeling of nothingness...a silence through sound! I concluded the song and opened my eyes. Raja Rajeswari was standing by my side with the mobile phone in her hands saying, “Ramana is on the line”. My joy and wonder knew no bounds. But by the time I took the phone, the call was already cut. I was in a state of ecstasy. Raja Rajeswari dialled the number back and gave me the phone. It was a public Telephone booth in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu.
There was a voice speaking in Tamil, which meant, “Ramana left to Railway Station as the time was up. He asked me to convey that he will reach Hyderabad tomorrow”. Each cell of my body was in the mode of gratitude to The Divine. I profusely thanked The King of Annamayyapuram for fulfilling my demand. “I must return with Ramana, I don’t know how You do it”, I said to Him. He has His own ways of doing it! Dear Readers! I shared this personal experience of mine with you all to reinforce your faith in The Divine Grace. I could share this because there is sufficient evidence for it. There are occasions when He didn’t approve my appeals. I study and analyze my own experiences. There are a few mechanics of prayers I could understand. They are: l There should be total surrender when you pray. l Ego should be absent. l We cannot hurt other beings and expect positive results by praying before idols alone. He is more vibrant and present in beings. l When Karma is strong, prayer has to be stronger and intense. l Service with love is the best path to counter Karma. l We must straighten our relationship with everyone we went wrong by saying sorry. Shouldn’t carry any ill-feeling towards anyone at heart. l Operate from the base of love and deal with love. ‘A musician can sing off the key but it’s not the flaw of music. A propounder may go wrong but never the spiritual science. (The author is a well-known musician, Devotional singer, writer and composer.)
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The News You Like February, 2020
RNI No: APENG/2013/48048 P.R. No. RNP/HD/1187/2020-22 (DOP: 1st of Every Month; DOP: 8/9-2-2020)