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ab ki baar 400 paar is the target of Bharatiya janata Party (BjP) in the general elections 2024.

The BjP has been claiming that more than 400 seats for BjP in lok sabha will enable it to give a strong government and it can take firm and critical decisions.

The opposition iNDia block accused BjP that it will change the Constitution and remove sC, sT, oBC reservations if it gets more than 400 seats. The BjP had to struggle to counter the narrative coined by the iNDia block.

Now that the BjP has successfully countered the iNDia block narrative and gained confidence that it will get more than 270 seats out of 380 lok sabha seats which went for polling in the four phases so far, BjP has stepped up its campaign as to why it is seeking more than 400 seats.

assam chief minister himanta Biswa sarma answered this while speaking to media in New Delhi. he said the BjP will take back Pakistan occupied kashmir (Pok) if people give them more than 400 seats.

The BjP will free mathura and develop krishna janma Bhoomi as well as kashi Vishwanath Dham in Varanasi on the lines of ayodhya. Thus, the assam chief minister hinted that taking back Pok is on the top priority of BjP after it assumes charge at the center for the third term.

People will rally behind BjP in taking back the Pok. The people of Pok are already protesting and the civil rights groups there have openly appealed to india to merge Pok with indian side of kashmir.

india’s external affairs minister, s jaishankar has been making it clear on every global forum that Pok was, is and will remain an integral part of india.

The sequence of events, jaishankar speaking tough on global forums about Pok, the protests in Pok demanding merger with india and now BjP seeking more than 400 seats in lok sabha to enable it take back Pok shows makes it clear that the day is not far when Pok is reclaimed and reunited with india.

Editor

Will he survive for five

on may 31, 2015, Revanth Reddy, then with the Telugu Desam Party, was apprehended by the anti‐corruption bureau (aCB) while allegedly paying Rs 50 lakh bribe to elvis stephenson, a nominated mla, for supporting TDP nominee Vem Narendar Reddy in the legislative council elections that were to be held on june 1, 2015.

Former siB chief Prabhakar Rao hints about DGP and intelligence chief having knowledge of his ‘activity’

RAJESWAR BALIPI

Prime minister Narendra modi had said on january 12, 2014 at Goa’s Vijay sankalp rally that, “Congress mukt Bharat is not merely a slogan, but the determination of the people of india”.

But in 2018, the verdict of people in five states – Rajasthan, madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, mizoram and Telangana – shattered the dream of modi-amit shah’s dream of ‘Congress mukt Bharat’.

Realising the fact that it is not easy for them to ensure ‘Congress mukt Bharat’ through people’s verdict, the BjP pulled some strings as a result of which the Congress government crumbled in madhya Pradesh and the BjP formed government with the help of dissidents from the grand old party. speculation is rife that a similar act like that of madhya Pradesh might be repeated in Telangana in the days to come and the Congress government under the leadership of chief minister a Revanth Reddy might fall.Congress has 68 seats in the state assembly, while Bharat Rashtra samithi (BRs) has 34 seats, Bharatiya janata Party (BjP) has eight, all

india majlis-e-ittehadul muslimeen (aimim) has seven and Communist Party of india one seat.

Though Congress has clear majority and it has the support of aimim and CPi legislators, analysts say that two parties – BjP and BRs – wish to replace the grand old party.

The BRs chief k Chandrasekhar Rao, during the campaigning for 2024 general elections has said that Revanth Reddy’s government will not lost long. “The BjP will not allow Congress government to run for its full term. it had tried to buy our mlas and topple the government though we had 88 seats in the assembly. Now the Congress has only 68 seats and it is not a difficult task for them”. The BRs chief had also said that about 30 Congress mlas were in touch with his party. keeping the numbers aside, there is one more serious factor that could

“RevanTH ReDDy goveRnMenT WIll noT lasT long” : KCR

“RevanTH ReDDy goveRnMenT WIll noT lasT long” : KCR

“He May eITHeR lanD In jaIl oR BeCoMe anoTHeR HIManTHa” : PolITICal PunDITs

“He May eITHeR lanD In jaIl oR BeCoMe anoTHeR HIManTHa” : PolITICal PunDITs

lead to change in government in Telangana. and that issue is about Revanth Reddy’s alleged involvement in the 2012 cash-forvote case in which he has to face trial, say analysts.

on may 31, 2015, Revanth Reddy, then with the Telugu Desam Party, was apprehended by the anti‐corruption bureau (aCB) while allegedly paying Rs 50 lakh bribe to elvis stephenson, a nominated mla, for supporting TDP nominee Vem Narendar Reddy in the legislative council elections that were to be held on june 1, 2015. even as the trial is underway, Revanth Reddy has become the chief minister of Telangana. in this background, one cannot expect the trial to be fair.

direction to transfer the case from hyderabad to Bhopal in madhya Pradesh to ensure free and fair trial. The petitioners include a former deputy chief minister and former ministers of Telangana.

The petitioners claimed that Revanth Reddy, prime accused in the 2015 case, has become the Chief and home minister for the state of Telangana with 88 criminal cases pending against him.

so, two separate petitions were filed in the supreme Court – one seeking CBi probe into the cash-forvote case by adding the then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu as accused and the other one to transfer the trial of the case to a court in some other state.

The petition seeking CBi probe was filed by mangalagiri mla alla Ramakrishna Reddy. The supreme Court adjourned hearing into the case to july 24 while making it clear that adjournments shall not be sought again. Ramakrishna Reddy also pleaded to include Chandrababu Naidu as an accused in the case. another case was filed by former BRs minister Guntakandla jagadish Reddy and three others seeking a

"since the accused has a direct control over the prosecution, it is understood that there cannot be any possibility for free and fair trial which is sine qua non of article 21 of the Constitution," the plea said.

The plea said if the trial is continued by the principal judge for trial of cases at hyderabad, Telangana then the rule of law will be vitiated and the judicial fairness, criminal justice system would be at stake shaking the confidence of the public at large.

Political pundits foresee that the modi-shah combine, whose dream is ‘Congress mukt Bharat’, will not let go of the opportunity. They will pull some strings to ensure that Revanth Reddy is left with

only two options - either to go behind bars on the lines of Delhi chief minister arvind kejriwal or join hands with BjP. in either case, the Congress government in Telangana is likely to fall and the BjP will form a government by joining hands with BRs for, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies in politics, only permanent interests. according to political pundits, BjP cannot form its government in Telangana by winning elections at least for the next one decade. so, the only option left for the saffron party is to ‘grab power’ through ‘operation aakarsh’. it will be ‘two birds one shot’ for the BjP if it makes the move now. This way, it can achieve two targets – form government in the state and inch towards at least ‘Congress mukt Telangana’ if not Congress mukt Bharat.

Telangana PHone TaPPIng Case

4

SUPERIORS CLOSELY MONITORED MY WORK: FORMER SIB CHIEF PRABHAKAR RAO

The Wallpost Bureau

The phone tapping case of Telangana took a new twist with the main accused T Prabhakar Rao stating that he acted under the supervision of superiors. Rao, the former chief of siB, who is currently in Us for medical treatment, has filed a memo through

his counsel, before the trial court on may 7.

while elaborating how impeccable his record as an officer is and how he had served the department risking his life, Rao said that his work as chief of operations of siB were closely monitored and supervised by the chief intelligence and director general of police.

“it is pertinent to mention here that the chief of operations, siB need to report to his superior officers on regular basis and cannot operate with absolute

freedom as per his whims and fancies”, the memo said.

Thus, Prabhakar Rao indirectly said that the intelligence chief and the director general of police (DGP) of the relevant period were aware of ‘everything’ he had done as chief of operations of siB. in such case, if he had ordered tapping of hundreds of phones belonging to politicians, businessmen and others, certainly the then intelligence chief and the DGP must be aware of it and must have ‘tacitly’ approved it. however, it is not clear whether the investigators will be allowed to

M Mahender Reddy

Rtd. DGP, Telangana

Anjani Kumar

Former DGP, Telangana

go that deep into the case because the present dispensation has given a ‘key’ appointment for the then ‘superior’ of Prabhakar Rao.

interestingly, Prabhakar Rao alleged that he has been added as an accused at the ‘instance of people in power and to please such powers’.

Rao also stated in the memo, “The mere fact that he belonged to the caste of former Cm and three of the accused in this case are of his community cannot be a ground for alleged conspiracy of the accused to favour party that was in power.”

Notwithstanding his denial, the main allegation against Rao is that he was picked to work as siB operations chief because he belonged to the same caste as that of then chief minister k Chandrasekhar Rao. it is alleged that Rao carried out his work at the instance of people in power and to please such powers.

legal experts say that senior officers who worked as chief of intelligence and head of police force during Prabhakar Rao’s tenure in siB will have to be questioned in connection with the phone tapping case. lest, the case will not stand the scrutiny of law. Besides, it looks like a clear case of ‘vendetta politics’ and an attempt to settle scores.

Prabhakar Rao in his memo further stated that he will appear before the investigating officer as soon as his health check-up is done and found fit to travel back to india.

on the whole, the former siB chief has been successful in dragging his bosses into the case, causing embarrassment for many.

it might be mentioned here that former director general of police of the united andhra Pradesh, V Dinesh Reddy had told a news channel recently that intelligence chiefs and the DGPs of relevant period will have vicarious liability in this case. he also said that purchasing snooping equipment without approval from the union government itself is an offence. The probe must be entrusted to central agencies such as Nia or CBi to dig out the truth and bring actual culprits to book, Dinesh Reddy said.

Anil Kumar addl. DGP, Telangana

THe ColleCTIon Queen

DEO-HYD, R ROHINI’S NETWORK OF BROKERS AT WORK HAND-PICKED TAINTED SUBORDINATES RULE THE ROOST TIME FOR ACB, VIGILANCE TO HAVE A LOOK INTO THE ‘DEALS’

The Wallpost Bureau

The District educational officer (Deo) of hyderabad district, R Rohini seems to have put in place perfect network of brokers to make quick bucks. some of the brokers are none-other than hand-picked subordinates, while others include few teachers – both government and private and a journalist. what more! The hand-picked subordinates are tainted officials of the education department. one of them was involved in the bogus eTR scam that rocked the education department in 2018. another one was suspended and arrested in the past in connection with the fake madarsa scandal, while the third one was suspended by Rohini’s predecessor for attempting to bribe a higher official for clearing an application seeking Permission to open school (PTo).

it is said these three officials are ruling the roost in Deo office. in fact, these officials are the pillars on which the present Deo is allegedly running the show of corruption, sources said. if sources are to be believed, these officials are capable of getting approval from the Deo for granting Permission to open school (PTo) or extension of Temporary Recognition (eTR) even if the mandatory documents are not

furnished by the private school managements. however, such managements have to shell out nothing less than Rs 8 lakhs for getting the approval, sources said.

while these are the ‘lobbyists’ inside the Deo office, there are three outside the Deo office. one of them is a government teacher, while another is a private teacher and the third one is journalist. These people are capable of getting approvals from the Deo office in return for a ‘price’.

while boasting about his capabilities, one of the ‘lobbyists’ told The wallpost that he has been into this business with the present Deo for 16 years. “i have been visiting madam’s house ever since she worked as the Deputy educational officer of saroornagar zone. i can discuss the matters at her residence and get the approvals”, he said.

however, the ‘lobbyist’ said that those seeking approval must pay at every level starting from clerk, superintendent, aD and Deo madam. “if there is any complication, we can get the approval from secretariat. however, that is much costlier job”, he said.

asked about the approximate total expenditure for getting approval for PTo or eTR, the lobbyist said it differs from case to case. however, it could be roughly Rs 6 lakhs and sometimes may

R Rohini Deo, hyderabad

be more, he said.since the network of brokers is in place, hundreds of unrecognised schools are running in hyderabad without any fear of being punished, while schools like indo embassy high school forward illegal students.

indo embassy high school is an institution in Charminar mandal of hyderabad district, which has forwarded Nominal Rolls showing 795 students from classes V to iX, though the school cannot even accommodate 100 students.

The Deo, despite being alerted about the illegality, did not initiate any action against the erring officials and the school management for obvious reasons. interestingly, the Deputy educational officer of Charminar mandal, Nehru Babu is also accused of playing his role in the ill-famous bogus eTR scam of 2018. The Deo is least bothered to take action against the erring and tainted officials. instead, she uses the same

lobbyists to lobby with journalists and activists who try to expose the corruption.Further, the Deo and her band of tainted officials have a couple of union leaders behind them who are always ready to come to their rescue. The union leaders try to negotiate deals with the managements of newspapers if the journalists refuse to relent in their fight against corruption.

it is pertinent to mention here that the Vigilance & enforcement Department Telangana conducted a probe into the grabbing of government land by a agarwal shiksha samithi in collusion with some higher officials of the education department and submitted its findings vide report No.73 (C.No.1985/V&e/D1/2020, dated 24.06.2022.

The probe agency discovered that the present Deo of hyderabad, R Rohini, failed to identify the lapse of the lease deed and did not take any

further action against agarwal shiksha samithi, Charkaman, hyderabad exhibiting slackness and negligence towards her legitimate duties and contravened Rule 3 of T.s.C.s. (Conduct) Rules, 1964. Further, the present Deo did not initiate any action against the unauthorized schools run without obtaining any permission, which endanger the future of thousands of students. sources said these are deliberate actions and inactions on the part of the Deo for obvious reasons.

it is time the anti-Corruption Bureau (aCB) or the Vigilance and enforcement department take stock of the affairs of the Deo office by verifying the PTos/eTRs issued by Rohini during her stint apart from the orders passed in connection with certain compassionate appointments and facilitation provided for hundreds of unrecognised schools in hyderabad district.

REGISTERS DISPROPORTIONATE ASSETS (DA) CASE AGAINST CORRUPT SUB-REGISTRAR

The Wallpost Bureau

elangana anti-Corruption Bureau (aCB) on april 3 arrested jagan mohan, deputy director of town and country planning on charges of bribery. according to aCB, the tainted official, working in the Directorate of Town and Country Planning was arrested when he demanded and accepted the bribe amount of Rs. 50,000 from the complainant V jithender Reddy to issue building construction permission.

The tainted money was recovered from the possession of the accused official. he was arrested and later produced before the designated court.

April 6

anti-Corruption Bureau (aCB) sleuths on april 6 arrested two officers of madhapur police station in Cyberabad Commissionerate on charges of bribery.

The arrested include sub-inspector m Ranjit kumar

C

V

Anand aCB Director General

Please approach ACB through its Toll Free number 1064 if any public servant demands bribe. The Bureau will take action as per law since demanding of bribe is an offence under Prevention of Corruption Act.

and Constable m Vikram. aCB sleuths arrested the duo when Ranjit demanded bribe of Rs. 50,000 and accepted Rs. 30,000 through Vikram from the complainant m laxman for not arresting him in a criminal case.

officials said that the si had earlier registered a case against laxman on a complaint given by sudha alleging that the former was building a house on a piece of land owned by her. The si summoned laxman and allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs. 1 lakh for not taking coercive action. however, laxman tried to bargain the deal for Rs 20,000 but the si finally accepted to take nothing less than Rs. 30,000.

Consequently, laxman approached the aCB and lodged a complaint against the si. The aCB laid a trap and nabbed the tainted cops on saturday. it might be mentioned here that aCB sleuths have arrested just a week ago sub-inspector of meerpet police station, Boddupally saidulu when he demanded and accepted a bribe of Rs. 10,000 from the complainant for dropping action on a complaint.

April 15

Three officials walked into the dragnet of antiCorruption Bureau of Telangana on april 15. in one case, aCB sleuths arrested T Rajyalakshmi, sub-inspector of Police, asifabad police station of komaram Bheem asifabad district when she demanded and accetepd a bribe of Rs. 25,000 from Yahiya khan to release the him under section 41(a) of Criminal Procedure Code in an accident case and also release the crime vehicle.

aCB sleuths on april 15 arrested Drug inspector of

Nalgonda and in-charge of miryalaguda, koorelli someshwar when he demanded and accepted a bribe of Rs. 18,000 from Chittepu saidi Reddy, hospital maintenance incharge of Nukala Venkat Reddy Charitable hospital, kothaguedem village in Nalognda district to process drugs license application of the hospital pharmacy.

in yet another case, aCB sleuths arrested samala srikanth, Depot manager of TsRTC huzurabad depot in karminagar district when he demanded and accepted a bribe of Rs. 20,000 from Thatikonda Ravinder, driver of TsRTC to drop the charges framed against the complainant pertaining to unauthorised absence and irregular attendance.

The tainted money was recovered from the accused officers. They were arrested and produced before the designated court and further investigations are underay.

April 18

sleuths of Telangana’s anti-Corruption Bureau (aCB) arrested five persons in two different cases of bribery in Bhadradri kothagudem district on april 18.

The arrested include one each sub-inspector of Police, police constable, town planning supervisor, outsourcing employee and a private person.

in one case, police constable s shankar, working at Bhadrachalam police station demanded and accepted a bribe of Rs. 20000 at the behest of sub-inspector m srinivas and private technician of CC cameras k Naveen kumar from the complainant marri sai Teja for not registering a criminal case and releasing the mobile phones and auto-rickshaw.

official sources said the Blue Colts team had earlier caught sai Teja and two others when they were transporting four bags of sugar stolen from a shop. however, Naveen kumar, who regularly ‘negotiates deals with police’, intervened after which the si and the constable let off sai Teja and two others.

But the police did not release the mobile phones of the accused persons and the auto-rickshaw in which they were transporting the stolen sugar bags. instead, the cops demanded a bribe of Rs. 25,000 to release the phones and auto. after negotiations, the cops agreed to accept bribe of Rs. 20,000.

sai Teja approached the aCB and filed a complaint. Consequently, aCB laid a trap and waited near the police station. initially, shankar accepted the bribe and informed the si about the same. immediately, the si reached the police station and handed over the mobile phones and auto-rickshaw. soon after that, aCB team nabbed the si and the police constable. on their confession, the aCB team also arrested Naveen kumar.

The bribe money was recovered from the accused police officials. a chemical test conducted on them yielded positive results, aCB officials said.

in another case of corruption, aCB sleuths arrested lakkireddy Venkata Ramani, working as Town Planning supervisor in Palvancha municipality and Perabattula Prasanna kumar, outsourcing employee when they demanded and accepted a bribe of Rs. 15,000 for processing the lRs applications of the complainant.

The five arrested accused were produced before the designated court and sent to judicial custody.

Telangana aCB appealed to the people to contact aCB toll free number 1064 if any public servant demands bribe.

April 22

aCB sleuths on april 22 registered a case of disproportionate assets to the known sources of

income against Taslim mohammed, sub-Registrar Grade-i, mahabubabad of warangal district.

aCB carried out preliminary searches at her house and five other places belonging to her and her relatives. During searches, property documents of houses, open plots and agricultural lands worth over Rs 3 crore were found.

some properties were acquired on her name, while some were acquired on in the names of her family members. The market value of the properties amassed by her is expected to be much higher than the official value. Further, net cash of Rs. 1,92,900, bank balance of Rs. 98,787, household articles worth Rs. 9,04.800 and vehicles worth Rs. 23,66,218 have been recovered. Further investigation is under progress, aCB officials said.

April 27

Three public servants walked into the trap laid by the Telangana’s anti-Corruption Bureau (aCB) in separate cases on april 27.

in the first case, a deputy executive engineer (Dee) of the irrigation department of the north tanks division was arrested at his office in secunderabad when he demanded Rs 5 lakhs and accepted a bribe of Rs 4 lakhs from the complainant.

according to aCB officials, the tainted public servant, Yatha Pavan kumar, demanded the bribe from Gopagani Ramanamurthy, a builder to process and forward the NoC permission file for the construction of commercial building at shantinagar in Uppal.

in another case, aCB sleuths arrested incharge subregistrar of Gangadhara in karimnagar district and senior assistant working in his office when they demanded and accepted bribe of Rs 10000 from the complainant.

according to aCB officials, the tainted officials shivarapu suresh Babu and kothakonda sridhar demanded the bribe from the complainant ajay kumar to do registration of the gift deed related to four guntas of land.

The arrested tainted officials were produced before the designated court and sent to judicial custody.

Fraudsters open company impersonating Pan, aaDHaaR

The Wallpost Bureau

nidentified persons allegedly used the PaN card and aadhaar card details of a resident of Gwalior in madhya Pradesh to fabricate a GsT number and established a private company boasting an annual turnover exceeding Rs 9 crore.

shocked at this, the victim, Chandan soni, lodged a complaint based on which the economic offenses wing of the Delhi police registered an FiR under the relevant provisions of the indian Penal Code. The startling details came to light when soni was filing his income tax returns on july 20, 2022.

a fake GsT number had been created using soni’s PaN card number. This number was used to establish a company named mG sales in the name of Chandan soni with the address in Gautam Puri, shahdara, the complaint says. however, the complainant neither resides at the mentioned address nor has he registered any such company.

“it is alarming that the registered firm has shown a turnover of Rs. 9,10,58,119/- for the year 2021-22 and the last GsT filing was done on 09.07.2022. The GsT registration was shown effective from 16.08.2021, and aadhaar authentication was done on 31.01.2022, as per online documents attached herewith,” the complaint said. soni in his complaint also said that fake bank accounts might have been opened in his name and the matter needs to be probed. Further investigation is underway, police said. OBTAIN

VICTIM FILES COMPLAINT WITH DELHI POLICE

MAINTAINS SILENCE OVER MASSIVE IRREGULARITIES IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARMENT ALLOWS LOOT OF PUBLIC MONEY

The Wallpost Bureau

it appears skeletons are slowly tumbling out from the closet in jharkhand as the enforcement Directorate (eD) has become active following inaction by the state agencies against corruption.

The eD has arrested sanjeev kumar lal, personal secretary (Ps) of jharkhand minister alamgir alam and his domestic help jahangir alam on may 7 after the probe agency recovered Rs 35.23 crore from the latter's residence.

alamgir alam is the Congress minister in the jmm-led alliance government. interestingly, it was minister alamgir who had employed jahangir as a servant at his secretary sanjeev kumar lal’s residence.

what more! jahangir alam admitted in preliminary questioning that he was a caretaker of “commission and bribe-acquired money”, for which he received a salary of around Rs 15,000 per month. it is pertinent to mention here that the eD had arrested the chief engineer of rural development department, Virendra kumar Ram last year in connection with a bribery case.

During questioning, Virendra disclosed to

eD officials that his department had been collecting 3.2 per cent bribe from the contractors and 'several bigwigs' were behind the scandal.

soon after this, the eD wrote a confidential letter to the chief secretary of jharkhand government seeking registration of FiR in connection with irregularities in rural development department and to conduct an independent probe. however, the state government simply did not respond over the issue.

sources said that instead of taking action on the eD’s letter, the government leaked it to the department’s officials. This shows the rampant corruption prevailing in the jharkhand government. Consequently, the eD carried out its probe and conducted searches at various locations

Rs 35 crore unaccounted cash. officials recovered the eD letter written to the chief secretary seeking registration of FiR and to conduct independent probe.

The eD also seized several documents, including records related to the transfer-posting of bureaucrats. These documents mention the recommendation made by jharkhand Pradesh Congress President Rajesh Thakur for the posting of bureaucrats. it is pertinent to mention here that the eD had arrested hemant soren, the working president of jharkhand mukti morcha (jmm) on january 31, after he resigned as the chief minister, in connection with corruption and money laundering allegations.

Now with arrest of rural development minister's secretary, the eD is getting ready to question the minister

65.67 PeR CenT

The

Wallpost Bureau

Telangana registered 65.67 per cent polling during elections to the 17 lok sabha seats held on may 13.

The election Commission announced that the final polling figure is higher than 2019 lok sabha polling figure (62.11 per cent) but lower compared to the November 2023 assembly elections (71.34 per cent).

as many as 2.18 crore voters out of 3.17 registered voters exercised their right to franchise.

Bhongir lok sabha constituency recorded the highest polling of 76.78 per cent, while hyderabad registered the lowest turnout of 48.48 per cent.

Urban constituencies saw lower polling than rural areas. in secunderabad, the turnout was 49.04 per cent. malkajgiri and Chevella recorded 50.78 per cent and 56.4 per cent polling, respectively.

Chief electoral officer (Ceo) Vikas Raj stated that voting was conducted smoothly, peacefully, and without any major untoward incident for 17 lok sabha seats and the byelection to the secunderabad Cantonment (sC) assembly constituency, where the turnout was 51.61 per cent.

out of 2,20,24,806 voters who cast their votes in lok sabha polls, 2,18,14,035 voters cast their votes at 35,809 polling stations while 2,10,771 voters exercised their franchise in Voter Facilitation Centre (VFCs), Postal Voting Centres (PVCs), and through home voting, the Ceo said.

a total of 1,89,091 electors on election duty cast their votes at VFCs or PVCs while 21,680 voters participated in voting at their homes. among assembly segments, the highest poll percentage of 84.25 per cent was recorded in Narsapur, a part of the medak lok sabha constituency, and the lowest, at 42.76 per cent, was recorded in the malakpet assembly segment in hyderabad lok sabha constituency. in terms of numbers, the highest

number of votes (3,85,149) were polled in the medchal assembly segment of the malkajgiri lok sabha constituency and the lowest number of votes (1,05,383) were polled in the Bhadrachalam assembly segment of the mahabubabad lok sabha constituency.

The Ceo said that the eVms were sealed in the presence of observers/contesting candidates /election agents and stored safely in strong rooms, under constant monitoring by CCTV and security forces.

Counting of votes will take place on june 4 at 34 counting locations in the state under CCTV cover in the presence of counting observers, contesting candidates, election agents, and counting agents, he said.

CHHoTe Is a Canon

‘NOBODY CAN HANDLE HIM EXCEPT ME’: ASAD MAKES VEILED THREAT

The Wallpost Bureau

ll india majlis-e-ittehadul muslimeen (aimim) chief, asaduddin owaisi made a veiled threat to Bharatiya janata Party (BjP) at an election meeting couple of days before the polling. he was responding to a provocative statement made by lok sabha member from amaravati in maharashtra, Navneet kaur Rana, who came to hyderabad to campaign for BjP candidate madhavi latha. Navneet Rana, who is known for making controversial and provocative statements, had referred to aimim legislator and asad’s younger brother akbaruddin owaisi as ‘chhote’ in her speech on may 8. akbaruddin is known for making

provocative statements on a regular basis.

Referring to aimim leader akbaruddin owaisi’s speech at Nirmal in Telangana in 2012, in which he said that if police is removed for 15 minutes his community would show 100 crore hindus what it could do, Navneet Rana said, “akbaruddin said remove police for 15 minutes so they can show what they can do… i say, it may take you 15 minutes but it will take us only 15 seconds.”

The provocative statement by Navneet Rana might have drawn applause from the gathering at the meeting, but it displayed the immaturity on the part of the mP from maharashtra. Further, the statement comes as an opportunity

for asad to polarize voters from his community. in response, the aimim chief had said, “she is calling him chhote chhote. what does she know about chhote. he is a canon. if i tell him that i want to take rest and ask him to handle things, nobody would be able to control him. he is playing singles now. if he starts playing iPl, then what can you do! only asad can keep him under tabs. i am controlling him with a great difficulty.”

Thus, Navneet Rana’s provocative statement has given an opportunity for aimim to justify their provocative statements. Further, it gave an opportunity for akbaruddin to make a comeback to his domain of delivering provocative speeches in the coming days.

SHOPKEEPER REFUSES TO SELL PRODUCTS TO PEOPLE WHO SOLD THEIR VOTE FOR NOTE

The Wallpost Bureau

The high voltage polling in andhra Pradesh for the state assembly and fourth phase of lok sabha was held on may 13.

The ruling YsR Congress Party and the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) allegedly spent crores of rupees to buy votes.

it is said scores of Non-Resident indians (NRis) landed in andhra Pradesh along with huge chunks of cash, few days before the polling.

Rumour mills made rounds that each vote cost both the parties anything ranging between Rs 3,000 and Rs. 12,000.

in addition, the parties spent huge amount for transporting the voters to polling stations from their places of residence.

since many voters belonging to

andhra Pradesh live in hyderabad and Bengaluru, the parties hired cars and vans. For some of those travelling by bus and train, the parties are said to have provided the fares too.

it may be recalled one way travel fare for each passenger from hyderabad to Nellore cost Rs. 3,700 couple of days before the polling.

an incident of a ruling party leader in andhra Pradesh has come to light wherein he made the voters

who have accepted money to cast their votes in his favour to take oath that they would vote in favour of the same leader who had paid the money. while this is so, a shopkeeper in Gudiwada town of andhra Pradesh set up an announcement board outside his shop, which caught the attention of the people after the polling.

The announcement reads, “we will not sell anything for those who have sold their votes. so, those who have sold their votes by accepting the tainted money from political leaders need not visit our shop for making purchases”.

The announcement makes one thing clear. That there are people still living with principles. and such principled people will lend their support for ‘fight against corruption’.

CLOSE TO 1000 NEW VILLAGES CAME UP IN MANIPUR ALONE DUE TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

The Wallpost Bureau

The issue of illegal immigrants has hit the headlines again with the chief minister of manipur, Biren singh expressing concerns over illegal migations.

Demographic imbalance is taking place in manipur due to illegal migrations from myanmar, which is

a threat to the security of the nation as well as the indigenous people in the state, Biren sing said recently.

The influx of illegal migrants from myanmar led to the emergence of 996 new villages in the state in the last 18 years, the chief minister said.

massive deforestation has taken place to establish settlements and carry out poppy plantations since 2006 while these illegal immigrants

started encroaching on the resources, job opportunities, land, and rights of the indigenous people.

"i am extremely happy that the National Green Tribunal has recently suo-moto taken up the case of deforestation in the northeastern states and also in manipur," Biren singh said.

a three-member cabinet subcommittee headed by Tribal affairs

minister letpao haokip had been constituted in February 2023 to detect the illegal migrants from myanmar and the committee accompanied by officials detected 2,480 immigrants in Tengnoupal, Chandel, Churachandpur and kamjong districts, he said.

The other two ministers of the cabinet sub-committee were water Resources minister awangbow Newmai and education and law minister Basanta kumar singh.

The Chief minister said that haokip belongs to the kuki community, while Newmai belongs to Naga and singh belongs to meitei community.

Recently, 5,457 more illegal immigrants in kamjong district were detected and biometric data of 5,173 such illegal immigrants has been collected. as many as 379 migrants returned to myanmar voluntarily and 15 have died so far due to natural causes. he said that

the illegal migrants would be deported back to myanmar by the district administration, as and when the situation improves in myanmar. illegal migration has become the most volatile and contentious issue in indian politics because of the socio-political conflicts it has brought in its wake.

From the eastern borders, Bangladeshi illegal immigration has changed the demography of northeast especially assam and west Bengal. Now, illegal immigrants are settling across the country with the help of political patronage from certain political parties and organized gangs.

it might be interesting to mention here that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are arrested almost every day in one place or the other in india.

it may be recalled that k j Rao, one of the eCi observers for west Bengal a decade ago, had told this

correspondent that little over 30 per cent voters in west Bengal were Bangladeshi migrants. Rao was credited with conducting peaceful elections in Bihar long ago resulting in the historic trouncing of lalu Prasad Yadav’s RjD by Nitish kumar.

Today, the situation in west Bengal is alarming. Yet, selfish political parties are trying their best to protect the illegal immigrants in an apparent attempt to guard their vote bank, according to analysts. Consequently, illegal immigrants are able to find political patronage across the country and securing indian identities such as aadhaar Card, ration card, voter iD as well was indian Passport too. it is time vigilant groups, NGos and concerned citizens start acting against illegal immigrants and their political patrons, lest the indigenous people will be in great trouble in the days to come, analysts said.

Hindu Population in India on The Decline

The Wallpost Bureau

hindu population in india declined sharply by 7.8 per cent between 1950 and 2015, while the muslim population saw a 43.15 per cent increase in the corresponding period.

while the hindu population shrunk in india, the share of minorities, including muslim, Christian, Buddhist and sikhs, went up. however, the number of jains and Parsis in the population mix decreased.

according to a study by the economic advisory Council to the Prime minister (eaC-Pm), it is revealed that the share of hindus in india's population fell from 84 per cent in 1950 to 78% in 2015, while that of muslims witnessed an increase from 9.84 per cent to 14.09 per cent during the corresponding

period.The paper, authored by shamika Ravi, apurv kumar mishra, and abraham jose, provides a critical examination of the shifts in religious demographics from 1950 to 2015 across the 167 countries, using the Religious Characteristics of states Dataset.

The study, whose report was released in may 2024, assessed the trends in 167 countries across the world.

a careful analysis of the data shows that minorities are not just protected, but indeed thriving in india, according to the authors. "india is one of the few countries which has a legal definition of minorities and provides constitutionally protected rights for them. The outcomes of these progressive policies and inclusive institutions are reflected in the growing number of minority

populations within india," the authors said.

Citing Tibetan Buddhists who had to flee China six decades ago, matuas who came from Bangladesh to escape religious persecution, and refugees from Pakistan, sri lanka, afghanistan, and myanmar, the paper points out that it is because of india's policies and institutions that minority populations from the neighbourhood came to this country when faced with duress. "Given its plural, liberal and democratic nature, india has continued its civilizational tradition of harbouring persecuted populations from several countries over the last six decades," the authors said.

Despite the facts and figures, some communities and countries leave no stone unturned to criticize india in general and hindus in particular as ‘intolerant’.

Majority Indians Repose Confidence in

ACCESS TO TOILETS, IMPROVEMENT IN ELECTRICITY, QUALITY OF ROADS AND RAILS AND DIGITAL PENETRATION ARE THE BASIS FOR THEIR CONFIDENCE

The Wallpost Bureau

more than 69 per cent residents of the country have confidence and trust in the central government, while people of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh top the charts in reposing faith in the government services.

“average trust in Government of india across the nation is at 69.36 per cent. Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest level of trust in government services, signaling public confidence,” according to a study, conducted by top-notch iim professors from ahmedabad, Calcutta, lucknow, indore and

Rohtak. The joint team of professors carried an in-depth analysis of the changes observed by citizens over past five years.

“The years 2019-2024 saw an average 72 per cent reduction in

power cuts. significant infrastructure improvements were observed in states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, maharashtra, Gujarat, and Chhattisgarh, particularly in water and electricity supply. Gujarat and maharashtra led in fostering youth optimism and reducing drug consumption,” found the study.

The study further points out that the average increase in agricultural income on self-report basis stood at 39.9 per cent across the nation.

“about 66.02 per cent of the respondents reported that youth was more hopeful and optimistic in india’s development and growth. Farmers in Punjab, haryana, and kerala reported that there is a notable increase in agricultural

income. highest agricultural income increase was witnessed in kerala, haryana, and Punjab which is 49 per cent, 47 per cent and 45 per cent, respectively,” it said.

The mobile usage per day saw a 200 per cent increase over the past five years in urban regions, whereas, it is 155.5 per cent for rural areas. These developments reflect broader socio-economic transformations taking place across india.

on self-report basis, casual workers reported a 60 per cent to 175 per cent rise in income, reflecting improvements in the labour market. This was validated by data from 75 trucking companies.

The states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and madhya Pradesh reported high level of trust in the government. The increase in savings across the nation owing to increased access to cooking

gas, better healthcare, and sanitation was reported to be Rs 12,096 per year. states including haryana and Uttar Pradesh saw significant increases in annual savings and reductions in sick days,” the study said. it further found out that 69.1 per cent of the respondents reported improved road travel, while 62.2 per cent of the respondents reported improved rail travel and 70.7 per cent of the respondents reported improved air travel respectively in the last five years . according to the study, the five areas which recorded the most significant changes in the last five years included sanitation: access to toilets, Road travel: Quality of Roads, Rail Travel: Quality of Rails, Power-cuts: improvement in electricity and Digital access: mobile penetration and digital services.

For analysing the data, the researchers carried out a meticulous survey from wide pool of about 85,326 respondents, including farmers, casual workers, housewives, servicing employees, and students.

Data has been collected through a structured survey across 22 regions and states including Telangana and andhra Pradesh.

The study was spearheaded by principal investigator Prof. Dheeraj sharma from iim Rohtak, alongside coinvestigators Prof. anand kumar jaiswal (iim-ahmedabad), Prof. Rajat sharma (iimahmedabad), Prof. saravana jaikumar l. (iim-Calcutta), Prof. Prem Dewani (iimlucknow), Prof. suresh kumar jakhar (iim-lucknow), and Prof. siddharth k. Rastogi (iim-indore).

seven HeaT IslanDs founD In HyDeRaBaD

The Wallpost Bureau

hyderabad has got seven new islands. Don't get surprised. we are not referring to the usual island which means a body of land surrounded by water.

we are talking about Urban heat islands (Uhis) found in hyderabad. a research has found that Uhis are concentrated in seven areas in the city. Uhis are the areas whose land surface Temperatures (lsT) are higher compared to the surrounding areas. The Uhis are identified based on the analysis of march 2024 data. according to hyderabad Urban

lab’s research, these areas are concentrated in the northwestern, western, southern, and southeastern regions of the Greater hyderabad municipal Corporation (GhmC).

in the northwestern areas, Uhis are located in Patancheruvu and Bandlaguda, while in the western area Uhis are located in Gachibowli.

in southern region, the Uhis are concentrated in mailardevpally, while in southeastern region the Uhis are concentrated in BN Reddy Nagar, hayathnagar, and mansoorabad areas of the GhmC.

The Uhis are created due to urbanization and anthropogenic

activities such as dense urban living without green spaces. The increasing Uhis are contributing to the rising temperatures in hyderabad.

Due to these reasons, hyderabad recorded maximum temperatures of over 46 degrees Celsius.

Growth of concrete jungle instead of green cover, destruction of waterbodies, drying up the groundwater resources and increasing pollution levels leading to erratic rainfall are seen as major reasons for formation of Uhis. Unless people wake up to the threat, the situation is going to worsen in the coming days making the city an uninhabitable place.

Kerala’s first-ever private train service to BegIn on june 4

The Wallpost Bureau

june 4, 2024 is going to be a big day for the nation in general and politicos in particular as the counting of votes is scheduled to take place on that day. so, the fate of contestants will be known on that day notwithstanding the fact that the Bharatiya janata Party (BjP) is set to win the elections to form government at the center for a third consecutive term.

june 4, 2024 is also significant for some other reason. on that day, kerala’s first-ever private train service is set to launch as part of the indian Railway’s Bharat Gaurav Yatra Project.

operated by sRmPR Global Railways Private limited in association with kochi-based Princy world Travels Private limited, this tourist train will start its journey from Thiruvananthapuram.

This train will have two sleeper-class bogies, 11 three-tier aC coaches, and two second-class aC coaches to carry 750 passengers with amenities like wi-Fi, food, and GPs tracking onboard. a dedicated team of 60 staff, including medical experts, will be on

duty on the train. The first private train trip is scheduled for Goa. Passengers with pre-booked tickets can board the train from regional stations like Trivandrum, kollam, kottayam, ernakulam, Thrissur, kozhikode, kannur and kasargode.

Three exclusive tour packages to Goa, mumbai and a religious trip to ayodhya, Varanasi and Prayagraj, are on offer as part of the private train service from kerala. according to Devika menon, Director of Princy world Travel Private limite, the trips to the other two destinations will also commence in june itself, and there will be one train each to all three destinations every month.

For now, sRmPR has hired a train from the Railways to run tourist services from kerala. Plans are afoot to import special trains from Germany to run them privately. The

trains are expected to arrive by the end of this year.

The private train service from kerala is second such facility in south india.

in 2022, similar service has been launched from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to shirdi. Before that, private train service – lucknow – New Delhi Tejas express was inaugurated on october 4, 2019, while ahmedabad – mumbai Tejas express was inaugurated on january 17, 2020. Both the train services are operated by iRCTC, a subsidiary of indian Railways.

it appears the union government is slowly inching towards privatization of rail transport since it is incurring huge losses in railways.

The National Coordination Committee of Railwaymen’s struggle (NCCRs), reconstituted in october 2020, had said the process

to introduce 150 private passenger trains on select and profitable 109 routes has already begun. all revenue earning routes are selectively being handed to private operators, leaving the loss-making sections with the railways. The intention to corporatize the railway production units has also been declared. Rail workers know that corporatisation is the first step towards privatization, it had said. however, the minister for Railways, ashwini Vaishnaw, while responding to a question in the lok sabha in july 2023, quashed all speculations regarding the privatisation of the indian Railways. Yet, private trains are being introduced one after the other. it has to be seen whether the privatization process picks up momentum during the third term of the BjP at the center.

KeRala neeDs 7,000 MoRe CoPs

The Wallpost Bureau

kerala is facing a serious shortage of nearly 7,000 police personnel, according to the administrative Reforms Commission report.

kerala police force presently has a strength of 53,222, i.e. one policeman for 656 people. Fresh recruitment based on the report is yet to be taken up notwithstanding the fact that the report was submitted a few years back.

incidentally, the National Crime Records Bureau report has pointed out that in 2022, as many as 2,5,858 criminal cases were registered in kerala and one reason

why the probe into cases gets delayed is due to the lack of required number of police officials. however, over the years, the standard reply given by the authorities with regard to the cases getting registered is that unlike many other states, in kerala, due to the increased social awareness, the tendency to register cases is high.

Very recently, those whose names appeared in the selection list prepared by the kerala state Public service Commission to the kerala Police had staged a protest before the state secretariat demanding the Pinarayi Vijayan government to either start recruiting from the list of qualified candidates or extend the date of the list, but it failed to happen.

TThe Wallpost Bureau

he growing digital transactions via the unified payments interface (UPi) in india has resulted in people overspending on stuff they actually may not need at times, according to experts.

hitherto, indians were known to save more and spend less. however, of late, the trend seems to have reversed to ‘spend more, save less’ or ‘spend today, think of savings later’. This is because of the increasing digital payment stream.

The purchasing trend via UPi is due to the fact that digital transactions take only seconds to complete the purchase via smartphones.

Close to 74 per cent of people in

the country are ‘overspending’ as a result of using UPi and other digital payment methods, according to a recent survey carried out by iiiT Delhi.

“The convenience and ease of digital transactions through UPi, in comparison to cash lead to lower awareness of spending, as transactions are seamless and reduce the tangible feel of money leaving one’s possession,” experts said.

The number of UPi transactions reached 1,330 crore in april. on a year-on-year basis, the UPi transaction count has increased by 50 per cent, according to the data from National Payments Corporation of india (NPCi).

The UPi transactions increased by almost 60 per cent last year to reach a record 11,768 crore.

according to experts, Consumer spending in india is soaring, with people indulging in cars, smartphones, TVs and other items. The trend has seen people overspending on certain high-priced items, thanks to UPi.

a recent report on behalf of amazon india showed that digital payment methods are on the rise in the country, with 42 per cent of consumers saying they will choose UPi for online festive shopping.

Though overspending by indians is leading to economic growth, it is not good for the people on individual scale. it makes people desirous and greedy leading to corruption and unethical practices over a period and finally making the people lose their ‘peace of mind’, a dangerous threat to human existence, experts said.

POLITICAL PARTY FOR MEN OPPOSES LIVE-IN RELATIONSHIP

PROMISES SETTING UP OF MINISTRY FOR MEN’S WELFARE AND NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR MEN

The Wallpost Bureau

TMaRD Ko BHI DaRD HoTa HaIn

he world is abuzz with the talk of women’s rights, women’s safety and women’s empowerment. and india is not an exception.

in fact, successive governments in india have given top priority to women’s rights and enacted laws for their safety and welfare.

The highest court, supreme Court of india has to issue certain guidelines to police and judicial officers while handling cases related to dowry harassment and domestic violence.

in this background, some men felt the need to have separate organisation for their rights. while Bharya Bhaditula sangham (BBs), loosely translated as association for victims of wives, was launched in Telugu states, a political party called mera adhikar Rashtriya Dal (maRD) was started in Uttar Pradesh in 2009.

started by a group of men facing legal issues related to the Dowry Prohibition act and the Protection of women from Domestic Violence act, the party has contested elections since its inception.

The party fielded its candidates in 2019 lok sabha polls from Varanasi and lucknow, by-election in Bangarmau in 2020 and assembly election from Bareilly, lucknow North, Bakshi ka Talab (lucknow) and Chauri Chaura in 2022. however, its candidates performed poorly each time, forfeiting their deposit.

one of the founders and party president kapil mohan Choudhary, who contested the polls from the lucknow lok sabha seat, is facing a dowry case since 1999 that remains unresolved after 25 years.

"i have two kids from my first marriage, both taken away by my ex-wife. later, i was falsely accused in dowry and domestic violence cases. while fighting these cases in lucknow, i met many others facing similar charges in similar

situations," 52-year-old kapil said.

Remarried in 2011, kapil said, "we formed a political party to highlight men’s rights and firght for their rights," says kapil.

The party's tagline is 'mard ko dard hota hai' (men feel the pain).

The 'maNifesto' of maRD made interesting promises 'ministry of men's welfare' and a 'National Commission for men'.

The party also aim to pass a 'men's safety Bill' to prevent unfair treatment of men due to laws favouring women and establish a 'men's Power line' to assist them with family issues.

The party also wants to establish a 'Family welfare Committee' to handle family issues, implementing laws for child custody after divorce and immediately "halting live-in relationships".

TINDIAN CARRIERS to capture 50% of country’s global air

Passenger Traffic

The Wallpost Bureau

he airlines in india are set to capture 50 per cent share of the country’s international passenger traffic by 202728, which is currently 43 per cent. according to a CRisil report, indian carriers such as air india and indiGo, are strategically adding new aircraft to their fleets and launching new international routes cutting travel time. indian carriers have the advantage of superior domestic connectivity compared to their foreign competitors. This enables indian carriers to offer end-to-end international connectivity on a single ticket to travellers from tier 2 and tier 3 cities. "increasing disposable incomes, easing visa requirements, growing number of airports and enhanced air travel connectivity are boosting international travel," said the report.

The government's focus on making india a hub for tourism is also expected to provide a fillip to inbound traffic. Thus, international passenger traffic is likely to register a compound annual growth rate (CaGR) of 10-11 per cent over the next four fiscals, against a mere 5 per cent CaGR in the four years before the pandemic, it said.

indian carriers have added 55 new international routes over the past 15 months, which takes the total number of flights beyond the 300 mark, the report states..

These include direct flights originating from more cities to popular long-haul destinations in the United states, europe, and australia, effectively reducing flying time and eliminating layovers, CRisil said.

The Wallpost Bureau

indian mothers are increasingly concerned about the screen time of their children, according to a report. Released by market research firm Techarc recently, the report is based on a survey of 600 working mothers, across four metro cities, having at least one child between grade 3-10 in school. it explores insights on the digital ecosystem in which mothers operate amidst the challenges, concerns, interests, and preferences.

“mothers believe that increased screen time not only affects the studies but has a negative impact on the mental and physical health of their children,” the report said.

The report further showed that 81 per cent respondents feel privacy and 72 per cent respondents feel inappropriate content as major concerns, while 45 per cent feel teenage influencers and 26 per cent respondents feel deep fakes and impersonation as top concerns for the mothers.Deep fakes and Gen ai will add to their future parenting

worries, feel the mothers. Further, they are concerned about the expected popularity of VR headsets. mothers believe that this form factor will make their children lose attentiveness towards the environment adding to their distractions, the report said. more than 60 per cent of the mothers spent 51-85 per cent on their children through digital mediums buying various goods and services. Nearly 20 per cent of digital savvy mothers spent more than 85 per cent, the report said.

early Death Ultra-Processed Foods Cause

The Wallpost Bureau

Consuming packaged baked goods and snacks, fizzy drinks, sugary cereals, and ready-to-eat or heat foods can cut short lifespan and raise the risk of early death in humans, according to a 30-year-long study.

Ppublished in the journal The Bmj, the study notes that ultraprocessed foods often contain colours, emulsifiers, flavours, and other additives and are typically high in energy, added sugar, saturated fat, and salt, but lack vitamins and fibreleading to poor health, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, which can raise the risk of cardiovascular

For the study, an international team of researchers including from the Us, Brazil, and China, tracked the long-term health of 74,563 female registered nurses from 11 Us states between 1984 and 2018; and 39,501 male health professionals from all 50 Us states from 1986 to 2018 with no history of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, or diabetes.

The results revealed that eating an average of 7 servings per day of ultra-processed foods caused a 4 per cent higher risk of total deaths and a 9 per cent higher risk of other deaths, including an 8 per cent higher risk of neurodegenerative deaths. The rate

of death from any cause among participants in this group was 1,536 per 100,000 person-years.

Further, eating meat, poultry, and seafood-based ready-to-eat products showed the strongest risk of early death, followed by sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages, dairy-based desserts, and ultraprocessed breakfast food.

The findings provide support for limiting consumption of certain types of ultra-processed food for long-term health, said the researchers.“Future studies are warranted to improve the classification of ultra-processed foods and confirm our findings in other populations,” they added.

Asthma can Negatively Affect Brain functions

achronic respiratory disorder, asthma claims 2.5 lakh lives worldwide each year, can negatively affect brain functions, according to experts. according to world health organisation, asthma remains a significant global health concern, affecting an estimated 262 million people worldwide as of 2019 and causing approximately 455,000 deaths annually.

People suffering from asthma have thickened lung walls, clogged with mucus and hyperreactive airways. The presence of pollen, dust mites, or a viral infection, causes the airways to narrow even further during an asthma attack.

Though asthma primarily affects the lungs, experts caution that it can directly or indirectly disrupt brain function. an asthma attack can result

in ischemic demyelination of white matter and damage to brain cells by depriving the brain of oxygen. Repeated asthma attacks and poor management of the condition might cause sleep disturbances and impair brain function, experts say.

it has been found in research that both adults and children with asthma experience cognitive impairment. The cognitive impairment in asthmatic patients is caused by changes in the brain’s architecture, experts said.

There is a link between asthma and various neurological outcomes in children, including deficits in cognitive function, increased risk of behavioural problems, disrupted sleep patterns, and potential medication side effects, experts suggest. People with asthma also have low levels of the chemical Naa which in turn impairs their memory. moreover, the lack of

oxygen during asthma attacks can make it tough for the patients to learn spatial tasks.

Cognitive deficits associated with asthma will have effects on academic achievement and executive functioning. There may be associated changes in the structure of the brain, said the experts.

The challenge in india is the under-diagnosis and under-treatment of the disease, which worsens the health burden on the population. Patients with asthma are affected by stress and emotion. any factor causing emotional distress can cause an asthma attack, they added.

The experts called for understanding the intricate interplay between asthma and neurological function. They called for addressing both respiratory and neurological aspects of asthma care to optimise treatment strategies and promote overall well-being.

RaHul WaRy of losIng To gujaRaTI ZoRoasTRIan oH Really!

Nancharaiah Merugumala

Rahul Gandhi seems to be against losing Congress’ original seat amethi for a second time at the hands of a Gujarati Zoroastrian (Zubin irani’s) wife smriti ‘malhotra’.

Rahul Gandhi, the grandson Feroz Gandhi (himself a Gujarati Zoroastrian settled in Uttar Pradesh and son-inlaw of india’s first Prime minister Pandit Nehru), must have felt humiliated on being defeated by another Gujarati Zoroastrian’s wife. (it is an open secret that Feroz Gandhi’s original name is Feroz jehangir Ghandy but the sangh Pariwar has been carrying out propaganda for the last 70 years).

Consequently, Rahul opted to contest from Raebareli, considered as mother’s lap (Recently his mother sonia Gandhi left the seat after being nominated to Rajya sabha). his grandmother indira Priyadarshini won thrice (1967, 1971, 1980), but lost the seat on one occasion, but his mother sonia won every time she contested from Raebareli.

indira’s marriage took place with great parliamentarian Feroz Gandhi, born to a Gujarati family in the then Bombay, but settled in UP’s allahabad. Feroz saheb was elected twice (1952 and 1957) from Raebareli lok sabha constituency, 125 kms away from allahabad and served the nation. he exposed two huge financial scams in his father-in-law’s regime leading to the resignation of minister for Finance, TT krishnamachari.

if the present generation’s modern sonin-law of Gandhi family, Robert Vadra

was given a chance to contest from amethi, Priyanka’s beloved husband would have reached higher echelons of politics.

smriti irani’s family background is more diverse than wayanad lok sabha member Rahul Gandhi, who has 25 per cent kashmiri, 25 per cent Gujarati Parsi and 50 per cent italian Roman Catholic background. Certainly, it is embarrassing for Rahul Gandhi to bow in defeat for second time before an erstwhile television and film actress.

smriti irani’s father ajay malhotra is a Punjabi khatri, while mother shivani Bagchi is a Bengali Brahmin. her paternal grandmother is a marathi Brahmin, while my indistinct memory suggests that her maternal grandmother is an assamese. it is due to this reason, it is said smriti has no caste, but she only has religion.

smriti came in touch with Zubin irani through the latter’s first wife mona, who happens to be her friend. The friendship led to marriage between smriti and Zubin, while mona and Zubin amicably separated. smriti’s marriage with Zubin was performed in march 2021, i.e. in less than a year after they became friends, as per Bengali hindu customs. while her husband follows Zoroastrian religious customs, smriti follows hindu customs with sindhur on her forehead.

i am told recently that smrit’s mother shibani was a member of Bharatiya jan sangh, while her grandfather was a member of Rashtriya swayamsevak sangh (Rss).

oH Really!

Tigress and Jackal making merry in Rachakonda

once upon a time there was a tigress in the wild. she was powerful, aggressive and careless too. as the days passed, the tigress felt dissatisfied with her companion for the reasons best known to her. instead of sorting out issues, the tigress began searching for a companion of her choice, who could satisfy her while simultaneously be submissive to her. and the tigress found a jackal camouflaged as tiger. she found pleasure in jackal’s company. she developed intimacy with the jackal and roamed in the wild recklessly.

Taking advantage of the lust the tigress has for him, the jackal started ruling the roost in geographical area that falls under the jurisdiction of the tigress. The jackal began making settlements of every kind taking advantage of his intimacy with the tiger.

The family of the tigress, felt ashamed and wept helplessly at the debauching activities of the tigress. since the tigress was the breadwinner of the family, she did not pay heed to the advice given by her family. in some time, the lion king came to know about the unethical and some illegal activities of the tigress and the jackal. But he was helpless too because the tigress had the blessings of the supreme leader of the jungles.

Now let us confide. The jungle is concrete jungle of Rachakonda. The tigress is none other than a young police officer above the rank of assistant commissioner of police, while the jackal is an officer of the rank of inspector of Police.

The duo continues the disgraceful activities challenging the power of lion king as the tigress has

the blessings of the supreme leader. The lion king is left with no other option but to seek the intervention of the king of kings ruling from lakdikapul headquarters. The king of kings has the power to kick the jackal to a remote desert where it will be difficult to find even water.

it has to be seen whether the lion king of Rachakonda acts in the larger interest of the inhabitants of the jungle.

Betrayed ACP sulking in CCS - Hyderabad

he is an assistant commissioner of police in the Central Crime station (CCs), hyderabad. he made fast bucks as a police officer during his career. Yet, he was unsatisfied. he wanted to test his luck in politics for, these days politics has turned out to be a good business.

since he is from andhra Pradesh and since he has connections with an evangelist, the aCP held discussions with the evangelist. The latter promised to get a ticket from one of the national parties.

Consequently, he applied for Voluntary Retirement scheme (VRs). The aCP allegedly gave handsome money to the officials concerned in the department to speedily process his VRs file.

in the meantime, an overenthusiastic aCP held a political press conference even as his VRs file was under process. as a result, he is said to have been suspended. But, the influential aCP managed to get the suspension revoked.

while so, the national party’s regional head played spoilsport with the political dreams of the aCP. By then, he had already spent several lakhs of rupees of his ill-gotten money. with the political future turning

bleak, the aCP immediately applied for reversal of his VRs application. The officials concerned demanded another round of bribe for processing the VRs withdrawal application.

Now, the aCP is said to be sulking as he feels betrayed by the officials of his own department as well as guides in politics.

Pubs, tainted Inspector and the DCP-WZ

Normally, it is the higher official, who transfers lower official in any department. and the police department is not an exception to this principle. however, here is special case. an officer of the rank of inspector is ‘lobbying’ for the transfer of an officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).

The inspector, who was suspended on corruption charges some time ago, is lobbying for the transfer of west Zone DCP of hyderabad police, m Vijay kumar. You must be pondering why a suspended inspector would do that. we will explain.

The suspended inspector was considered highly influential during the BRs regime. he is said to be having close connections with many of the pubs in west zone. and the owners of these pubs want Vijay kumar to be shifted out of the zone since he is troubling them a lot.

Vijay kumar is not giving any exception to these pubs to run beyond the time permitted by the authorities. This way, the pub owners are losing on their profits. hence, they approached the tainted inspector, who has now made connections at high places.

The tainted inspector is said to have made connections with an influential person ‘T’ in the Congress government. But even the ‘T’ is not able to

shift Vijay kumar immediately due to certain constraints.

Consequently, the tainted inspector is said to be making loose talk against ‘T’ saying that the latter is not doing his work even after receiving the ‘moolah’.

Babus at the receiving end

Three ias officers – one of the rank of principal secretary and two district level officials – who thought they should be loyal to politicians than the people, are now at the receiving end, if sources are to be believed.

The senior officer who worked in the revenue department and the district officials who worked as Collectors in the previous dispensation, are said to have passed orders in favour of select politicians facilitating them amass huge land bank. in this garb, the babus also amassed huge money. one of the babus cleared a land file pertaining to a Nawab with ante-date.

Now that there is a change of guard in the state, the present dispensation is learnt to have ordered an internal enquiry against the three babus out of which two have worked in hyderabad and Ranga Reddy. it has to be seen if action is initiated against the babus after the enquiry or they are compelled to surrender for the private benefit of certain politicians in the current dispensation.

Ex-CP wants to come back as CP

an iPs officer, who was the chief of a police commissionerate on the outskirts of hyderabad, is hell bent on coming back to the same position.

said to be closely related to a top level Congress leader, the iPs officer was removed from the post some time ago following certain complaints.

since the model Code of Conduct is nearing an end, the Babu is said to have stepped his efforts to snatch his post back from the present Babu.

The present Babu got the ‘chair’ merely based on his eligibility criteria and not by any recommendation. it has to be seen the present dispensation favours ‘eligibility’ or ‘proximity’ to the top leadership in the ruling party.

“Can there be a disease worse than slavery..?”

—KhudiramBose