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Vol. 84 No. 21 Established 1938 | 24 PAGES PLUS A COPY OF 4-PAGE DC ESTATE | `6.00deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle

THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIAHYDERABAD I FRIDAY I 22 JANUARY 2021

ASTROGUIDESarvari; Uttarayana

Tithi: Pushya Shuddha Navamitill 6.27 pm

Star: Bharani till 6.38 pmVarjyam: Nil

Durmuhurtam: 9.07 am to 9.51 am; 12.49 pm to 1.34 pm

Rahukalam: 10.30 pm to 12 noonHIJRI CALENDAR

Jamadi- ul- Akhir 8,1442 AHPRAYERS

Fajar: 5.46 amZohar: 12.37 pm

Asar: 4.29 pmMaghrib: 6.11 pm

Isha: 7.22 pmSUNSET TODAY 6.05 PM

SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.49 AMMOONRISE TODAY 12.19 PM

MOONSET TOMORROW 12.21 AM

COUNTER POINT

Max: 32OCMin: 17.2OC RH: 75%Rainfall: Nil

Forecast: Partly cloudysky. Misty morning.

Max/Min temp. 30/17ºC

WEATHER

9,75,68,114CASES AROUND THE WORLD

STATE GOVERNMENT BULLETINS

CASES

(+14,229)1,06,24,702

(+226)

(+139)TS: 2,92,621

DEATHS

(+285)1,53,028

AP: 8,86,557

1,584

7,142

20,89,522

219

DEATHS

COUNTRIES,AREAS WITH

CASES

COVID-19 C UNT

worldometers.info/coronavirus

(+0)

(+1)

SHORT TAKES

Mumbai: The Sensexbreached 50,000 barrier for

the first time ever in earlymorning trade and made anew all time high of 50,184

on positive global cues.However due to profit taking

in the last hour of trade thebenchmark index fell sharply

from the historic highs andclosed at 49,624 down

by 167 points.

■ Full report on Page 11

Sensex crosses50,000 mark

5 killed in Serum Institute fire

Workers wearing protective gear walk away after a fire broke out at the SerumInstitute in Pune on Thursday. Five men died in the fire in the five-storey under-con-struction building at the Serum Institute’s Manjari premises. All the victims were con-struction workers whose bodies were recovered by fire brigade personnel from thefifth floor. Nine other workers were evacuated from the spot. The Manjari facility iswhere Covishield vaccine used in the nationwide inoculation drive against the pan-demic is made. Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla said Covishield production wouldnot be affected due to the fire. — AFP ■ Report on Page 6

IREDDY SRINIVAS REDDY | DCHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

Deputy Speaker PadmaRao on Friday joined thelist of ministers EtalaRajendar, V. SrinivasGoud, Errabelli DayakarRao, Gangula Kamalakarand Legislative CouncilChairman GuttaSukhender, who have inthe past said that partyworking president andminister K.T. Rama Raohas the capabilities tobecome the Chief Ministerand should be indeedgiven the position “soon”.

Addressing the inaugu-ration of an office buildingof the South CentralRailway Employees’Sangh, Padma Rao said, “Icongratulate KTR, who isgoing to become the ChiefMinister very soon… onbehalf of the Assemblyand railway employees. Iwish KTR should safe-guard the interests of rail-way employees afterbecoming Chief Minister.”

Unlike in the past whenboth Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao andhis son Rama Rao dis-missed such talk as “merespeculation”, Rama Rao,who was present at themeeting when Padma Raomade these remarks, didnot react.

In the past few days,

MLAs Bajireddy Govar-dhan and Shakeel Ahmedhave also joined the TRSchorus to amplify thevoice to see Rama Rao asChief Minister soon.

The desire of TRS MLAsto see Rama Rao as ChiefMinister increased afterhealth minister EtalaRajendar, in an interview

with a regional channel,said, “almost 99% of thegovernment works aresupervised by KTR cur-rently.”

With senior leaderRajendar, who reportedlymaintains a cordial rela-tion with other seniors ofthe party, confirming thespeculation, other leaderstoo have joined the chorusand are now publicly stat-ing their private intent tosee Rama Rao as ChiefMinister.

Opposition parties areobserving the situation inTRS keenly. Congressleaders, including Telang-ana Congress LegislatureParty leader Mallu BhattiVikramarka, said that anychange in the ChiefMinister was an internalparty issue of the TRS, butif Chandrashekar Raomade way for his son, itproved that he too agreeswith the growing publicperception that he was afailure in governing thestate.

BJP state presidentBandi Sanjay said KCR’sdecision to make RamaRao the CM was an inter-nal matter of the TRS, butadded that the BJP wouldbe happy and welcome it ifa Dait was made the CM asper KCR’s promise.

■ Page 2: Some TRS leaderssay it’s not good decision

‘KTR for CM soon’chorus gets louderMore ministers back change of guard in state

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

The state government hasfinally decided to imple-ment reservation for theEconomically WeakerSection (EWS) inTelangana.

On Thursday, ChiefMinister K. Chandrash-ekar Rao announced thathis government has deci-ded to implement 10 per-cent reservations for theEWS. The CM said that ahigh-level review meetingwould be held in the nexttwo to three days on thematter and appropriateorders would be issued.

■ Page 2: Overall quota instate is 60% now

KCR APPROVES10% QUOTA FOR THE POOR

DC CORRESPONDENTSNEW DELHI/CHENNAI/RAMANATHAPURAM, JAN. 21

India on Thursday lodgeda “strong protest” with SriLankan foreign ministerDinesh Gunawardena inColombo over the death ofthree Indian fishermenand a Sri Lankan nationalin a “collision” betweentheir vessel and a SriLankan naval craft.

New Delhi also empha-sised to Colombo the“need to deal with issuespertaining to fishermen ina humanitarian manner”and adherence to the“existing understandingsbetween the two govern-ments” in this regard,adding that “utmost

efforts should be made (bySri Lanka) to ensure thatthere is no recurrence” ofsuch an incident.

The tragic incident rep-ortedly took place threedays ago after which theSri Lankan Navy on Thur-sday recovered the bodiesof the four deceased.

The Indian Tamil fisher-men claim that the SriLankan Navy deliberatelyrammed a fishing boatresulting in the deathswhile the Sri LankanNavy has reportedlyclaimed that it was thefishing boat that collidedwith its naval craft afterthe Indian fishermen wereresisting arrest for fishingin Sri Lankan waters.

Fishermen on Thursday

launched a black flagprotest in Ramanatha-puram in Tamil Nadu.

The Federation ofTraditional fishermen ofRameswaram also filed aHabeas corpus petition inthe Madurai Bench of theMadras High Court on theissue on Thursday, saidChinnathambi, coordina-tor of the federation.

Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister Edappadi KPalaniswami, meanwhile,announced a relief of `10lakh each to the families ofthe dead fishermen.

He also promised com-pensation for the boat thatwas sunk and urged PrimeMinister Narendra Modito take up the issue withSri Lanka.

4 Indian fishermen killedas Lanka Navy rams boat

SANJAY KAW | DCNEW DELHI, JAN. 21

The agitating farmers’unions on Thursdayrejected the Centre’soffer to suspend the threecontroversial agricultur-al reform laws for 18months and set up a jointcommittee to addresstheir grievances. Theunions also rejected asuggestion by the Delhipolice to hold their pro-posed Republic Day trac-tor rally on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expre-ssway instead of Delhi’sbusy Outer Ring Road.

The farmer unions reit-erated their demand for afull repeal.

■ Full report on Page 6

FARMERS REJECTGOVT’S OFFER TOFREEZE 3 LAWS

Kolkata, Jan. 21: In adevelopment that mightupset political equationsin election-bound Bengal,Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui ofHooghly district’s FurfuraSharif on Thursday float-ed a new political outfit,contending that he wishesto be the kingmaker.

The influential clericsaid his outfit — IndianSecular Front (ISF) —plans to contest all 294Assembly seat. The pirza-da said that a tie-up withthe Left-Congress alliancemight be in the offing.

“We have formed thisparty to ensure that con-stitutional democracy isprotected, everybody getssocial justice and all of uslive with dignity,”Siddiqui, head of the pro-minent Sufi mazar, said.

The 34-year-old debutantin politics rejected asser-tions that his outfit wouldbe a B-team of the BJP,eating into the vote shareof the TMC, which bankson the state’s 30 per centMuslim electorate.

“Why are you talkingabout a split in Muslim

votes? There are so manymore political parties, butyou never talk about anysplit in Hindu votes. Ifthere are some who haveproblems with my outfit,they should think aboutwhat needs to be done. It isnot my job to worry aboutthe TMC’s poll prospects,”Siddiqui said.

Earlier this month,AIMIM supremo Asadud-din Owaisi had metSiddiqui and discussed analliance. “Asaduddin Saabhas already said that hewould support me in thisstate. The nitty-gritty (ofseat-sharing) would bedecided later,” the pirzadaadded. — PTI

Bengali cleric to float newparty, Owaisi deal is likely

Kolkata, Jan. 21: RulingTrinamul Congress inWest Bengal on Thursdaymet the full bench of theElection Commission ofIndia (ECI) and allegedthat the BSF is threaten-ing people in the borderareas of the state to casttheir votes in favour of aparticular political party.

The Border SecurityForce (BSF), however,denied the TMC’s allega-tion as “baseless” and “farfrom the truth”.

“We have informed theCEC and other ECI offi-cials that the BSF isthreatening voters in theborder areas. We havereceived inputs that offi-cers of the paramilitaryforce are visiting variousvillages and asking peopleto cast their votes in favo-ur of a particular politicalparty. “This is a danger-ous situation and the ECImust look into it,” TMCsecretary-general ParthaChatterjee said. — PTI

BSF exerts pressureon voters: Trinamul

DC CORRESPONDENTSVIJAYAWADA, JAN. 21

The Andhra Pradeshgovernment filed a spe-cial leave petition in theSupreme Court on Thur-sday expressing its diffi-culty to conduct thegram panchayat polls asscheduled by the StateElection Commissionand hold the Covid-19vaccination programmesimultaneously.

The SLP followed theAndhra Pradesh HighCourt’s verdict earlier inthe day allowing conductof the polls despite objec-tions from the state gov-ernment.

The court opined thatthe single judge did notassign any reason inwhich aspects the SECfailed to consider thestate government’s viewson conduct of electionsand how the conduct ofelections would hampervaccination process.

The government’s maincontention in the SLP isthat employees were nowpreoccupied with theCovid-19 managementand vaccination pro-grammes. “It would bedifficult to simultaneous-ly handle the vaccinationprogramme and thegram panchayat polls,”the SLP stated.

The government expre-ssed the fear that per-forming both the tasks atthe same time could jeop-ardise the safety of thegeneral public and theemployees. It sought theintervention of the apexcourt to defer the polls.

Meanwhile, state gov-ernment adviser (publicaffairs) Sajjala Rama-krishna Reddy said thegovernment cannot putthe lives of employees inperil by forcing themhold the panchayat polls.

AP MOVES TOPCOURT AFTER HCLETS POLL PANELHOLD ELECTIONS

MOSES KONDETY I DCHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

An emotional MohammedSiraj drove straight fromthe airport to the grave-yard and paid his lastrespects to his fatherMohammed Ghouse, on hisreturn to Hyderabad onThursday from a success-ful tour of Australia withthe national cricket team.

Ghouse, who had wantedto see his son play at thehighest level for India, haddied on November 20 last

year, about a week afterthe fast bowler landed inAustralia with the Indianteam. Siraj was advised byfamily members to stayback with the team andplay on, as his fatherwould have wanted.

He did, and played a keyrole in India’s historicseries win, taking 13 wick-ets — the most by anIndian bowler — in threeTests, including a five-wicket haul in the fourthand final game inBrisbane.

Siraj laid flowers at hisfather’s grave and offeredprayers before heading forhis home in Toli Chowki,after several months.

Later, speaking toreporters at his residence,the 26-year-old said he hadpointed to the sky after tak-ing 5 for 73 at the Gabba tohonour his father.

“I wanted to dedicate myperformance to my Dad. Imiss him a lot... at times Ialmost reached out to myphone to call him butrealised he is no more,” theIndian fast bowlerrecalled.

Siraj also recalled thesupport he received fromhis family members. “They

have been of huge help. Myfriends too were there forme when I needed them,”he said.

Help was also readilyavailable on the field.Senior pace partnerJasprit “Bumrah bhai sup-ported me a lot and keptgiving me constant tipswith regard to bowling aswell as mental frameworkduring the series,” Sirajrecalled.

■ Page 3: I worked hard during lockdown, says Siraj

Racial abuse spurred Siraj to fightFast bowler visits dad’s grave to pay homage after landing in cityTURNING | POINT

Team India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj pays respectsto his deceased father Mohammed Ghouse at a grave-yard in Hyderabad on Thursday, after his return fromthe tour of Australia. — PTI

“I wanted to dedicatemy performance to myDad. I miss him a lot...at times I almostreached out to myphone to call him butrealised he is no more,”the 26-year-old Indianfast bowler said.

Watch out for

DC is launching DC Estate, a four-page weekly supplement,

giving you a great perspective ofthe real estate in the city,

connecting buyers, sellers, buildersand industry professionals.

Pg II | >> Aparna changes city’s skyline, people’s lifestyles Hyderabad real estate back with a bang: CREDAI

CITY pg 2DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 22 JANUARY 2021

Patients return

With relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions, patients gather in large numbers at theOsmania General Hospital in Hyderabad on Thursday. — P. SURENDRA

HC not to step intojab reactions issue

Number of vaccinerecipients plunges BALU PULIPAKA | DCHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

Just a little over half ofthe 48,447 persons whohad registered to take theCovid-19 vaccine turnedup on Thursday for takingtheir shots across thestate. Only 27,682 health-care workers received thevaccine jabs at the 726 ses-sion centres.

The health departmentwhich released the day’sCovid-19 vaccinationnumbers, did not provideany explanation as to whyonly 57 per cent of thosewho were supposed toreceive the vaccine, did soon Thursday. Ever sincethe first phase of the vaccination programmebegan on January 16, thenumber of vaccine takershad been falling with eachday.

The death of a 42-year-old ambulance driver inless than 24 hours aftertaking the vaccine in

Nirmal district onWednesday, is believed tohave heavily weighed onthe minds of those slatedfor the shots Thursday.This, it was learnt, resulted in an increasedreluctance among thehealthcare staff to takethe vaccine.

The vaccine beingadministered in the stateis Covishield, developedby AstraZeneca-OxfordUniversity and manufac-tured in India by SerumInstitute of India in Pune.

The health departmentheld back the roll-out ofCovaxin — manufacturedby the Hyderabad-basedBharat Biotech onJanuary 18 — the otherCovid-19 vaccineapproved for use in India,following apprehensionsamong the intended recip-ients owing the require-ment of signing an agree-ment to take part in a clin-ical trial.

No compulsion for taking shot, says CourtVUJJINI VAMSHIDHARA | DCHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

The Telangana High Courtrefused on Thursday tointervene in the matter ofadverse reactions to someindividuals in the Covid-19vaccination programme.

Responding to a batch of24 public interest litiga-tions seeking court inter-vention to ascertain safetyaspects of the vaccine, adivision bench of ChiefJustice Hima Kohli andJustice B. Vijaysen Reddymade it clear that no suchintervention was appropri-ate at this stage. The PILshave also urged the courtto issue directions to thestate government for moresteps to contain the pan-demic spread.

“Let the government rollit out. If anybody doesn’twant to take the vaccine,leave them alone. There isno compulsion,” the ChiefJustice said.

The bench appreciated

the efforts of the state gov-ernment in dealing withthe pandemic from thevery start. However, thelab testing seemed to beless. “When Delhi con-ducts not less than 40,000tests a day, how come a big-ger state like Telangana isconducting only around50,000 tests, that too onlyafter directions from theHigh Court,” the CJ asked.

The court has closed 19out of the 24 PILs before iton the matter of testingand stressed that the vacci-nation drive is already on.

While closing the pleas,the court advised the peti-tioners that any PILshould not be adversarialin nature. The idea shouldrather be to resolve publicgrievances with a rightframe of mind. It keptopen two PILs seekingfresh provision as regardsequipment given to Covidwarriors and frontlineworkers and billing forCovid tests and treatment.Another three pleas were

on different subjects.The court directed the

government to file an affi-davit placing on record, ina tabular form, the num-ber of Covid-19 tests con-ducted between January25 and February 10. It mustprovide district-wise fig-ures of tests and the RT-PCR tests with thebreak up.It also sought toknow from the govern-ment the total number ofsero surveillance conduct-ed since June 2000.

The Chief Justice direct-ed Advocate-General B.S.Prasad to give a groundreport on the second strainof Covid-19 brought in bytravellers from the UK.The A-G replied that fourcases of the new strainwere found in the state andthese carriers were identi-fied, isolated, and treated.

The court said the detailsit sought should be provid-ed by the government onor before February 19. Thecases were adjourned toFebruary 25.

Date Target Actual Reactions %Jan 16 4,296 3,932 11 91.53Jan 18 16,750 13,666 15 82Jan 19 73, 673 41,997 51 71Jan 21 48,447 27,682 6 57

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

The All India Institute ofMedical Sciences in Bib-inagar on Thursday beganvaccinating its staff aga-inst Covid-19. The executive director of thehospital Dr Vikas Bhatiareceived the first dose ofthe vaccine and urged allstaff members to get them-selves vaccinated againstCovid-19.

The hospital said that ithas set up a team of med-ical officers for handlingany case of adverse eventfollowing immunisation(AEFI).

AIIMS BIBINAGARVACCINATES HOSPITAL STAFF

TS RECORDS 296NEW COVID-19CASES, 1 DEATHDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

Telangana state hasrecorded 296 new cases ofCovid-19 and registeredone more death from thedisease on Wednesday.Releasing these numbersfor Thursday, the healthdepartment said the totalCovid-19 cases stood at2,92,621 while there were1,584 fatalities.

The department said 224people were declared asrecovered from the dis-ease while another 3,920were still undergoingtreatment or were in isola-tion in the state.

New Covid-19 cases inGHMC area stood at 39.

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

The Forum for Good Gove-rnance has written to thecontroller of legal metrolo-gy to take action on petrolbunks against whom com-plaints of short supply hasbeen filed. This comes at atime when the price of pet-rol is reaching ̀ 90 per litre.

“There was not one casewhere the accused was pro-

secuted and the petrolbunk seized,” said M. Pad-manabha Reddy, secretary,Forum for Good Gove-rnance.

The forum acquiredinformation through anRTI application showingthat in Medchal district in2018-19 were only five caseswere booked against petrolbunks and in 2019-20, one.They were fined smallamounts. He said the

department was bookingcases Section 25 of theLegal Metrology Act of2009, which has no provi-sion to prosecute.

Since the formation ofTelangana, not a singlecase of cheating in petrolbunks has been prosecut-ed. These petrol bunks arecheating people whichattracts provisions of 420of the IPC which is a pun-ishable offence.

Forum says no action takenon fraudulent petrol bunks

CITY pg 3DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 22 JANUARY 2021

IN BRIEF

OVERALL QUOTAIN STATE CLIMBS

TO 60% NOW

Jagan files pleafor exemption

Hyderabad: Andhra PradeshChief Minister Y.S. Jagan

Mohan Reddy on Thursdayfiled the petition before thedesignated special court for

Enforcement Directoratecases, seeking exemption

from appearance in the hear-ings on the Jagathi

Publications case. Apartfrom the CBI, the ED hadfiled had cases under the

Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act. Out of six

chargesheets filed by the EDagainst him, Jagan Mohan

Reddy has filed petitions forexemption of appearance inthe cases related to Hetero

Pharma and AurbindoPharma investments into

Jagathi Publications. The EDhas sought time to file its

counter.

From Page 1

“There is a need to implement10 per cent reservation in jobsand education for the economi-cally weaker classes. We havedecided to implement ten percent reservations for EWSwhile continuing the reserva-tions for those who are alreadyenjoying the benefit as is. Ason date, 50 per cent reserva-tions are being implementedfor weaker sections inTelangana. With 10 per centreservations for EWS, overallreservation percentage wouldgo up to 60 per cent,” the CMclarified.

SOME TRS LEADERS SAY IT’S

NOT GOOD DECISIONFrom Page 1

However, some senior TRSleaders, who are not coming infront of the media with theiropinion, privately confessedthat it was not a good decisionfor the party.

“If KCR made KTR the CM,the Cabinet would be automat-ically dissolved and a newCabinet would be formed. Thisis a risky move when someleaders are waiting to createtrouble. They can divide theparty and create a rebel groupof MLAs,” a senior leadersaid.

Several MLAs, discussingthe issue, said, “KCR shouldnot make KTR the CM in thepresent critical political sce-nario, as the young leader can-not handle the challenges.”

One of them also wonderedthat if Rama Rao is made CM,who will become the partyworking president position?Supposing K. Kavitha gets thepost, what about ministerHarish Rao? What would behis position in a KTR-led gov-ernment?

Some leaders, who maintainproximity with Chandrasekh-ar Rao, said Planning Comm-ission vice-chairman B. VinodKumar may join the Cabinet ifRama Rao becomes CM, in wh-ich case Kavita will handle theparty as its working president.

Subsequently, Harish Raocould be made PlanningCommission vice-chairmanand told to continue his politi-cal journey withChandrashekar Rao.

“If this happens, the BJP willget an even stronger impactand response from peoplewhen they call us a nepotistic,family-owned business,” aTRS leader said.

A few of such critics aside,the bulk of the TRS is euphor-ic about the possibility. “IfKTR becomes CM and KCRshifts to national politics, itwill make the party strongerand the state more developed,”said another leader.

Dusty city

Motorists drive dangerously through the dust on a road near the Tarnaka flyover in Hyderabad on Thursday.The road has been dug up and has not been repaired again. — DEEPAK DESHPANDE

Residents spend `2,000to combat mosquitoes

RTC babus say increasefares, don’t hike staff pay

4 days after he wasset on fire by father,son dies in hospital

JNTU-H announcesstudent start-up policyDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

The Jawaharlal NehruTechnological Univer-sity, Hyderabad (JNTU-H) on Thursday annou-nced the launch of astudent start-up policyfrom the ensuing aca-demic year in line withthe National Innovationand Start-up Policy bythe union educationministry. Announcingthe policy, IAS officerJayesh Ranjan, in-charge vice-chancellorof JNTUH, said that itwill play a crucial roleto support student-ledinnovations and techstart-up incubation. Aspart of this policy, con-sideration of studentinnovation and entre-

preneurial activities asa mini/major projectwill be given.

“It will allow studentsto work on Innovativeprototypes/problem val-idation, case studyreport, projects on open-ended problems, partici-pate in social entrepre-neurship right fromfirst year to earn creditsequivalent to mini-proj-ect,” an official commu-nication from the uni-versity said.

Students will beallowed a maximum of10 per cent exemption inall years to participatein events, bootcamps,conferences etc. Stud-ents will be allowed gapyear facility after thesecond year subject tothe condition of compl-

etion of the degree wit-hin the stipulated time.Application and priorapproval by the reviewcommittee within thefirst one month of thesemester is mandatory.

Students will be able tospecialise in minorssuch as entrepreneur-ship, innovation andproducts, design engi-neering by earning 18-20credits over and abovethe credits for the awardof the BTech degree.The courses are relatedto be taken throughMOOCs (Massive OpenOnline Courses) overthe fifth and sixth seme-sters. Engineering insti-tutions will be rankedby the university on inn-ovation and entreprene-urship index annually.

CONGRESS TOANNOUNCENOMINEES FORMLC POLLS DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

With graduate MLCelections round the cor-ner, the TelanganaCongress started theexercise of finalisingnames of its official can-didates.

Party state affairs in-charge and MPManickam Tagore helda meeting with key lead-ers, including TPCCpresident N UttamKumar Reddy at GandhiBhavan on Thursday.

On the first day Tagorediscussed with seniorleaders from Hydera-bad, Ranga Reddy, andMahbubnagar graduateMLC candidates.

Party sources said thatformer minister ChinnaReddy and Vamshi Cha-nder Reddy are front-runners for Hyderabad-Ranga Reddy-Mahbu-bnagar MLC election.But some leaders raisedobjections. A few sug-gested that tickets begiven to candidates fromfrontal organisations.

Most of the leadersagreed to give the ticketfor G. Chinna Reddy whois former minister andformer MLA from Wan-aparthy constituency.

The meeting to selectthe Warangal-Nalgonda-Khammam candidatewill be held on Friday.

Sources said that sen-iors suggested backingProf. Kodandaram ofthe Telangana Jana Sa-miti (TJS) for the seat.

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

The 10-year-old boy who wasbattling for life with severeburns after his drunk fatherset him ablaze on Sunday fornot studying, succumbedwhile undergoing treatmentat Gandhi Hospital in theearly hours of Thursday.

Ratlavath Balu, a chronicalcoholic, had set his son onfire as he was watching tele-vision with his mother attheir residence in KPHB ofCyberabad. Balu has beenarrested and sent to judicialremand.

Following the incident onSunday, the magistraterecorded the child’s dyingdeclaration on Monday,wherein the victim told thepolice that his father hadbeaten him severely, draggedhim out of the hut and sethim on fire. He was rushed toGandhi Hospital with 50 percent body burns andbreathed his last onThursday morning.

Balu confessed to theoffence and told the policethat his son had been notattending classes during thelockdown and had become

“arrogant.”Balu, who came home

drunk, asked his son to getbeedis for him. When hereturned late, Balu attacked him. He thenpoured a can of turpentineoil on him and lit it, usingthe same matchstick which he used tolight his beedi. Charan ranfor help and fell in a ditchafter which his mother andneighbours put off the fireand took him to hospital.

KPHB police had initiallyregistered a case under sec-tion 307 (attempt to murder)of the IPC, which would nowbe altered as 302 (murder).

LEAKING GASCATCHES FIRE,14 INJUREDDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

Thirteen persons report-edly sustained minorburns following a fireaccident caused whenleaking LPG gas explod-ed near the Balaji templeat Chowk Maidan inMirchowk here early onThursday.

According to the police,the leakage occurredfrom a small LPG cylin-der while some young-sters were cooking foodat around 2 am.

Locals who woke up toa huge sound andscreams of the victimsrushed to their rescueand alerted theMirchowk police whocalled the fire depart-ment. Two fire enginesreached the spot anddoused the fire within anhour. The injured per-sons make jewellery andstay in a rented portionof a house. Officials saidthey are investigating ifany chemical being usedfor making and cleaningornaments caused to thefire. The injured individ-uals were shifted to Osm-ania General Hospital fortreatment, where theircondition was stated tobe stable, police said.

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

TSRTC officials officialstold Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao that thecorporation’s losses werecontinuing due to theincrease in price of dieseland the lockdown impactwhile it was still awaitingits dues being cleared.

They explained that ifsalaries of the corporationemployees were increased,there would be a heavyfinancial burden on theTSRTC. They made it clearthat unless the governmentextends major financialassistance to the RTC andticket prices are raised,then the financial burdencannot be reduced.

The matter came up dur-ing a review meeting hereon Thursday with transportminister Puvvada Ajay,

Chief Secretary SomeshKumar, principal secre-taries Sunil Sharma (trans-port) and Ramakrishna Rao(finance), financial advisorRamesh, cargo special offi-cer Krishna Kanth and exec-utive director Yadagiri.

“The last time when fareswere increased, the price ofdiesel was `67 per litre. Ithas increased by `15. TheRTC is not in a position tobear the burden if salariesare enhanced at this pointin time. Hence, the state

government should extendmore financial assistance.Bus fares should beincreased. Unless these twomeasures are taken, RTCwill not be able to come outof the crisis," officialsexplained.

They said that comparedto the past, TSRTC's posi-tion is better, With helpfrom the state governmentand several measures takenin the RTC, there is a quali-tative change. Plying busesto Andhra Pradesh has beena wise move with occupancyrate at 58 per cent. “This isearning ``9 crore profitevery day. But the increasein diesel rates is causinglosses," they said.

Rao congratulated the offi-cials as the cargo servicehad carried 17.72 lakhparcels and earned `22.61crore. He praised cargoservices’ Krishna Kanth.

Left untended, many lakes turn mosquito breedersATHER MOIN I DC HYDERABAD, JAN. 21

Every family spends aro-und `2,000 a month toovercome the mosquitomenace in the residentialareas in the Golcondafort and at Tolichowki.

Their arsenal for thedaily battle typically co-mprises a combination ofrepellent coils, specialagarbattis with fancynames like Dragon andGodzilla, ointments, kill-er bats, bed nets and m-esh/screens for doorsand windows. Besides,there are medical expen-ses if anyone catchesmalaria, dengue orchikunguniya.

Irrespective of whetherit is a kirana store, a bak-ery, a pan shop, or a sta-tionery store, all of themstock mosquito fightingequipment.

The mosquito menacein these areas is a round-the-year feature with sev-eral water bodies in theareas in addition to themoat around the fort. Allit takes is someone in thehouse forgetting to shutall windows and doorsbefore sunset for thehouse to be swarmed.

Abdur Rahman ofGolconda said unlikechildren in other areasin Hyderabad, “Our chil-dren can’t study at nightdue to the mosquitoes. If

we forget to close doorsafter sunset, swarms ofmosquitoes enter thehouse and for this mis-take, we have to takeextra measures andspend half an hour swat-ting mosquitoes. We haveto ensure we haveenough money for med-ical needs for treatmentas our children fall ill fre-quently because of mos-quito bites.”

He suspects the two po-nds in the nearby golf co-urse as breeding groundsfor mosquitoes. Theseponds, according to him,are in addition to thewater bodies in and aro-und the fort area includ-ing Katora Houz, JamaliKunta, Shah HatimTalab, Langer Houz Tal-

ab, Naya Qilla ka Talab.Likewise, the major openNalas like Balkapur Na-la, Gulshan Colony Nalaand Moti Darwaza Nala.

Abdullah who sells mo-squito bed nets on thefootpath at Qutub Shahitombs, said, “My mainbusiness is selling mob-ile phone accessories,but I noticed there is ademand for the nets. Istarted selling differentkinds of nets rangingfrom `200 to `750. Som-edays, I sell more thanfive nets.”

Shazia Shabbir Taherof Al-Hasnat Colonysaid, “You will find allkinds of mosquito repel-lents in our area as theserepellents do not suiteveryone. In our family,

some use an ointment,while others are allergicto it. We frequentlychange brands of mos-quito-killing coils asmosquitoes developimmune to particularrepellent ingredien-ts.”According to the doc-tors of Area Hospital,Golconda, the cases ofmalaria and dengue arenot reported from thefort area. Dr M. Gopal,medical superintendent.said, "The main reasonfor the decrease in casesis maintaining hygienicafter Covid-19. Lastmonth 234 patients weretested and only two weredengue positive andthere have been no caseof malaria in the previ-ous months.”

The many lakes in the Golconda fort area which are badly maintained are placeswere mosquitoes breed. — By arrangement

From Page 1

Then there was “ViratKohli bhai who backed mewhile I was playing white-ball cricket. As you knowthe chances for bowlers arerare in T20s and the 2018IPL was a bad season forme, but he kept encourag-ing me. At the IPL last year,I got to learn quite a bitfrom Dale Steyn (RoyalChallengers Bangalore’sSouth African pacer). Allthese players have con-tributed to my career,” hesaid.

“Then there are the fanswho keep egging me on. I

thank them too for all theirgood wishes,” Siraj added.

There’s no substitute forhardwork, Siraj says. “Iworked hard during thelockdown as well. This wasan important season for meand it turned out well,” hesaid.

Speaking about competi-tion at the highest level,Siraj said: “There was pres-sure but I just wanted to goout and give my best. It’s time to relax now, only abit though. For I will continue to work hard as Iwant to keep playing for the country as long as I can.”

Siraj and Jasprit Bumrahfaced racial abuse from thespectators during the thirdTest in Sydney, forcing theIndian team managementto lodge an official com-plaint with the match referee.

“Those chants from thecrowd made me mentallystrong. The case is going on,let’s see whether I get jus-tice or not. My job was toreport the incident to thecaptain and I did. The on-field umpires offered us toleave the game but (captainAjinkya) Rahane bhai saidwe won’t. We did no mis-take, so we will play,” he

explained.Siraj refused to be drawn

into the captaincy compari-sion between Kohli andRahane. “Both are good cap-tains,” he said.

The pacer picked the dis-missal of MarnusLabuschange in the secondinnings of fourth Test firstin Brisbane as his favourite.“It was important at thatpoint of the game, he hadscored a century in the firstinnings,” Siraj said.

With big exploits already,Siraj served a warning toopponents: “I want to keepperforming, will continueto bowl my heart out.”

I worked hard during lockdown: Siraj

●● FOLLOWING THE Incidenton Sunday, the magistraterecorded the child’s dyingdeclaration on Monday,wherein the victim told thepolice that his father hadbeaten him severely,dragged him out of the hutand set him on fire. He wasrushed to Gandhi Hospitalwith 50 per cent body burnsand breathed his last onThursday morning.

●● MINISTER HARISH Raocould be made PlanningCommission vice-chairmanand told to continue his politi-cal journey with KCR.

● ● OFFICIALS SAID that ifsalaries of the RTC employ-ees were increased, therewould be a heavy financialburden. Unless the govern-ment extends major finan-cial assistance and ticketprices are raised, then thefinancial burden cannot bereduced.

Police wants footpathscleared for pedestriansDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN 21

The police department hasurged the GHMC to do what-ever is needed to make foot-paths available for use bypedestrians in the city.

A majority of all footpathsare encroached either byvendors, or businesses —both small and big — thatuse the spaces as parkinglots for vehicles or as dis-play areas for their products. The footpaths donot have any standard dimensions either in termsof their width and their height from the roadlevel.

Last year saw as many as501 accidents involvingpedestrians in Hyderabadthat resulted in 63 deaths.The Cyberabad police com-missionerate limits saw 174such accidents but had 176people losing their lives.

Police officials who attended a city coordinationcommittee meeting that waschaired by GHMC

commissioner LokeshKumar on Thursday saidthe GHMC should, on priority, develop footpaths,maintain existing footpathsand provide proper sign-boards. They also urgedGHMC to fill up potholes onthe roads and submitted a

list of black spots whereaccidents tend to happenthe most.

According to a newsrelease from the GHMC, theCommissioner instructedcorporation officials to takeaction immediately on thesematters.

Drive to make Hyd ‘beggar-free’: GHMCDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

The GHMC has announcedthat it will embark on yetanother drive to makeHyderabad “beggar-free.”

This was announced bythe GHMC commissionerLokesh Kumar who said thespecial drive to meet thisgoal, will be taken up incoordination with the policeand revenue departments.

The announcement came ata city coordination commit-tee meeting on Thursday. Hesaid alll identified beggarswill be shifted to GHMCshelter homes where theywill be provided training inskills depending on individ-ual abilities.

He called on people forinformation on beggars atroad and traffic junctionsand places of prayer in thecity.

CITY pg 4DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 22 JANUARY 2021

SHORT TAKES Bawarchi,Cafe Bahar,

Astoria fined

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

Officials of the GHMC onThursday imposed a fine of`25,000 on Bawarchi Hotel,Cafe Bahar and NewAstoria Hotel for not maintaining their kitchensand for using meat withoutthe authorisation

stamp.The raids were conducted

in the presence of agazetted food inspector anda veterinary officer. Duringthe raids officials found thatBawarchi Hotel was usingunstamped meat for cooking and, New AstoriaHotel had an unhygienickitchen.

LAWCET PHASE IIADMISSIONS

TO BEGIN TODAYDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

The Phase II schedule forLawcet/PGLCET 2020 admis-sions will begin on Fridaywith online registration cumverification of certificates,online payment along with theprocess of uploading scannedcopies of certificates. It will goon till January 26. Selectedstudents will have to report attheir colleges for verificationof original certificates alongwith tuition fee payment chal-lan from February 4 toFebruary 9.

Second phase counselling foradmission into LLB (three-year and five-year courses)and two-year LLM coursesoffered by various universitiesis scheduled from January 22to 26. All candidates who havenot submitted or have madeincomplete submission havebeen directed to complete theonline submission of scannedcopies of relevant original cer-tificates to enable exercising ofweb options and participate inthe second phase of coun-selling.

BALALA ACCUSESTRS OF NOT

RELEASING CDFDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

Malakpet MLA Ahmed Balala on Tuesday accused theTRS government of not releas-ing the ConstituencyDevelopment Fund (CDF) oflegislators for two yearsresulting in developmentalworks being stalled in theirconstituencies.

Balala was speaking to mediapersons after inspectingdevelopmental works inMalakpet constituency along with GHMC, HMWS&SBand discom officials. Heinstructed officials to com-plete the pending works assoon as possible.

He said that though ChiefMinister K. ChandrashekarRao had announced anincrease in the CDF from `1.5crore to `3 crore per annum,no fund had been released fortwo years.

He said works of layingwater pipelines and drainageworth `5 crore had been sanc-tioned in Saidabad, GreenLand Colony, Sairamnagar,Kalyannagar, Jayanagar and VK Dhage Nagar and near Dream Point Hotel.However, the process of ten-dering was not complete formany works.

“We asked contractors tostart the works while officerswere requested to complete theformalities,” Balala said.Apart from this, civic workslike laying of BT roads,stormwater drains and street-lights worth `5 crore were alsosanctioned.

PULI SHARATH KUMAR | DCJAGTIAL, JAN. 21

TRS legislator Kalv-akuntal Vidyasagar Raoon Thursday appealed tothe people not to donateany money for the con-struction of the Rammandir at Ayodhya.

At a meeting held at aprivate function hallwhile launching the sec-ond phase of the sheepdistribution scheme inthe presence of animalhusbandry ministerTalasani Srinivas Yadavand welfare ministerKoppula Eshwar in

Jagtial district, Raocame down heavily onthe BJP.

Vidyasagar Raoalleged that the BJP lea-ders were playing a newpolitical drama by rais-ing funds for the constr-uction of the temple.

“They have startedbegging from the peoplewhile going to every house. Why should peo-ple from the state givemoney for the temple,which is coming up inUttar Pradesh? Are wenot capable of constr-ucting Ram mandirs inour villages? We too aretrue devotees of Lord

Sri Rama,” he said.Vidyasagar Rao appea-

led to the people, “Not tofall for such cheap gim-micks and not believethem as they are tryingto encourage commu-nalism in the country.”

“Under the leadershipof Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao, thestate is witnessing all-round developmentacross spheres. Equalimportance is given toall religions and allcastes. All festivals arecelebrated on a grandnote,” the MLA said.

Having learnt of thecomments made by the

MLA, BJP leadersstaged dharnas, burnthis effigies and took outprotest rallies in theerstwhile Karimnagardistrict. A surchargedatmosphere prevailed inJagtial district.

BJP leaders reachedVidyasagar Rao’s housein Metpally in largenumbers and staged adharna. They demandedthat the MLA take backhis words and apologisefor his comments.

When the situationwas reaching a flash-point, police reached thespot and brought the sit-uation under control.

MLA: Don’t donate fortemple at AyodhyaTension in Jagtial after BJP leaders stage protests

BJP: KTR is grabbing landsDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

BJP state vice-presi-dent N.V.S.S.Prabhakar accused ITminister K.T. RamaRao and bureaucratJayesh Ranjan of try-ing to grab industriallands. The former leg-islator demanded that

the Governor sackRama Rao from thestate cabinet.

Addressing a pressconference here onThursday, Prabhakaralleged that ChiefMinister K.Chandrashekar Raowas giving subsidiesto units and factorieswhere his kin had

stakes. He alleged thatHyderabad Distilleryand Modern Bakerywere bought by RamaRao’s friends. He stat-ed that the TRS willdisappear in the com-ing days and if RamaRao becomes theChief Minister, hewill not last for morethan one year.

KTR warnsleaders against group politicsDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

Party working pres-ident and ministerK.T. Rama Rao tookexception toKhammam TRSleaders indulging ingroup politics in thedistrict.

He was at a meet-ing with KhammamMLAs, MLCs, MPand other seniorleaders with regardto the upcomingGraduate MLC andKhammam Mu-nicipal Corporationelections.

Party sources saidthat Rao pulled uptransport ministerPuvvada Ajay forthe group politics inthe district.

He pointed out thebehaviour of someMLAs was causingdamage and urgedthe leaders tochange their line ofworking style andmingle with both

the old and newleaders in order toknit a cohesive unit.

Rao said thatMLAs coming infrom other parties shouldstrengthen the TRSand put up a unitedfight during elec-tions. He urged Ajayto concentrateacross the erstwhileKhammam and notrestrict himselfonly to the Khammam Asse-mbly segment. Hemade it clear thatTRS had to win theMLC and Municipalelections and theleaders shouldremember that theywon only oneAssembly seat in 2014 and 2018elections.

After the meeting,Tummala NageswarRao met the work-ing president alonein Pragathi Bhavanand discussed partyissues pertaining toKhammam.

Start Tribalvarsity classes:Min to CentreDC CORRESPONDENTWARANGAL, JAN. 21

Minister for tribalwelfare SatyavathiRathod on Thursdayinspected the landand the buildingallotted by the statefor the TribalUniversity to be setup in Telanganastate in accordancewith the APReorganisation Act.

After Mulugu andMahbubabad weresuggested as thepossible locationsfor the university,the Centre afterexamining the issuedecided to set it upat Mulugu.

The state govern-ment has given 116acres of assignedland, 50 acres of for-est land and 169acres of governme-nt land for the univ-ersity. The buildingwas also made readyfor temporarilyorganising classes.

She said the statehas fulfilled its obli-gations and it is nowup to the Centre tostart classes.

"In the state ofAndhra Pradesh,where a tribal uni-

versity was sanc-tioned along withTelangana state asper the reorganisa-tion act, the univer-sity has alreadybegun its academicactivities in oneblock of the AndhraUniversity campus.The AP state gov-ernment has nei-ther given an acre ofland, nor a properbuilding," she point-ed out.

Satyavathi Rathodalleged that theCentre was showingstepmotherly treat-ment towardsTelangana state.She asked BJP lead-ers to stop criticis-ing the TRS on theissue and said thegovernment wastrying to bring thisissue to the atten-tion of the Centreduring the forth-coming Parliam-entary sessions.

“Since it is alreadylate in the academicyear, we will ask theCentre to start class-es immediately asall the facilities arealready provided,”she said. MLA See-thakka, ZP chair-man Kusuma Jaga-dish were present.

● ● AHMED BALALA instructedofficials to complete the pend-ing works as soon as possible.

SSDN13th DEATH ANNIVERSARY

Shri KISHANCHAND BUDHRANIMen may come, and Men may go, but ‘U’ will be remembered always.

(13) “Tera Tera Satguru Mein Devotee Tera”Inserted by:

Sister: Shanta Khemchand & FamilyPH. No: 7893832630

(S/2021/D01091)

ADITUNI NAVEEN KUMARDOB: 10.10.1977DOD: 22.01.2017

“No words can tell the loss we had.”Till memories fail and life departs. Youwill live forever in our hearts.

May Your Soul Rest In Peace.From:

Father: Adituni Ayodhya Sharma(Retd D.C.T.O )

Mother: A. Swarnalatha(Retd RTA Office)

& Family, Relatives,Friends: Mahesh, Arun Kumar

Ph: 040-27076783 / 9393676783(S/2021/D01103)

4th ANNIVERSARY

CONDOLENCE

K. VIDYA SAGAR (Reservation Supervisor-I/DB/PRS,

Secunderabad, SCR)DOB: 17.05.1961 DOD: 20.01.2021

You will always be remembered in our hearts.Heartfelt Condolence to

The Bereaved FamilyInserted by:

Colleagues, CCM/PM’s office, RailwayReservation Complex, Secunderabad

(S/2021/D01106)

Smt. T.D. MALATHI (Correspondent Balaji High school, Malkajgiri)

W/o Late Sri T.D. DATTATHRIYANLeft for heavenly abode on 14-1-2021.

Nadappu Ceremony will be held onSaturday, 23-1-2021 from 6 pm onwardsat Residence. Karmandram on24-1-2021 at 7.30 am.

Inserted by: Family Members.Mob: 8897926235

NADUPPU CEREMONY

CITY pg 5DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 22 JANUARY 2021

IN BRIEF

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

Congress LegislatureParty leader MalluBhatti Vikramarkaexpressed dissatisfac-tion with ChiefMinister K.Chandrashekar Rao’sgovernance, saying thatpeople were sufferingand the ministers werenot addressing the situ-ation. People had nochance to approach offi-cials because there wasno Secretariat.

The CM had failed toprovide ‘nirudyogabruthi’, the dole that hehad promised the unem-ployed. There was nomovement on filling 2.5lakh vacancies in thegovernment. Bhatti wasspeaking at a press con-ference at the Assemblymedia point.He pointedout that the governmenthad not provided SCsubsidy funds to thebeneficiaries for the lasttwo years. The same sit-uation situation pre-vailed in the minoritiesand BC corporations.

The CLP leader saidthe ministers’ onlyinterest was in doing“bhajana” for ChiefMinister K.Chandrashekar Rao

and his son, IT ministerK.T. Rama Rao. TheCabinet was busydemanding that RamaRao be made CM.

Chandrashekar Raowas diverting the atten-tion of the people fromhis failures with theproposal to make RamaRao the CM.

BJP state presidentBandi Sanjay was mak-ing sensational state-ments only for hisadvertisement, Bhattisaid. He demanded thatSanjay if he had theguts to get the Centre toorder a probe into irri-gation projects andChandrashekar Rao’scorruption. He askedSanjay if the BJP wasready to arrestChandrashekar Rao.

At a press conferenceat Gandhi Bhavan,party spokespersonMedipally Satyam criti-cised calledChandrashekar Rao anincompetent CM andasked the TRS leadersto agree that he hadfailed to rule the state.He demanded that theTRS chief make a DalitMLA the CM as waspromised during thestatehood agitation.

Satyam asked govern-ment Whip BalkaSuman and Dalit MLAswhy they were notdemanding that oneamong them be madeChief Minister.

Cabinet busy withKTR drama: Bhatti

CHAIN SNATCHED,WOMAN INJUREDHyderabad: A 55-year-old woman sustained br-uises after chain-snatch-ers tugged her chain offher neck in the HousingBoard Colony in Medchalon Thursday. Police saidR. Navami, was going toher textile shop whentwo unidentified personscame from behind,snatched her gold chain.

Expedite Sitaramaproject, KCR urges

KTR: Centreignoring southDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

The Telangana stategovernment is readyto start an agitationagainst the Centre ifit did not set upCentral governmentand public sectorunits in the state, saidindustries ministerK.T. Rama Rao.

On Thursday, theminister was speak-ing to employees afterinaugurating the divi-sional office of theSouth Central Railw-ay Employees Sanghin Secunderabad.

“We cannot forgetthe railway employ-ees’ contribution tow-ards the separate Tela-ngana state,” Rama

Rao, the TRS Workingpresident, said. “Emp-loyees are the mainreason for being therailways at the topposition in the world.”

He said that the Cen-tre had promised toconstruct a railwaywagon coach factoryat Kazipet but had fail-ed to do so, Rama Raosaid. He also demand-ed that the Centre introduce bullettrains.

Rama Rao alleged th-at the Centre was neglecting South Ind-ia. “In the Budget Session the Centremust do justice tosouth India, and allo-cate new projects tosouthern states,” theminister said.

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar has instruct-ed officials to expedite workson Sitarama Project and helpmake the combined Khamm-am district more fertile. Theproject should be treated andviewed as an important proj-ect as it would create a newayacut and with Nagarjuna-sagar ayacut included, it pro-vides water to 10 lakh acres.

The CM held a review meet-ing on the progress of worksof the Sitarama Project hereon Thursday. MinistersPuvvada Ajay Kumar, VemulaPrashanth Reddy, ChiefSecretary Somesh Kumar,principal secretaries RajatKumar (water resources) andRamakrishna Rao (finance),CM Secretary Smita Sabh-arwal and Engineer-in-ChiefMuralidhar Rao participated.

“The government has sanc-tioned the scheme forKhammam district, whichlies between Godavari andKrishna rivers, to make it fer-tile. Water is available

throughout the year atDummugudem point onGodavari river from whichpoint water can be supplied tothe entire district.”

Supply water by lifting itfrom Dummugudem by liftsand canals to Satthupalli,Illendu and Paler reservoir, hetold the officials. Completethe survey for the remainingworks on canals going toSathupalli and Illendu andinvite tenders. Constructaqueducts on Munneru andAkeru streams. Complete thecanal works till Paler reser-voir by June, he said.

“We have no idea whenwater will be available inKrishna River. There is uncer-tainty on this. If we don't getany water from the Krishna,make arrangements to supplywater from the GodavariRiver," Rao said.

2 held in possession ofdrugs, weapons seizedDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

Two men from the Old Citywere caught in possession ofdaggers by the South ZoneTask Force on Thursday. TheTask Force andChandrayangutta policeapprehended Syed Saber, 34, arowdy sheeter ofChandrayangutta, andMohammad Bin Abdullaha,

26, both autorickshaw drivers.

The duo were trying toevade the cops on the road.“Upon frisking them, theywere found in possession ofthree daggers. They weretaken into custody and theweapons were seized fromtheir possession,” said thepolice. They were handedover to ChandrayanguttaPolice for further action.

CLP leader says welfare activities ignored;accuses BJP of making empty threats

Mallu BhattiVikramarka

●● BJP STATE presi-dent Bandi Sanjay wasmaking sensationalstatements only for hisadvertisement, Bhattisaid. He demanded thatSanjay if he had theguts to get the Centreto order a probe intoirrigation projects andChandrashekar Rao’scorruption. He askedSanjay if the BJP wasready to arrest KCR.

●● THE CM said water is avail-able throughout the year atDummugudem on Godavaririver from which point watercan be supplied to Khammamdistrict.

CENTRE PRAISESSTATE’S MISSION

BHAGIRATHADC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

Union Minister for Jal ShaktiGajendra Singh Shekhawatappreciated the Telanganastate government for achiev-ing its vision of ensuringdrinking water supply to everyhousehold.

Shekhawat Tweeted onThursday that Goa is nearing100 per cent drinking watersupply. Puducherry has com-pleted 87.32 per cent, Haryana85.11 and Andaman andNicobar at 83.76 per cent.Gujarat is sixth with 81.63 percent.

Reacting to the Tweet, pan-chayat raj minister ErrabelliDayakar Rao said, "Thankfulto the Union minister forappreciating that our govern-ment has ensured drinkingwater supply to every house-hold. That credit goes to ourChief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao andMA&UD minister K.T. RamaRao. Mission Bhagiratha pro-gramme was completed on awar-footing. The role modelproject is set to be emulated byseveral states.”

Errabelli said the drinkingwater has no fluoride contentand reaches all interiors. Thegovernment spent `45,000crore on Mission Bhagirathaand is saving `8,000 crore. Theradical decision will help inavoiding consumption of pack-aged drinking water.

M. Bhaskar Raopasses away

Hyderabad: MocherlaBhaskar Rao, founder of M.

Bhaskar Rao & Co., charteredaccountants, passed away

here in the city on Thursday.He was 84.

Bhaskar Rao founded thefirm in 1961 and led it inaddition to serving as a

director on the boards ofseveral companies as well as

Syndicate Bank and PunjabNational Banks.

The last rites will be per-formed at Mahaprasthanam

in Jubilee Hills on Fridaybetween 1 am and 2 pm

FILL TOP POSTSOF SSC AND PCA,

HC TELLS GOVTDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 21

The Telangana High Court onThursday directed the stategovernment to expedite theprocess of appointments ofchairpersons to the StateSecurity Commission (SSC)and the Police ComplaintAuthority (PCA) that dealswith the grievances of the pub-lic on abuse of power by policepersonnel.

These bodies are to be consti-tuted as per guidelines framedby the Supreme Court in 2007vide the Prakash Singh`s case.However, even after onedecade, the directions have notbeen implemented. The HighCourt took a serious note ofthis.

Recently, the government hadset up the authorities but thechairpersons had not beenappointed on the ground thatthe court should recommendthe names of retired judges asSSC chairperson who wouldlook into the grievances of thepublic at the state level.Retired district judges are eli-gible to hold the post of chair-person of PCAs at every dis-trict headquarter.

Advocate-General B.S.Prasad told the court that thegovernment had forwardednames of some retired judgesto the HC registry on January8 for its approval and recom-mendations. The court direct-ed the government to appointthe chairpersons within fourweeks after it got a communi-cation from the HC.

The Telangana High Courtpulled up the AP governmentfor delaying the establishmentof SSC and PCAs. As this matter now stood with theTelangana high court, itdirected AP to complete the process within four weeks.

● ● RECENTLY, THE govern-ment had set up the author-ities but the chairpersonshad not been appointed onthe ground that the courtshould recommend thenames of retired judges asSSC chairperson who wouldlook into the grievances ofthe public at the state level.Retired district judges areeligible to hold the post of chairperson of PCAs at every district headquarter.

NATION pg 6DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 22 JANUARY 2021

IN BRIEF

SC GRANTS BAILTO KANNADA

ACTRESS RAGINI

SONU SOOD’SPLEA REJECTEDBY HIGH COURT

PARMOD KUMAR | DCNEW DELHI, JAN. 21

The Supreme Court onThursday granted bail toKannada film actress RaginiDwivedi who is in custodysince September 4 last alongwith others in a drugs racketcase.

A bench of Justice RohintionFali Nariman, Justice NavinSinha and Justice K.M Josephset aside the November 3, 2020,order of the Karnataka HighCourt, refusing bail to Dwivediand others in the case regis-tered under various provisionsof the Narcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances Act.

The court had heard the mat-ter at length on Wednesday, theorder was pronounced onThursday.

The court noted that Raginiis entitled to get the bail sincethe maximum punishment forthe crime alleged against heris only one year imprison-ment.

She was in the Bengaluruprison for the past four monthsin the arrest affected after araid on her house in the cityon September 4.

Her lawyer noted that theofficials did not recover anydrugs from her house in theraid on September 4 and yetshe was arrested on the chargeof conspiracy.

SHAHAB ANSARI | DCMUMBAI, JAN. 21

The Bombay High Court onThursday dismissed a petitionfiled by Bollywood actor SonuSood challenging the demoli-tion notice issued by theMumbai municipal corpora-tion. The civic body hasalleged that Mr Sood has con-ducted unauthorised construc-tion and converted a residen-tial structure into a hotel.

Mr Sood, who shot to famefor helping thousands ofmigrant workers reach theirhome from Mumbai during thelockdown, had approached thecourt seeking interim reliefagainst the notice.

The actor had approachedthe high court after a CityCivil court rejected his plea.Through the petition, he hadsought to quash the notice andto grant interim relief by nottaking any ‘coercive’ actionagainst him.

The BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC)had issued notice to Sood inOctober 2020 under section 53of the Maharashtra RegionalTown Planning Act, withregard to alterations made to asix-storey residential buildingin Juhu.

While opposing his plea, theBMC claimed before the courtthat Mr Sood was a “habitualoffender,” who was repeatedlytrying to convert a residentialbuilding into a hotel.

DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, JAN. 21

With hesitancy slowing downthe progress of Covid-19 vacci-nation drive, the central gov-ernment on Thursdaylaunched a major drive to con-vince healthcare workers andothers to come forward andtake the shot. In the last sixdays, over 10.4 lakh personshave been vaccinated acrossIndia at 18,161 session sites. OnThursday itself over 2.33 lakhbeneficiaries were vaccinated,with no deaths due to AdverseEffect from Immunisationreported.

In the last six days, close to 10lakh persons have been vacci-nated across India at 18,159session sites.

On Thursday itself over 1. 92lakh beneficiaries were vacci-nated, with no deaths due toAdverse Effect fromImmunisation reported.

However, it is felt that theprogress is slow and given thispace of vaccination, it willtake much longer time thanexpected to reach the target of3 crore beneficiaries in thefirst phase and may delay thesecond phase when peopleabove 50 years are to be vacci-nated.

The President, PrimeMinister, union ministers,chief ministers, MPs, MLAs,and judges will be among thosewho will get the jab in the sec-ond phase.

India on Thursday registered15, 223 fresh cases of Covid-19and 151 new deaths. So far, 145persons have been found posi-tive with the mutated UKstrain of the virus.

DC CORRESPONDENTSRINAGAR, JAN. 21

An Army jawan waskilled in a sniper rifleattack from across theLine of Control (LoC) inJammu and Kashmir’sPoonch district onThursday.

The Army and policesources said thatHavaldar Nirmal Singhfrom 10 JAK Rifles wasdeployed at a forwardIndian Army post inMankote area of the LoCwhen targetted either bythe Pakistani troops ormilitants. He received abullet injury in rightside of the chest and wasimmediately evacuatedto the Army commandhospital in garrisontown of Udhampur in ahelicopter. However,before doctors couldattend on him, he suc-cumbed, the sourcessaid.

The sources added thatthe soldier’s corpse wasflown back to Poonchand that it would behanded over to the fami-ly for last rites aftercompletion of autopsy atthe government-run sub-district hospital atMendhar.

However, a defencespokesman said inJammu that the soldierwas critically injured inunprovoked ceasefireviolation by thePakistani troops inKrishna Ghati sector ofthe LoC and later diedwhile being evacuated tohospital. He added thatthe Indian Armyresponded “strongly” tothe Pakistani firing.

“Havaldar NirmalSingh was a brave, high-ly motivated and a sin-cere soldier. The nationwill always remainindebted to him for hissupreme sacrifice anddevotion to duty,” thespokesman said.

Earlier on Wednesday,the Army had claimedthat it foiled yet anotherInfiltration bid along theLoC’s Akhnoor sector bykilling three militants.Four Army jawans wereinjured in the clash, itsaid.

The Army alleged thatthe Pakistan Army hadtried to facilitate theinfiltration by providingfiring cover to the mili-tants.

ARMY JAWANKILLED INSNIPER ATTACK

Nandigram (WB), Jan.21: Two large cut-outs ofWest Bengal ChiefMinister MamataBanerjee and her protege-turned-rival SuvenduAdhikari adorning oppo-site sides of the street inTengua bazar ofNandigram sum up theprevailing political moodof the area which is hog-ging national limelight fol-lowing the former’sannouncement of her can-didature from here.

The obscure Nandigramvillage that shook the baseof mighty Left regime andbecame a bastion of theTrinamul Congress 14years ago, now standsdivided between itsfavourite “Didi and Dada”amid speculations ofBanerjee taking on hertrusted lieutenant in theanti-land acquisition

movement, SuvenduAdhikari. Though, theBJP is yet to take a call onfielding Suvendu fromNandigram which he rep-resented in the assemblybefore quitting after join-ing BJP, the dashingleader has expressed will-ingness to take on the chal-lenge and defeat Banerjeein the polls.

Many locals in the cradleof change, Nandigram,were feeling ‘disenchantedand forgotten’ and yearn-ing for another change tilla few months back.

But, with the announce-ment of Banerjee’s candi-dature and Adhikari, apolitical heavyweight ofthe region, who hadswitched over to the BJPvowing to defeat her, hasput the entire EastMidnapore district, espe-cially Nandigram,on edge.

“The people ofNandigram are not veryhappy with the TMC andalso have grievancesagainst Mamata di as shehardly visits Nandigram.Had there been any othercandidate of the TMC, thedefeat would have beenimminent.”

But, there is a section ofthe people who have a softcorner for the TMC chief.

“We can’t forget thetough days of the move-ment when she andSuvendu da were our onlysaviours,” Anisur Mondal,a sharecropper who waspart of the Bhumi UcchedPratirodh Committee(BUPC), said.

Mondal’s views wereechoed by local BJP leaderSabuj Pradhan, whoagreed that Banerjee’s pollannouncement is likely tochange the social-political

equations on the groundlevel. “Till last month thesituation in Nandigramwas not in favour of theTMC. It will be a dividedhouse if both MamataBanerjee and SuvenduAdhikari contest fromNandigram assembly.

“If one of them pull outfrom the contest, the elec-tions will swing easily theother way,” Pradhan, a for-mer Congress leader andpart of BUPC, who hadrecently joined the BJP,said.

Banerjee and Adhikariwere heroes of theNandigram movement.

The feisty TrinamulCongress boss was itsguiding spirit, whileAdhikari was her generalon the ground, holdingprotests against the SEZwhere Indonesia’s Salimgroup wanted to set up a

chemical hub.But, after Adhikari

jumped the ship, severalvillages overnightswitched sides, and therival camps took overparty offices.

Even as Gokulpur,Gokulnagar, Gopi-mohan-pur, Adhikaripari, Heriahave turned into strong-holds of Adhikari,Sonachura, Haripur,Khejuri, Brindaban Chak,Daudpur, Tekhali remainsbastion of the TrinamulCongress.

Sixty-year old KanchanMal of Gokulpur village,who was injured duringthe agitation and herhouse was set on fire, saiddespite the anger againstthe TMC, “both Mamata diand Suvendu babu are likeson and daughter ofNandigram. It will be atough choice for us.” - PTI

Forgotten Nandigram divided between Didi, Dada

A larger than life cut out of West Bengal Chief Ministerand TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee put up atNandigram in East Midnapore district on Thursday. - PTI

Banerjee to contest from Nandigram against the backdrop of Suvendu quitting TrinamulBATTLE | BENGAL

SANJAY KAW | DCNEW DELHI, JAN. 21

The protesting farmers’unions on Thursdayrejected the central gov-ernment’s proposal to sus-pend the three con-tentious agriculture lawsfor 18 months and set up ajoint committee toaddress grievances.

The unions also rejecteda suggestion by the policeofficers to hold their pro-posed Republic Day trac-tor rally on the Kundli-M a n e s a r - P a l w a lExpressway instead ofDelhi’s busy Outer RingRoad.

In a general body meet-ing of Samyukt KisanMorcha, the umbrellabody of the protesting

farmer unions, the mem-bers reiterated a fullrepeal of the three lawsand enacting legislationfor remunerative MSP asthe pending demands ofthe peasants’ movement.

Generally, representa-tives of 41 farmers’unions had been partici-pating in such meetings.But Thursday’s meetingwas attended by about 80farmers’ unions.

After the meeting, astatement issued by theMorcha said, “the propos-al put forth by the govern-ment on Wednesday wasrejected. A full repeal ofthree central farm actsand enacting a legislationfor remunerative MSP forall farmers were reiterat-ed as the pending

demands of the move-ment.”

The union leaders alsopaid homage to the 143farmers who have beenmartyred in this agitationwhich has been going onat Delhi borders for thelast 57 days.

The Morcha said, “Thesecompanions are separatedfrom us while fightingthis mass movement.Their sacrifice will not goin vain and we will not goback without the repeal-ing of these farm laws.”

On Wednesday, when theCentre put forward theoffer during their tenthround of talks with thefarmers, the union lead-ers said they would decideupon it only after holdinginternal consultations.

Farmers say no to 18-monthpause on 3 new farm laws

DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, JAN. 21

The Congress WorkingCommittee (CWC) willbe meeting on Friday totake stock of the politi-cal situation prevailingin the country.

The meeting is alsoexpected to draw up aschedule for the long-pending organisationalelections that could alsopick a new party chief.

In the August meetingof the CWC, interimPresident Mrs. SoniaGandhi had asked theCWC to relieve her ofher duties and pick anew party chief.

The process of inter-nal elections started inSeptember with elec-toral roles of the partybeing revised.

Insiders say that anAICC session along witha ‘Chintan Shivir’ isexpected to be calledafter the budget sessionof Parliament to look fora new President.

Several leaders havecome out in the open anddemanded that Mr.Rahul Gandhi onceagain take up the reinsof the party.

Several leaders had awritten a letter to Mrs.Sonia Gandhi in Augustlast year demandingsweeping changes in thefunctioning of the party.They also pressed forinternal elections forelecting the Presidentand CWC members.

Last month Mrs.Gandhi had met some ofthese letter writers in abid assuage their feel-ings and to initiate thefree flow of ideas. Backroom parleys have alsobeen held with theseleaders. The party doesnot want any embarrass-ment if a situation aris-es when elections arenot being held.

The CWC is alsoexpected to release astrongly worded resolu-tion in favour of thefarmers and against thefarm laws. The issue ofalleged Chinese incur-sions is also expected tobe taken up. The issue ofnational security thatcame up post the pur-ported chats of ArnabGoswami may find amention.

CWC TO DISCUSSROADMAP FORNEW CONGRESS PREZ POLLS

SONU SHRIVASTAVA | DCwith agency inputsMUMBAI, JAN. 21

Five people including fourmen died on Friday in amassive fire which brokeout in Pune’s SerumInstitute of India (SII).The fire broke out in anunder construction build-ing. Six people were res-cued by the fire depart-ment personnel. However,the production of Covidvaccine would not beaffected.

Maharashtra PublicHealth Minister RajeshTope said that the fire isunder control. Five bodieswere found after the firewas doused.

Maharashtra chief min-ister Uddhav Thackeraysaid that as per the prelim-inary information, the firebroke out due to an elec-tric fault during the on-going construction works.He will visit the Instituteon Friday.

Speaking with this news-paper, Pune police com-missioner Amitabh Gupta,who visited the spot, said,“The bodies are yet to beidentified.”

A senior official ofDisaster ManagementUnit, requesting anonymi-ty said, “The fire eruptedsuddenly around 1.00 pmon the fifth floor of abuilding at the SII com-plex in Gopal Patti. Prima-facie, it appears that thecause of the fire is short-circuit.”

Speaking with thereporters, Mr. Tope saidthat the fire broke out at anewly constructed build-ing, where work related torotavirus plant installa-tion was underway. Thefire was noticed around2.00 pm.

“Five fire tenders andthree water tankers weresent to the spot. It tookaround two-three hours toextinguish the fire. Firepersonal discovered fivebodies when they enteredthe building after the firewas completely doused,”Mr. Tope said.

The health minister saidthat the Covishield vac-cine’s building is far awayfrom the fire. He also saidthat the police investiga-

tion is underway and a fireaudit would also be con-ducted.

In a series of tweets, SIICEO Adar Poonawallasaid, “We have justreceived some distressingupdates; upon furtherinvestigation we havelearnt that there hasunfortunately been someloss of life at the incident.We are deeply saddenedand offer our deepest con-dolences to the familymembers of the departed(sic).” In another tweet,Mr. Poonawalla said, “Iwould like to reassure allgovernments & the publicthat there would be no lossof #COVISHIELD produc-tion due to multiple pro-duction buildings that Ihad kept in reserve to dealwith such contingencies at@SerumInstIndia. Thankyou very much@PuneCityPolice & FireDepartment (sic).”

A team of the National

Disaster Response Forcewas also sent to the spotfrom Talegaon on the out-skirts of Pune.

Cyrus S Poonawalla,chairman and MD ofSerum Institute of India,on Thursday said the vac-cine major will offer acompensation of `25 lakhin addition to the mandat-ed amount to families ofpersons who died in a fireat the company’s premisesin Pune.

“Today is an extremelysorrowful day for all of usat Serum Institute ofIndia. Regrettably, therewere losses of lives in thefire that broke out in ourunder installation facilitysituated at the SpecialEconomic Zone atManjari,” Poonawalla saidin a statement.

“We are deeply saddenedand offer our condolencesto the families of thedeparted. In this regard,we will be offering a com-

pensation of `25 lakh toeach of the families, inaddition to the mandatedamount as per the norms,”he added.

“We would like to extendour gratitude to everyonefor their concerns andprayers in these distress-ing times,” Poonawallasaid.

Prime MinisterNarendra Modi expressedgrief at the loss of lives ina fire at the SerumInstitute of India build-ing. Modi tweeted,“Anguished by the loss oflives due to an unfortunatefire at the@SerumInstIndia. In thissad hour, my thoughts arewith the families of thosewho lost their lives. I praythat those injured recoverat the earliest.”

Congress leader RahulGandhi said it was dis-tressing to learn of thetragic loss of lives in a fireincident at a Serum

Institute of India facilityand urged the state gov-ernment to provide neces-sary help to the victimsand their families.

“While it's distressing tolearn of the tragic loss oflives in the fire incident atSerum Institute, the newsof another fire is extreme-ly worrying,” Gandhi saidin a tweet.

“My condolences to thefamily of the deceased. Irequest the state govt toprovide necessary help tothe victims & their fami-lies,” he said.

The Manjari facility iswhere the Covishield vac-cine used in the nation-wide inoculation driveagainst the pandemic ismade.

The building where thefire broke out is part ofthe under-constructionsite of the Serum facilityand is one km from theCovishield manufacturingunit, sources said.

PAWAN BALI | DCNEW DELHI, JAN. 21

Indian Army chief GenM.M. Naravane onThursday hit out at thebureaucratic procurementprocess holding defencemodernization a“hostage” and called for“revolution in bureaucrat-ic affairs” to realize thevision of “self-reliance”.

The Army chief pointedout that the new weaponacquisition policy DefenceAcquisition Procedure2020 which came into forcearound four months backhas 681 pages against theearlier policy DefenceProcurement Procedure2016 which had just 450pages. He said that the for-mer defence minister

Manohar Parrikar hadonce remarked that ourentire procurementprocess is based on dis-trust. “We are not beingable to fast-track theprocess of acquisition. Itis because we have tried tocater for every contin-gency and every loophole.This results in acquisitionprocess getting tied up inknots. To that end whathas happened is that the process and proce-dures, rather than theproduct, have becomeparamount and these areholding hostage thedefence modernization,”he said.

“The laborious and timeconsuming and often rigidstages of this acquisitionprocess also in them-

selves, create delays in theacquisition cycle. Duringthis cycle better version of these equipmentbecome available than isin the original contract.“But there is still no scopefor negotiations to incor-porate these new featuresand to make any mid-course corrections,” saidGen Naravane.

He said that any contem-plated change takes thisalready delayed cycle backto the start point. “Andthen you have to start onceagain so this becomes avicious cycle. We need tobe able to fast track allthese things. Since wehave made the rules, weshould also have the lati-tude to override them.Rules should be user

friendly for the customerthat is armed forces aswell as the manufacturer.This waiver clause mustbe there to cater to opera-tional condition and toaccommodate differentspecifications then wereoriginally promulgated,”he said.

Army chief said thatonce skis to be used insnowbound terrain wererejected because vendoroffered ultra-light skisweighing 1.6 kilos againstformulated qualitativerequirements of 2 and 5kilos. Similarly, punjiwhich are sharp pointedspikes used as obstacles,were rejected because itwas of 6 kilos against noti-fied requirement between3 and 5 kilos.

Naravane: Defence modernizationheld hostage; flays ‘rigid’ process

PM TO TAKE VACCINE IN

SECOND ROUND

5 dead in Serum Institute fire;Covishield facility unaffectedFire breaks out due to an electric fault during the ongoing construction

Workers of Serum Institute of India come out of the building after fire broke out in it in Pune on Thursday. - PTI

WORLD pg 7DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 22 JANUARY 2021

Washington, Jan. 21: JoeBiden and Kamala Harrisshowcased Americandesigners at their inaugu-ration Wednesday, andHarris gave a nod towomen's suffrage, ShirleyChisholm and her belovedsorority in pearls and pur-ple.

Michelle Obama, HillaryClinton and Laura Bushalso donned hues of pur-ple. Harris has citedChisholm, a Democratfrom New York, as aninspiration for her career.Chisholm was the firstPoC woman elected to

Congress and the first PoCmajor-party candidate torun for US president.

Pearls had a strong fash-ion showing, in line with asocial media campaignthat had inaugurationwatchers donning strandsin support and celebrationof Harris. Nobody inattendance did them quitelike Jennifer Lopez —from earrings to bracelets— as she sang ''This Landis Your Land” in head-to-toe white Chanel.

Rep. Barbara Lee, aCalifornia Democrat, worea pearl necklace owned by

Chisholm herself. It was agift from Chisholm's god-daughter.

''Because of ShirleyChisholm, I am,'' Lee, whois PoC, posted on Twitter.''Because of ShirleyChisholm, Vice PresidentHarris is.''

The pearls Harris wore,by Wilfredo Rosado, werealso a symbol of unitywith her sisters in AlphaKappa Alpha, the firstAfrican American Greek-letter sorority, said RachelTorgerson, fashion fea-tures director forCosmopolitan.

The sorority's foundersare referred to as the''Twenty Pearls.'' Everynew member receives abadge adorned with 20pearls.

Harris attended HowardUniversity, one of thenation's historically PoCcolleges and universities.

''There's no doubt thatevery part of her looktoday celebrates who sheis, where she came fromand where she hopes tolead the country. Everypiece was carefully consid-ered and packed withmeaning,'' Torgerson said.

Like Harris, Rosado isthe child of immigrants.

Vermont Sen. BernieSanders drew fashionpraise on social media forhis cozy, comfortable inau-guration wear: His signa-ture beige parka and a pairof knit patterned mittens.The look earned him hisown inaugurationBobblehead to mark hisviral fashion moment. It'snow on pre-sale for $25 atthe National BobbleheadHall of Fame andMuseum's online store.

Jill Biden wore an oceanblue wool tweed coat over

a dress by Americandesigner AlexandraO'Neill of the Markarianlabel. Aides said Harriswas dressed inChristopher John Rogersand Sergio Hudson. Bothare Black designers,Rogers from Louisianaand Hudson from SouthCarolina. Harris' husband,Doug Emhoff, wore aRalph Lauren suit.

Michelle Obama, a fash-ion icon, drew praise fromfans on social media forher belted pantsuit inplum, also by Hudson.

— AP

Michelle Obama drew praise from fans on social media for her belted pantsuit in plumWOMEN’S | SUFFRAGE

Inauguration fashion: Purple, pearls, US designers

SHORT TAKES

MEXICO LAUDSBIDEN HALT TOBORDER WALL

Mexico City, Jan. 21: Mexicoon Wednesday hailed USPresident Joe Biden's order tohalt construction of formerPresident Donald Trump'swall along the US-Mexicanborder, as well as his otherimmigration-linked reforms.“Mexico welcomes the end ofthe construction of the wall,the immigration initiative infavour of DACA and a path todual citizenship,” ForeignMinister Marcelo Ebrardwrote on Twitter.

He was referring to theDeferred Action for ChildhoodArrivals programme to regu-larize the immigration statusof young people who arrivedillegally as children, whichTrump tried to shut down.

The Republican sparkedanger during his 2016 electioncampaign when he brandedMexican migrants “rapists”and drug dealers, and vowed tobuild a wall across the south-ern US border.

POPE CALLS ONBIDEN TO FOSTER‘RECONCILIATION’Vatican City, Jan. 21: PopeFrancis on Wednesday urgedthe United States' new presi-dent Joe Biden to promote“reconciliation and peace”around the world following hisinauguration.

He offered Biden, the secondRoman Catholic to become USpresident after John F. Ken-nedy, his “cordial good wishesand the assurance of myprayers” in the task ahead.

“Under your leadership, maythe American people continueto draw strength from the loftypolitical, ethical and religiousvalues that have inspired thenation since its founding,” hesaid. “At a time when the gravecrises facing our human fami-ly call for far-sighted and unit-ed responses, I pray that yourdecisions will be guided by aconcern for building a societymarked by authentic justiceand freedom,” the Pope said.

‘STRENGTHEN’U.S.-ISRAEL TIES,BIBI TELLS BIDEN

Jerusalem, Jan. 21: IsraeliPrime Minister Benjamin Net-anyahu on Wednesday urgednew US President Joe Biden to“strengthen” a long-standingalliance between the two coun-tries, partly to confront the“threat” posed by Iran. “I lookforward to working with youto further strengthen the US-Israel alliance, to continue ex-panding peace between Israeland the Arab world and to con-front common challenges, chi-ef among them the threat pos-ed by Iran,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli leader was speak-ing in a video congratulatingBiden moments after he wassworn in as US president.

Netanyahu, who has referredto Trump as the “best friend”Israel has had in the WhiteHouse, noted that he had “awarm personal friendship go-ing back many decades” withBiden. Hamas, which controlsthe Gaza Strip, said it was “notsorry” to see Trump depart,calling him “the world's mainsource and sponsor of oppres-sion, violence and extremism”and partner in “Israeli aggres-sion” against the Palestinians.

INTEL CHIEF 1STNOMINEE TO GET

SENATE NODWashington, Jan. 21: The USSenate voted Wednesday toconfirm former CIA officialAvril Haines as director ofnational intelligence, makingher the first member of newly-inaugurated President Joe Bi-den's Cabinet to gain approval.

Senate Democrats and Repu-blicans gave strong support toHaines, voting 84-10 to makeher the first woman ever tolead the 18 entities of the USintelligence community.

Biden and the Senate aremoving quickly to get keymembers of his governmentin place, with votes expectedin the coming days on the sec-retaries of defence, state andthe Treasury.

Biden, sworn in Wednesdayas successor to Donald Trump,has pledged to hit the groundrunning to deal with severalmajor challenges.

But until the Senate appro-ves his nominees, governmentdepartments will be led by act-ing secretaries and directors,keeping a brake on some of hisadministration's momentum.

Haines, 51, is a veteran of theintelligence world, havingserved as deputy CIA directorand deputy national securityadvisor in the previous Ob-ama-Biden administration.

Washington, Jan. 21: USPresident Joe Bidensigned a series of execu-tive orders to launch hisa d m i n i s t r a t i o nWednesday, including adecision to rejoin the Parisclimate accord and a maskmandate for all federalbuildings.

The orders includedkeeping the United Statesin the World HealthOrganization, ending theban on entries from mostlyMuslim-majority coun-tries, bolstering environ-mental protections andstrengthening the fightagainst Covid-19.

Also among the direc-tives was a halt to con-struction of the wall onthe US-Mexico border, andefforts to expand diversityand equality for minoritygroups in the federal gov-ernment.

The orders were aimed atreversing decisions by hispredecessor DonaldTrump and setting a clearpolicy path for Biden's newadministration, just hoursafter he was sworn in aspresident.

“Some of things we aregoing to be doing are goingto be bold,” he said in theOval Office.

“We are going to combatclimate change in a waywe have not done so far,”Biden said of returning tothe Paris agreement, atreaty signed by mostnations in 2016 to limitglobal warming.

He said his actions on theCovid-19 pandemic, whichhas claimed 400,000American lives, wouldhelp change the course ofthe crisis.

His return to the ParisAgreement, which theUnited States joinedBarack Obama was presi-dent and Biden vice presi-dent, was lauded by otherleaders.

“Welcome back,” saidFrench PresidentEmmanuel Macron.

“We are together. We willbe stronger to face thechallenges of our time.Stronger to build ourfuture. Stronger to protectour planet.”UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterresalso welcomed the move,saying it was a large stepfor the leading producersof global carbon pollution.

“But there is a very longway to go,” he said in astatement.

“We look forward to theleadership of UnitedStates in accelerating glob-al efforts towards netzero” emissions, he said,calling for “ambitious”new targets for 2030 andexpanded climate finance.

Biden's climate czarJohn Kerry hailed themove as a boon for“America's credibility andcommitment — setting afloor, not a ceiling, for ourclimate leadership.”

— AFP

A TV screen broadcasts the news of the inauguration of US President Joe Biden at a shopping mall in Hong Kong, onThursday. — AP

US rejoins climate accord, Muslimtravel ban lifted, masks mandatoryPresident Biden reverses Trump’s decisions, sets a clear policy path for new administration

CLINTON, BUSH,OBAMA RECORDJOINT VIDEO

SOME ORDERSTHAT BIDEN

SIGNED● ● KEEPING THE United

States in the WorldHealth Organisation.

● ● A DECISION to rejointhe Paris climate

accord, a treaty signedby most nations in

2016 to limit globalwarming. His return to

the Paris Agreement,which the United

States joined BarackObama was presidentand Biden vice presi-dent, was lauded by

other leaders.

● ● A MASK mandatefor all federal

buildings.

● ● END TO the ban onentries from mostly

Muslim-majority countries.

● ● BOLSTERING ENVIRONMENTAL

protections.

● ● STRENGTHENINGTHE fight against the

deadly Coronaviruspandemic.

● ● EFFORTS TO expanddiversity and equalityfor minority groups in

the federalgovernment.

Washington, Jan. 21:Former US presidents BillClinton, George W. Bushand Barack Obama haverecorded a rare joint videothrough which they senttheir wishes to PresidentJoe Biden while rootingfor his success in leadingthe country out of thechallenges faced by it.

In the video, which wasaired on Wednesday night,the three former com-manders-in-chief talkabout the peaceful transi-tion of power while stand-ing in the amphitheatre atArlington National Cemet-ery in Virginia where theyaccompanied the newlyinstalled 46th President ofthe United States to a cere-mony where he paid hisrespects at the Tomb ofthe Unknown Soldier. It isa "free-flowing conversa-tion," focusing on "themajesty of the passage ofpower”. — PTI

TRUDEAU FIRSTFOREIGN LEADERTO MEET BIDENWashington, Jan. 21:President Joe Biden's firstcall to a foreign leader willbe to Canadian PrimeMinister Justin Trudeau,White House spokeswom-an Jen Psaki said Wedn-esday.

“His first foreign leadercall will be on Friday withPrime Minister Trudeau,”Psaki told reporters at herfirst White House briefing.

She said they would dis-cuss the “important rela-tionship with Canada”and the Biden administra-tion's decision to halt fur-ther construction of theKeystone XL oil pipelinebetween Canada and theUnited States.

TC Energy, the Canadiancompany behind thepipeline, suspended con-struction of the partiallycompleted oil conduit onWednesday, saying it was“disappointed” and themove would mean thou-sands of lost jobs. — AFP

TAIWAN INVITEDTO EVENT FIRSTTIME SINCE 1979Taipei, Jan. 21: Taiwan'sde facto ambassador to theUS was formally invited toPresident Joe Biden's