cmyk cmyk

THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIA

HYDERABAD I FRIDAY I 28 JUNE 2024

WEATHER WORLD| 10 SPORTS| 12 TABLOID

Max: 32.1 C O

Min: 25.4OC China's ex-def. min. South Africa banish Glam-Sham &
RH: 90%
Rainfall: 8.1mm charged with graft semifinal jinx Woe
Forecast: Generally cloudy
sky. Max/Min deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle Vol. 87 No. 179 Established 1938 | 20 PAGES | `6.00
temp. 32.1/24 ºC

ASTROGUIDE
Krodhi; Uttarayana
KCR introduced Prez: Emergency darkest hour
Tithi: Jyeshta Bahula Saptami till
4.27 pm
Star: Purvabhadra till 10.10 am
Varjyam: 7.14 pm to 8.44 pm
defection culture Poll result put stamp of approval on Modi govt’s governance, says Murmu
DC CORRESPONDENT
Durmuhurtam: 8.24 am to 9.17
am; 12.45 pm to 1.37 pm
Rahukalam: 10.30 am to 12 noon
HIJRI CALENDAR
in state: Revanth
L. VENKAT RAM
NEW DELHI, JUNE 27

President
Murmu on
Droupadi
Thursday
Modi introduces
Zil Hijjah 20, 1445 H
PRAYERS
Fajar: 4.34 am
REDDY | DC
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27

Chief Minister A. Revanth

called the imposition of
the Emergency in 1975 the
biggest and darkest chap-
ter of direct attack on the
ministers to RS
Zohar: 12.29 pm DC CORRESPONDENT
Asar: 4.56 pm
Reddy on Thursday said
that BRS chief
Chandrasekhar Rao and
K.
Constitution. In her first
address to a joint sitting of
both Houses of Parliament
NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 MODI 3.0 TO HAVE
Maghrib: 7.00 pm
Isha: 8.17 pm his party do not have a
moral right to talk on
in the 18th Lok Sabha,
Murmu stressed the gov-
On the first day of the
264th session of the Rajya
DEPUTY SPEAKER
SUNRISE TOMORROW 5.44 AM
SUNSET TODAY 6.54 PM
defections, after introduc-
ing the ‘culture’ of poach-
ernment’s unwavering
faith in the Constitution
Sabha, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on FOR LOK SABHA
MOONRISE -- ing MLAs from other par- and efforts to make it part Thursday introduced his
MOONSET 11.42 AM ties when the BRS was in of “public consciousness”. council of ministers to DC CORRESPONDENT
power. He accused The President said that enthusiastic applause and NEW DELHI, JUNE 27
Chandrasekhar Rao of Revanth Reddy the general election result desk thumping.

COUNTER POINT attempting to topple the

Congress government in
Telangana with the help
of the BJP.
Addressing a press con-
ference in Delhi on
Thursday, Revanth Reddy
questioned, “Is it not
Chandrasekhar Rao who
took 61 MLAs, MLCs, MPs
from other parties when
he ruled the state for 10
years from 2014 to 2023?"
He noted that the
Congress performed bet-
ter in the Lok Sabha elec-
tions in Telangana com-
pared to the Assembly
polls. He said the vote
share of the Congress had
increased. However, he
held the BRS responsible
the Congress in the Lok
Sabha elections.
“How can the BJP get a
majority in K.T. Rama
Rao’s constituency
Siricilla? How can the
BJP win the Medak Lok
Sabha seat, which is con-
sidered a BRS bastion?
This is a clear proof of the
BRS-BJP nexus to defeat
the Congress,” Revanth
Reddy asserted.
Revanth Reddy said
Chandrasekhar Rao’s
mindset has not changed
even after the BRS’ poor
performance in the Lok
Sabha elections, where
they failed to retain
deposits in eight seats and
was a stamp of approval
for the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi-led gov-
ernment’s mission of ser-
vice and good governance
undertaken in the past 10
years.
Referring to the cancella-
tion and deferment of
some competitive exams
due to suspicion of paper
leaks, Murmu said her
government is committed
to a fair probe and ensur-
ing punishment for the
culprits.
“My government is
working towards major
reforms in examination-
related bodies. This
process requires complete
transparency and pro-
President Droupadi Murmu with vice president Jagdeep
Present in the House
were Leader of the House
Government sources
announced on Thursday
Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Speaker J.P. Nadda, Leader of that the 18th Lok Sabha
Om Birla at the Parliament House in New Delhi on Opposition Mallikarjun will appoint a Deputy
Thursday. — PTI Kharge, and Congress Speaker, a post that
leader Sonia Gandhi. remained vacant in the
I.N.D.I.A. MPS OBJECT TO SPEAKER The session commenced
following an address by
previous Lok Sabha.
Despite the Opposition
President Droupadi bloc's demand for the
BIRLA’S COMMENT ON EMERGENCY Murmu to a joint sitting of
both Houses of
Deputy Speaker's position
in accordance with con-
DC CORRESPONDENT Sule, RJD’s Misa Bharati Parliament. Her address vention, the ruling NDA
NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 and DMK’s K. Kanimozhi, was subsequently tabled has not agreed to this
said that Birla’s actions in the Rajya Sabha. The request.
Leader of the Opposition were “a grave matter House is expected to dis-
in the Lok Sabha and impacting Parliament’s cuss and pass a Motion of ■ Full report on Page 7
Congress MP Rahul credibility” and Thanks in response to the
Gandhi, along with senior expressed "profound con- President's address.
members of the I.N.D.I.A. cern and anguish over Additionally, six newly- Prasad Singh (Bihar),
bloc, met Speaker Om this travesty of parlia- elected MPs from Bihar, Sarfaraz Ahmad of JMM,
Birla on Thursday to for- mentary traditions”. Jharkhand, and Madhya and Pradip Kumar Varma
mally protest his refer- After the meeting in the Pradesh were sworn in as of the BJP (both

IN BRIEF for the BJP winning seats

Rain causes
traffic chaos
Hyderabad: Hyderabad city
and various parts of
Telangana on Thursday
experienced significant
in Telangana as he alleged
stood in third place in
nine seats.
bity,” she said, in her near-
ly hour-long address.
ence in Parliament to the
“dark days of the
Parliament House,
Congress general secre-
members of the upper
House. Chairman Jagdeep
Jharkhand). BJP leaders
Banshilal Gurjar, Maya
that the BRS had trans- Emergency”. tary K.C. Venugopal told Dhankhar welcomed the Naroliya, and Balyogi
ferred its 20 per cent vote
share to the BJP to defeat
■ Page 5: 20% of BRS votes
transferred to BJP: CM
■ Page 7: Paper leak culprits
will be punished: Murmu
The Opposition leaders,
including NCP’s Supriya
the media that it was a
courtesy call.
new members, including
Congress’s Akhilesh
Umeshnath from Madhya
Pradesh took their oaths.
CBI makes first arrest

in NEET-UG paper leak

rainfall causing widespread
water-logging and severe
traffic disruptions.
According to the Telangana
Development Planning
AMRESH
Society (TGDPS),
Karimnagar’s
Edulagattapalli recorded
SRIVASTAVA | DC
with agency inputs
SC NOTICE TO
the highest rainfall at 81.0
mm, followed by
NEW DELHI/PATNA,
JUNE 27 NTA ON NEET
Pochampalli with 68.0 mm,
and Narmetta with 63.3 mm. The Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) made
OMR SHEETS
■ Full report on Page 2 its first arrests on Men arrested in the RAKESH K. SINGH | DC
Thursday in connection NEET-UG paper leak case NEW DELHI, JUNE 27

Advani leaves with the NEET-UG paper

leak case, taking two peo-
being taken to custody in
Patna on Thursday. — PTI As protests continued

from AIIMS ple into custody in Patna.

New Delhi: Veteran BJP
leader Lal Krishna Advani,
who was admitted to the
AIIMS here last night, was
discharged on Thursday, a
hospital official said.
The 96-year-old former
deputy prime minister was
evaluated by a team of doc-
tors from different speciali-
ties including urology and
geriatric medicine and is
learnt to have undergone a
minor procedure.
“Advani was admitted for
old age-related issues and
has been discharged,” the
AIIMS official said.
Advani was admitted at
10.30 pm on Wednesday.
The arrested accused,
Manish Kumar and
Ashutosh Kumar, alleg-
edly provided safe accom-
modation to medical
entrance exam aspirants
before the examination,
where the leaked ques-
tion papers and answer
keys were distributed,
according to agency
sources.
The duo were presented
before a special court in
Patna, which sent them
to judicial custody. The
CBI will now seek their
remand to further ques-
tion them. Ashutosh
Kumar had reportedly
rented the 'Learn Boys
Hostel and Play School' in
Patna, where the
Economic Offence Unit of
Bihar Police had recov-
ered half-burnt NEET-UG
examination question
papers, sources said.
During interrogation,
the CBI discovered that
Ashutosh Kumar was
aware that the premises
were being used to pro-
vide question papers to
NEET aspirants.
Meanwhile, Manish
Kumar allegedly
arranged deals with can-
didates willing to pay for
the advance papers. He
then brought these candi-
dates to the hostel, where
they were given the
papers and answer keys.
The aspirants stayed at
the hostel.
over alleged irregulari-
ties in the NEET exami-
nation, the Supreme
Court on Thursday
issued a notice to the
National Testing Agency
(NTA) based on a petition
filed by a learning app.
The petition raised con-
cerns, among others, that
OMR sheets were not pro-
vided to some candidates
and highlighted “incon-
sistent” calculation of
marks.
A vacation bench of
Justices Manoj Misra
and S.V.N. Bhatti tagged
the matter with several
other petitions scheduled
for hearing on July 8.
■ Page 7: OMR sheets
uploaded online: NTA

KLIS foundations: Drillers at 3

barrages get the sinking feeling
BALU PULIPAKA | DC
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
There appears to be no end
to the bad news on the
Kaleshwaram project front
with reports of agencies
involved in the repairs and
flood protection measures
as recommended by the
NDSA, struggling to bring
up core samples from under
the foundations of the
Sundilla, Annaram, and
Medigadda barrages.
“It is the Godavari. It is
full of sand. And as the
drilling for the cores is
going on, subsidence of the
material is being encoun-
tered, resulting in imper-
fect core samples which
might not really be of much
help in finding remedial
measures for protecting the
barrages,” a source famil-
iar with the developments
Annaram barrage
has said. This situation has
been encountered at all the
three barrages, the source
added. The Central Power
and Water Research
Station, Pune, which is con-
sulting with the irrigation
department on this issue,
has been apprised of the sit-
uation and is awaiting fur-
ther guidance on the next
steps, the source said.
Medigadda barrage
Just what exactly the
nature of the river bed
might mean for the safety of
the barrages — whether
short term or long-term —
is uncertain, the source
added. Incidentally, the
National Dam Safety
Authority which recom-
mended several pre-mon-
soon protection works at
the barrages too had made
it clear that it was in a posi-
tion to provide an assur-
ance on how well these
interim measures might
hold out and protect the
barrages during this mon-
soon’s flood season.
As part of its recommen-
dations, the NDSA sought
drilling for core samples of
the foundations, and the
soil below.
But the new difficulties
arising out of the difficulty
in acquiring proper core
samples, has raised further
questions on just how much
of a study went into design-
ing the barrages and short-
cuts, if any, were taken
because of the rush the pre-
vious BRS-led government
was in to complete con-
struction of the barrages.
■ Page 5: Engineers struggle
to strengthen foundations
 CITY
DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 28 JUNE 2024
Heavy rain halts traffic
EVENTS State Summit Telangana 2024:
Speech by Srikanth Reddy KALKI BRINGS CHEER, CROWDS TO
TODAY
TODAY Time: 10 am
Venue: Radisson Blu, Banjara SINGLE SCREEN THEATRES IN HYD
Hills
as roads waterlogged
Bharatanatyam by DC CORRESPONDENT This influx of audience
Shankarananda Kalakshetram Telugu Comedy Open Mic HYDERABAD, JUNE 27 was ironically for ‘Kalki
Time: 9 am Time: 8 pm 2898 AD’, which was
Venue: Ravindra Bharati Venue: Hashtag Cafe Thursday seemed like a screened in all four the-
peep into the past where- atres.
Workshop on Wildlife International Conference on in RTC crossroads would The overwhelming turn-
Photography Computational Intelligence and
Time: 9 am Data Analytics; Time: 10 am
Venue: Vasavi College Engg.
be full of filmgoers trying
to grab tickets especially
on the first day of a
out, which must have
gladdened the distribu-
tors and theatre owners,
Biodiversity junction to Khajaguda lake cuts 5-6 lanes
Venue: Ameenpur Lake
movie’s release to watch has proved once again RACHEL
Perfect vs Dark Live REACH US AT their chosen film at that itis the star cast and DAMMALA | DC
Time: 8 pm Sudarshan 35, Devi 70, content that brings audi- HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
Venue: Prism Club eventsatdc@gmail.com Sandhya 70 and 35 mm. ences to theatres.
Hyderabad and many
parts of Telangana were
waterlogged on Thursday
leading to traffic disrup-
tions after a heavy rain.
According to the
Telangana Development
Planning Society (TGDPS)
K a r i m n a g a r ’ s
Edulagattapalli recorded
the highest rainfall at 81.0
mm, followed by
Pochampally with 68.0
mm, and Narmetta with
63.3 mm. In the Greater
Hyderabad Municipal
Corporation (GHMC)
area, Hayathnagar wit-
nessed the highest rainfall
of 31.8 mm.
The cumulative average
rainfall in Hyderabad’s
circles varied, with Saroor
Nagar recording 14.5 mm
and Chandrayangutta
showing 14.4 mm.
The majority of the city
experienced light rainfall,
except for Malkajgiri,
which saw moderate to
very light rainfall.
The heavy downpour led
to severe traffic snarls in
key areas such as
Nampally, Khairatabad,
Banjara Hills, Secretariat,
and Somajiguda.
The Biodiversity junc-
tion towards Khajaguda
lake was particularly
affected, reducing five or
six lanes of traffic to one
due to waterlogging.
The weather forecast for
Hyderabad is that there
will be generally cloudy
skies with light rain or
thundershowers likely to
occur towards the evening
and night of June 28.
Maximum and minimum
temperatures are expected
to hover around 33°C and
24°C, respectively.
The city recorded a max-
imum temperature of
32.1°C and a minimum of
25.4°C on Thursday, with a
relative humidity of 90 per
TURNING | POINT High school kids teach soft skills
Ashayam instills hope
in govt school students
DC CORRESPONDENT
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
Ishaan and Neha, both in
their high school, found
themselves grappling
with new challenges.
Their experiences
sparked curiosity about
how students in govern-
ment schools of a similar
age were coping, especial-
ly in the wake of the
Covid-19 pandemic.
This curiosity led them
to visit a nearby govern-
ment school, where they
interacted with the stu-
dents and quickly realised
that soft skills were an
essential part of educa-
tion, regardless of the
school type. This
epiphany became the driv-
ing force behind the estab-
lishment of ‘Ashayam,’
which means ‘Ambition’
in Telugu. Through
Ashayam, Ishaan and
Neha aim to provide com-
prehensive soft skills
training to children in
government schools,
equipping them with the
confidence and skills nec-
essary to navigate any
learning curve they
encounter. Ashayam’s
mission is ambitious,
envisioning the empower-
ment of one million stu-
dents with the necessary
skills and confidence to
face any challenge. The
organisation focuses on
various essential skills,
including effective com-
munication, teamwork,
time management, cre-
ativity, problem-solving,
reflection, and leadership.
Each of these programs is
designed to prepare stu-
dents for the demands of
today’s rapidly changing
world.
The Communication
Programme is foundation-
al, honing students’ abili-
ties toarticulate thoughts
clearly, listen actively, and
convey ideas with confi-
dence. Teamwork is
emphasised through
interactive activities that
instil the values of coop-
eration, synergy, and
mutual respect, essential
for excelling in team envi-
ronments. Reflection
pg 2
Motorists caught in rain take shelter under the Telugu Talli flyover as they were
caught unawares. The city witnessed heavy downpour in the evening on Thursday.
—S. SURENDER REDDY
Farmers seek action plan
for TG agriculture sector
G. RAM MOHAN | DC improve productivity in structure and giving MSP
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27 the existing land. Once will veer the farmers to
sugar factories in Bodhan take up other crops,” the
Even after a month after and Muthyampet are members said.
the onset of monsoon, the reopened, they will need Kiran Vissa of Rythu
state agriculture depart- sugarcane to crush. Swarajya Vedika (RSV)
ment is yet to finalise its Farmers should be said “The farmer’s debt
annual action plan for the encouraged to grow the relief commission should
season ahead, which crop to feed these facto- also be revived and it
farmer’s associations say ries. Incentives should be should be headed by a
does not bode well. announced to encourage retired HC judge.”
Underscoring the need farmers to make the shift The plan should ideally
for an advanced action from other crops.” have details for soil test-
plan, Sarampally Malla The lack of an action ing labs and area-wise rec-
Reddy, AIKS state vice- plan for the department ommendation for crops.
president, said, “Crop pro- after 2020-21 and failure to Ideally, horticulture sho-
duction has to keep pace implement what has been uld be part of the action
with the growing popula- planned earlier had led to plan and stress should be
tion. Factors like real an increase in paddy and on growing vegetables and
estate growth, roads, proj- cotton in the state, the pulses, which are being
ects and SEZs have to be body said. “Better access bought from outside the
taken into account to to developed market infra- state, Malla Reddy said.
cent. various districts. The rounding areas, while
The TGDPS report indi- cumulative rainfall distri- other districts like
cates that rainfall is bution map shows signifi- Medchal-Malkajgiri,
expected to continue until cant rainfall in Vikarabad, and
June 29 with moderate to Karimnagar, Rajanna Kamareddy experienced
heavy rainfall likely in Sircilla, Jangaon, and sur- lighter rainfall.
TRANSPORT STAFF
GO ON PEN DOWN
STIR AFTER ATTACK
SANJAY SAMUEL
PAUL | DC
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
Telangana State Road
Transport Authority’s
(RTA) employees across
the state will pen down
on Friday in protest
against the manhan-
dling of joint transport
commissioner C.
Ramesh by auto rick-
shaw union secretary
Amanullah Khan.
The Panjagutta police
lodged a case against the
assaulter Amanullah
Khan, the transport
Ishaan and Neha in action while helping government department employees
school children learn soft skills through Ashayam. at RTA Khairatabad
involves guiding students each class having close to staged a protest. The
through introspective 40 students. The summer union leaders have
exercises, helping them camp at home saw the par- demanded immediate
understand their stren- ticipation of 25 kids, and arrest of Amanullah
gths, weaknesses, and the initiatives have even Khan. Condemning the
areas for improvement, reached students in West attack, transport minis-
fostering a path towards Bengal, covering grades ter Ponnam Prabhakar
continual self-improve- six to ten. said, “If there is a prob-
ment. Creativity is anoth- Ishaan and Neha’s jour- lem, he should have
er cornerstone of Ash- ney with Ashayam is a tes- lodged a complaint, but
ayam's approach, enco- tament to their commit- such attacks on officials
uraging out-of-the-box ment to education and the is intolerable. I will
thinking and nurturing holistic development of stand by the employees
the imaginative capacities students. Their vision is as the minister of trans-
of students, empowering to build a future where port.” “I spoke to police
them to explore new every student’s ambition officials about the
avenues of expression. knows no bounds, prepar- attack. An action will be
The Problem-Solving ing them to thrive in an taken against the attack-
Program focuses on interconnected and ever- er. I ask the employees
equipping students with evolving world. The story not to get discouraged,”
critical thinking, analyti- of Ashayam is not just he said.
cal skills, and effective about providing training
decision-making abilities, but about igniting a spark
enabling them to appr- of ambition and fostering
RWAs SEEK RIGHT
oach challenges with con- a generation of confident,
fidence and resourceful- skilled, and ambitious
ness. Time Management individuals ready to take
OF WAY IN
training teaches students on any challenge.
strategies for setting pri- Through their dedica-
DEFENCE AREAS
orities, planning tasks, tion and innovative M. SRINIVAS | DC
and optimising productiv- approach, Ishaan and HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
ity, ensuring they make Neha have created a plat-
the most of their time. form that addresses the Appreciating Chief
Leadership development critical need for soft skills Minister A. Revanth
is integral to Ashayam’s in education, ensuring Reddy’s meeting with
vision. The Leadership that students from gov- Union defence minister
Program empowers stu- ernment schools are not Rajnath Singh seeking
dents with practical skills left behind in the rapidly defence lands for con-
and a visionary mindset changing landscape of structing elevated corri-
through interactive work- today’s world. Ashayam dors to ease traffic con-
shops and mentorship. stands as a beacon of hope gestion in Secunderabad
Students learn decision- and a model for others to cantonment and other
making, effective commu- emulate, proving that areas in New Delhi,
nication, and other cru- with the right support and Resident Welfare
cial leadership skills. training, every student Associations (RWAs) are
The impact of can achieve their fullest requesting him to
Ashayam’s initiatives can potential.across different ensure the “Right of
be seen in various schools regions. For instance, the Way” in defence areas
across different regions. programmes were intro- for those commuting in
For instance, the pro- duced in the Karimnagar cantonment areas. The
grammes have been intro- Model School, Kokapet Ministry of Defence
duced in the Karimnagar Govt School, and might give its consent to
Model School, Kokapet Raidurgam Govt School, the State government’s
Govt School, and each class having close to proposal to hand over
Raidurgam Govt School, 40 students. some lands.
cmyk cmyk

DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 28 JUNE 2024 pg 3

 CRIME/LEGAL
DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 28 JUNE 2024
pg 4

IN

Man held with

BRIEF
ganja worth `3.5 L
Hyderabad: Secunderabad rail-
way police arrested a member
of an inter-state ganja peddling
racket and seized 14 kg of ganja
worth `3.50 lakh from him, dur-
ing a surprise check on
Thursday. The accused, identi-
fied as Bahan Swalsingh, 38, of
Odisha, was arrested while
transporting the contraband
from Odisha into Telangana,
said DSP GRP Secunderabad
division S. N. Javed during a
press meet. Another accused
Bharat, who accompanied
Bahan, is absconding.
COPS BUST ONLINE
INVESTMENT
SCAM, 1 HELD
M. SRINIVAS | DC
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
The Cyberabad police busted
an online investment scam
with the arrest of a person
identified as Kunjathbail
Mujib Sayyad of Manglore in
Karnataka. Based on the com-
plaint lodged by one Shaik
Ahmed, a resident of
Farooqnagar village in Ranga
Reddy district, the Shadnagar
police registered a case under
Sections 420, 406, 120B of
Indian Penal Code (IPC) and
Section 5 of TSPDFEA-1999
and took up investigation.
Tapping: Court nixes
bail pleas of accused
Accused can influence witnesses, so bail dismissed: PP
MOULI MAREEDU | DC
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
In a major development,
the Nampally Court on
Thursday dismissed the
bail pleas filed by the
accused in the phone-
tapping case after the
police investigation led
to more leads.
Three of the accused
N. Bhujanga
Tirupatanna and D.
Rao,
Praneeth Rao filed peti-
tions seeking bail stat-
ing that although they
were in remand for 90
days, the investigation
officer had failed to file
a charge sheet before
the court, which makes
them eligible for bail.
However, the public
prosecutor argued that
they had filed the
charge sheet in a proper
way and the investiga-
tion officer made cor-
rections after the court
raised doubts.
Later, the police filed a
comprehensive charge
sheet before the court
M-I-L strangulates D-I-L to
death for not making her tea
SYED OMAR FAROOQ | DC which Ajmeera Begum a six-year-old daughter and
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27 argued and abused Farzana and eight-year-old son.
A woman brutally murdered
stating that she is not her ser-
vant to take her command,
Abbas and Farzana's hus-
band Mohammed Noor
her daughter in-law after she police said. informed police they were in
refused to prepare tea in However, when Ajmeera other room when the inci-
NO BAIL THREE OF THE Hasannagar under Attapur was beaten up by Farzana dent occurred. Police have
ACCUSED police station limits on she agreed and went into the taken Farzana into custody
N. Bhujanga Rao, Thursday. kitchen to prepare tea. and recorded her statement
Tirupatanna and The incident occurred Farzana followed Ajmeera in which she confessed to
around 10.15 am at the vic- around the house abusing having murderered her
D. Praneeth Rao tim's house near Madina her and once inside the daughter in-law.
filed petitions Masjid, Hasannagar. kitchen Farzana pushed The victim was harassed by
seeking bail stat- The accused Farzana Ajmeera to the ground and Farzana for a long time, we
ing that although Begum, 53, abused her strangled her to death with a are investigating whether
they were in daughter-in-law Ajmeera chunni, police said. Ajmeera Farzana was accompanied by
N. Bhujanga M. D. Praneeth remand for 90 Begum, 28, to prepare tea for was a native of Mominpet, her son and husband as they
Rao Tirupatanna Rao days, the investi-
gation officer had
her to which Ajmeera
refused. Later, Farzana
Vikarabad district. She was
married to Mohameed
lived in the same house, G.
Venkat Ram Reddy, inspector
LATER, THE POLICE filed a compre-
hensive charge sheet before the court
failed to file a ordered Ajmeera to prepare
tea for the second time to
Abbas, an autorickshaw driv-
er in 2015 and is blessed with
of Attapur police station
said.
charge sheet
establishing the role of the before the court,
accused in the case.
which
makes
HOWEVER, THE PUBLIC prosecutor argued that them
they had filed the charge sheet in a proper way eligi-
and the investigation officer made corrections ble for
after the court raised doubts. bail.
establishing the role of influence the The police have sub-
the accused in the case. witnesses. mitted probe material
The public prosecutor The police stated that along with electrical
also argued that if the the case is still under devices, pen drives,
accused are granted investigation and the hard disks, documents
bail, there are chances key accused T. and other important
that they could tamper Prabhakar Rao is yet to things related to the
with the evidence and appear for questioning. investigation.

ENCROACHMENT IN HC hears KCR’s plea DCA CONDUCTS

FILMNAGAR: GHMC
FILES PLAINT
NABINDER BOMMALA
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
The Greater Hyderabad Muni-
cipal Corporation (GHMC) has
lodged a complaint in Filmna-
gar Police station against
Gokul Narne and Market
Space Systems Pvt Ltd alleg-
ing encroachment of a park in
Filmnagar, Jubilee Hills.
Gokul Narne is the son of
Col Ranga Rao Narne
(retired). Rao is the chairman
and managing director of
Narne Estates.
The GHMC mentioned that
the owner of Plot No. 30,
Gokul Narne has damaged a
park compound wall which is
a pubic property, trespassed
into the public park, encr-
oached on the lung space and
filled it with excavated soil,
damaging the ecology of the
park besides destroying green-
ery by resorting to felling of
trees inside the park located in
Road No.11, Film Nagar
Cooperative Housing Society,
adjacent to Lotus Pond.
A.V. Ranganath, who took
on PPA, power plants
VUJJINI
VAMSHIDHAR | DC
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
A Division Bench of
Telangana High Court,
comprising Chief
Justice Alok Aradhe
and Justice Anil
Kumar Jukanti, heard
the writ petition filed
by former chief minis-
ter K. Chandrashekar
Rao seeking a stay on
the GO. Ms. No. 9 ener-
gy department order
dated March 14, 2024,
which constituted a
One-Man Commission
headed by former
judge Justice L.
Narasimha Reddy to
investigate the pro-
curement of power
from Chhattisgarh by
Telangana Discoms
and the construction
of the Bhadradri and
Yadadri Thermal
Power Plants during
argued that it was nec-
essary to name Justice
L. Narasimha Reddy
as a respondent. He
contended that Justice
Reddy had concluded
that the previous gov-
ernment committed
irregularities causing
a loss of `250 crore to
`300 crore to the State
K. Chandrashekar Rao Exchequer without
providing Chandra-
the BRS government. shekar Rao the oppor-
The petition was list- tunity to present his
ed before the Division contentions before the
Bench at the scrutiny C o m m i s s i o n .
stage as the Registry Additionally, he stated
had raised an objec- that Justice Reddy
tion to naming Justice conducted a press con-
L. Narasimha Reddy ference explaining to
(retd) as a respondent the media before com-
in a “personal capaci- pleting the inquiry,
ty” in the petition filed demonstrating bias.
by K. Chandrashekar Chief Justice Alok
Rao. Aradhe questioned the
Aditya Sondhi, sen- impact of the report,
ior counsel from suggesting that it
Delhi, representing could be discussed in
Chandrashekar Rao, the Assembly.
RAIDS, SEIZES
OVERPRICED MEDS
DC CORRESPONDENT
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
Officials from the
Telangana Drugs Control
Administration (DCA) in
separate raids in different
districts and seized over-
priced drugs and also med-
icines with mislead-
ing advertise-
ments.
During a special
drive, DCA raided
a unit at Sathupalli
in Khammam district and
seized overpriced antifun- FUNERAL SERVICE BIRTHDAY REMEMBRANCE OF
gal medicine Itraconazole For I consider that the sufferings of this
present time are not worth comparing
capsules. “The team also with the glory that is going to be
raided a unit in Jubilee revealed to us. Romans 8:18
Hills and seized Kalonji oil
(black seed oil), Unani med-
icine, claimed to treat dia-
betes,” DG (DCA) V.B.
Kamalasan Reddy said,
Antifungal drug Itraco-
nazole was found to be sold
at an excess price, which is
a violation of Drugs
(Prices Control) Order, Late Miss MUSKA
2013, the DG said. DEEPTHI PAUL
(Rtd. Nursing Suptd.)
DOB: 28-06-1942 DOD: 06-07-2011

charge as the commissioner of
GHMC’s Enforcement Vigila-
nce & Disaster Management
(EV&DM) on Wednesday,
inspected the place on
Thursday. Congress MLA from
Munugode, Komatireddy Rajg-
opal Reddy who stays in the
same area was conspicuous by
his presence. He was present
when the park near his house
was being inspected by
EV&DM officials. However,
the EV&DM officials main-
tained that as A.V. Ranganath
also served as Nalgonda SP,
the MLA saw him and formal-
ly met him. The GHMC in
their complaint also men-
tioned that the persons against
whom they are seeking action
also violated the Walta Act.
HC summons dy commissioner
L. RAVICHANDER
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
Justice T. Vinod Kumar
of Telangana High
Court summoned the
deputy commissioner,
Serilingampally Zone,
Greater Hyderabad, to
personally appear befo-
re the court on July 2,
2024, in a writ plea chal-
lenging the dumping of
garbage and non-
removal of Ganesh idol
remains at Guttala
Begumpet, Seriling-
ampally.
The judge was dealing
with a writ plea filed by
Polavarapu Srinischel
and another alleging
that the respondent
authorities were dump-
ing garbage and
remains of Ganesh idols
from Durgamcheruvu
into Amar Cooperative
Society where the peti-
tioners reside.
The petitioners fur-
ther alleged that the
respondent authorities
are not considering the
representations given
by the petitioners to
remove the garbage.
Counsel for respondents
represented that
garbage was removed
by the respondent
authorities.
However, counsel for
the petitioner produced
photocopies of garbage
not being remove from
the property and stated
that the respondent
authorities are misrep-
resenting the facts
before the court. After
hearing the petitioner,
the judge directed the
deputy commissioner,
Serilingampally Zone of
Greater Hyderabad to
appear before the court.
LEASE: HC TELLS IOCL TO
DETAIL STEPS
A two-judge panel of the
Telangana High Court
asked the IOCL to detail
the steps taken by it to
renew a lease at
L i n g o j i g u d a ,
Saroornagar. The panel
LEGAL STORIES
comprising Chief
Justice Alok Aradhe
and Justice J. Anil
Kumar are dealing with
a writ appeal filed by the
land lady Punjala
Geetha Lakshmi, com-
plaining that the Indian
Oil Corporation Limited
[IOCL] had overstayed
the lease period and are
not vacating the premis-
es. Senior counsel A.
Venkatesh pointed out
that IOCL being a state-
owned corporation
should act as a model
and not stay on the
premises. He said that
the single judge erred in
holding that there were
disputed questions of
fact. Senior counsel
appearing for IOCL
pointed out that there
were indeed disputed
questions of facts and
the conduct of the land
lady pointing out to her
acceptance for renewing
the contract. However,
IOCL is now required to
file an additional affi-
davit by July 1.
HC ADMITS PLEA BY OBC
STAFF OF SCR
Justice C.V. Bhaskar
Reddy of the Telangana
High Court took on file
a writ plea filed by
South Central Railway
OBC Employees
Association. The peti-
tioners are aggrieved by
action of Railway Board
and general manager,
SCR, in not recognising
the genuinely elected
body of the association
elected on September 10,
2023 in spite of several
court orders and even
an order of the High
Court. The petitioner
contended that without
the authority of law, the
personnel department
of the SCR was address-
ing communications not
only without jurisdic-
tion but also contrary to
judicial pronounce-
ments. The petitioner
sought a direction
against respondents to
recognise the newly
elected list of office
bearers of the associa-
tion as valid for all pur-
poses for circulation
and for providing facili-
ties to them and also to
operate the association's
bank account.
HC NOTICE TO
INDUSTRIES CHIEF
Justice Pulla Karthik of
the Telangana High
Court ordered notice to
the commissioner of
industries, Telangana,
and others in a writ plea
challenging inaction in
remitting the pre-
revised pay scale. The
judge was dealing with
a writ plea filed by E.
Gurappa Naidu, a the respondents. The
retired employee at
Corporative Industrial
Estate, Balanagar. The
petitioner alleges that
the respondents failed
to extend pre-
revised pay scale to
the petitioner for
specific years. The
petitioner further
alleged that he has
not been paid termi-
nal benefits includ-
ing gratuity despite
his representations.
The judge after hear-
ing the petitioner,
sought a response
from respondent
authorities and post-
ed it for further
adjudication.
CONTEMPT PLEA
HEARING DEFERRED
Justice S. Nanda of
Telangana High Court
deferred the hearing of
a contempt case for the
superintending engi-
neer, tahasildar
Shankerpalli Mandal,
Rangareddy and other
authorities to report
compliance with the
orders of the court.
The judge was hearing
a contempt case filed by
a group of agricultur-
ists from the
Shankarpally Mandal.
Earlier, a writ petition
was filed by group of
agriculturists complain-
ing of the submergence
of their lands abutting
the Peddacheruvu lake,
due to the sluice gates
remaining shut and
thereby storing water
over and above the full
tank capacity. The court
accordingly directed the
respondent authorities
to consider the griev-
ance of the petitioners
and pass necessary
orders. The court fur-
ther directed the tahsil-
dar to demarcate the
irrigation channel after
giving notice to all con-
cerned parties.
Petitioner alleged that it
is this order that was
deliberately violated by
judge after hearing the
parties posted the mat-
ter to July 1 for respon-
dents to report compli-
ance.
D/o Late Rev. Muska Paul
Smt. Glory Gnanavathy (Karimnagar Diocese)
(Retd Govt teacher, NCC Officer) Inserted by: Muska Suvarna Paul &
Govt junior college Malakpet Family Members.
W/o Sri. K A I Newton
(S/2425/D00321)
Slept in Lord : 26.06.2024
Funeral service at Christ Gospel
Church Sachivalaya Nagar 44th DEATH ANNIVERSARY
Vanasthalipuram, Hyderabad on
28-06-2024 at 10.00 AM followed by
Burial at Narayanguda Cemetery 1.00 PM.
Inserted by: Family members
Contact : 7893250260 / 8977939742
15th DEATH ANNIVERSARY
I have fought a good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith.
SECOND 2Thimothy 4:7
DEATH ANNIVERSARY IN LOVING MEMORY OF
Late Rev. MUSKA PAUL
(Served in Karimnagar Diocese)
DOB: 18-11-1920 DOD: 28-06-1980
Inserted by:
Daughter- M.Suvarna Paul
Rtd. (Nursing Suptd.)
Late C.S. LAKSHMANAN & Family Members.
Date of Death: 28.06.2022 (S/2425/D00320)
“Our hearts are heavy as we remember N. DEVASAHAYAM BABU
you on this two-year death Anniversary. D.O.D: 28-06-2009
You are truly missed”
From: Smt C.S. Kuppamma &
Inserted by:
Wife, Children, Grand Children.
Family Members.
Residence at H.No. 1-19-97/2, Asaf
Village, Venkatapuram,Secunderabad.
(S/2425/D00316)
14th ANNIVERSARY
DEVARSHI MAHADEV
D.O.D: 28-06-2011
“DAD, wherever you are, you are
gone but you will never be forgotten.”
“WE MISS YOU DAD”
Inserted by: D. Manitha,
D. Barmanand, D. Meena,
D. Jayanthi, D. Santosh.
(B/2425/D00015)
 CITY
DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 28 JUNE 2024
pg 5

IN
Bonalu preparation
BRIEF
3 major goals achieved: CM Minority missing in
Prez speech: Asad
till July 5: Ponnam Dethroned KCR, brought Cong. to power, cut BRS to zero in LS
Hyderabad: Transport and BC NEERAJ KUMAR | DC
L. VENKAT RAM HYDERABAD, JUNE 27

Govt expects better Union Budget

welfare minister Ponnam
Prabhakar on Thursday set a
deadline of July 5 to complete
all arrangements for Ashada
Bonalu, including works for the
renowned Lashkar Bonalu at the
Ujjaini Mahankali temple in
Secunderabad. While Bonalu
starts on July 7, the renowned
festivities at the Ujjaini temple
will be held on July 21 and 22.
On July 21, the Goddess' pro-
cession and Rangam activities
would take place.
PV family to mark
REDDY | DC
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
Chief Minister A. Rev-
anth Reddy has hinted at
a possible delay in the
much-anticipated Cab-
inet expansion and the
appointment of a new
Telangana Pradesh Con-
gress Committee (TPCC)
president.
Addressing a press con-
ference in New Delhi on
Thursday, he said there
were no discussions with
DC CORRESPONDENT
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27
Chief Minister A.
Revanth Reddy, accompa-
nied by his team of min-
isters, successfully con-
cluded a four-day tour in
Delhi on Thursday,
which was aimed at
addressing the state's
pending issues with the
TG TEAM MOVES AHEAD FOR STATE
● REVANTH REDDY said
that he will soon meet Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
home minister Amit Shah
seeking resolution of pending
issues concerning Telangana.
● Positive
dialogues initiated
● THE TELANGANA
delegation’s proactive
Telangana in the new
Budget," he stated.
The Chief Minister
stressed the importance
of maintaining cordial
relations with both the
Centre and neighbouring
states, such as Andhra
Pradesh, in the interests
of Telangana.
Reflecting on the previ-
ous administration, he
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin
Owaisi on Thursday said
that the BJP makes big
claims of respecting the
Constitution, but President
Droupadi Murmu in her
address to the joint session
of Parliament had not
uttered a ‘minority’ word in
her speech.
The BJP doesn’t under- Asaduddin Owaisi
stand that they don’t have
the mandate... There was no why is the government not
mention of ‘minority’ in the
entire President’s speech.
admtting its guilt in leakage
of question papers and re-

his 103rd birthday the party high command

Hyderabad: The 103rd birth
anniversary of former prime
minister P.V. Narasimha Rao will
be celebrated at Gyan Bhoomi
at PV Marg, Necklace Road, on
Friday. In a statement,
Narasimha Rao’s grandson and
BJP spokesperson N.V. Subhash
said the family members would
conduct many philanthropic
activities to recall his services.
Leaders from various political
parties will pay floral
tributes to the former prime
minister at his final resting
place GyanBhoomi, he said.
KCR: BRS has
regarding the Cabinet
expansion during his
tour. However, Revanth
Reddy revealed he has
requested the high com-
mand to appoint a new
TPCC chief, as his tenure
will end on July 7.
Despite being appointed
on June 26, 2021, he took
charge on July 7, 2021.
“If the appointment
date is considered, my
three-year term as TPCC
chief ended on Wedne-
sday,” he said.
Revanth Reddy expres-
sed complete satisfaction
with his three-year tenu-
re, stating that his three
major ambitions had
Centre. This strategic
visit, coming ahead of
the Union Budget expect-
ed in the third week of
July, has raised hopes for
the allocation of crucial
funds and projects to
Telangana.
The newly-formed
Modi 3.0 government,
which assumed office on
June 9, welcomed the
Telangana delegation as
its first state representa-
tives. Revanth Reddy,
along with Deputy Chief
Minister Mallu Bhatti
Vikramarka and minis-
ters N. Uttam Kumar
Reddy, Komatireddy
by Revanth Reddy
may prove crucial
approach in meeting Union
ministers before Budget has
for Telangana’s been seen as a strategic
progress. move to ensure development.
Venkat Reddy, Ponguleti NDA government in
Srinivas Reddy, D. Parliament in the third
Sridhar Babu, Ponnam week of July. We wanted
Prabhakar, and Seetha- to meet Union ministers
kka, engaged in signifi- and submit our represen-
cant discussions with tations seeking funds
Union ministers. and projects for Telan-
Revanth Reddy high- gana before the Centre
lighted the urgency of drafts the Budget. This
their visit. "We rushed to would maximise the
Delhi keeping in mind chances of the Centre
the new Budget which allocating required funds
will be presented by the and projects to
remarked, “The previous
BRS government adopted
a confrontational atti-
tude with the Centre for
their selfish political
interests, due to which
Telangana suffered a lot.
Funds and projects that
are due for Telangana
remained pending for the
last five years with the
Centre holding them
back. Neither then chief
minister nor then minis-
ters bothered to meet the
Prime Minister and min-
isters on pending issues.
But we will fight politi-
cally only during elec-
tions.”
Why does the Modi govern-
ment hate minorities so
much, asked Asaduddin in
his post on his social media
account X.
Asaduddin said Murmu
referred to BCs, SCs and STs
in her speech, but did not
make a single reference to
‘minorities’.
On the burning issue of
NEET, Murmu said that the
government is fully commit-
ted to investigate the recent
incidents of paper leaks. But
conducting the exam as it
dealt with the future of 24
lakh students. The NEET
entrance paper was leaked in
Bihar, Jharkhand and
Maharashtra, he said.
Asaduddin said the govern-
ment is still acting with arro-
gance and not showing any
concern in regard to the
growing unemployment in
the country. The Modi gov-
ernment had failed to fulfil
the promises made to unem-
ployed youth, he said.

bullet-like cadre been accomplished. His

first ambition was to
dethrone BRS chief K.
Hyderabad: BRS party president Chandrashekar Rao from
and former chief minister K. the chief minister’s
Chandrashekar Rao on Thursday chair; the second goal
declared the party was unfazed was to bring the
by the recent exit of some of its Congress to power in
MLAs, who joined the Congress, Telangana while his
and declared that “BRS has ‘bul- third objective was to
let-like’ workers, and a new line reduce BRS to zero in the
of leadership will be created Lok Sabha elections.
from this pool.” In what
Revanth Reddy stressed
that he has no personal
preference for his succes-
sor and is willing to work
with anyone the party
high command appoints.
Meanwhile, aspirants
for the post continue to
camp in Delhi, actively
lobbying for the position,
including working presi-
dent B. Mahesh Kumar
Goud, considered to be
the frontrunner, and for-
mer MP Madhu Yashki
Goud.
The CM dismissed
media reports suggesting
that he had discussed
Cabinet expansion with
the party high command
and had received
approval for the same. He
praised his current 12-
member Cabinet, stating,
“My Cabinet is working
efficiently, and they are
ment; not as a part-time
job but as a full-time job.
We conducted all public
taking care of all the exams like SSC, Inter
departments. There is no and entrance exams like
department which is not Eamcet smoothly. They
handled by a minister.” were conducted without
Referring to the criti- any irregularities that
cism that there is no min- existed during the BRS
ister for education, he regime. We are following
said, “I am taking care of the academic calendar
the education depart- strictly.”

Engineers struggle to strengthen barrages’ foundation

appeared to be a reconciliation
of sorts over the desertion by
five of its MLAs so far, amidst
talk in political circles that the
opposition party will see even
more of its legislators quitting to
join the Congress, Rao said there
was no need for anyone in the
BRS to get discouraged because
only a few people have left the
party. “People come and go. BRS
has bullet-like workers and they
will be moulded into leadership
roles,” he said.
FROM PAGE 1
There have been allega-
tions earlier that even
during the construction
stage, an adequate num-
ber of core samples were
not collected. And those
being extracted now, at
least many of them, may
not be of much use when
it comes to measures to
strengthen the founda-
tions of the barrages, it
is learnt. The shifting of
sand from under the
foundations of Sundilla,
Annaram, and Med-
igadda barrages during
floods was identified as
the primary cause for
serious leakages from
under the foundations at
Sundilla and Annaram
barrages while at
Medigadda, the problem
became even more severe
with heavy floods caus-
ing a huge cavity from
under one of the bar-
rage’s blocks resulting in
it sinking and two of its
piers developing serious
cracks. Among the mon- tion at Medigadda has
soon flood protection been completed. At
measures recommended, Sundilla and Annaram,
the NDSA was grouting work is still on and all
of all such cavities using their gates are now open
a mixture of cement and to allow water coming
sand. from upstream of the
“This, along with other river flows through with-
measures including lay- out any obstruction,” an
ing of concrete cement official of the depart-
blocks for flood dissipa- ment said.

KCR said Cong.

govt will topple
in TG: Revanth
FROM PAGE 1 ● REVANTH REDDY
said that to defeat the
“Chandrasekhar Rao
and the BRS leaders
Congress, KCR
Dy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka at the foundation stone laying transferred 20 per cent
ceremony of drinking water scheme at Kothagudem on Thursday. continue to talk as if
people have committed of the BRS votes to the
a mistake by not voting BJP to help them win

Crop loans to be waived for them,” he conclud-

ed.
“Chandrasekhar Rao
more seats in the Lok
Sabha elections.
● CM admitted there

off before deadline: Bhatti

DC CORRESPONDENT
BHADADRI-KOTHAGUDEM, JUNE 27
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu
Bhatti Vikramarka on Thur-
sday wondered why villages
and towns were not getting
proper drinking water, if the
previous government had sp-
ent `42,000 crore on Mission
Bhagiratha.
Laying foundation stone for
works related to drinking
water, which have been taken
up in Kothagudem at a cost of
`124 crore under AMRUT 0.2,
he said that the people should
think about where the money
had gone. He ridiculed the BRS
government claims that Mis-
sion Bhagiratha would cater to
the needs of the people up to
2030. He pointed out that they
had not provided irrigation
facilities to even a single acre
of land although they spent
`6,000 crore on the Sitarama
project.
“Despite financial crunch,
the Congress government is
committed to fulfill all poll
promises. It has extended
`7,500 crore to farmers under
Rythu Bandhu. Crop loans of
farmers would be waived off
much before the date anno-
unced by the CM,” he added.
He informed that they were
actively considering elevation
of Kothagudem-Palvancha as a
municipal corporation. He
said that the stage-I to stage-IV
thermal units of the
Kothagudem power plant that
remain would be revived using
super critical technology. He
assured to take the plea of
local MLA Kunamneni
Sambashiva Rao for an IT
tower at Kothagudem to the
notice of IT minister D.
Sridhar Babu.
said that the Congress
government would top- was some confusion
ple in the state. What over MLC T. Jeevan
should we do for his Reddy’s stance on the
comments?” he asked. induction of BRS MLC
To defeat the Congress, M Sanjay Kumar.
Chandrasekhar Rao
transferred 20 per cent
of the BRS votes to the was some confusion
BJP to ensure the vic- over Jeevan Reddy's
tory of its candidates issue, and keeping in
during the Lok Sabha view the experience of
elections. Jeevan Reddy, the
Responding to the party would accord
resentment expressed priority to him and
by Congress MLC T. give him due respect.
Jeevan Reddy over wel- “We will ensure that
coming BRS MLC M the sentiments of the
Sanjay Kumar into the party leaders and
party, Revanth Reddy activists will not be
said that the BRS MLA hurt at any cost,” he
joined the party after said.
being attracted to the Stating that the law
implementation of Six and order situation
Guarantees coupled was being maintained
with the initiative to effectively in the State,
waive off farmers' the Chief Minister
loans. said, “We are success-
Revanth Reddy fully running the gov-
admitted that there ernment."

HC to hear plea on MLAs on July 3

VUJJINI
VAMSHIDHAR I DC
HYDERABAD, JUNE 27

The Telangana High Court

adjourned the hearing in
the petitions seeking direc-
tions to the Speaker of the
Legislative Assembly to
disqualify MLAs from the
BRS who had defected,
including Danam Nagen-
der, Tellam Venkat Rao and
Kadiam Srihari, to July 3.
Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy
heard the two petitions
filed by BRS MLAs K.P.
Vivekananda and Padi
Kaushik Reddy seeking
directions to the Speaker to
take a decision on the dis-
qualification petitions ,
immediately.
Senior counsel Aryam
Sundaram representing the
petitioners, submitted to the
Danam Nagender
court that the outer line
time period fixed to take
decision on disqualification
petitions is three months
but the Speaker of the
House had neither taken a
decision nor had he proceed-
ed any further over the dis-
qualification applications.
The counsel submitted it
is the constitutional duty of
the Speaker to act on the
Tellam Venkat Rao
disqualification petitions.
He cannot postpone as this
amounts to violation of
constitutional provisions.
Further, the senior coun-
sel cited the case of
Rajendra Singh Rana ver-
sus Swami Prasad Maurya
in which the Supreme
Court ruled that the High
Court can direct Speakers
to rule on disqualification
Kadiam Srihari
petitions if they do not do
this within a reasonable
time. Hence, he argued
before the High Court and
sought directions to the
Speaker to decide the dis-
qualification petitions
immediately.
With the paucity of time,
the court adjourned the
hearing to July 3 for fur-
ther hearing.
 EDIT
DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 28 JUNE 2024
pg 6

Subhani

28 JUNE 2024

Prez speech signals govt’s

focus on agri, rural reform
I
n her first address to the newly-elected 18th Lok Sabha, President Droupadi
Murmu appears to have given a sneak peek into the policy focus of the third
term of the Narendra Modi government. The government’s focus will be on
four “castes” that Modi had enunciated in one of his election speeches in the
run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections — the poor, youth, women and farmers. The
President reiterated that India could be a developed nation only when the poor,
youth, women and farmers of this country are empowered.
With Opposition parties having pivoted the Lok Sabha elections on public wel-
fare, pushing the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) dangerously close to
being a minority in the Lok Sabha, the President said that the new Lok Sabha will
script a new chapter on decisions for public welfare. Referring to the upcoming
Budget in the next one month, the President hinted at major economic and social
decisions.
Going by the President's emphasis on agriculture, the Narendra Modi govern-
ment appears to be determined to focus on agriculture and rural economy. Agro-
based industries, dairy and fishery-based industries could get a new push from the
government. Plans are also afoot on formulating new strategies for agriculture
keeping in mind the kind of food products that are in high demand in the global
market such as organic products.

As Europe swings right, LETTERS

The government’s next focus will be on women, who according to some surveys
have been one of the biggest vote banks for the BJP. The President said the gov-
ernment will approve the construction of three crore new houses for women bene-
ficiaries. The government will also increase the number of Self-Help Groups
(SHGs) to fulfil Modi’s promise to make three crore women Lakhpati Didis.
HEALTHY LIVING
The President’s speech hints at the continued economic reforms with a special Since our living standards
focus on the green economy, which will reduce India’s dependency on imported
fuel and also create employment opportunities for youth. The government is work-
ing towards establishing a digital university to improve skills of the Indian youth
staying even in remote locations. She said the government is also working on
major reforms in examinations, in an oblique reference to the recent NEET paper
leak incident.
extremism is on the rise The EU executive arms factories are once
improved, we are consum-
ing diet rich in dairy and
animal-based products
(50% Indians physically
Though the Agniveer scheme attracted a lot of criticism during the Lok Sabha again being cranked up; inactive, finds study, June
elections, the government does not appear keen on phasing it on as the President
arm, the enforcer of France is threatening to 27). Dr John Mc Dougall, a
said that reforms in our armed forces should be a continuous process so that our
forces maintain their supremacy during wars.
Indranil Banerjie EU laws, has sought
disciplinary action
send troops against Russia,
other nations are pulling
pioneer in nutritional medi-
Hitting out at the Opposition, the President said that adversarial mindset and against France, out every spare piece of cine and several Western
narrow selfishness are undermining the spirit of democracy. Even when key military hardware to medical stalwarts have
reforms were undertaken, the President said they were being opposed and
Belgium, Italy, equip Ukraine; military
attempts were being made to spread negativity. Stressing on Parliament conduct- Hungary, Malta, experts and trainers from praised plant-based diets.
ing its business smoothly, she observed that opposition to policies and obstruction Poland and Slovakia various countries are Maybe it is time to revisit
of parliamentary functioning are two different things. for running budget assisting the war effort
our ancestral diets.

E
Talking about the Constitution, which became one of the key election issues, the urope is creak-
President said, as India will complete 75 years as a Republic in January 2025, the ing at every
Constitution has stood up to every challenge and every test in the past decades, joint. The Conti-
including the Emergency in 1975, which she referred to as the biggest and darkest nent, racked by
chapter of direct attack on the Constitution.
While everyone expected the Narendra Modi government to acquire the colours
farmers’ prot-
ests, shuttering industries,
of the Atal Behari Vajpayee government because of its diminished numbers, the fractious political rallies,
tone and tenor of the President’s speech shows that the government has remained geopolitical strains, surg-
unchanged in its approach towards political opposition. ing illegal immigration
and growing militarisa-
tion, is witnessing a his-
(Vox Party), Austria
(Freedom Party) and in
Hungary, Fidesz led by
current President Viktor
Orban stayed ahead, gain-
ing vote share.
While the far right is
unlikely to unite in the
near future given its rival-
ries, it will compel Eur-
ope’s leaders to address the
deficits in excess
of EU limits
my, has no money to meet
farmers’ demands or even
repair the famous auto-
bahn, large parts of which
are deteriorating.
Italy’s statistics bureau
against Russia; and a col-
lective European leader- Dr Sridevi G.
ship is threatening all
countries in the world that
Secunderabad
are aiding Moscow.
Even China is in PARLIAMENT VITIATED
Europe’s crosshairs. The The first day of the new
recent G-7 meeting warned Parliamentary session could have
Beijing against aiding the been a joyous occasion to welcome
Russian war effort. China new members and start afresh.
responded by calling the G- However, Prime Minister

Kejriwal: Don’t punish via process toric shift to the political

right. The continental ship
is pitching and yawing,
growing dissonance
between government poli-
cies and popular concerns.
reported that poverty was
rising and that 5.75 million
Italians, or 9.8 per cent of
7 end-of-summit statement
as “full of arrogance, preju-
dice and lies”. But that is
Narendra Modi had to bring out the
Emergency memory. What about
the Godhra and Manipur incidents?
not the end of it. Last week,

T
here is not a scintilla of doubt that anyone holding a public office can threatening to dislodge
be investigated. An exalted position held by a person charged should established leaderships
not preclude or limit legal action, particularly in a matter of uphold- and entrenched parties.
ing probity and rooting out corruption. Even then, the process should not
be used as punishment, which in the case of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
The extent of the disequi-
librium was evident in the
Kejriwal it appears to be. remarkable success of
It has often been reiterated by the Supreme Court that bail should be the right-wing parties in the
norm and jail before trial should be used in rare cases like terrorism, mur- European Parliament elec-
der or flight risk persons. None of this applies to Kejriwal who is accused tions held between June 6
of being part of a conspiracy to empower his party’s election funds through and 9 this year. Although
a slanted liquor policy, which was later abandoned. Europe’s centre-right par-
To see Kejriwal arrested by the CBI while he is already in judicial cus- ties which are represented
tody even as he was in court arguing his case in the excise policy matter by the European People’s
regarding PMLA charges brought by ED was, to say the least, curious. It Party (EPP) group have
would appear logical that a two-year-old case of this nature would have retained control of the
reached an advanced stage in prosecuting a person through the judicial EU’s 720-seat Parliament
system if he was guilty of a crime. What is happening is persecution of a
political heavyweight and not prosecution for graft.
for now, securing 189 seats,
and together with left liber-
There is a place for people charged with conspiracy crimes turning al sections will continue to
approvers to escape the law. Witnesses may be credible when it comes to shape European policies
revealing methods the Aam Aadmi Party may have used in gathering for the next five years,
funds to fight elections. But it is important that justice be seen to be done, right-wing politics is the
which is why a speedy trial and conviction, or the establishment of inno- new force across the
cence, is the correct route for this sensational case of alleged political Continent.
fundraising. In Italy, Prime Minister
It may seem ironic that a leader who came to power through an anti-cor- Giorgia Meloni got a shot
ruption crusade should be hauled over the coals in suspicion of enrich- in the arm with her arch-
ment of his party. The wheels of the justice system may grind on slowly in conservative Fratelli
the country, but that does not absolve the central investigators of needless d’Italia (or Brothers of
delay in bringing their cases to a conclusion in reasonable time. Italy) group winning the
Otherwise, they can only be seen to be doing their masters’ bidding in greatest vote share. France
dragging the process into a form of punishment. was shocked by the surge
of ultra right-wing Marine
Political observers believe
this shift reflects rising dis-
affection, particularly
amongst the youth. A
Reuters report observed:
“Young voters, traditional-
ly perceived to be more
left-wing, drove the wave
of support for environmen-
tal parties at the last EU
election in 2019… But fol-
lowing the Covid-19 pan-
demic, the Ukraine war
and the cost of living crisis,
many shifted their support
this year towards the far-
right populist parties that
tapped into their concerns,
fuelling their overall rise
in the June 6-9 European
Parliament polls.”
The core problems are
economic, specifically
Europe’s declining indus-
trial competitiveness, fall-
ing real wages, high in-
flation, overstretched wel-
fare systems, growing pro-
tectionism, skyrocketing
national indebtedness and
geopolitical rifts.
The aggregate of prob-
lems is reflected in the dra-
the population, are living
in “absolute poverty”.
Much that Europe’s lead-
ers are doing today are
only exacerbating the situ-
ation. Since the collapse of
the Soviet Union, Euro-
pean powers have kept
enlarging their sphere of
military-political influ-
ence. The imminent abs-
orption of Ukraine into
Nato was the proximate
cause for the war with Rus-
sia. However, sending tens
of billions of euros to Kyiv
siphons money away from
domestic requirements.
Not surprisingly, many
European governments
have been spending money
like drunken sailors.
Alarms are being set off.
The EU executive arm, the
enforcer of EU laws, has
proposed disciplinary
action against France,
Belgium, Italy, Hungary,
Malta, Poland and
Slovakia for running bud-
get deficits in excess of EU
limits. These measures are
expected to come into
Nato chief Jens
Stoltenberg said there was
an “ongoing conversation”
about possible sanctions
against China.
On top of this, the EU is
cracking down on cheap
Chinese imports. The
recent decision to slap a
whopping 38.1 per cent tar-
iff on Chinese electric vehi-
cle exports prompted a
furious reaction from
Beijing, which threatened
to retaliate if the proposed
decision was not rescind-
ed. Clearly, trade and
geopolitical differences
between China and Europe
will only exacerbate, even-
tually damaging both
sides.
The price for the Euro-
pean leadership’s decisions
is being paid not by
Europe’s rich and powerful
but by its ordinary citizens,
especially the working
class. The result is a grow-
ing distance between Euro-
pean citizens and their po-
werful government lead-
Lalita Sivamani
Hyderabad
OFFICIAL TRANSFERS
The earlier stint in GHMC may
help the new commissioner
Amrapali Kota (New officials take
charge at GHMC, water board, June
27). Though there are many priori-
ties, stray dogs issue, pothole
repairs and garbage dumping must
be focused on.
B.G.K. Mohan
Hyderabad
JUNIOR DOCTORS
Junior doctors should stop cleans-
ing photos of political leaders with
milk, as it is not part of their duties.
Their gratitude should not be con-
ditioned like that of ordinary peo-
ple. This gesture reflects poorly on
their professionalism.
Raja Rajani
Hyderabad
Email your letters to
info@deccanmail.com,
editor@deccanmail.com.

Le Pen’s Rassemblement
DECCAN CHRONICLE
National (or National Ral-
ly), which doubled its vote
KAUSHIK MITTER K. SUDHAKAR count and secured 31 out of
Editor Printer & Publisher France’s 81 seats in the
European Parliament. An
DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at: unsettled French Presi-
dent Emmanuel Macron
Hyderabad: 36, Sarojini Devi Road, Secunderabad - 500 003, Ph: 040-27803930-4; Fax : 040-27805256
immediately announced
Vijayawada: No.C-3 & 4 Patamata, Industrial Estate, Auto Nagar, Vijayawada (A.P.), Ph: 0866-2555284.
Visakhapatnam: Survey No.1/3A Beach Road, Near Kailasagiri Ropeway, Sector-9 MVP Colony, snap legislative elections
Visakhapatnam - 530 017 (A.P), Ph: 0891-2552333/2552334; Fax: 0891-2755285 in a bid to contain the
Rajahmundry: Vemagiri, Dhawaleswaram Rd, Rajahmundry, Ph: 0883-2417618/2417208; Telefax: 0883- potential risks of any fur-
2417208 ther rise in Le Pen’s sup-
Anantapur: Thapovan colony, Bangalore By-Pass Road, Anantapur - 515004, Ph: 08554-276903; Fax: port.
08554-276904 Germany too saw the rise
Karimnagar: H. No. 1-21-12/1, Cheralabhutkur Road, Mugudhumpur Village, Karimnagar-505186, PH. of the right-wing
NO. 9121181123.
Nellore: Survey No.527/2, Burranpur Village, Venkatachalam (M), Chemmudugunta Panchayat, Nellore, Ph:
Alternative for Germany
0861-2348581/82; Telefax: 0861-2348580 (AfD), which came second
Chennai: SP-3 Developed Plot, Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai - 600 032, Ph: 044-22254747/ 48/50/51; after the Social Democrats
Advt Fax: 22254765/22254766/42305325 led by current Chancellor
Coimbatore: Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, No. 2/22 Sengalipalayam Road, N.G.G.O Colony Post, Olaf Scholz.
Kurudampalayam village - 641 022 Rightists gained in Spain
matic drop in the EU’s
GDP growth rate: down
from a post-Covid high of
six per cent in 2021 to 3.4
per cent in 2022 and a mere
0.5 per cent in 2023
(Eurostat figures). Ac-
cording to some estimates,
the 27-member European
Union is now in the throes
of a recession with major
economies like Germany
and Sweden actually regis-
tering negative growth.
The outlook for 2024 is not
vastly better, with first
quarter growth at a paltry
0.3 per cent and an annual
forecast of just one per cent
or less.
Germany, which is the
continent’s largest econo-
effect from November this
year.
At the same time, by
slamming shut the gates to
Russian oil and gas,
Europe’s leaders have trig-
gered a huge surge in
domestic energy prices as
now pricier hydrocarbons
have to be sourced from
the Middle East and the
United States.
Soaring energy costs are
reported to have closed
hundreds of small busi-
nesses and contributed to
making European manu-
facturing uncompetitive.
The European leadership
is in no mood to halt the
war in Ukraine. Long inac-
tive production lines in its
ers, who would like to be-
lieve in their infallibility.
Jacques Delors, one of
the founding figures of the
European Union, had
warned decades ago of the
“weakening of democracy
within each of our coun-
tries. This weakening is
worsened by the widening
distance between the gov-
erned and their govern-
ments… This weakening
causes the dangerous
emergence of new extrem-
ist parties”. His words are
proving to be prophetic.
The writer is an
independent commentator
on political
and security issues
50
YEARS AGO IN
First unit of Srisailam
project to be commissioned
By a staff reporter
HYDERABAD, June 27.
The Minister for Power Mr. G.
Rajaram told the Assembly that
the first unit of the Srisailam
hydel project on Krishna was
expected to be commissioned in
1977. Replying to Mr. V. Srikris-
hna (CPI Opposition leader) the
Minister said that an amount of
Rs. 11 crores had been allotted for
this project this year.

T
he presence of women in the Indian
Foreign Service (IFS) increased by 6.6 per
cent to the current 37.8 per cent in the peri-
od 2014-2022. Remarkably, between 2018
Dilip Cherian and 2020, the percentage of female recruits in the
IFS surpassed 40 per cent. Observers note that the
25 missions, including key locations. Today, only
one of the seven top-level positions in the ministry
of external affairs (MEA) is held by a woman.
To achieve true gender parity in the IFS, exter-
nal affairs minister S. Jaishankar will have to
address the structural and cultural barriers to
were named as private secretaries to Union min-
isters. They include Anirudha Sravan Pulipaka of
Karnataka cadre as private secretary to finance
minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
What’s driving this hurry? The urgency is due to
the 100-day action plan for ministries and depart-
plan was available — `2 lakh per month for nine
months. Similarly, a cybercrime unit officer
reportedly demanded `10 lakh but accepted four
instalments instead.
The trend is spreading, sources have informed
DKB. In Surat, a deputy sarpanch and a taluka

Dilli Ka Babu
IFS generally has a higher percentage of women
compared to other services like the IAS and IPS.
While this is undeniable progress, a lot more
needs to be done to attain gender parity in the
diplomatic corps. Historically, women in the IFS
faced numerous challenges, such as being exclud-
ensure equal opportunities for women’s advance-
ment and leadership. A more inclusive and repre-
sentative diplomatic corps will better reflect the
values and strengths of a modern India on the
world stage.
ments crafted by bureaucrats and Niti Aayog offi-
cials at Modi’s directive, even before the elections
were announced. Plans needing legislative
approval or funding will be spotlighted in the
upcoming Budget, set to be presented next month.
The government is clearly on a mission to hit the
panchayat member demanded `85,000 from a vil-
lager to level his farm. But considering the vil-
lager’s financial state, they kindly offered an EMI
option — `35,000 down payment and the rest in
three instalments. In a more dramatic episode,
two cops fled with `4 lakh, the first instalment of a

Women rise in ed from challenging postings and needing govern-

ment approval to marry, unlike their male coun-
terparts. Pioneers like C.B. Muthamma fought
RAPID-FIRE APPOINTMENTS, PRIVATE SECYS
NAMED FOR UNION MINISTERS
The NDA government under Prime Minister
ground running, and these swift appointments are
just the beginning.
`10 lakh bribe they demanded from a resident of
Sabarkantha district. They couldn’t wait for the
rest! Senior police officials admit that this practice

IFS, but gender against these discriminatory practices in 1979,

leading to improvements by the 1980s.
Despite these advancements, the IFS remains a
Narendra Modi isn’t wasting any time. With the
new Union Ministers settling into their roles, the
Centre is quickly appointing private secretaries to
FOR GUJ BABUS, IT’S BRIBE NOW, PAY LATER!
In a generous and touching nod to “ease of doing
business”, Gujarat officials are now accepting
is gaining popularity, with at least 10 such cases
reported this year alone. But now the rest of the
nation is getting to learn about the hitherto hid-

parity goal still relatively small service, an anomaly in the context
of India’s self-image as a rising force. Over the
years, foreign affairs mavens have called for
tripling the number of recruits to address the gen-
remains distant der gap and strengthen India’s global presence.
Increasing the number of recruits has led to a
higher proportion of women joining the service,
assist them. In the first wave of appointments, pri-
vate secretaries for Union ministers like Nitin
Gadkari, Manohar Lal Khattar, Giriraj Singh and
Hardeep Singh Puri were announced. The private
secretaries are Shinde Deepak Arjun, Rassal
Dwivedi, Raman Kumar, and B. Vijay Datta,
drawn from the 2010, 2011 and 2012 batches of the
bribes on an EMI basis to reduce the burden on
their victims. Yes, you read that right. These con-
siderate babus have probably taken a leaf from the
banking systems, allowing citizens to pay bribes
in easy instalments.
Gone are the days of scraping together lump
sums for bribes. Need to pay a bribe but can’t all at
den aspects of the fabled Gujarat model. Other
states may even be inspired to adopt it! But don’t
forget to tip your hat to Gujarat where it began
and thank your stars that you need not empty
your pockets all at once; just be prepared for a
monthly deduction instead.

as seen in 2015, when 17 women were inducted. IAS. Interestingly, these appointments happened once? No problem! Now, you can spread the cost Love them, hate them ignore them at national
Currently, women head only eight Indian diplo- without much input from the ministers them- over several months. Earlier this year, someone peril, is the babu guarantee and Dilip’s belief.
matic missions and none in major capitals. This is selves, particularly in Gadkari’s case. involved in a state GST bogus billing scam faced a Share significant babu escapades
a notable decline from 2008, when women led over Subsequently, in the second round, six officers `21 lakh bribery demand. Thankfully, an EMI dilipcherian@hotmail.com.
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 28 JUNE 2024
pg 7

IN
Another bridge
BRIEF
Govt hints at Deputy Speaker in 18th LS
collapses in Bihar Oppn strategies for the Deputy Speaker role, expected to formally request that position be filled soon
Kishanganj: A bridge caved in

Murmu asserts paper leak

at Kishanganj district on
Thursday in the fourth incident
of its kind in Bihar in just over a
week, officials said. The bridge,
situated in Bahadurganj block,
was 70 meters long and 12
meters wide, District Magistrate
Tushar Singla said. “The bridge
was built in 2011 over Madiya, a
small tributary that connects
the Kankai river to the Mahan-
anda. Heavy rainfall in the catc-
hment area in Nepal has led to
a sudden rise in the water level.
One of the pillars of the bridge
could not withstand the strong
current,” he said. No one was
injured in the incident, he said.
DC CORRESPONDENT
with agency inputs
NEW DELHI, JUNE 27
Government sources
announced on Thursday
that the 18th Lok Sabha
will appoint a Deputy
Speaker, a post that
remained vacant in the
previous Lok Sabha.
Despite the Opposition
bloc’s demand for the
Deputy Speaker’s position
1 at the Parliament. — PTI
in accordance with con-
vention, the ruling NDA
has not agreed to this
request.
In the 16th Lok Sabha,
PARLIAMENT IN PICTURES 1. President Droupadi
Murmu with Vice
President Jagdeep
Dhankhar and Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla stands
for the national anthem.
2. Congress MPs Sonia
Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi
arrive to attend the
culprits will be punished
FROM PAGE 1 examinations or govern-
President’s address. ment recruitment, there
3. President accompanied The President highlighted should be no reason for
by her bodyguards arrives the government’s meas- any hindrance. This
ures in a range of sectors, process requires complete
from economy, defence and transparency and probity.
farming to the empower- Regarding the recent
ment of different sections instances of paper leaks in
of society and laid down some examinations, my
its priorities in its third government is committed

MURMU
AIADMK’s M. Tham- term, amid sporadic prote- to a fair investigation and
HUGE CACHE OF bidurai served as Deputy sts from the Opposition ensuring strict punish-

ARMS RECOVERED
IN MANIPUR
Imphal, June 27: Security
forces recovered a huge cache
of arms and ammunition dur-
ing search operations conduct-
ed in parts of Imphal East and
Bishnupur districts, the police
said on Thursday.
Eleven grenades, six IEDs,
five .303 rifles, three detona-
tors, a carbine, one handgun,
various types of bombs and
ammunition, besides four
walkie-talkies and two radio
sets were found.
The recoveries were made
during “search operations and
area domination conducted by
security forces in the fringe
and vulnerable areas of hill
and valley districts”, the state
police said in a statement.
Imphal East district is in the
valley area while a portion of
Bishnupur district is in the
hills. During a search opera-
tion at Keinou Maning near
the High Canal in Bishnupur
district, one SMG carbine, one
9 mm pistol, nine high-explo-
sive grenades, two smoke
bombs and different types of
ammunition were found, the
police said.
NHRC NOTICE TO
U.P. DGP OVER
BROTHERS’ DEATH
Speaker under Speaker
Sumitra Mahajan. With
Speaker Om Birla re-elect-
ed on Wednesday, atten-
tion has now shifted to
who will serve as his
deputy.
The Opposition had nom-
inated Congress MP K.
Suresh for the Speaker’s
post, but the NDA’s majori-
ty ensured Om Birla’s re-
election. Now, the
Opposition is strategising
for the Deputy Speaker
role and is expected to for-
mally request that the
position be filled soon.
Although the BJP-led NDA
has yet to announce a can-
didate, sources indicate
that the appointment will
be made shortly. There is
speculation that the posi-
tion might be given to an
NDA ally, with previous
reports suggesting TD’s
interest. However, the TD
has stated it will support
the BJP’s decision.
Under Article 95(1), the
Deputy Speaker assumes
the Speaker’s duties when
the position is vacant and
holds the same general
powers when presiding
over the House.
Meanwhile, the Opposi-
tion leaders on Thursday
dubbed the President’s
address to the joint sitting
of both houses of Par-
liament as a “script given
by the government” that
was “full of lies” and casti-
gated the government over
the repeated mention of
the 1975 Emergency. They
alleged there is an “unde-
clared emergency” in the
country and the Constitut-
ion is being attacked und-
er the Modi government.
In her address, President
Droupadi Murmu descr-
ibed the imposition of Em-
ergency in 1975 as the “big-
gest and darkest chapter”
of a direct attack on the
Constitution and said the
country emerged victorio-
us over unconstitutional
forces.
Congress president and
Leader of Opposition in
Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun
Kharge said after listening
to the President’s address
it seems Prime Minister
Narendra Modi is in a
2
3 Party MP R.K. Chaudh-
state of perpetual denial,
claiming that people of
India have rejected him in
this election by not giving
the BJP a majority.
“Listening to the
President’s address writ-
ten by the Modi govern-
ment, it seemed as if Modi
ji is in a perpetual state of
denial! The mandate was
against him because the
people of the country
rejected his slogan of “400
plus” and kept the BJP
away from the figure of
272. Modi ji is unable to
accept this, that is why he
is pretending that nothing
has changed, but the truth
is that the people of the
country had asked for
change,” Kharge said in a
post on X.
benches when she referred
to issues such as paper
leaks and matters related
to the Northeast region.
On the issue of the
Emergency imposed by
the then Prime Minister
The President pro- Indira Gandhi Murmu
said, “The imposition of
ceeds to address the
the Emergency was the
joint sitting of the
biggest and darkest chap-
Parliament. — PTI
ter of direct attack on the
Constitution. The entire
RAJA KA DANDA country felt outraged. But
the country emerged vic-
JIBE FOR SENGOL torious over such uncon-
stitutional forces as the
TRIGGERS ROW traditions of the republic
lie at the core of India.”
New Delhi: Samajwadi “My government also
does not consider the
ary’s demand to replace Constitution of India as
the Sengol installed just a medium of gover-
next to the Lok Sabha nance; rather, we are mak-
Speaker’s chair with a ing efforts to ensure that
copy of the Constituti- our Constitution becomes
on triggered a contro- a part of public conscious-
versy. “The Constitution ness. With this objective in
is the symbol of democ- mind, my government has
racy. The BJP govern- started celebrating Nove-
ment, under PM Modi, mber 26 as Constitution
installed the Sengol in Day. Now the Constitution
Parliament. ‘Sengol’ has also fully come into
means ‘Raj-Dand’ or force in that part of India,
our Jammu and Kashmir,
‘Raja ka Danda’. After
ending the princely where the conditions were
order, the country different due to Article
became independent. 370,” the President said.
Will the country be run Assuring that the gov-
by ‘Raja ka danda’ or ernment is fully commit-
the Constitution? I
demand that Sengol be
ted to a fair investigation
into the recent incidents of
removed from Parlia-
ment to save the
paper leaks and ensuring
that the guilty are pun-
Constitution,” he said. ished, the President said,
“Whether it is competitive
ment for the culprits.”
“Even earlier, we have
witnessed many instances
SPEAKS
of paper leaks in different
states. It is important that
1 HIGHLIGHTS the gov-
ernment’s measures
we rise above party poli- in a range of sectors, from
tics and undertake con- economy, defence and
crete measures nation- farming to the empower-
wide,” she said.
As the President men-
ment of different sections
tioned steps taken by the of society.
government on the educa-
tion front, some Opposi- 2 PITCHES FOR healthy
tion members were heard
deliberations, saying
opposition to policies and
shouting “NEET”, the
medical entrance exam obstruction of parliamen-
tary functioning are two
whose question paper was
allegedly leaked.
Referring to the just con-
different things.
cluded poll results, she 3 LAUDS THE ELECTION
said, “People have elected commission for the
a stable government with successful conduct of the
a clear majority, consecu- General Elections 2024.
tively for the third term.
This has happened after 4 NOTES THAT
six decades. At a time wh- connectivity of all
en the aspirations of the kinds is being expanded in
people of India are at their the Northeast and devel-
highest ever, people have opment works are being
reposed faith in my gover-
nment for the third conse-
taken up in every field.
5 NOTES THAT the
cutive term. The people of
India have full faith that upcoming Budget
only my government can
fulfil their aspirations.”
will be an effective docu-
“This election of 2024 ment of the government’s
has been an election of far-reaching policies and
trust in policy, intention, futuristic vision.
dedication and decisions
in India’s resolve to be 6 SAYS ADVERSARIAL
Viksit Bharat. It is a stamp
of approval for my govern-
mindset and narrow
selfishness have greatly
ment’s mission of service
and good governance
undermined the basic
spirit of democracy affect-
undertaken in the past 10
years,” said.
ing the nation’s growth.

New Delhi, June 27: The

NHRC on Thursday said it has
issued a notice to the police
chief of Uttar Pradesh over
NTA: OMR sheets PM LAUDS INDIAN
UNIVERSITIES FOR
reported suicide by two broth-
ers due to alleged atrocity by
Hathras police personnel.
The police are supposed to
uploaded online GLOBAL STRIDES
protect the people from any FROM PAGE 1 then to the query,” he New Delhi, June 27:
atrocity but in this case, it said. Prime Minister
appears that they became the Senior advocate R. Basant pointed out Narendra Modi on
“perpetrators” which is a mat- Basant appearing for that there was no set Thursday lauded Indian
ter of concern, the National the coaching institute procedure or time limit universities for making
Human Rights Commission and the candidates, to raise grievances and strides on the global
observed. submitted that a few therefore, as interim stage and said the gov-
The NHRC has taken suo students who appeared relief, the candidates ernment’s commitment
motu cognisance of a media for the examination did were seeking access to to quality education is
report carried on June 25 that not receive their OMR their OMR sheets. yielding encouraging
“two brothers of Agra commit- sheets. The bench ini- The bench then issued results.
ted suicide within three days tially questioned a notice and tagged the In a post on ‘X’, Modi
due to alleged harassment by Basant on how a pri- petition with the pend- wrote, “Great to see
police personnel of Sadabad vate coaching institute ing matters, while ask- India’s universities mak-
police station in Hathras”, the could file an Article 32 ing the counsel for NTA ing strides on the global
human rights panel said in a petition in the Supreme to file a short written stage! Our commitment
statement. Court and what kind of reply to the court's to quality education is
Reportedly, a suicide note in fundamental rights of query on the time limit. yielding encouraging
this regard has been left by the institution were In the national capi- results. We will continue
one of the brothers, it said. affected. tal, members of the to support our educa-
The Commission has Counsel for the NTA National Students Uni- tional institutions and
observed that the contents of submitted that the on of India barged into provide opportunities
the media report, if true, indi- OMR sheets had been the testing agency’s for growth and innova-
cate a serious issue of human uploaded on the web- office in Okhla, raising tion. This will help our
rights violation. site and provided to the slogans of “shut down youth greatly”.
“Going by the media report, candidates. The top NTA”. Over the past two The Prime Minister
it appears that the police per- court asked whether weeks, allegations of was responding to a post
sonnel acted inhumanly and there was any time irregularities in the by Phil Baty, Chief
cruelly with both the victims limit for raising griev- medical exam have led Global Affairs Officer at
due to which they ended their ances about the OMR to protests in several London-based Times
lives. Therefore, the sheets. cities and sparring Higher Education Ran-
Commission has issued a The NTA counsel stat- between rival political king. “India’s rising visi-
notice to the Director General ed that he needed to parties. bility in the @times-
of Police of Uttar Pradesh take instructions and On June 20, the top highered world rankings
calling for a detailed report sought the listing of the court sought responses is remarkable, driven by
within one week,” the state- petition along with the from the Centre, the @narendamodi’s inter-
ment said. pending matters. “We NTA, and others on a nationalisation refor-
will file a short reply by slew of petitions. ms,” Baty wrote. — PTI

OVERDUE | ACTION Trikut ropeway operator faces `9 crore fine

J’khand blacklists cable car firm

Ranchi, June 27: The
Jharkhand government has
blacklisted Damodar
Ropeways and Infra Ltd
(DRIL), the cable car opera-
tor at Trikut Hills in
Deoghar district, for five
years and slapped a fine of
over `9 crore on it, a senior
official said on Thursday.
A major cable car acci-
dent at Trikut Hills in April
2022 had claimed three
lives, while over 60 people
were rescued after being
stranded mid-air for about
46 hours in joint operations
by NDRF, Army, Air Force
and administration. The
766-metre Trikut ropeway
is India’s highest vertical
ropeway, according to the
state’s tourism department.
An enquiry committee
was set up by the depart-
ment of tourism to probe
into the reasons behind the
accident.
There were allegations of
● AN ENQUIRY committee
was set up by the
department of tourism to
probe into the reasons
behind the accident.
negligence on the part of
DRIL leading to the acci-
dent. The company, howev-
er, denied the charge. “The
Jharkhand Tourism Deve-
lopment Corporation (JT-
DC) board has taken a deci-
sion to blacklist DRIL for
five years. It has also imp-
osed a penalty of over `9
crore on it,” tourism secre-
tary Manoj Kumar said.
JTDC managing director
has issued a letter to the
company to deposit
`9.11 crore, failing which a
civil damage suit will be
filed against DRIL, he said.
DRIL managing director
Aditya Chamaria said the
action was “unfortunate”
and against natural justice
and claimed they were not
given a chance of hearing
either by the enquiry com-
mittee or by the JTDC.
“We are moving the court
against that order. The alle-
gations of negligence are
totally false. We are run-
ning 14 ropeways all over
India. ...It (DRIL) holds 30-
40 per cent market share of
the ropeway industry. Even
the enquiry committee
mentioned in its report that
it is the rarest of the rare
category of defect. On the
basis of the rarest category
of defect, how can you
blacklist a firm? It is a
harsh decision,” Chamaria
said. He claimed that there
is no basis for a `9 crore
penalty that includes `5
crore repair and mainte-
nance charges.
A government report
mentions that on April 10,
2022 the passenger Rope-
way at Trikut Hill, Near
Deoghar (Jharkhand) stop-
ped while in operation leav-
ing 59 passengers stranded
mid-air on the Ropeway.
“Ten passengers were res-
cued by District adminis-
tration, local police and
National Disaster Response
Force personnel on April
10, 2022 and one passenger
died,” the report said.
It said, “Fourty-six pas-
sengers could be safely
evacuated while two pas-
sengers died in the course
of the rescue operation
which continued till April
12, 2022.” it mentioned.
Meanwhile, the JTDC, in
an affidavit before the
Jharkhand High Court, has
said that it is not expected
that DRIL, having experi-
ence of operations and
management of ropeways,
does not have a proper sys-
tem of checking the prime
technical reason for the
accident. — PTI
cmyk cmyk

DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 28 JUNE 2024 pg 8

 NATION/SOUTH
DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 28 JUNE 2024
pg 9

SHORT

SINGLE MOTHER
TAKES
THRASHED IN
MEGHALAYA
Shillong, June 27: A woman
was publicly thrashed by her
relatives for having an affair
and a video of the incident
that happened in Meghalaya’s
West Garo Hills district went
viral on social media, police
said on Thursday.
Cong. cracks whip on
warring Haryana cadre
Says infighting, factionalism will not be tolerated in the party
BHASKAR HARI
SHARMA | DC
NEW DELHI, JUNE 27
port the Congress for the
Saini assures stern Upper House polls.
Earlier on Wednesday at
the AICC headquarters,
Rumour mills abuzz over
Uddhav, Fadnavis lift meet
Mumbai, June 27: An
accidental encounter
between Maharashtra
Deputy Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis and
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief
Uddhav Thackeray in a
lift in Vidhan Bhawan on
Thursday caused ripples
Devendra Fadnavis Uddhav Thackeray

action against crime

Six people were arrested in
connection with the incident
that happened in Lower
Teksagre village in Dadenggre
sub-division on Tuesday, they
said.
The woman, a single mother
in her mid-20s, was asked to
appear before a kangaroo
court in her village. Later, she
was dragged by her hair by
four men and thrashed with
sticks in front of a mob that
watched, they added.
The entire episode was cap-
tured in a video that went viral
on social media, triggering a
furore.
Superintendent of police
Abraham T. Sangma said that
six persons, all her close rela-
tives, were arrested on
Wednesday within hours of
the video going viral.
“While two people were
picked up by the police from
the village, the rest surren-
dered. They have been brought
back to the district headquar-
ters town,” he said. The State
Women’s Commission has also
A day after the Congress
leadership cracked the
whip on the warring fac-
tions in its Haryana state
unit, party leaders hud-
dled together to sort out
their differences.
Congress president
Mallikarjun Kharge and
former president Rahul
Gandhi made it categori-
cally clear that with the
Assembly elections knock-
ing at the door, infighting
and factionalism “will not
be tolerated”.
At least 40 state unit
leaders, including Bhup-
inder Singh Hooda and
Kumari Selja, were pres-
ent at the meeting. There
had been simmering dif-
ferences between the
Hooda and Selja camps.
In what has come as a
boost to the Congress
ahead of the Assembly
polls in the state, former
Haryana deputy chief
minister and JJP leader
Dushyant Chautala on
Chandigarh, June 27:
Facing flak from the
Opposition on the law and
order front, Haryana
Chief Minister Nayab
Singh Saini Thursday
assured people that strict
action would be taken
against criminals and
there would be no compro-
mise on this issue.
Opposition parties,
including the Congress,
AAP, JJP and INLD have
been alleging that the law-
and-order situation in the
state has deteriorated
under the BJP govern-
ment.
Referring to recent inci-
dents of crime in the
state, he claimed that “it
is a failure of the home
department which is
Nayab Singh Saini
being handled by the chief
minister himself ”.
Chief Minister Saini,
however, sought to assure
the people that “as long as
the BJP government is
there, they do not need to
worry”.
“If we have to go to any
extent to strengthen law
and order, we will do it.
There is no compromise
in this”, the Chief
Gandhi had instructed
state leaders to avoid mak-
ing public statements
regarding any differences
and reportedly told them
not to issue statements
against fellow leaders and
organisations in the
media and no internal
party matters be made
public. On Kiran
Choudhry’s exit, Gandhi
said they should not have
sympathy with those leav-
ing the party in crisis. He
said the party was in cri-
sis for 10 years and those
who had not left were wor-
thy. Choudhry, miffed over
the denial of ticket to her
daughter Shruti, has
recently left the Congress
to join the BJP. It may be
recalled that Selja also
appeared to be soft
towards former Congress
leader Kiran Chaudhary
in state political circles.
On the first day of the
state legislature monsoon
session, Fadnavis and
Thackeray found them-
selves waiting for the lift
together.
A viral video shows the
two leaders exchanging
some words. Asked about
the conversation later,
Thackeray said, “People
must have thought of the
song, na na karte pyar
tumhi se kar baithe (I fell
in love with you despite
denials). But no such
thing will happen.”
“Lifts don’t have ears so
it is a good suggestion to
have more such meetings
Mamata slams Gov. for not
in lifts,” Thackeray added
on a lighter note, while
speaking to reporters.
Thackeray said, “ Nothing
else was to be inferred
from the lift encounter as
it was an unexpected
meeting”. BJP legislator
Pravin Darekar, who was
also in the lift said that
When the lift doors
opened, Fadnavis walked
towards the side of the
ruling party offices and
Uddhav ji walked to the
opposition party offices.
This means he has no
intention of joining the
ruling benches.
Senior BJP minister
Chandrakant Patil also
met Thackeray in the
office of the Leader of
Opposition in Legislative
Council Ambadas Danve.
Patil presented Thackeray
a bouquet and a milk
chocolate.
“You will give another
chocolate to the people
tomorrow”, Thackeray
quipped. There are
reports that the Mahayuti
alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena
and NCP is planning to
present a please all ‘budg-
et’ ahead of the assembly
polls. —PTI

On Thursday, in his first

Minister said. — PTI

JJP also bore the brunt of

taken suo-moto cognisance of
the incident and has sent a
team to meet the victim, offi-
cials said.
● A SINGLE mother in her mid-
20s,was dragged by her hair
by four men and thrashed with
sticks in front of a mob that
watched district.
Thursday ruled out any
alliance with the ruling
BJP before or after the
polls. Chautala said his
party is ready to support
the Congress in the Rajya
Sabha election, provided
they field a prominent per-
sonality or a sportsperson
as a candidate.
public conference after
the Lok Sabha results, the
grandson of former
Haryana CM Om Prakash
Chautala, Dushyant
Chautala, said the recent
Lok Sabha results have
shown that “what the BJP
had to face, we had to face
too”, and admitted that his
farmers’ anger.
He also ruled out any
truck with the BJP. “I can
make it clear there is no
point of going with the
BJP in future. Even after
the elections, we will not
have any truck with the
BJP,” he said, adding that
his party is ready to sup-
who switched over to the
BJP. She had gone on
record saying
Chaudhary had faced
that administering oath to MLAs
“injustice” in the RAJIB CHOWDHURI | DC ● THE TMC chief pointed
Congress. KOLKATA, JUNE 27 out that women are scar-
The Rajya Sabha seat
from Haryana fell vacant
ed to visit the Raj Bhavan
West Bengal Chief
following Deepender Minister Mamata in wake of allegations of
Hooda’s election to the sexual harassment
Banerjee slammed
Lok Sabha and it is being Governor C.V. Ananda against the Governor.
speculated that Bose on Thursday for not
Chuadhary will be BJP’s administering oath to two Raj Bhavan for the same
pick for the upper house. newly-elected Trinamul Mamata Banerjee purpose? The women have
Congress MLAs at the complained to me that
Assembly. Referring to does not want to adminis- they are scared to go there

US continues to flag religious

one of the MLAs, ter them their oath. after the scandal took
Sayantika Banerjee who People have elected these place there.”
won from Baranagar, the two.” Sayantika, who along
TMC chief also pointed She wondered, “But with another TMC MLA

freedom concerns with India

DC CORRESPONDENT
with agency inputs
NEW DELHI, WASHINGTON,
JUNE 27
In the wake of the Pannun case,
the United States is turning on
the heat further on India now
on the human rights and reli-
gious freedom fronts. US secre-
tary of state Antony Blinken
late on Wednesday (Thursday
IST) said there has been a “con-
cerning increase” in anti-con-
version laws, hate speech, and
demolitions of homes and
places of worship for members
of minority faith communities
in India.
News agency reports said he
made the comments in his
remarks at the release of the
annual state department report
on international religious free-
dom. It may be noted India has
been rejecting official
American reports critical of
the country on the human
rights and religious freedom
fronts.
The report said senior US offi-
cials continued to raise con-
out that women are scared what right does the Reyat Hossain Sarkar, has
to visit the Raj Bhavan in Governor have in not giv- been holding a sit-in
wake of allegations of ing them the oath? He can demonstration on the
sexual harassment authorise either the Assembly premises, later
against the Governor. Assembly Speaker or the echoed the Chief Minister.
cerns about religious freedom ● THE 2023 REPORT The Chief Minister said deputy speaker to admin- She said, “We respect him
issues with their Indian coun- on International Religious at a meeting in the state ister the oath! Otherwise, and his chair more but
terparts last year. “In India, we Freedom said that, 10 of 28 secretariat Nabanna, “My he can go to the Assembly there are many suspicious
see a concerning increase in states have laws restricting MLAs are sitting idle for to do it.” things. Why would I be
anti-conversion laws, hate religious conversions for all nearly a month after their Banerjee added, “Why invited alone to Raj
speech, demolitions of homes win because the Governor would all have to go to the Bhavan?”
and places of worship for mem- faiths.
bers of minority faith commu-
nities. At the same time, people
around the world are also work-
ing hard to protect religious
freedom,” Blinken was quoted
as saying. The 2023 report on
International Religious
Freedom said that, 10 of 28
states have laws restricting reli-
gious conversions for all faiths.
Some of these states also
impose penalties specifically
against forced religious conver-
sions for the purpose of mar-
riage.
During the year, some mem-
bers of religious minority
groups challenged the govern-
ment’s ability and willingness
to protect them from violence,
investigate crimes against
members of religious minority
groups, and protect their free-
dom of religion or belief, it
added.

Children along with their teacher wait to cross the rainwater-filled

stream to reach their MPP Elementary School in Gangavaram vil-
lage near Tengilabandha village of Kiverla panchayat, Anantgiri
Mandal in the ASR District. —BY ARRANGEMENT

Rains lash AP coast,

evades Rayalaseema
K.M.P. PATNAIK | DC
VISAKHAPATNAM, JUNE 27
Rains continued to lash coastal
Andhra Pradesh with moderate
to heavy intensity, throwing
normal life out of gear on
Thursday.
Low-lying areas were inundat-
ed across districts. The rains
brought down the temperature.
However, Rayalaseema received
less rainfall compared to other
regions. The rainfall will help
the kharif sowing in the state.
Except for a few districts of
coastal AP, the state received
excess rainfall from June 1 to
June 27, IMD Amaravati report-
ed. As against the normal rain-
fall of 81.2 mm until June 27,
the state received 131.1 mm
(around 61 per cent of excess).
All districts in the Rayalaseema
region recorded excess rainfall.
In the Rayalaseema subdivi-
sion (eight districts), the nor-
mal rain for till June 27 was 64.5
mm, but the region received
159.9 mm rainfall (an excess 148
per cent). Coastal AP (18 dis-
tricts) and the Yanam region
received 106.3 mm rainfall
against the normal of 93 mm
rainfall, the IMD bulletin said.
The Alluri Sitarama Raju
(ASR) district recorded a defi-
cient rainfall of 25 per cent fol-
lowed by Konaseema (21 per
cent deficient), Bapatla (15 per
cent), Srikakulam (14 per cent)
and Krishan district (12 per
cent).
IMD said the rainfall was
more in north coastal Andhra
Pradesh due to a cyclonic circu-
lation over West Central and
adjoining northwest Bay of
Bengal, which now lay over
northwest and adjoining west-
central Bay of Bengal and
extends upto 5.8 km above mean
sea level, tilting south-west-
wards with height. The bulletin
said more rains are likely in the
coming three days.
 WORLD
DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 28 JUNE 2024
SHORT
TWO RIGHTIST
TAKES
CANDIDATES EXIT
IRAN PREZ RACE
Tehran, June 27: Two ultra-
conservative candidates have
pulled out of Iran’s Friday pr-
esidential vote, leaving four
contenders, including one
reformist, still in the race.
Tehran’s ultraconservative
mayor, Alireza Zakani, annou-
nced his withdrawal in a post
on social media platform X on
Thursday, after earlier denying
he was ending his campaign.
Zakani’s withdrawal came
hours after a statement by the
ministry of interior confirm-
ing the exit of Amirhossein
Ghazizadeh-Hashemi, another
ultraconservative.
DEATH PENALTY:
TAIWAN’S CHINA
TRAVEL ALERT
Taipei, June 27: Taiwan’s gov-
ernment on Thursday urged
the public to avoid “unnecessa-
ry travel” to China after Beiji-
ng announced “diehard” supp-
orters of the island’s independ-
ence could face death penalty.
Last week, Beijing published
judicial guidelines on criminal
punishments for supporters of
Taiwanese independence, incl-
uding the death penalty for
“particularly serious” cases.
Taiwan’s top China policy
body, the Mainland Affairs
Council (MAC), on Thursday
raised its travel warning to the
second-highest “orange” level
as a result.
7.5 L AT RISK OF
FAMINE IN SUDAN,
WARN EXPERTS
Cairo, June 27: International
experts portrayed a grim pic-
ture for war-torn Sudan, warn-
ing in a report on Thursday
that 7,55,000 are facing famine
in the coming months, amid
relentless clashes between
rival generals.
The latest findings come from
the Integrated Food Security
Phase Classification, or IPC, an
initiative first set up in 2004
during the famine in Somalia
that now includes more than a
dozen UN agencies, aid groups,
governments and other bodies.
The report said that 8.5 mil-
lion people are facing extreme
food shortages.
MULTI-WARHEAD
MISSILE TESTED
BY NORTH KOREA
Seoul, June 27: North Korea
said on Thursday it had succe-
ssfully tested a multiwarhead
missile in the first known laun-
ch of a developmental weapon
coveted by leader Kim Jong Un
to overwhelm United States
and South Korean missile
defences. South Korea quickly
dismissed the claim as decep-
tion to cover up a failed launch.
North Korea’s state media
said the launch on Wednesday
tested the separation and guid-
ance control of individual mo-
bile warheads to ensure the ca-
pability of the Multiple Indepe-
ndent Reentry Vehicles.
It said the separated war-
heads were guided correctly to
the three coordinate targets”
and a decoy.
C’wealth Short Story
Prize for ‘Aishwarya Rai’
London, June 27: Sanja-
na Thakur, a 26-year-old
writer from Mumbai, beat
competition from over
7,359 entrants worldwide
to be named the winner of
the £5,000 Commonwealth
Short Story Prize 2024 in
London on Thursday.
Sanjana’s story entitled
‘Aishwarya Rai’ takes its
name from the famed Bol-
lywood actress to reimagi-
ne and reverse the traditi-
onal adoption story.
Literary magazine
Granta has published all
the regional winning stor-
ies of the 2024 Com-
monwealth Prize. “I can-
not express how wholly
honoured I am to be the
recipient of this incredi-
ble prize. I hope I continue
writing stories that people
want to read,” she said.
“For my strange story —
about mothers and daugh-
ters, about bodies, beauty
standards, and Bombay st-
reet food to find such a
global audience — is thri-
lling. Thank you, thank
you, thank you,” she said.
“I’ve spent 10 out of 26
years living in countries
not my own. India, where
I’m from, is simultaneous-
pg 10
Can send Lebanon to Kyiv signs EU security pacts
DISCHARGE OUR
Stone Age, says Israel
Brussels, June 27: The It — along with the docu-
European Union and two of ments signed with Lithu-
its member countries,
Lithuania and Estonia, si-
ania and Estonia — is in-
tended to complement other CITIZENS FROM
gned security agreements
with Ukrainian President
deals sealed between Ukrai-
ne and its allies as it contin-
ARMY: LANKA
Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a ues its defence against Ru-
Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Imam charged with inciting terrorism summit in Brussels on
Thursday.
ssia’s invasion.
Countries, including the
Colombo, June 27: Sri
Lanka has asked Russia to
Tel Aviv, Cairo, Jerus- The agreement with the United States, Britain, allow its former soldiers fi-
alem, Jenin, Dubai,
June 27: Israel
U.S., ISRAEL EYE EU lays out the bloc’s co-
mmitment to help Ukraine
France and Germany have
sealed such pacts with Kyiv.
ghting in Moscow’s war aga-
inst Ukraine to return home
launched air strikes on
Gaza on Thursday after SOLUTION TO in nine areas of security
and defence policy — includ-
Officials say the agreeme-
nts are not the same as the
voluntarily, the government
said on Thursday. Sri Lanka
warning Hezbollah, ing arms deliveries, mili- mutual defence pact betwe- has also called for payment
Hamas’s ally in Leba-
non, to avoid a large-
WEAPONS RIFT tary training, defence indus-
try cooperation and demi-
en Nato nations, but are ple-
dges to provide Ukraine
of compensation for 17 Sri
Lankans killed in action in
scale war that would Washington, June 27: ning, according to a draft. with weapons. — Reuters Russia. — Agencies
send the neighbouring Israel and the United
country “back to the States said they had
Stone Age”. made progress toward
Defence minister Yoav resolving a rift over US
Gallant made the comm- weapons shipments aft-
ent during a visit to Wa- er PM Benjamin Netan-
shington, where he yahu publicly accused
discussed the Gaza war, President Joe Biden’s
long-running efforts Relatives and supporters of Israelis taken hostage administration of slow-
toward a truce, and ways by Palestinian militants in Gaza in October demon- ing down deliveries.
to avoid a wider regional
conflagration. As cross-
strate calling for their release in the Israeli city of
Tel Aviv. — AFP
Defence minister Yoav
Gallant met top officials
border tensions between
Israel and Iran-backed preaches at the contest- bombing of the city,
over three days in Wash-
ington as he voiced hope
Hezbollah have risen, ed Jerusalem holy site. which Israel had combed for quietly working thr-
Gallant stressed that Israel stormed a early in the war. ough disagreements
“we do not want war, but neighbourhood in Gaza The Israeli military with Israel’s vital ally,
we are preparing for City on Thursday, order- said a soldier was killed drawing an implicit con-
every scenario”. ing Palestinians to move and another seriously trast to Netanyahu’s
The Imam of Jerusale- south as the tanks rolled wounded in an operation confrontational approa-
m’s Al-Aqsa mosque on in and bombing the in the occupied West ch. “During the meetin-
Thursday denounced a southern city of Rafah Bank city of Jenin on gs we made significant
“fabricated” campaign in what it says are the Thursday, the latest vio- progress, obstacles were
against him after being final stages of an opera- lence in the Palestinian removed and bottlenec-
charged with inciting tion against Hamas mili- territory. ks were addressed,” Gal-
terrorism for allegedly tants there. Captain Alon Sacgiu, lant said after meeting
praising Palestinian Residents of the 22, “fell during an opera- with Jake Sullivan, US
gunmen who killed four Shejaia neighbourhood tion in the Jenin sector”, national security advis-
Israelis, including a sol- in Gaza City said they the military said in a er. Gallant said the pro-
dier. were taken by surprise brief statement. A mer- gress was on “variety of
Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, by the sound of tanks chant ship reported issues” including “the
85, formerly mufti of approaching and firing being hit by a projectile topic of force build-up
Jerusalem and now head in the early afternoon, while off Yemen’s coast and munition supply
of the Supreme Islamic with drones also attack- en route to Saudi that we must bring to
Council in Jerusalem, ing after overnight Arabia. — Agencies Israel.” — AFP
China ex-defence min. SUNAK TRIES TO
VETO BRITAIN
charged with corruption BETTING SCAM
London, June 27: British
Beijing, June 27:
China’s ruling TRAFFICKING: Prime Minister Rishi
Sunak said he is “furious”
Communist Party about the scandal eng-
headed by President Xi
Jinping on Thursday
TURKISH ARMY ulfing some of his Conse-
rvative Party candidates
expelled the former
defence minister Gen.
OFFICER IN DOCK betting on the date of the
general election, to be held
Li Shangfu for alleged Istanbul, June 27: A on July 4, as the campaign
corruption and senior Turkish mili- entered its final week on
launched prosecution tary officer with the Thursday.
proceedings against rank of a brigadier ge- In the last televised deb-
him, months after he neral has been detain- ate before the polls on
was dramatically Li Shangfu ed on suspicion of hu- Wednesday night, Britain’s
sacked from the post. tion as a delegate to the man trafficking across first Prime Minister of
The Communist 20th CPC National the Syrian border, def- Indian heritage went head-
Party of China (CPC)
leadership on
Congress, according to
a meeting of the
ence ministry sources
said on Thursday.
to-head with Labour’s Keir
Starmer and was clearly in
Thursday decided to Political Bureau of the The sources con- attack mode as he chal-
expel Li, 66, for serious CPC Central firmed reports in the lenged the Opposition
violation of party dis- Committee. Turkish media this leader eyeing his job over
cipline and the law, the Li is among dozens of week that a brigadier target issues such as taxes.
state-run Xinhua news top PLA Generals general in charge of “Mark my words,” the 44-
agency reported. either sacked or pun- regional operations in year-old Prime Minister
Li, who headed the ished for corruption Syria had used his offi- said, pointing at Starmer,
People’s Liberation since Xi, 71, assumed cial car to smuggle peo- “your taxes are going up if
Army’s all-important power in 2012. The ple through check- he is in charge.” — PTI
Rocket (Missile) Force CMC’s disciplinary points without being
and was personally and supervisory noticed, earning thou-
picked up for the top agency launched an sands of dollars.
defence post by Xi him- investigation against It was not clear whe-
self, went missing last Li on August 31, 2023. ther he was ever in the
year, sparking specula- According to the inv- car at the time.
tion that he was being estigation results, Li Defence ministry
investigated for cor- seriously violated sources confirmed his
ruption and indisci- political and organisa- detention, without say-
pline. Li, who also for- tional discipline. He ing when or where it
merly served as a State sought improper bene- took place.
Councillor, the top post fits in personnel arra- The reports said he
in the party and as a ngements for himself was detained in
member of the Central and others, took advan- Ankara following an
Military Commission tage of his posts to order from the prose-
(CMC), the overall high seek benefits for oth- cutor in Akcakale dis-
command of the PLA ers, and accepted a trict of Sanliurfa pro-
headed by Xi, was de- huge amount of money vince near the Syrian
prived of his qualifica- and valuables. — PTI border. — AFP
ARUNDHATI ROY
AWARDED PEN
PINTER PRIZE
London, June 27:
Booker Prize-winning
author Arundhati Roy,
Sanjana Thakur currently facing the thre-
at of prosecution over his-
ly strange and familiar, toric comments on
accepting and rejecting. Kashmir 14 years ago, was
Writing stories is a way on Thursday honoured
for me to accept that with the
Mumbai is a city I will Pen Pinter
long for even when I am in Prize 2024
it; it is a way to remake for her
place in my mind,” she unflinching
added. Her story revolves a n d
around a young woman, unswerving
Avni, who chooses betwe- writings.
en possible mothers hou- The prize, Arundhati
sed in a local shelter. The established Roy
first mother is too clean; in 2009 by
the second, who looks like the charity English PEN,
the real-life Aishwarya defends freedom of
Rai, is too pretty. expression and celebrates
Besides Mumbai, the literature in memory of
rest of this year’s winning Nobel-Laureate play-
stories carry readers from wright Harold Pinter. Roy
a small village in expressed her delight at
Trinidad to a lonely motel being named this year's
in New Zealand via north- winner amid an incom-
ern Canada and prehensible turn the
Mauritius. — PTI world is taking. — PTI
 HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | 28 JUNE 2024
quick UltraTech to acquire
BITES 23% in India Cements
To buy 7.06 cr shares in block deals by investing `1,885 cr
INDICATORS
Sensex 79,243.18
Nifty 50
S&P 500*
24,044.50
5,482.46
Dollar (`) 83.46
Pound Sterling (`) 105.55
Euro (`) 89.27
Gold (10gm)* (`) 71,475▲386
Brent crude ($/bbl)* 86.14
IN 10-Yr bond yield 7.001 0.004
US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 4.335 0.019
* As of 8:30 PM IST
Power demand
grows 7.8% in
June, says report
Power demand growth moder-
ated in June even as spot tar-
iffs continued to rise. As the
heatwave continued amidst
delayed in monsoon rainfall,
electricity demand grew by 7.8
per cent in June against 13.9
per cent in May. In April, the
demand had grown by 10.7 per
cent, finds ICRA. The average
tariffs in the day-ahead market
of Indian energy exchange rose
to `5.5 per unit in June from
`5.3 per unit in May.
Printed & Published by
K. Sudhakar on behalf of Deccan
Chronicle Holdings Limited, Printed at
Deccan Chronicle Press at Deccan
Chronicle Holdings Ltd. #563/9/D&9/E,
Behind Andhra Bank Pet Basheerbagh,
Kompally, Ranga Reddy Dist. Editor:
Kaushik Mitter, RNI Reg
No.APENG/2008/24282. © All rights
reserved. Reproduction in whole or in
part without written permission of The
Editor, Financial Chronicle ® is
prohibited.
GAMES
SHORT TAKES
Ronaldo escapes
being hit by fan
Duesseldorf, Germany: Cristiano
Ronaldo narrowly avoided being
hit by a fan who jumped from
the crowd to try to get close to
the soccer star when Portugal
played Georgia at the European
Championship on Wednesday.
A video widely circulated on
social media appears to show
someone leaping over the top of
the players’ tunnel at the Veltins
Arena in Gelsenkirchen as
Ronaldo headed to the locker
room.
A safety steward rushed to
shield the former Real Madrid
and Manchester United star and
other security staff race toward
the fan, who falls away out of
sight.
A bemused-looking Ronaldo
stops, but appears to be
unharmed.
Portugal lost the game 0-2.
Portugal’s Football Federation
confirmed the incident, but did
not comment.
European soccer’s governing
body UEFA said it was aware of
the incident.
Ronaldo is one of the most
famous sporting icons in the
world with a massive fan base,
which includes 632 million fol-
lowers on Instagram and nearly
112 million on X. — AP
Turkey reach Last
16 for first time
Hamburg: Turkey reached the
knockout phase at a major tour-
nament for the first time in 16
years after a bad-tempered 2-1
win over a battling 10-man
Czech Republic at Euro 2024 on
Wednesday.
Vincenzo Montella’s Turkey fin-
ished second in Group ‘F’ behind
Portugal to progress, as the
Czechs were eliminated despite
a brave performance on a swel-
tering night in Hamburg.
“Tonight we just want to cele-
brate, we deserve it. But starting
tomorrow we want to continue
to make history,” said Italian
Montella.
Georgia also went through as
one of the best third-placed
teams after a stunning 2-0 win
over Portugal in the group’s
other final game, eliminating
Hungary. Turkey will face Austria
in the Last 16 in Leipzig on
Tuesday, their first major tourna-
ment knockout match since the
Euro 2008 semi-finals, when
they were beaten by Germany.
— AFP
% SANGEETHA G
0.72 CHENNAI, JUNE 27
0.74
0.08 UltraTech Cements,
0.14
owned by Aditya Birla
Group, announced its
plans to acquire a 23 per
0.30
cent stake in Chennai-
0.07
based India Cements, rais-
0.54 ing speculations of a hos-
tile takeover.
1.04 UltraTech Cement will
buy 7.06 crore shares in
block deals, which will see
a total investment of
`1,885 crore. According to
an exchange filing, this is
a non-controlling finan-
cial investment in India
Cements. The company
has acquired 6.02 crore
equity shares aggregating
to 19.44 per cent stake for
`267 per share. UltraTech
board on Thursday appr-
oved to acquire 3.4 per
cent more stake at `285
per share. This transac-
tion is expected to be com-
pleted within a month.
India Cements had report-
ed a turnover of `5,112
crore in FY24 against
`5,608 crore in FY23.
The company has not
revealed the entities from
June quarter housing sales rise 8%: Report
SANGEETHA G
CHENNAI, JUNE 27
Housing sales in the June
quarter witnessed a drop
of 8 per cent while regis-
tering a 5 per cent growth
on a y-o-y basis. Meanw-
hile, residential prices
were up 7 per cent and 25
per cent annually.
Residential sales stood at
around 1,20,340 units in
Georgia stun Portugal Venezuela make
Ronaldo still searches for his first goal at Euro
Gelsenkirchen (Ger-
many), June 27: Georgia
secured a historic place in
the knockout stages of
Euro 2024 after a stunning
2-0 win over Portugal on
Wednesday, while Turkey,
Belgium, Romania and
Slovakia all advanced to
the Last 16 as the group
stage came to an end.
Appearing at their first
European Championship,
Georgia had to record
their first ever victory at
the tournament to reach
the Last 16 when they
played Portugal in Gels-
enkirchen.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Por-
tugal had already qualified
for the knockouts as Group
‘F’ winners, and their
coach Roberto Martinez
made eight changes to his
team.
Georgia went ahead in-
side the opening two min-
utes thanks to a fine finish
from their star player, Na-
poli winger Khvicha Kv-
aratskhelia. Georges
Mikautadze, who set up
that goal, made it 2-0 from
the penalty spot early in
the second half to become
the competition’s top scor-
er on three.
It was a frustrating night
for Portugal, who were
denied on several occa-
sions by Georgia’s impres-
sive goalkeeper Giorgi
Mamardashvili.
The 39-year-old Ronaldo,
who has a Euros record
tally of 14 goals, was left
still waiting for his first at
this year’s competition.
SAGNOL ‘SO PROUD’
“It’s still difficult to realise
what we have done. I’m so
proud of the players
because what an image
they have shown of
Georgia today. I feel very
proud to be their manag-
er,” said Georgia coach
Willy Sagnol.
It is a remarkable
achievement for Georgia,
which is currently
immersed in political tur-
moil over controversial
“foreign influence” legisla-
tion.
Earlier, in a dramatic fin-
ish to Group ‘E’, war-torn
Ukraine were left heart-
broken as they went out
despite picking up four
points. — AFP
which the stake has been
bought. However, as per
market sources, the shar-
es have been mostly boug-
ht from D-Mart founder
Radhakishan Damani and
his associated entities,
who held a 20.78 per cent
stake in India Cements.
ELM Park Fund holds a
5.58 per cent stake and LIC
holds a 3.6 per cent stake
in India Cements.
India Cements owner N
Srinivasan who, along
with other promoter
group members, holds
only a 28.42 per cent stake,
which can trigger a hos-
tile takeover.
Though the 23 per cent
stake purchase will not
Q2 2024 across the 7 cities,
against 1,30,170 units sold
in Q1 2024. However, on a
yearly basis, there has
been a 5 per cent
rise in residential
sales against
1,15,090 units sold
back in Q2 2023,
according to
Anarock Group.
The NCR is the only city
to see quarterly growth of
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (third from left) jumps for the ball during the UEFA Euro Group ‘F’ football match
against Georgia at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on Wednesday.
Romania, Slovakia make Last 16
Frankfurt (Germany,
June 27: Romania and
Slovakia both qualified for
the Last 16 at Euro 2024
after a tense 1-1 draw in
their last Group ‘E’ game
on Wednesday.
Ondrej Duda put
Slovakia ahead in the first
half but Romania’s Raz-
van Marin equalised with
a penalty before the inter-
val.
With all four teams in the
group earning four points
from their three games,
Romania finished top hav-
ing scored more goals than
second-placed Belgium.
Slovakia went through in
third place thanks to a
superior goal difference to
fourth-placed Ukraine.
It was a memorable
moment for Romania, who
are into the knockout sta-
ges of the Euros for the
first time in 24 years.
● FIRM’S DECISION
can be seen as a cal-
culated move to con-
solidate its dominance
in the market, which
has seen Adani Group
increasing its share
with a few acquisitions
in the recent past.
trigger a mandatory open
offer of 26 per cent from
public shareholders,
UltraTech can go ahead if
it intends to take over con-
trol of the company.
UltraTech’s decision can
be seen as a calculated
move to consolidate its
dominance in the market,
which has seen Adani
Group increasing its
share with a few acquisi-
tions in the recent past.
In April, UltraTech
Cement had announced
that it has earmarked
`32,400 crore as capex for
the next three years for
expansion of its produc-
tion capacity. The sector
has seen consolidation
6 per cent. Mumbai saw 3
per cent decline, Pune 8
per cent, Bengaluru 8 per
cent and Chennai 9
per cent. Hyderabad
saw a drop of 23 per
cent, while Kolkata
recorded an 18 per
cent decline.
“The quarterly
decline seen in housing
sales is essentially
because of the all-time
Slovakia’s Robert Bozenik (left) fights for the ball with
Romania’s Adrian Rus during their UEFA Euro Group ‘E’
match at the Frankfurt Arena on Wednesday.
Romania had only quali-
fied once for the Last 16 in
their five Euro appear-
ances, but Edward Iord-
anescu’s tenacious side
have ended that long
drought “It’s incredible. I
over the past few years,
with major players look-
ing to enhance their
capacities and market sha-
re through acquisitions.
Shares of India Cements
hit a fresh 52-week high of
`289.2 as they rallied 10
per cent on the BSE in
Thursday’s intraday
trade.
The counter saw numer-
ous block deals after
UltraTech Cement
announced its plan to
acquire the company
shares. In the past two
trading days, the stock of
India Cements has
zoomed 26 per cent and is
trading at its highest level
since September 2022.
Meanwhile, shares of
UltraTech Cement hit a
record high of `11,865 as
they surged 6 per cent on
the BSE during intraday
trade. The stock was trad-
ing higher for the fourth
straight day, having ral-
lied 11 per cent during the
period.
UltraTech Cement led
the gainers in Nifty, which
crossed 24,000 mark on
Thursday.
high base considered in
the previous quarter,
when more than 1.30 lakh
units were sold. Most
importantly, this drop is
also due to the significant
hike in property prices
over the last one year,
which in turn has prompt-
ed many investors to take
a breather,” said Anuj
Puri, chairman, Anarock
Group.
— AFP
want to congratulate my
players, we found a spirit.
We came back once again,
we never give up. These
are things you experience
once in a lifetime,”
Iordanescu said.
Gross NPAs of
banks fall to 2.8%,
says Reserve Bank
FALAKNAAZ SYED
MUMBAI, JUNE 27
The central bank remains
watchful of the emerging
risks, including those
from cyber hazards, cli-
mate change and global
spillovers, the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) gover-
nor Shaktikanta Das said.
Das, in the foreword to
RBI’s June financial sta-
bility report released
Thursday, said that the
global economy is facing
heightened risks from
prolonged geopolitical
tensions, elevated public
debt, and the slow
progress in the last mile of
disinflation. Despite these
challenges, the global
financial system has
remained resilient, and
financial conditions are
stable, he said
Gross non-performing
assets (GNPA) ratio of
scheduled commercial
banks fell to a multi-year
low of 2.8 per cent and the
net non-performing assets
(NNPA) ratio to 0.6 per
cent at end-March 2024,
the report said.
Non-banking financial
companies (NBFCs) also
remain healthy, with capi-
tal to risk assets ratio
(CRAR) at 26.6 per cent,
GNPA ratio at 4 per cent
and return on assets
(RoA) at 3.3 per cent,
respectively, at end-March
2024, it said.
Meanwhile, household
debt levels need to be mon-
itored as financial liabili-
ties have risen in the post-
Covid period while the
overall household savings
have dipped from average
levels seen in the decade
before, the FSR said.
Overall household sav-
ings have declined to 18.4
— AFP
Slovakia are into the
knockout stages of a major
tournament for the third
time. They reached the
Last 16 in the 2010 World
Cup and made it to the
same stage at Euro 2016.
“It was a great perform-
ance,” Slovakia boss
Francesco Calzona said.
Slovakia were inches
away from snatching the
lead as Lukas Haraslin’s
free-kick went through a
crowd of players and
almost crept in at the far
post. It was a warning
Romania failed to heed
and Slovakia went in front
in the 24th minute.
Juraj Kucka whipped in a
deep cross that caught the
Romania defence standing
statuesque, leaving the
unmarked Duda free to
power his header past
Florin Nita from eight
yards. — AFP
● GROSS NON-PER-
FORMING assets ratio
of scheduled commer-
cial banks fell to a
multi-year low of 2.8
per cent and the net
non-performing assets
ratio to 0.6 per cent at
March end, said
Reserve Bank.
per cent of GDP in FY23,
down from the average of
20 per cent of GDP seen
between 2013-22. The
share of net financial sav-
ings declined to 28.5 per
cent in FY23 from an aver-
age of 39.8 per cent in
2013-22.
“With overall household
savings declining, coupled
with an increasing trend
in financial liabilities,
household debt warrants
close monitoring from a
financial stability per-
spective,” the RBI said.
India’s overall debt
stands at around 40.1 per
cent of the GDP, low when
compared to other emerg-
ing economies. RBI noted
that this is ‘comparative-
ly’ high in relation to GDP
per capita.
“Financial liabilities of
households have risen in
post-pandemic period, as
reflected in surge in retail
loan growth for financing
both consumption and
investment,” it said.
COPA | AMERICA
it to quarterfinal
Los Angeles, June 27:
Venezuela booked their
place in the quarterfinals
of the Copa America on
Wednesday with a hard-
fought 1-0 victory over
Mexico that ensured
Jamaica’s elimination
from the tournament.
Mexico-based veteran
striker Salomon Rondon
stroked in the only goal
from the penalty spot to
seal all three points for
Venezuela, who are top of
Group ‘B’ with six points
from two games.
Mexico, meanwhile, can
still qualify for the knock-
out rounds with a victory
over Ecuador in their final
group game on Sunday.
But the Mexicans will be
left kicking themselves at
their failure to take at
least a point from
Wednesday’s clash with
Venezuela at a packed
SoFi Stadium in Los
Angeles.
Mexico’s Orbelin Pineda
missed an 87th-minute
spot kick that would have
made it 1-1, his effort par-
ried away by Venezuela
goalkeeper Rafael Romo.
Earlier, Rondon had fired
Venezuela into the lead in
the 57th minute from the
penalty spot after
Mexico’s Julian Quinones
brought down Venezuela’s
Jon Aramburu with a
clumsy challenge in the
area.
Venezuela’s win con-
firmed Jamaica’s exit
from the tournament fol-
lowing their 3-1 loss to
Ecuador in Las Vegas ear-
lier on Wednesday.
HYD ATHLETICS TRIALS
FOR KIDS ON JULY 1
Hyderabad, June 27: The Hyderabad District
Athletics Association is conducting the Hyderabad
District Kids Athletic trials at the Osmania
University Grounds from 6.30 am on July 1.
Selections will be held in the following events:
■ Boys/ girls U-8 years (those born between 08-07-2016
and 07-07-2018): 50 metres, 300m and Standing Broad
Jump.
■ Boys/ girls U-10 years (those born between 08-07-
2014 and 07-07-2016): 100m, 300m and Long Jump.
■ Boys/ girls U-12 years (those born between 08-07-
2012 and 07-07-2014): 100m, 400m and Long Jump.
pg 11
JIO TO UP MOBILE
TARIFFS BY 12-27%,
OTHER PLAYERS
LIKELY TO FOLLOW
New Delhi, June 27:
Telecom operator Jio will
increase mobile services
rates by 12-27 per cent
from July 3 and at the
same time restrict the
access of unlimited free
5G services for customers,
according to a company
statement.
This is the first hike in
mobile services rates by
Jio after a gap of about
two-and-a-half years. Jio
has over 47 crore mobile
subscribers accounting
for about 41 per cent mar-
ket share.
The hike comes immedi-
ately after the spectrum
auction as per the antici-
pation of sector experts.
Industry experts believe
that Bharti Airtel and
Vodafone Idea may also
increase their mobile
services rates soon.
“The introduction of
new plans is a step in the
direction of furthering
industry innovation and
driving sustainable
growth through invest-
ments in 5G and AI tech-
nology,” Reliance Jio
Infocomm chairman,
Akash M Ambani said in
the statement.
The company has raised
mobile services rates
across almost all plans.
Besides hike in mobile
services rates, Jio intro-
duced two apps - Jio Safe
and JioTranslate - which
it provides absolutely free
to its customers for a peri-
od of one year. — PTI
Venezuelas Yefferson
Soteldo (right) vies for the
ball with Mexico’s Luis
Romo in a Group ‘B’ match
on Wednesday. — AP
Ecuador, beaten by
Venezuela in their open-
ing match on Saturday,
held off a spirited second-
half rally by the Reggae
Boyz to claim a vital three
points at the Allegiant
Stadium.
The South Americans
looked to be cruising to
victory after taking a 2-0
lead following a Kasey
Palmer own goal and a
penalty from teenager
Kendry Paez.
However, Jamaica pulled
a goal back from veteran
striker Michail Antonio
early in the second half,
and then had strong
claims for a penalty reject-
ed 15 minutes before full-
time. Ecuador, however,
made the game safe in
stoppage time with a
breakaway goal from Alan
Minda as Jamaica pressed
forward. — AFP
 FRIDAY | 28 JUNE 2024 | DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD

CRICKH T PAGE

12

SHORT SINGLES
WC purely set up
for India: Vaughan
F ormer England captain
Michael Vaughan feels the
ongoing T20 World Cup is “purely
set up for India” and global body
ICC should have been a bit more
“fairer” to other countries as this
is not a bilateral event organised
solely for commercial gains.
Vaughan, 49, has often criticised
the BCCI and India for flexing
their muscle and financial might
in international cricket.
“Well, it’s their tournament isn’t
it? Literally it’s that. You know
that. They get to play whenever
they want, they know exactly
where their semifinal is, they play
every single game in the morning
so people can watch them at night,
obviously in India on the televi-
sion,” Vaughan said during a pod-
cast with Australian great Adam
Gilchrist on the YouTube channel.
Vaughan’s grouse is that India
got to play all their matches in
morning because it suits the
Indian audience, who watched the
matches in the evening. He lashed
out at the ICC for bowing down to
India’s financial might.
Af coach lambasts
semifinal pitch
RAIN CHECK
Makram happy
with semi win
Tarouba (Trinidad),
June 27: South African
skipper Aiden Markram
Rohit guides India to decent total of 171 runs
MOSES KONDETY | DC
was certain that he does
not want to play another
match on the pitch here,
but was chuffed to see his
PROVIDENCE (GUYANA), SCOREBOARD side tame a challenging
JUNE 27 track in the semifinal to
India: Rohit Sharma b enter its maiden T20
Rain played hide and seek Rashid 57, Virat Kohli b World Cup final.
as India posted a decent Topley 9, Rishabh Pant c The deck at the Brian Aiden Markram
total against England in Bairstow b Curran 4, Lara Academy stadium
their T20 World Cup semi- Suryakumar Yadav c offered considerable again just adapting and
final delayed by showers Jordan b Archer 47, movement off the seam playing the pitch and the
and subsequent interrup- Hardik Pandya c Curran b and South African quicks game that's in front of
tions on a slow pitch at the Jordan 23, Ravindra used it to the optimum to you.
Jadeja not out 17, Shivam “We’ll try to find ways to
Guyana National Stadium Dube c Buttler b Jordan 0, bowl out Afghanistan for
on Friday. Axar Patel c Salt b Jordan an insufficient 56. always take wickets with
The 171 for 7 was built on 10, Arshdeep Singh not “If we reflect back on the ball and from a bat-
a half-century from cap- out 1. Extras (lb 2, w 1) 3. this wicket, we'll probably ting point of view try to
tain Rohit Sharma (57), a Total (7 wickets in 20 be pretty happy that we’re get to a score that's
fine 47 by Suryakumar overs) 171. not playing here again. defendable. Both teams
Yadav, their 73-run stand Fall of wickets: 1-19,2-40, 3- T20 cricket as a whole, have to play on the same
for the third wicket and 113, 4-124, 5-146, 6-146, 7-170. you want entertainment,” wicket,” he noted.
some late hitting from Bowling: Reece Topley 3- said Markram in the post- But for now, Markram
Hardik Pandya, who 0-25-1, Jofra Archer 4-0- match press meet after wants to relish the feeling
slammed two sixes and a 33-1, Sam Curran 2-0-25-1, SA defeated Afghanistan of entering a World Cup
Adil Rashid 4-0-25-1, title clash.
boundary in his 13-ball 23. Chris Jordan 3-0-37-3,
by nine wickets.
Put into bat, the Blues Liam Livingstone Markram was delighted “The bits that we’re
got off to a shaky start. 4-0-24-0. to see South Africa find- realising now, it’s obvi-
Rohit played and missed
the first ball from left-arm
ing a way to win on a
challenging strip.
ously a really nice feeling.
This team’s been together
seamer Reece Topley and
got an edged boundary runs off the over to be 77
“The wickets that we've
had throughout the com-
for a long time now as a
white ball group, and it's

A fghanistan coach Jonathan

Trott has lambasted the pitch
that was used for their T20 World
Cup semifinal against South
Africa in Tarouba, Trinidad,
asserting that it was unfit for a
contest of such magnitude. The
pitch, which offered lateral seam
movement and inconsistent
bounce, was a nightmare for bat-
ters as Afghanistan were bowled
out for 56 — the lowest score in a
T20 World Cup semifinal at the
Brian Lara Cricket Academy
Stadium.
Even though South Africa chased
down the target in 8.5 overs, their
batters too struggled.
“I don’t want to get myself into
trouble and I don’t want to come
across as bitter or it being a case of
sour grapes but that’s not the pitch
that you want to have a match, a
semifinal of a World Cup on, plain
and simple,” Trott said.
The former England batter said
the pitch took batting completely
out of the game. “It should be a
fair contest. I’m not saying it
should be flat completely with no
spin and no seam movement, I’m
saying you shouldn’t have batsmen
worrying about going forward,” he
said.
Sri Lanka head
coach steps down
past short third man on
the second. The Indian
captain continued to live
dangerously, getting away
as a cut off pacer Jofra
Archer on the last ball of
the second over went right
through Phil Salt’s hands
at point. He was on 5 then.
Virat Kohli looked like
he would turn it on from
the other end as he
thumped Topley for a six
before trying to repeat the
shot, missing the line and
losing his leg stump for
just 9. India 19 for 1 in the
third over.
Rohit then picked out
Topley in the third over,
Proteas banish jinx
in semis at T20 WC
Tarouba (Trinidad),
June 27: South Africa
exorcised their agonis-
ing semifinal jinx
through an exceptional
spell of pace bowling as
they walloped an emo-
tionally drained
India captain Rohit Sharma plays a shot against England during the T20 World Cup
semifinal match at the Guyana National Stadium in Providence, Guyana, on Thursday.
pulling the tall pacer for a
boundary and then
unpacking a drive that
raced past cover to the
fence.
Left-arm seamer Sam
Curran was introduced in
the sixth over and struck
with his second ball as
Rishabh Pant tried to hit
him over mid-on, only to
balloon a catch to Jonny
Bairstow after making 4.
India 40 for 2.
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid
came in next and was
swept and reverse swept
for boundaries by Rohit as
the Indian total picked up
momentum. Surya too got
into the act with a six over
fine leg off fast bowler
Chris Jordan before rain
returned and forced play-
ers off the ground at 12.23
pm local time. India were
— AP
65 for 2 in 8 overs then.
The game restarted at
1.40 pm, which meant over
two-and-a-half hours of
play was lost —earlier,
light drizzle and wet out-
field had delayed the start
of the match by an hour
and 15 minutes.
Rashid could not quite
come to grips with the
ball, sending down full
tosses as India picked 10
for 2 at the halfway stage.
Rohit launched Liam
Livingstone into the sight
screen from the other end
as the score began to swell.
It reached the triple figure
mark in the 13th over as
Rohit carted Curran over
square leg for a six. SKY
too got a maximum and a
boundary as they accumu-
lated 19 runs from the
over.
Soon, Rohit was bowled,
done in by the low bounce
as he tried to blast Rashid
out of the ground. Surya
followed, caught by Jordan
in the deep as he attempt-
ed a six off Archer.
petition have been pretty
challenging. It's hard to
tell that a wicket is not
good because it can't just
always be a batter's game.
“Having said that, still
taking the positives we
can. Wickets are tough.
So, finding a way to win is
probably the most impor-
tant thing.”
South Africa will now
travel to Barbados for the
final either against India
or England.
“We’ve been doing it for
most of our careers, you
jump from venue to venue
where conditions are
quite different. So, it's
nice for us to get to a
final.
“We feel and believe that
we can compete with the
best in the world and we
can win trophies. It’s nice
for us to now have that
opportunity.”
The SA captain said
winning close games in
the group and Super
Eights stages of boosted
their confidence.
“You do get belief from
winning close games and
potentially winning
games that you thought
you weren't going to win.
It does a lot for your
changing room vibe.”

S ri Lanka’s head coach Chris

Silverwood on Thursday
stepped down from the role follow-
ing the team’s dismal outing in the
ongoing T20 World Cup, the SLC
announced. Former captain
Mahela Jayawardene had resigned
from the post of the consultant
coach on Wednesday.
“Being an international coach
means long periods away from
loved ones. After lengthy conversa-
tions with my family and with a
heavy heart, I feel it is now time
for me to return home and spend
some quality time together,”
Silverwood said in his statement.
“It has been a real honour for me
to be part of Sri Lanka Cricket and
I will be taking away many fond
memories,” added Silverwood.
Sri Lanka crashed out of the T20
WC in the group stages itself with
two losses, a no result and a soli-
tary win.
Regd. No. HQ/SD/509/2024-26
Printed and Published by
K. Sudhakar on behalf of
Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited.
Printed at Deccan Chronicle Press
situated at Plot No. 9 Alwal Village,
Vallabh Nagar Taluk, Medchal Malkajgiri
Dist. Telangana and Published at 36, S.D.
Road, Secunderabad-3.
RNI Registration No. 3081/1957.
Editor: Kaushik Mitter
Afghanistan by nine
wickets to enter their
first-ever T20 World Cup
final here. They will face
the winners of the sec-
ond semifinal between
India and England in
the title clash, but the
Afghans will go home
with their heads held
high after a stirring run
in the tournament.
Marco Jansen (3/16)
Kagiso Rabada (2/14)
and Anrich Nortje (2/7)
ripped the soul out of
the Afghanistan top-
order while bundling
them out for a paltry 56
in just 11.5 overs after
being invited to bowl.
Despite the early
departure of Quinton de
Kock, bowled through
the gate by impressive
pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi,
the Proteas had little
trouble in reaching 60
for one in 8.5 overs.
Reeza Hendricks who
put up his highest score
in this event, and skip-
per Aiden Markram
navigated them safely to
the shores of victory as
they have finally freed
themselves from the tag
of chokers. — PTI
South Africa’s Reeza Hendricks (left) embraces cap-
tain Aiden Markram after defeating Afghanistan in
their T20 World Cup semifinal match at the Brian
Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad and
Tabago, on Thursday. — AP
SCOREBOARD
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah 10-56.
Gurbaz c Reeza Hendricks b Bowling: Marco Jansen 3-0-16-3,
Marco Jansen 0, Ibrahim Zadran Keshav Maharaj 1-0-6-0, Kagiso
b Rabada 2, Gulbadin Naib b
Marco Jansen 9, Azmatullah
Rabada 3-1-14-2, Anrich Nortje 3-
0-7-2, Tabraiz Shamsi 1.5-0-6-3.
Omarzai c Tristan Stubbs b
Nortje 10, Mohammad Nabi b South Africa: Quinton de Kock b
Rabada 0, Nange-yalia Kharote Fazalhaq Farooqi 5, Reeza
c de Kock b Marco Jansen 2, Hendricks not out 29, Aiden
Karim Janat lbw b Shamsi 8, Markram not out 23. Extras (W-2,
Rashid Khan b Nortje 8, Noor NB-1) 3. Totals (For 1 wicket in
Ahmad lbw b Shamsi 0, Naveen- 8.5 Overs) 60.
ul-Haq lbw b Shamsi 2, Fazalhaq Fall of wickets: 1-5.
Farooqi not out 2. Extras (b-6,
lb-1, w-6) 13. Total (all out in 11.5 Bowling: Naveen-ul-Haq 3-0-15-0,
Fazalhaq Farooqi 2-0-11-1, Rashid
overs) 56.
Khan 1-0-8-0, Azmatullah
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-16, 3-20, 4- Omarzai 1.5-0-18-0, Gulbadin
20, 5-23, 6-28, 7-50, 8-50, 9-50, Naib 1-0-8-0.

Harmanpreet & Co. ready for SA Test

C. SANTHOSH KUMAR
CHENNAI, JUNE 27
Women’s Test match results
often hold little context,
with no series at stake and
no world championship to
look forward to. However,
the rarity of these contests
makes them special for
players and cricket lovers
alike.
The one-off Test between
India and South Africa
starting at the M.A.
Chidambaram Stadium on
Friday offers a rare oppor-
tunity for players to experi-
ence the demands of the
multi-day format played
with a red ball.
South African captain
Laura Wolvaardt aptly
described the challenge as
“studying for an exam at
the last minute.” In con-
trast, India skipper
Harmanpreet Kaur sees it
as a chance to acclimatise
to various home condi-
tions ahead of next
year’s Women’s ODI
World Cup.
Women’s Test matches
are few and far between,
with only England,
Australia and India playing
the most. This Test will be
only the fourth for India in
the past three years and the
third for South Africa in
two years.
The occasion is even more
momentous as it marks the
return of women’s Test last two Tests that we
cricket to the iconic played. We are looking for a
Chepauk Stadium after a positive result in this Test
long 47-year hiatus. as well. Hopefully, we will
India women enter this deliver,” she said.
contest brimming with con- Harmanpreet also praised
fidence, having secured the BCCI for bringing red-
back-to-back series vic- ball cricket back to the
tories against domestic calendar with the
Bangladesh and return of the senior inter-
South Africa in the zone tournament in Pune.
limited-overs formats. “Our domestic cricket
Harmanpreet & Co. are was showcased very well
keen to translate this win- last year. Many girls across
ning momentum into the different age groups partic-
multi-day format. ipated in those games, and
“It's a great opportunity the BCCI is doing a fantas-
for all of us. As players, we tic job. They are striving to
always want to play red-ball improve women's cricket,
cricket. And now that we and we hope they continue
are getting it, we are happy. their great work,” she
We had great results in the added.