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STATE BEHIND
APPLE ATTACK:
OPPN; WILL
CM to give YSR awards today PM: Appeasement
politics an obstacle
MD ILYAS | DC ● A CASH prize of C5 lakh, a souvenir and a YSR Lifetime Achievement

PROBE: GOVT
VINEETA PANDEY | DC
NEW DELHI, OCT. 31
Close on the heels of
Pegasus “snoopgate” row,
another controversy
exploded on Tuesday after
American phone maker
Apple sent security alerts
to several people, includ-
ing Opposition leaders, in
India about the possibility
of “state-sponsored” hack-
ing of their phones.
Politicians, academi-
cians and think tank ana-
lysts shared screenshots
of their alerts on social
media, some accusing the
government of carrying
out snooping. Denying
allegations, information
technology minister Ash-
wini Vaishnaw said a
probe has been ordered.
Apple said individuals in
150 countries have been
sent such mail and some
alerts may be false. The
alert said: “State-spon-
sored attackers may be
targeting your iPhone.
Apple believes you are
being targeted by state-
sponsored attackers who
are trying to remotely
compromise the iPhone
associated with your App-
le ID. These attackers are
likely targeting you indi-
vidually because of who
you are or what you do.”.
■ Page 5: Vaishnaw calls
Oppn compulsive critics
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan
Mohan Reddy will present
the Dr YSR Lifetime
Achievement and the Dr
YSR Achievement Awards-
2023 at the A Convention
Centre here in the presence
of Governor S. Abdul
Naseer on Wednesday.
A high-power screening
committee has announced
the list of institutions and
individuals receiving the
Naidu granted interim bail
SAMPAT G.
SAMRITAN | DC
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
The Andhra Pradesh High
Court has granted interim
bail on medical/health
grounds to Telugu Desam
chief Nara Chandrababu
Naidu for four weeks till
November 28 in the AP
Skill Development Corpora-
tion corruption case.
A single-judge bench of
Justice Mallikarjuna Rao
granted the bail here on
Tuesday. Additional advo-
cate general Ponnavolu
Sudhakar argued on behalf
of the AP CID while senior
counsels including Sidd-
arth Luthra and Dammal-
apati Srinivas represented
Chandrababu Naidu.
The court observed: “This
court places the health and
well-being of an individual
commendation letter are awarded under the
Dr YSR Achievement Award.
● THE CM noted that for the third year in a
row, the AP government is conferring its
highest awards to the “extraordinary
among the common people and
humanitarian figures.”
honours. The CM noted that humanitarian figures.” In
for the third year in a row, sports, Pullela Gopichand
the AP government is con- (Guntur district) and
ferring its highest awards to Karanam Malleswari
the “extraordinary among (Srikakulam district) would
the common people and receive the awards. The Dr
NO POLITICAL RALLIES: HC TO NAIDU
DC CORRESPONDENT
development scam case.
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31 When the HC granted
interim bail to Naidu for
The Andhra Pradesh High four weeks up to November
Court has directed Telugu 28 on medical grounds, the
Desam chief Nara Chandr- state CID filed a petition
ababu Naidu not to partici- before the single judge
pate in political rallies and bench of Justice Mallikar-
avoid giving interviews to juna Rao, pleading that cer-
the media during his four- tain conditions be imposed
week bail period from on the TD chief for the
Tuesday. He has also been entire duration of his bail.
instructed not to make any
public comment in connec- ■ Page 2: Naidu’s counsel
tion with the AP skill opposes AP CID’s terms
as the foremost considera- punitive. Every individual
tion, irrespective of the has the inherent right to
gravity of the alleged receive comprehensive and
offense. It is important to effective medical care.”
recognise that custody dur-
ing the investigative phase ■ Page 2: Naidu not a flight
should not be perceived as risk, won’t hamper probe: HC
Award carries a cash prize
of `10 lakh, a bronze fig-
urine of Dr YSR, a souvenir
and a commendation letter.
A cash prize of `5 lakh, a
souvenir and a commenda-
tion letter are awarded
under the Dr YSR
Achievement Award.
The awards are being
given for the third succes-
sive year.
■ Page 4: Jagan to address
gathering after event
KANTAKAPALLI
TRAIN ACCIDENT:
PROBE ORDERED
K.M.P. PATNAIK | DC
VISAKHAPATNAM, OCT. 31
Commissioner of railway
safety Pranjeev Saxena,
who arrived here on
Monday evening, is
inquiring into all aspects
of the accident that took
place between Alamanda
and Kantakapalli stations
in Vizianagaram district
under Waltair division of
East Coast Railway on
Sunday. The accident was
caused when the
Rayagada passenger
rammed into the tail end
of the Palasa passenger,
killing 13 passengers and
injuring 32 persons.
■ Page 3: Open inquiry
between Nov. 1 and 2
Warns against compromising India’s unity
DC CORRESPONDENT
with agency inputs
NEW DELHI/KEVADIA,
OCT. 31
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Tuesday said that
the politics of appeasement
is the largest hurdle in the
development journey of
India.
Referring to the
Assembly elections in five
states in November and the
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an event marking
2024 Lok Sabha elections,
the Prime Minister cau-
tioned against politics and
the culmination of the Meri Maati Mera Desh campaign,
in New Delhi on Tuesday. — PTI
PM UNVEILS ‘MY BHARAT’ FOR YOUTHS
political parties that, for
“selfish interests”, indulge
in anti-social and anti-
national activities. New Delhi, Oct. 31: Prime Kalash during the event
Addressing a gathering at Minister Narendra Modi held at the Kartavya Path
the Statue of Unity in on Tuesday launched the here and applied a ‘tilak’
Gujarat, after paying floral ‘MY Bharat’ platform for on his forehead with the
tribute to Sardar Val- youths and laid an e-foun- ‘mitti’. The Amrit Kalash
labhbhai Patel on his birth dation stone of an Amrit contains soil brought from
anniversary which is cele- Mahotsav Smarak and different parts of the coun-
brated as National Unity Amrit Vatika at an event try.
Day, Modi pointed out that marking the culmination In his address, the Prime
those indulging in appea- of the ‘Meri Maati Mera Minister said the occasion
sement politics also turn a Desh’ campaign and with marks the closure of a
blind eye towards terror- it, the Azadi Ka Amrit “maha utsav” (grand festi-
ism and stand with the ene- Mahotsav. val) and also brings the
mies of humanity. He The Prime Minister resolve of a new beginning.
warned against such th- offered soil into the Amrit — PTI
inking, which endangers
the unity of the country. fronts and credited the enemies of the country are
Modi mentioned that in security forces with thwa- not able to succeed.
the last nine years, India’s rting the enemy’s inimical
internal security has faced attempts. He claimed that ■ Pg 5: We have to develop
challenges on multiple under his government, the India in next 25 years: PM
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | 1 NOVEMBER 2023
,1
Ex-min. Mareppa
BRIEF
rejoins Congress
Kurnool: Former minister M.
Mareppa returned to the Cong-
ress during a meeting in Vijaya-
wada on Monday. He has previ-
ously switched between differ-
ent parties, including the YSRC
and BJP. However, he has now
returned to the Congress, the
party he represented when he
won elections in 1999 and 2009
and served as marketing minis-
ter in Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar
Reddy's cabinet.
ABUSIVE POSTS
AGAINST JUDGE:
CID BOOKS CASE
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
The Andhra Pradesh Crime
Investigation Department (AP
CID) has registered a case
against miscreants for posting
abusive posts against a sitting
judge of the AP High Court,
according to a press release
issued on Tuesday by N.
Sanjay, additional director
general of police, AP CID.
Sanjay said that the derogato-
ry social media posts diminish
the value of the judge and tar-
nish the image of the entire
judiciary. He warned that seri-
ous action will be taken
against persons who post abu-
sive and vulgar posts on social
media against any member of
the judiciary. Sanjay added
that the Cyber Crime Police
have registered a case and the
investigation is in progress.
The culprits will be brought
before the court.
RUSHIKONDA
VIOLATIONS: MOEF
TOLD TO PROBE
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
The Andhra Pradesh High
Court on Tuesday directed the
Union Ministry of Enviro-
nment and Forests (MoEF) to
investigate any violations in
the excavations and construc-
tions at Rushikonda in Visak-
hapatnam. The court also
directed the MoEF to submit a
report within three weeks.
The court's order came after a
joint committee constituted by
it found illegal excavations
and constructions beyond the
permitted limit at Rushik-
onda. The committee submit-
ted its report to the court on
Tuesday.
NAIDU’S COUNSEL
OPPOSES AP
CID’S TERMS
FROM PAGE 1
The court heard both addition-
al advocate general Ponnavolu
Sudhakar representing AP
CID and Naidu’s counsel
Dammalapati Srinivas before
issuing the order of restric-
tions on Naidu. The TD chief
should restrain himself till
the disposal of the petition,
which is listed for hearing on
November 1, to allow the
respondent to file the counter.
Earlier, the AP CID’s counsel
requested the court to order
that Naidu should confine
himself to medical treatment
alone and should not give any
press interviews nor make any
public comments in connec-
tion with the case.
Two officers of the rank of
Dy SPs should be asked to
accompany Naidu to monitor
and submit their report regu-
larly to the court in this con-
nection, the court was urged.
Naidu’s counsel opposed such
conditions and requested the
court to grant time till Wed-
nesday to file a counter on it.
RAHUL GANDHI TO
VISIT AFTER POLLS
IN FIVE STATES
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
Andhra Pradesh Congress
Committee president Gidugu
Rudra Raju on Tuesday
announced that their party’s
top leader Rahul Gandhi will
visit Andhra Pradesh after
completion of assembly elec-
tions in five states. He will be
participating in a huge protest
that Congress is organising
against privatisation of
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
Rudra Raju spoke at a func-
tion organised at the Andhra
Ratna Bhavan in Vijayawada
on occasion of former prime
minister Indira Gandhi’s
death anniversary and birth
anniversary of first deputy
PM of India Sardar Vallabbhai
Patel.
The APCC chief and other
Congress leaders paid floral
tribute to Indira Gandhi and
Vallabhbhai Patel.
1DLGXKHDGVWR9XQGDYDOOL
Large number of party cadre gather at Central Prison as Naidu steps out
DC CORRESPONDENTS
VIJAYAWADA/KAKINADA,
OCT. 31
Telugu Desam chief Nara
Chandrababu Naidu was
heading for his home in
Vundavalli in a huge con-
voy of vehicles after his
release on interim bail
from Rajahmundry Cent-
ral Prison on Tuesday
evening.
Naidu stepped out of
Central Prison around 4.15
pm. A large number of
party supporters rushed
to him even by pushing
aside the police barricades
to greet him. Police had a
tough time controlling the
party activists. They jos-
tled with one another to
get closer to Naidu and
take a glimpse of him.
Naidu, in a composed
mood, briefly addressed
the media and started his
journey home, accompa-
nied by a large number of
TD supporters. The gener-
al public greeted him
along the way.
Naidu’s convoy of vehi-
cles, also including some
senior leaders, proceeded
slowly. He is expected to
reach home in the wee
hours on Wednesday.
TD supporters welcomed
their leader with huge gar-
lands and by bursting
crackers. Naidu greeted
all with folded hands.
Naidu’s family members
including wife Bhuv-
aneswari, son Lokesh, his
wife Brahmani, as also
grandsons Devansh and
Balakrishna, received
Naidu outside the central
prison premises. An emo-
tionally charged Naidu
hugged Devansh. They
drove to their home at
Vundavalli separately. TD
senior leaders including
state party chief K during her temporary stay
Atchannaidu and others
received Naidu outside the
jail premises.
Naidu is expected to visit
Tirupati for darshan of
Lord Venkateswara.
In a tweet, Bhuvan-
DESAM CHIEF’S
RELEASE
SPARKS SOCIAL
MEDIA FRENZY
LAXMI PRANATHI | DC
VISAKHAPATNAM, OCT. 31
TD supporters were ecs-
tatic on Tuesday after N.
Chandrababu Naidu’s
release on a four-week
bail in the Skill Scam
case. Many of them have
taken to social media
platforms, with hash-
tags such as
“BossIsBack.” Naidu’s
son, TD general secre-
tary Nara Lokesh, wrote
on Twitter, “Our prayers
have been answered, he
is back,” which was
accompanied by
#SatyamevaJayate. The
tweet quickly became a
rallying cry for TD sup-
porters. They flooded
the digital realm with
messages celebrating
their leader’s return to
their midst. Several neti-
zens joined the celebra-
tion. “Our lion is back
with a bang,” read one
comment.
However, amid the
jubilation, film director
Ram Gopal Varma found
himself mired in contro-
versy. Earlier this week,
he had caused public ou-
trage by posting a selfie
outside the Rajamahend-
ravaram central jail,
with the comment, “A
selfie with Rajahm-
undry central jail, Me
outside and He inside.”
Gorantla angry
over police curbs
DC CORRESPONDENT
KAKINADA, OCT. 31
Senior TD leader and
R a j a m a h e n d r av a r a m
Rural MLA Gorantla Bu-
chaiah Chowdary expre-
ssed anger over police not
allowing anyone to reach
Rajahmundry Prison wh-
en former CM Naidu had
been released on interim
bail on Tuesday.
He pointed out that
police had closed the ro-
ads to Central Prison by
erecting barricades. Not
even former ministers
were allowed around the
central prison surround-
ings.The senior TD leader
pointed out that when
TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu hugs his grandson N.
Devansh after his release from the Central prison after
getting interim bail from the High court, in Rajamahe-
ndravaram on Tuesday.
eswari expressed the fami-
ly’s thanks to all those
who supported her during
the Nijam Gelavali cam-
paign. She said that in the
last 53 days of Naidu’s
incarceration, she suf-
fered in silence but got
considerable relief from
the huge support the
Telugu people all over the
world extended to her.
She also thanked the peo-
ple in Rajamahendra-
varam for considering her
as their daughter, showing
a lot of love and affection
when Naidu was in jail.
Jana Sena chief Pawan
Kalyan expressed happi-
ness over Naidu getting
interim bail and wished
that the TD chief rededi-
cate himself with renewed
Naidu not a flight risk,
won’t hamper probe: HC
FROM PAGE 1
“This court firmly
upholds the belief that
individuals in custody
with serious health issues
should be granted access
to adequate and effective
medical treatment. The
exercise of discretion in
granting interim bail on
medical grounds should
not be restricted to cir-
cumstances where the
person’s life is in immedi-
ate peril,” the court said
in justification of its
order.
“There is no remote pos-
sibility that the petitioner
would evade the judicial
process or pose a flight
risk. It is submitted that
the petitioner served as
the CM of AP and is cur-
rently the Opposition
leader and MLA.”
Interim bail is granted
solely for the purpose of
allowing the petitioner to
undergo the necessary
medical examination. The
medical report says the
petitioner requires
cataract surgery to the
right eye. He is permitted
to seek treatment at the
same hospital where he
had the surgery for his left
eye.”
The court imposed cer-
tain conditions. Naidu
should furnish a bail bond
for `1 lakh with two
sureties of the like
YSRC MLC Anantha Uda-
ya Bhaskar (Ananta
Babu), accused in the ki-
lling of Dalit youth Vee-
dhi Subrahmanyam, had
been released on bail,
YSRC cadres had been
allowed up to the Central
Prison premises. They
were also allowed to take
the MLC in a huge proces-
sion. But now, when a for-
mer chief minister, who
had held the CM’s post
for14 years, had been
released, police had impo-
sed several restrictions.
Buchaiah Chowdary mai-
ntained that such restric-
tions show YSRC is fear-
ing defeat in the forth-
coming assembly polls.
—A. MANIKANTA KUMAR
vigour to serve the people.
“Naidu’s rich political
experience is very essen-
tial for AP’s forward
march,” he said.
The JS-TD district-level
coordination meetings
held at erstwhile districts
including Nellore, Kur-
nool, Visakhpatnam and
Guntur on Tuesday passed
resolutions expressing
delight and great relief at
the release of Naidu on
interim bail and vowed to
fight together to make AP
free from the YSR Con-
gress yoke, in the upcom-
ing polls in the state.
CPI state secretary K.
Ramakrishna expressed
his relief at the release of
Naidu on interim bail and
wished him early recovery
from his ill-health.
NIJAM GELAVALI
YATRA CANCELLED
Visakhapatnam: TD chi-
ef Chandrababu Naidu’s
wife Nara Bhuvane-
swari’s ‘Nijam Gelavali’
yatra scheduled in Srik-
akulam and Vizianag-
aram districts from Nove-
mber 1 to 3 was cancelled.
Previously TD released a
schedule stating that Nara
Bhuvaneswari will addr-
ess public meetings in
Srikakulam district.
amount, “should get him-
self examined/treated at a
hospital of his choice at
his expense, should pro-
vide details about the
treatment given to him in
a sealed cover to the
superintendent of Central
Prison at the time of his
surrender and should not
directly or indirectly
make any inducement,
threat or promise to any
persons acquainted with
the facts of the case in
ways as to dissuade him
from disclosing such facts
to the court or any author-
ity.”
The court directed the
petitioner to surrender
himself before the super-
intendent of the central
prison on or before
November 28 at 5 pm.
Earlier, Naidu’s senior
POLL | PREPARATION
TD, JS to check land grabbing in Vizag
DC CORRESPONDENT
VISAKHAPATNAM, OCT. 31
Telugu Desam and Jana
Sena have combined their
forces to prevent land
grabbing in Visakhapat-
nam, apart from exposing
the large-scale corruption
in Greater Vizag Munic-
ipal Corporation (GVMC).
The two parties organ-
ised a coordination meet-
ing in the port city on
Tuesday. Top MLAs of TD
Velagapudi Ramakrishna
Babu, former minister
Ganta Srinivasa Rao,
P.V.G.R. Naidu and Nim-
mala Rama Naidu attend-
ed the meeting. Rama
Naidu is the observer from
TD chief thanks
people for support
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
Telugu Desam chief N.
Chandrababu Naidu con-
veyed his wholehearted
thanks to all Telugu peo-
ple worldwide for express-
ing their solidarity and
supporting him in the last
52 days of his imprison-
ment in the alleged AP
skill development scam.
Soon after coming out of
Central Prison in
Rajamahendravaram after
getting interim bail on
Tuesday, he said when he
had been put into trouble,
people from all walks of
life came out. They exte-
nded their support and
offered prayers for him. “I
will never forget the love
they have shown towards
me,” Chandrababu said.
He pointed out that peo-
ple from not only both
Telugu speaking states,
but from the country and
around the world had
shown their support by
taking to streets.
The TD chief observed
TD activists celebrate release of TD chief N. Chandra-
babu Naidu at the party office in Visakhapatnam on
Tuesday.
counsel argued that the
petitioner was a 73-year-
old individual in judicial
custody since September
10 and faced difficulties in
getting medical care dur-
ing his incarceration
resulting in rashes affect-
ing his chest, back, palms
etc. “The petitioner has
been under treatment for
diabetes mellitus for the
last 15 years and was
receiving consistent med-
ical care.”
Counsel informed the
court that the petitioner
was suffering from hyper-
trophic obstructive car-
diomyopathy for which a
cardiac evaluation was
done in December 2022. “A
medical report dated 21-
10-2023 recommended a
series of tests including
assessment of vital org-
ans like heart and lungs.”
Additional advocate gen-
eral Ponnavolu Sudhakar,
representing the AP CID,
argued that there was no
justifiable reason for
granting interim bail.
“The petitioner’s health
condition remained sta-
ble. His medical condi-
tions are not severe and
he is receiving necessary
medical care within the
prison premises. His
weight has increased from
66 kg to 67.5 kg. Hence, the
interim bail should be dis-
missed,” he proposed to
the court.
Two parties hold coordination meeting to chalk out strategy
Ganta Srinivasa Rao
TD. Jana Sena representa-
tives who attended the
meeting were former MLA
and Vizag Rural president
Panchakarla Ramesh
Babu, former minister
Padala Aruna, Visakha-
patnam Urban president
Kona Tatha Rao, P. Ushka
Kiran and Vijay Kumar.
Tatha Rao told DC that the
that the people recognised
and have responded to the
development he initiated.
He felt no other leader
would have experienced
such love and solidarity
from people.
Chandrababu thanked
every political party and
each leader who stood by
him. He extended special
thanks to Jana Sena chief
Pawan Kalyan for this
open and unwavering sup-
port. He also expressed his
gratitude to parties like
BJP, CPI, BRS and Con-
gress. He maintained that
he has not made any mis-
take in his 45-year-long
political career and vowed
to continue the same in
the future.
The TD chief said his
party leaders and activists
had fought courageously
in the last 52 days. He
expressed his thanks to
TD activists who took out
a cycle yatra from Srika-
kulam to Kuppam. He
extended thanks to IT pro-
fessionals in Hyderabad
for their support.
— P. NARASIMHA MURTHY
CELEBRATIONS
ERUPT AS HC
GRANTS BAIL TO
TD PRESIDENT
DC CORRESPONDENT
TIRUPATI, OCT. 31
Supporters of the Telu-
gu Desam (TD) and
admirers of Nara Chan-
drababu Naidu held cel-
ebrations in the erst-
while Chittoor and
Nellore districts after
the AP High Court
granted him four-weeks’
interim bail on health
grounds on Tuesday.
TD supporters took to
the streets to express
their joy. Led by TD’s
Tirupati constituency
incharge Sugunamma, a
huge rally passed
through the Town Club
Circle. There, the Nand-
amuri Taraka Rama
Rao’s (NTR) statue was
garlanded by the TD
men. They also per-
formed a milk ‘abhi-
shekam’ on the portrait
of Chandrababu Naidu.
Some TD supporters
broke coconuts at
Akilandam in Tirumala
and at Alipiri Padala
Mandapam in Tirupati,
offering their “thanks”
to Lord Venkateswara
Swamy. Some taxi
unions affiliated to the
TD burst crackers at var-
ious junctions in the
city. The celebrations at
Naidu's hometown of
Kuppam saw TD work-
ers distributing sweets.
meeting discussed how to
prevent looting of natural
resources by the ruling
YSRC and check infringe-
ment of democratic rights,
among others. “Our aim is
to free AP from YSRC.
With this agenda, both the
parties will be campaign-
ing from constituency to
village level,” Tata Rao
said. The two parties will
expose how the ruling
party is exploiting people
and land in the name of
executive capital. The JS
leader said further strate-
gies will be discussed after
their president Pawan
Kalyan returns from
abroad and Chandrababu
Naidu settles down.
pg 
Sajjala questions
TD leaders over
celebrations
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
YSRC general-secretary
Sajjala Ramakrishna
Reddy on Tuesday took
strong exception to cele-
brations by Telugu
Desam leaders and cadres
after the court granted
interim bail to former Sajjala Ramakrishna
chief minister Nara
Chandrababu Naidu in
Andhra Pradesh Skill
Chandrababu will have to
undergo his cataract
D e v e l o p m e n t
Corporation scam.
operation in 30 days and
surrender on November
Ramakrishna Reddy 28 by 5 pm. He pointed out
pointed out that Naidu that TD launching a prop-
has been granted condi- aganda that they have
tional bail by the court won the case is not right.
only on health grounds. Ramakrishna Reddy
The former CM is still said all kinds of tricks
answerable for all the had been played by TD
scam cases registered leaders and Naidu’s fami-
against Chandrababu, ly members about Cha-
including the skills scam. ndrababu’s health. They
The YSRC leader said showed his skin disease
the TD chief and other as fatal. In the process,
leaders are going about they exposed the diseases
tom tomming that truth Naidu has been suffering
has won, when in reality, from to the world
TD will vanish
after 2024 polls
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
Water resources minister
Ambati Rambabu on Tue-
sday sought to predict
that Telugu Desam Party
will vanish from Andhra
Pradesh after 2024 gener-
al elections.“TD is alre-
ady non-existent in neigh- Ambati Rambabu
bouring Telangana and is
not in the electoral fray him an interim bail for
there,” he pointed out. four weeks, so that he
Addressing media here, could undergo a cataract
Rambabu said TD has operation for his other
closed shop in Telangana. eye, which has been pend-
The same will happen in ing. Rambabu pointed out
AP too after the forthcom- that the High Court has
ing assembly elections, he clearly said that Naidu
remarked. should come back for
The minister refuted remand in jail within four
claims of TD leaders that weeks after the cataract
justice, righteousness and
truth has prevailed with
TD chief N. Chandrababu
Naidu’s release from jail.
operation. In this regard
he said earlier too, the
ACB court had provided
relief to TD chief air-con-
He underlined that the AP
High Court has granted
ditioner in prison due to
his ill health.
Will present Naidu in
people’s court: YSRC
DC CORRESPONDENT out that the court has nei-
KAKINADA, OCT. 31 ther absolved the former
CM in skill development
Rajamahendravaram MP scam nor declared him
and YSRC parliamentary innocent. Bharat under-
party chief M. Bharat lined that Naidu will have
Ram on Tuesday declared to return to jail after his
that YSRC will produce interim bail ends. He
former chief minister N. observed that the former
Chandrababu Naidu in chief minister had looted
people’s court for his people's money. That is
scams. the reason why the court
Speaking to media in remanded him in jail.
Rajamahendravaram on The MP underlined that
Tuesday, the MP said the Chandrababu Naidu is
AP High Court has only also involved in other sca-
granted interim bail to ms like Outer Ring Road,
Naidu on health grounds. Inner Ring Road, Amara-
Referring to celebrations vati lands, Fibre Net and
by TD leaders, he pointed liquor scam.
LAWYERS ON NAIDU’S SPEECH NEAR
PRISON AFTER INTERIM BAIL
DC CORRESPONDENT Jagannadha Swamy told
KAKINADA, OCT. 31 Deccan Chronicle that as
per the condition laid
Advocates have giving dif- down by the court,
ferent opinions on the Chandrababu Naidu
speech of former chief should not address meets
minister N. Chandrababu or media. However, the
Naidu after his release way the former Chief
from the Central Prison Minister spoke after com-
in Rajamahendravaram ing out of jail is surely a
on Tuesday.
A Kakinada advocate V.
violation of the court con-
ditions.
DESAM, JANA SENA LEADERS TO VISIT
DROUGHT-HIT AREAS IN KURNOOL
DC CORRESPONDENT icised the ruling party
KURNOOL, OCT. 31 saying it has been adopt-
ing anti-people policies
TD and JS leaders decided and practising vindictive
to together tour the politics in the state.
drought-affected areas of TD leaders K.E. Prab-
Kurnool district on hakar, Kalva Srinivasulu,
November 5. Coordination Kotla Sujathamma, T.G.
committee observer and Bharat, Meenakshi Naidu,
former Minister Kalva N.M.D. Farooq, Jagat
Srinivasulu said the com- Vikhyath Reddy,
mittee passed a resolution Dharmavaram Subba-
denouncing legal cases reddy, Erasu Pratap Reddy,
filed against TDP chief N. Gowru Venkat Reddy,
Chandrababu Naidu. Gowru Charitha Reddy,
Leaders of both Telugu K.E. Shyam Babu, P.
Desam and Jana Sena crit- Tikkareddy were present.
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | 1 NOVEMBER 2023
6+257
FOUNDATION DAY OF
TAKES
LADAKH, J&K AS
UTS CELEBRATED
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
Governor S. Abdul Nazeer cel-
ebrated the foundation day of
Ladakh and Jammu and
Kashmir as they became
Union Territories on October
31, 2019 under the ‘Ek Bharat
Shreshtha Bharat’ pro-
gramme at Durbar Hall in Raj
Bhavan on Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion, he
said that the ‘Ek Bharat
Shreshtha Bharat’ pro-
gramme aimed to forge strong
relationship and bonding
among all the people of the
country and to promote mutu-
al understanding between dif-
ferent states and UTs and
added that the people from
Ladakh preserved maintained
their rich tradition over the
centuries and they were
known for their hard work
and industrious nature. He
also said that Jammu and
Kashmir was rich in art, cul-
ture and history and added
that its archeological and his-
torical sites reflect the glori-
ous past and it was having stu-
pendous natural beauty.
MARIS STELLA
STUDENTS HARVEST
PADDY VARIETIES
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
Students of agriculture and
rural development depart-
ment in Maris Stella College
of Vijayawada on Tuesday
harvested Kujupatalia and
Chitti Muthyalu paddy vari-
eties that they had sown in
June 2023.
Department head Dr.
Lakshman Swamy said the
second and third year stu-
dents had grown these paddy
varieties using organic meth-
ods. These varieties have less
glucose and are helpful for
diabetes patients. They also
contain minerals like iron,
magnesium, calcium and folic
acid. Chitti Muthyalu takes
four months to grow while
Kujupatalia can be harvested
105 to 130 days after sowing.
5D\DJDGDWUDLQUDQDWNPSK
Standard speed protocol of 15 kmph ignored, when signals fail to function
K.M.P. PATNAIK | DC
VISAKHAPATNAM, OCT. 31
The ill-fated Rayagada
passenger train, which
rammed into the Palasa
passenger on Sunday
evening killing 13 and
injuring 32 passengers,
ran at a speed of 80 kmph
-- against the standard
speed protocol of 15
kmph when signals fail to
function.
As per the standard
practice, when a signal
shows red, the train has
to stop. It can run at a
speed of 15 kmph if the
signal is yellow. In this
case, the pilots main-
tained the 80 kmph speed
and never stopped.
When they realised that
a train was ahead on the
same track, they were
just 70 metres from the
tail of the Palasa passen-
ger train.
All the passenger trains
reach a speed up to 70
kmph depending on the
distance between two
stoppages.
“Moreover these two
trains were not fitted
with Kawach or Crew
Voice and Video recorder.
The Waltair division has
37 locomotive engines
and some of them were
fitted with CVVRs,’’ the
sources said.
A retired technical offi-
cer of Indian Railways
said the trains run on
automatic signal systems
and on the Absolute
Block System placed in
many places. When a
train arrives at a station,
a green signal would be
given to the train waiting
in the previous station.
The signal posts are also
set up between two sta-
tions. After a train cross-
es this signal, the one
behind this train would
be given a green signal.
This system is in place
between Kiothavalasa
and Vizianagaram sta-
tions.
“The pilot has to be
alert when he sees a yel-
low signal. Four types of
signals are shown. One
has to stop at the red sig-
C1.7 CR EX GRATIA
GIVEN TO RAIL
ACCIDENT VICTIMS
Nara Bhuvaneshwari, wife of TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, visited the critically
injured victims of the Kantakapalli train accident at the Vizianagaram Government
General Sarvajana Hospital on Tuesday. She inquired about the well-being of the
victims and distributed fruits and bread to them.
Open inquiry on Nov. 1, 2
DC CORRESPONDENT
VISAKHAPATNAM, OCT. 31
Commissioner of railway
safety Pranjeev Saxena,
who arrived here on
Monday evening, is
inquiring into all aspects
of the accident that took
place between Alamanda
and Kantakapalli stations
in Vizianagaram district
under Waltair division of
East Coast Railway on
Sunday.
The accident was
caused when the
Rayagada passenger
rammed into the tail end
of the Palasa passenger,
killing 13 passengers and
injuring 32 persons. Of
them, 22 were still under-
going treatment at the
Vizianagaram GGH and
nal, pass through the
green signal and be alert
if the signal shows yel-
low. It might turn into red
or green. Under this con-
dition, the train has to
move at a speed of 10-15
kmph. If there are two
yellow signals, it indi-
cates the next signal
would be red and the pilot
has to regulate the
speed.” In this accident,
the Palasa passenger
other hospitals.
Talking to Deccan
Chronicle, divisional rail-
way manager Saurab
Prasad said the commis-
sioner visited the acci-
dent site, examined the
condition of the damaged
coaches, signal visibility,
signal relay rooms and
visited the GGH in
Vizianagaram to interact
with the injured persons.
On Tuesday, the com-
missioner visited the
crew lobby, data logger
centre and signal fault
control room. He spent
the entire day checking
the simulated signaling
system in the divisional
office in Visakhapatnam,
the DRM said.
“An open inquiry will be
conducted on November 1
pilot slowed down after
seeing a yellow signal and
it later stopped.
The officials are prob-
ing whether there was a
green signal due to tech-
nical fault or the pilots
failed to see two yellow
signals.
Another source said the
Rayagada train pilot
failed to respond to
Kantakapalli station mas-
ter’s alert through the
— BY ARRANGEMENT
and November 2 from 11
am to 6 pm. Notices were
issued to the witnesses to
attend the inquiry,’’ the
DRM said.
He said the commission-
er also collected photos,
videos of the accident site
and the relief work that
was undertaken immedi-
ately after the accident.
From the railways, two
doctors were sent to the
Vizianagaram hospital as
also a commercial officer
and a personal officer.
The DRM put the final
toll at 13, grievous
injuries at 14 and simple
injuries at 16. Two
injured were discharged
after the first aid. Of the
injured, eight underwent
orthopedic surgery and 22
general surgery.
VHS system. Two signals
between Alamanda and
Kantakapalli did not
function on Sunday and
the station master was
alerting all the pilots.
The pilots of Palasa
stopped the train follow-
ing the station master’s
alert. “It is not known
why these Rayagada pas-
senger pilots failed to
get/notice the alert,’’ rail-
way sources said.
pg 
DC CORRESPONDENT
VISAKHAPATNAM, OCT. 31
Zilla Parishad chairman
Majji Srinivasa Rao and
Vizianagaram collector S.
Nagamani distributed
`1.72 crore to the victims
of Kantakapalli railway
accident, at the govern-
ment general hospital on
Tuesday.
The two visited the
patients and told them
that they were giving
cheques to them on the
directions of Chief Mini-
ster Y.S. Jagan Mohan
Reddy, who announced
the ex gratia and compen-
sation on the day of the
accident.
The collector told the
patients that the entire
treatment would be free
as per instructions from
the CM. Initially the CM
announced `2 lakh for
each of the injured. After
interacting with the vic-
tim and observing their
plight, the injured were
categorised and
amount of compensation
the
was enhanced. He said
the families of the decea-
sed would be given
`10lakh and those who
suffered permanent dis-
ability would also be giv-
en `10 lakh each. Those
discharged within a
month would be given `2
lakh; and a sum of `5
lakh for those who were
hospitalised beyond one
month. Based on these
categories, the district
administration identified
three persons for `10
lakh, two for `5 lakh and
11 for award of `2 lakh
payments. The chairman
said an amount of `1.3
crore was deposited
directly into the accounts
of 13 families of the
deceased. A sum of `30
lakh would be given to
those availing treatment
in other hospitals.
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | 1 NOVEMBER 2023
ASTROGUIDE
Shobhakrut; Dakshinayana
Tithi: Ashwayuja Bahula Chavithi till
9.24 pm
Star: Mrigasira till 4.36 am
(Thursday)
Varjyam: 9.43 am to 11.21 am
Durmuhurtam: 11.37 am to
12.22 pm
Rahukalam: 12 noon to 1.30 pm
HIJRI CALENDAR
Rabbi us Saani 16,1445H
PRAYERS (SHAHI MASJID)
Fajar: 5.35 am
Zohar: 1.30 pm
Asar: 4.30 pm
Maghrib: 5.40 pm
Isha: 8.30 pm
SUNRISE TOMORROW 06.04 AM
SUNSET TODAY 17.37 PM
MOONRISE 20.33 AM
MOONSET 10.16 PM
COUNTER POINT
6+257 TAKES
REPEAT OFFENDER
DASTAGIRI HELD
FOR ABDUCTION
DC CORRESPONDENT
ANANTAPUR, OCT. 31
Yerraguntla police of Kadapa
district on Tuesday detained
Sheik Dastagiri, approver in
former MP Y.S. Vivekananda
Reddy’s murder case.
Police said there are allega-
tions that he abducted a
woman who entered a love
marriage a few days ago.
Dastagiri reportedly took
away the bride in his car
forcibly from Erraguntla man-
dal headquarters, where she
got married against the wish-
es of her family. Yerraguntla
police said a case has been reg-
istered against Dastagiri after
her newly married husband
lodged a complaint.
It may be noted that
Dastagiri has been working
against YSRC leaders in
Kadapa district, particularly
Pulivendula, after he turned
the approver in the sensation-
al Vivekananda Reddy murder
case. A few weeks ago,
Dastagiri had been in news for
allegedly torturing a minor
after his family failed to repay
a hand loan. There have been
rumours that Dastagiri is act-
ing emboldened following the
support he has from CBI after
he turned the approver.
VMC COUNCIL
MEETING MARRED
BY ARGUMENTS
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
The council meeting of the
Vijayawada Municipal
Corporation (VMC) chaired
by Mayor Bhagya Lakshmi,
on Tuesday was marred by
heated arguments between
the ruling YSRC and the oppo-
sition Telugu Desam and CPM
members.
Many corporators, includ-
ing from TD, raised the issues
of sanitation. They com-
plained that sanitation work-
ers didn't visit their areas reg-
ularly.
VMC Commissioner
Swapnil Pundkar said they
were mulling to replace 150
sanitation workers and that
municipal part-time workers
were striving hard to clean
the city.
Central MLA of the YSRC,
Malladi Vishnu, suggested the
commissioner to transfer or
allocate the work to the sani-
tation workers in nearby
places, as many of them have
been coming from Ajithsingh
Nagar and other areas. The
commissioner and mayor said
they would consider these
issues.
The commissioner present-
ed the issue of the develop-
ment of Gandhi Hill before
the council for a discussion
and approval of the proposals.
“We are developing Gandhi
Hill by spending over `2 crore
of the corporation’s general
funds. Gandhi Hill can be
developed under PPP mode. If
the council gives its nod for
this, the proposal will be sent
to the district committee’s
consideration.
The district collector, VMC
commissioner and VMC CE
are members of the panel.
After the nod from the com-
mittee, the proposal shall go
to the state government for
final nod,” he said.
6LULPDQRWVDYDPIHWH Panel suggests Rushikonda
HQGVRQDJUDQGQRWH resorts for CM camp office
Over 2.5 lakh devotees witnessed the annual festival
ARUNA | DC
VISAKHAPATNAM OCT. 31
North Andhra's most-
worshiped and
Vizianagaram’s famous
event, the Goddess Sri
Paidithalli Ammavari
Sirimanotsavam, was
held with great fervour
on Tuesday. Over 2.5 lakh
devotees witnessed the
Sirimanotsavam.
Education minister
Botsa Satyanarayana vis-
ited the temple along
with his family. Temple
officials and priests wel-
comed him. After special
pujas, the minister and
his wife presented silk
robes to the goddess on
behalf of the state gov-
ernment.
The minister said, “I
pray that the goddess’
blessings are with the
people.”
Compared to the last
three years, the turnout
was huge this time. Pilg-
rims came from near and
far to participate in the
festival. On behalf of the
presiding deity, the tem-
ple’s hereditary priest
Bantupalli Venkata Rao
Rain deficit hits drinking
water, agriculture in state
NAGABHUSHANAM
HOSKOTE | DC
ANANTAPUR, OCT. 31
A deficit in rainfall even
during the peak rainy
season of the Dasara fes-
tival had an adverse
impact on agriculture
and drinking water
sources across the state.
The abnormal rise in
temperatures continued
in many parts of AP,
resembling a hot sum-
mer even during the nor-
mal season with cold cli-
matic conditions.
Despite the predictions
of rain on Garudotsham
in Tirumala, there were
no showers a week ago
during the holy brah-
motsavalu of Lord
Venkateswara Swamy.
“There has been senti-
ment that showers
would occur at least on
the Garudotsavam day
and also heavy rains
during the rest of the
period. But, climatic
conditions were entirely
different ever since the
South West Monsoon
failed at its initial stage.
This badly affected the
inflows to the Krishna
basin from the Western
Ghats, as also to the TB
dam, the Almatti dam
Karthika Deepotsavams
in AP from Nov. 20: TTD
AVINASH
P. SUBRAMANYAM | DC
TIRUPATI, OCT. 31
The Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanams (TTD)
announced on Tuesday
that it will organise a
series of Karthika Deep-
otsavams across Andhra
Pradesh, beginning on
November 20, as part of
its Hindu Santana Dhar-
ma Prachara activities .
Karthika Masam is
one of the holiest
months in the Hindu cal-
endar, symbolizing devo-
tion, spirituality, and
RELIGIOUS | TOURISM
C375 cr budget to beautify Srisailam, Durga temples
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
Deputy chief minister and
minister for endowments
Kottu Satyanarayana has
said many decisions have
been taken for transparen-
cy in tenders for works of
his department.
Speaking to the media
after a review meeting
with the officials on
Tuesday, he said large-
scale contract works were
being done under the
Endowments department.
Many steps have been
taken to improve the qual-
ity of the contract works,
Head priest of Pyditalliamma Temple, Bantupalli Venkatarao Rao sits on a
Sirimanu (wooden log) and paraded in the streets of Vizianagaram during
Sirimanotsavam as part of Annual Pyditalliamma Jatara on Tuesday.
blessed the devotees from
atop the Sirimanu, the
long trunk of a tamarind
tree identified for the spe-
cial privilege this year.
Sri Paidithalli's Amm-
avaaru walked along
with traditional Palad-
hara, the Anjali Radham
(replica of a white ele-
phant) and the fisher-
men’s net (bestavari
vala). The Sirimanu
made three rounds
● METEOROLOGICAL
department said temper-
atures were at 38
degrees in many parts of
the state.
towards Srisailam reser-
voir in Nandyal district,
which are the main
source of irrigation and
drinking water for the
Rayalaseema region and
Telangana state.
The Meteorological
department said temper-
atures were at 38 degrees
in many parts of the
state.
Already, the reservoirs
of Tungabhadra, an
interstate project of
Karnataka and AP and a
part of Telangana, had a
deficit of water in its
sources for three
months. The TB board
was unable to lift all its
crest gates for celebra-
tion of Independence
Day.
The dam authorities
have announced the
stoppage of inflows from
the dam in the Novem-
ber first week. Leaders
from the tail end parts of
Tadipathri and also
dependent areas like
Hindupur, Madakasira
and Rayadurg were
● THE KARTHIKA
Masotsavam will be
held at the Srisailam
temple from November
14 to December 12.
deep introspection. It is
traditionally observed
with a variety of rituals,
including the lighting of
lamps, or “deepas,” to
dispel darkness and
spread the light of
knowledge and wisdom.
In keeping with these
traditions, the TTD has
decided to hold
Karthika Deepotsavams
in multiple locations to
Committee will be set up to determine rates of main ingredients of prasadams: Satyanarayana
he claimed.
He said a decision has
been taken to set up an
accounts department in
the commissionerate
office to avoid delay in pay-
ments. Henceforth, pay-
ments will be made
through this accounts
department for all the con-
tract works across the
state.
Satyanarayana said a
Hindu Dharma Prachara
programme is on for the
last few months. In addi-
tion to monthly festivals in
major temples, weekly fes-
tivals are being organised
in 6(a) temples in
around the temple on its
way to the historic fort.
Although ‘Sirimanu’
started its journey from 4
pm and it continued up to
5.40 pm. The crowds
began swelling from 3 pm
onwards.
Large crowds witnessed
the festival at the temple.
IT and industries minis-
ter Gudivada Amarnath,
deputy speaker Kolagatla
Veerabhadraswamy, MLC
demanding release of
additional quota to meet
the region’s drinking
water needs.
Former MP, J.C.
Diwakar Reddy,
observed that the gov-
ernment should inter-
vene and release water
to meet the needs of the
tail end areas. PABR has
only 2.24 tmc-ft of water
as against 11tmc-ft,
including distribution,
to connect the drinking
water projects of
Anantapur city, the Sri
Rami Reddy Water proj-
ect of Madakasira and
Hindupur areas.
The Srisailam dam was
still without inflows into
the dam and the water
level was at 31 per cent
level with 68.4 tmc-ft and
a gross capacity of
215.81 frl on Tuesday.
The outflows were being
released with 4823
cusecs from the reser-
voir.
Scientists say the
impact of the failure of
the South West Monsoon
and of lack of rains dur-
ing the rainy season on
the temperatures in the
region was heavy, and
standing crops have
been withering at sever-
al stages.
enhance the spiritual
fervour among
devotees.
TTD executive officer
A.V. Dharma Reddy
informed that the first
Deepotsavam program
will be held in Tirupati
on November 20, fol-
lowed by Kurnool on
November 27 and Vizag
on December 4.
The decision to hold
Karthika Deepotsavams
in multiple locations is
aimed at enabling devo-
tees from different regi-
ons to participate in this
sacred observance.
● THE DEVELOPMENT
works of Simhachalam and
Dwaraka Tirumala temples
Kottu Satyanarayana will be taken up soon.
Uttarandhra and
Rayalaseema areas.
Next week, a Dharma
Prachara programme will
be arranged in the
Godavari districts.
Suresh Babu, MLAs S.V.
Chinappala Naidu, Botsa
Appalanarasiah, Kamb-
ala Jogulu and officials
witnessed the festival.
At Srimanotsavam, the
All-India DWCRA Bazaar
at Ambedkar Junction,
Tank Bund Road, with its
250 stalls was a major
attraction. Products from
all over the country were
on display at this exhibi-
tion.
NORTHEAST
MONSOON TO BE
NORMAL: AGENCY
K.M.P. PATNAIK | DC
VISAKHAPATNAM, OCT. 31
National Weather Ser-
vice has predicted that
the northeast monsoon
this year will be normal.
The monsoon is forecast
to be 88 per cent to 112
per cent of long period
average for the three-
month-long season from
October to December.
The season has, howev-
er, not had a promising
start. All sub-divisions
of southern peninsula
other than Kerala fared
poorly in October, said
private weather website
Skymet. The winter mo-
nsoon started on Oct-
ober 21 on a dull note.
Skymet said based on
data from 1970 to 2020,
LPA of northeast mon-
soon rainfall for south
peninsular India is
334.13 mm. The five sub-
divisions put together
have received about 30
per cent of the annual
rainfall during this sea-
son.
Northeast monsoon is
the lifeline for Tamil
Nadu and Puducherry.
This meteorological sub-
division receives about
48 per cent of annual
rainfall during October
to December. Individual
sub-divisional normal
rainfall for the season is
Tamil Nadu 449.6 mm,
Kerala 491.6 mm, coastal
Andhra Pradesh 338.1
mm, Rayalaseema 223.3
mm and south Interior
Karnataka 204.1 mm.
The website said Oct-
ober month has closed
on a large deficit note. It
recorded a total rainfall
of 51 mm against the
monthly normal of 75.4
mm. This is the lowest
rainfall of October in
the last five years. Poor
performance is largely
attributed to the depr-
essed start of northeast
monsoon which had a
timely onset on October
21. During the last 24
hours, Lakkirerddipalli
in Annamaya district
received 32 mm of rain,
followed by Nellore 29.6
mm and Rapur (SPSR
Nellore) 21.6 mm, IMD
Amaravati said.
● DEPUTY CHIEF minister
said that the decision has
been taken to set up an
accounts department in
the commissionerate office
to avoid delay in pay-
ments.
The minister said many
programmes have been
undertaken with crores of
rupees for the develop-
ment of temples across the
state. The development
MD ILYAS | DC
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
The committee that Andhra
Pradesh government appoi-
nted to identify suitable
transit accommodation,
including a camp office for
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan
Mohan Reddy and accom-
modation for senior func-
tionaries in Visakhapat-
nam, has recommended
that the newly constructed
tourism resorts on Rushi-
konda hill could be used as
CM’s camp office in Vizag.
At a meeting in the
Tadepalli camp office late
on Tuesday, the committee
revealed that five buildings
have been identified for the
Chief Minister’s camp
office and accommodation.
They are Andhra Unive-
rsity Distance Education,
Open University Blocks,
VMRDA Buildings in
Siripuram and Millennium
A and Millennium B tow-
ers, apart from tourism
resorts in Rushikonda.
The committee consid-
ered all aspects of the CM's
camp office, accommoda-
tion, adequate rooms for
meetings with officials and
Jagan to address
gathering after
YSR award event
FROM PAGE 1
Government adviser (public
affairs) Sajjala Ramakri-
shna Reddy, national media
adviser Devulapalli Amar,
adviser (communications)
G.V.D. Krishna Mohan,
Chief Minister’s political
secretary Muthyala Raju, I
and PR commissioner
Vijayakumar Reddy and
principal secretaries of var-
ious departments were
members of the screening
committee.
Information and PR com-
missioner Vijayakumar
Reddy said the Chief
Minister would address the
gathering.
The following is the list of
individuals and institutions
selected for the prestigious
awards:
Agriculture:
1. Pangi Vineeta
(Achievement award)
2. Y.V. Malla Reddy
(Anantapur district)
Arts and Culture:
1. Yadla Gopala Rao, Stage
artiste (Srikakulam dis-
trict)
2. Talisetti Mohan,
Kalamkari (Tirupati dis-
trict)
3. Kota Sachidananda
Sastry, Harikatha (Bapatla
district)
4. Kona Sanyasi,
Tappetagullu (Srikakulam
district)
5. Uppada Handloom
Weavers’ Cooperative
Society (Kakinada)
6. SV Rama Rao, painting
(Krishna district)
7. Ravu Bala Saraswati,
playback singer (Nellore
district)
NANDYAL SP LAUNCHES RUN FOR UNITY
ON VALLABHBHAI PATEL’S BIRTH ANNIV.
DC CORRESPONDENT
KURNOOL, OCT. 31
Nandyal Superintendent of
Police K. Raghuveer Reddy
launched the Run for Unity
event at SPG School in
Nandyal town on Tuesday to
commemorate Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel’s birth
anniversary. The run passed
through Y Junction, the
municipal office, Padmavati
Nagar, and ended at the
works of the Sri
Durgamalleswara Swamy
Temple in Vijayawada at
an estimated cost of `225
crore, the Sri Bramara-
mbika Mallikarjuna Swa-
my Temple in Srisailam at
`150 crore, as also works
on Kanipakam, Srikalah-
asti and Annavaram tem-
ples have already been
undertaken.
Similarly, the develop-
ment works of
Simhachalam and
Dwaraka Tirumala tem-
ples will be taken up soon.
For this, tenders have been
called and a state-level
committee under the
● THE COMMITTEE under-
lined that various govern-
ment departments and
offices are already spread
over 2,27,287 square feet in
Visakhapatnam.
facilities for security per-
sonnel. Further, it should
not cause traffic inconven-
ience or affect citizens' safe-
ty.
In view of the traffic, uni-
versity buildings have not
been considered, as that
could disturb the academic
activities of the university.
Officials said there is a
large amount of traffic in
the VMRDA area, with
many business establish-
ments around. This could
pose issues related to secu-
rity. Moreover, there is no
proper accommodation
available nearby. Some
companies are already run-
ning in one of the
Millennium Towers. The
second tower is also suit-
able for offices, but cannot
be a residential accommo-
dation for the CM.
Thus, the officials nar-
rowed down on buildings
built for resorts at the
Rushikonda as being most
8. Tallavajjhula Sivaji,
journalist and writer
(Prakasam district)
9. Chingicherla Krishna
Reddy, folk arts
(Anantapuram district)
10. Kali Sahebi Mahboob
and Shaik Mahaboob
Subani, Nadaswaram (
Prakasam district).
Telugu language and lit-
erature:
1. Prof. Bethatvolu
Ramabrahmam (West
Godavari district)
2. Khadir Babu (Nellore
district) Achievement
Award
3. Mahaojabeen (Nellore
district) Achievement
Award
4. Namini Subrahmanyam
Naidu (Chittoor district)
5. Attada Appalanaidu
(Srikakulam district).
Sports:
1. Pullela Gopichand
(Guntur district)
2. Karanam Malleswari
(Srikakulam district)
Medical and Health:
1. Indla Ramasubba Reddy,
Psychiatrist (NTR district).
2. EC Vinay Kumar Reddy,
ENT specialist, (YSR dis-
trict).
Media:
1. Govindaraju
Chakradhar (Krishna dis-
trict)
2. HRK (Kurnool district)
Social Service:
1. Bejawada Wilson (NTR
district)
2. Syam Mohan
(Ambedkar Kona seema dis-
trict) Achievement Award
3. Nirmal Hriday Bhavan
(NTR district)
4. G. Samaram (NTR dis-
trict).
Market Yard, where floral
tributes were paid to Patel's
portrait.
SP Reddy highlighted the
importance of Patel's con-
tributions to the nation, not-
ing that the iconic statue of
Patel in Gujarat stands as a
testament to his legacy.
Additional SP (administra-
tion) G. Venkataramudu
administered a pledge to
observe Ekta Diwas
(National Unity Day).
chairmanship of the
Commissioner of
Endowments is being
formed to ensure and
finalize these tenders.
Development works are
done in a very transparent
manner, he claimed.
A state level tender com-
mittee is also being set up
to determine the rates of
the main ingredients of
the Prasadams. “We are
entering into an agree-
ment with the approved
lab NABL in this respect,”
he said.
The minister stated that
the Srivani Trust is carry-
ing out construction
pg 
suitable for the CM's camp
office. Officials said the
location of these buildings
will not disturb citizens.
There would be no prob-
lems of traffic. The area
has sufficient parking,
office and accommodation
space for CM’s secretaries
as well as security person-
nel. The helipad set up by
the previous government is
also nearby.
The committee under-
lined that various govern-
ment departments and
offices are already spread
over 2,27,287 square feet in
Visakhapatnam. Necessary
camp offices for senior offi-
cers can be set up among
them. Rest of the officers
can have their offices in the
available 1,75,516 feet area
in the Millennium Tower
on IT Hill.
Incidentally, the commit-
tee has identified some pri-
vate buildings for some offi-
cials and their offices,
totalling to 3,98,600 square
feet. Further, 8,01,403
square feet is available in
government and private
buildings for accommodat-
ing senior government offi-
cials.
VOTER LIST: YSRC
ALERTS CADRE
OVER CHANGES
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, OCT. 31
YSRC general-secretary
Sajjala Ramakrishna
Reddy has asked the
YSRC rank and file to be
alert about the changes
in the voters list at the
time of the next assem-
bly elections.
A workshop was held
for YSRC leaders from
175 constituencies rega-
rding the voters list in
Tadepalli on Tuesday.
The event started with
the garlanding of a stat-
ue of the former chief
minister late Y.S.
Rajasekhara Reddy.
Ramakrishna Reddy
said that the coming
four months were cru-
cial vis-à-vis the voters
list. The party rank and
file should pay special
attention to the list in
each constituency.
He said a special mech-
anism was working in
the central office of the
party to coordinate mat-
ters. “Monitor the voters
list from the polling
booth level,” he said.
The adviser said party
workers in every polling
booth must study the
recent changes and
additions in the respec-
tive lists. “Work in such
a way that every eligible
person can get the
right to vote in the
respective polling
booths. JCS coordina-
tors, housekeepers and
polling booth committee
members should cooper-
ate and work in coordi-
nation, he said.
“It is the responsibility
of the party machinery
to bring voters to the
polling booth and make
them vote as per their
wish.”
He noted that the
Telugu Desam has been
spreading “misinforma-
tion” that manipula-
tions have taken place in
the voters list and that
the YSRC was removing
names of voters from
the lists on a large scale.
He asked the YSRC rank
and file to be alert
against the “conspira-
cies” of the Telugu Des-
am leaders and against
the green media creat-
ing confusion among the
people through false
propaganda.
works of 3000 new temples
at an estimated cost of
`300 crore. Renovation
works of many temples
are being carried out at an
estimated cost of `500
crore.
“However, many prob-
lems are being faced due to
the lack of engineering
staff required for the con-
structions. A set of assis-
tant engineers, supervi-
sors, technical assistants,
draftsmen, inspectors and
deputy inspectors
will be appointed on out-
sourcing basis through the
engineering colleges,” he
said.
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | 1 NOVEMBER 2023
pg 

Can’t attribute alerts to MP: Cong. refuses to

CHANGE OF NAME
I, M MARY RATNA KUMARI is legally wedded
Congress vs. I.N.D.I.A. in 92 out of 230 seats
spouse of Ex-1357758Y, Rank: Sepoy,
Name: KARUMANCHI PREMA KUMAR of
THE MEG Records, resident of H.No.11-4-78,

specific attacker: Apple tie-up with I.N.D.I.A

Donka Road, Chenchupeta, S N Puram,Tenali,
Guntur District, A.P - 522202, have changed
my name from M MARY RATNA KUMARI
to MARY RATNA KUMARI KARUMANCHI
vide affidavit dated 31-10-2023 before the Notary.
Henceforth I will be called as MARY RATNA
KUMARI KARUMANCHI for all purposes.

CHANGE IN DATE OF BIRTH Says some alerts may be false, attacks may not be detected
I, JAREENA BEGUM am legally wedded spouse of
ESM No.6925362N, Rank: HAV, Name: ABDUL New Delhi, Oct. 31:
RAJAK, resident of D.No.12-28, Chakalipet, Vill & Post: iPhone-maker Apple Inc
Kanagala, Teh & Mandal: Cherukupalli, Dist: Bapatla, on Tuesday said it does
State: Andhra Pradesh, PIN: 522259. My date of birth
was erroneously mentioned in my husband’s service not attribute threat notifi-
cations, such as the ones
records as 20th May 1977 instead of 15th Feb 1980.
received by some MPs
Hence I declares that my date of birth is 15th Feb 1980
vide affidavit dated 31-10-2023 before the Notary. belonging to Opposition
parties, to any specific
CHANGE OF NAME state-sponsored attackers
and that it cannot provide
I, ALAHARI SHESHU BABU (Old Name)
information on what caus-
S/o. Laxmanachary, House No. 3-11,
es such warnings.
Ramalayam Street, Near Ramalayam,
After some of the most
East Yadavalli, Kamavarapukota
Mandalam, Dwarakatirumala, Eluru, vocal critics of the govern-
A.P., have changed my name as ment said they received
warnings that attempts
ALAHARI SHESHACHARYULU
(New Name). Shall Henceforth have been made by state-
my name will be known as sponsored attackers to
steal information from
ALAHARI SHESHACHARYULU.
This is for kind information of all concerned their iPhones, Apple in a
vide affidavit No.7229, dt. 5th Sep 2023. statement stated it is pos-
sible that some threat
notifications may be false
alarms and some attacks
may not be detected.
“Apple does not attribute
the threat notifications to
any specific state-spon-
sored attacker,” the firm
said.
State-sponsored attack-
ers, it said, are “very well-
funded and sophisticated,
and their attacks evolve
over time”.
“Detecting such attacks
relies on threat intelli-
gence signals that are
often imperfect
incomplete. It's possible
that some Apple threat
and
notifications may be false
alarms, or that some
attacks are not detected,”
it said.
It, however, refused to
Vaishnaw slams Oppn, calls
say what triggered warn-
ings received by MPs, such
as Mahua Moitra of
TMC.
them compulsive critics
RABINDRA NATH
CHOUDHURY | DC
POLITICAL DYNAMICS AHEAD OF POLLS
APPLE ALERT SPARKS SECURITY CONCERNS BHOPAL, OCT. 31 ● Rajasthan
“Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who
Cong. appoints 7
The email With Congress shying in-charges and 3
titled are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your away from sharing seats
Apple ID. These attackers are likely targeting you individually because with its I.N.D.I.A. bloc
coordinators for
“ALERT:
State- of who you are or what you do. If your device is compromised by a allies in Madhya Pradesh the promotion of its
sponsored state-sponsored attacker, they may be able to remotely access your in the November 17 seven guarantees.
sensitive data, communications, or even the camera and microphone.
attackers
While it’s possible this is a false alarm, please take this warning seriously
assembly seats, the party
is poised to lock horns
● Congress leader Union home minister Amit Shah
may be Sachin Pilot files and President Droupadi Murmu
targeting with them in 92 out of 230
your
Similar “threat notifications” being sent to people in over 150 countries by Apple. seats. his nomination for after paying homage to Sardar
iPhone” PEOPLE WHO The I.N.D.I.A. bloc con- the upcoming polls Vallabhbhai in New Delhi. — PTI
This is an assault on from Tonk
RECEIVED MAIL INCLUDE: democratic rights stituents — Aam Aadmi MADHYA PRADESH
guaranteed by the Party (AAP), Samajwadi Assembly 3,832
Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor, Pawan Party (SP) and JD (U)-, constituency. candidates Elections
Constitution and is a part
Khera, K.C. Venugopal, Supriya Shrinate and of destruction of have decided to go it alone file the nominations on Nov. 7
● Unaccounted
T.S. Singhdeo; Trinamul Congress MP Mahua democracy. — Sitaram Yechury, in the ensuing assembly for 230 seats. and 17
Moitra, CPM general secretary Sitaram polls in Madhya Pradesh cash, illicit liquor
CPM general secretary and valuables CHHATTISGARH
Yechury and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh after Congress spurned
Yadav. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Received from an their offer for poll tie-up worth more than 1,219 candidates
Apple ID, threat- with them. C38.34 crore seized candidates Elections
Chaturvedi, Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav While AAP fielded its on:
Chadha, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi
notifications@apple.com, by officials in file the nominations
which I have verified. candidates in 70 seats, SP Chhattisgarh. for 70 seats. Nov. 17
and some aides of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi Authenticity confirmed. and JD (U) declared their
receive the notification. Glad to keep underem- nominees for 43 seats and
ployed officials busy at the expenses 10 seats respectively.
Jai-Veeru duo was called to Delhi. As
The BJP rejects the allegations against the Significantly, seven out newspapers reported, they (Congress leaders)
of taxpayers like me! Nothing more
government calls them “baseless and false” important to do? — Shashi Tharoor of the 92 seats were won are saying that the BJP is creating confusion (about
and said it is for Apple to clarify the alerts it Congress leader by Congress in 2018 differences between Nath and Singh). Why has Delhi
has sent to people, including opposition assembly elections by a (Congress leadership) called them?” “Jai and Veeru
leaders, about “state-sponsored attackers In light of such margin between 121 votes- are fighting between themselves over the ‘loot ka
trying to remotely compromise” their iPhones. information and 1234 votes. maal” (plundered booty).
widespread speculation, Interestingly, Congress — Shivraj Singh Chouhan,
TMC MP Mahua Moitra to wrote to Lok Sabha we have also asked Apple had secured 114 seats, two Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister
Speaker Om Birla requesting him to follow Raj to join the investigation short of majority, in the
Dharma to protect opposition MPs over the with real, accurate information on the 2018 assembly elections,
purported warning by Apple of state- alleged state-sponsored attacks. forcing the party to form
sponsored attackers trying to remotely
compromise her iPhone.
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar,
Union Minister
government in the state
with the help of two
Bahujan Samaj Party
Cong. goes all out to
unite Kamal, Diggy
(BSP) MLAs, one SP legis-
lator and four independ-
ents.
The Kamal Nath govern-
ment however could last DC CORRESPONDENT connection with the
barely 15 months after 22
Congress MLAs resigned
from the party and joined
BJP in March 2020, paving
BHOPAL, OCT. 31

“We are unable to pro-
vide information about
what causes us to issue
threat notifications, as
that may help state-spon-
sored attackers adapt
their behaviour to evade
detection in the future,”
Apple said. Meanwhile,
sources privy to the devel-
opment said Apple has
sent threat notifications to
individuals whose
accounts are in nearly 150
countries.
Several opposition lead-
ers on Tuesday claimed
they had received an alert
from Apple warning them
of “state-sponsored
attackers trying to remote-
ly compromise” their
iPhones and posted pur-
ported screenshots of the
message on their X han-
dles. — PTI
FROM PAGE 1
“If your device is compro-
mised by a state-sponsored
attacker, they may be able
to remotely access your se-
nsitive data, communica-
tions or even the camera
and microphone. While
it’s possible this is a false
alarm, please take this wa-
rning seriously.”
Amid allegations, Vaish-
naw attacked the Opposi-
tion, saying there are
“compulsive critics” who
have a habit of criticising
the government all the
time. “We are concerned
by the statements we have
seen in the media from
some MPs as well as oth-
ers about a notification
received by them from
Apple. The notification
received by them as per
media reports mentions
‘state-sponsored attacks’
on their devices.
However, much of the
information provided by
Apple on this issue seems
vague and non-specific in
nature. Apple states these
notifications may be based
on information that is
‘incomplete or imperfect’.
It also states that some
Apple threat notifications,
maybe false alarms or
some attacks are not
detected,” said Vaishnaw.
The minister added,
“Apple has also claimed
that Apple IDs are secure-
ly encrypted on devices,
making it extremely diffi-
cult to access or identify
them without the user’s
explicit permission.
This encryption safe-
guards the user’s Apple ID
and ensures that it
remains private and pro-
tected. The government of
Bharat takes its role of
protecting the privacy and
security of all citizens
very seriously and will
investigate to get to the
bottom of these notifica-
tions. In light of such
information and wide-
spread speculation, we
have also asked Apple to
join the investigation with
real, accurate information
on the alleged state-spon-
sored attacks.”
Minister of state elec-
tronics and technology
Rajeev Chandrashekhar
said Union commerce
minister Piyush Goyal too
has got such a message.
“Saran has nothing to do
with the government,”
Chandrashekhar said.
way for BJP to return to
power in the state.
The seats which were
won by Congress by less
than 1,240 votes in the 2018
assembly elections were
Gwalior (South) (121 vot-
es), Jabalpur (North) (578
votes), Damoh (798 votes),
Rajnagar (732 votes),
Chandla (1,177 votes),
Nagod (1,234 votes), and
Indore-five (1,133 votes).
Another seat, Gunnur,
was also won by the party
by a narrow margin of
1,984 votes then.
MoS BOOKED
FOR DIVISIVE
REMARKS
Kochi, Oct 31: A case
Amid reports of an
alleged conflict over ticket
distribution in Congress
between Kamal Nath and
Digvijay Singh for the
upcoming polls, the AICC
leadership held discus-
sions with the two leaders
in Delhi on Monday night.
Nath and Singh were
earlier summoned to
Delhi by the AICC in the
wake of reports of rebel-
lion in at least 24 Ass-
embly seats over distribu-
tion of tickets.
“A high level meeting of
the party was held in
Delhi on Monday night in
Modi: we have
to develop India
Assembly polls in Madhya
Pradesh. Nath and Singh
were among the leaders
who attended the meet-
ing,” Congress spokes-
man K.K. Mishra said.
Sources said AICC presi-
dent Mallikarjun Kharge
and senior Congress lead-
er Rahul Gandhi held dis-
cussions with Nath, Singh
and AICC general secre-
tary in-charge of poll
affairs in Madhya Prade-
sh Randeep Surjewala
on issues relating to dis-
satisfaction among some
senior leaders in the
state over ticket distribu-
tion and ‘lack of coordina-
tion’.

BJP distracting politics, there’s has been registered

against Union Minister
of State
Chandrasekhar
Rajeev
for
FROM PAGE 1

Noting that the next 25

years of this century are
every goal with the inspi-
ration of Sardar Patel,”
he said.
Slamming the appease-

panic on Adani issue, says Rahul allegedly making stat-

New Delhi, Oct. 31:
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi on Tuesday hit out
at the government over
several opposition leaders
receiving threat notifica-
tions from Apple of “state-
sponsored attackers” tar-
geting their phones, alleg-
ing that snooping and
probe agencies are
deployed to distract public
attention as soon as the
Adani issue is raised.
Addressing a press con-
ference at the AICC head-
quarters, he also displayed
a copy of the text and e-
mail warnings received by
people in his office, sever-
al party and opposition
leaders and said this is
STAY | ALERT Data contains Aadhaar, passport, contact info
Rahul Gandhi
clearly a sign of the gov-
ernment’s panic.
He said opposition lead-
ers like Akhilesh Yadav,
Sitaram Yechury, Supriya
Shrinate and others have
received the Apple warn-
ing. At the presser, Gandhi
accused the government
of indulging in “distrac-
tion politics” on the Adani
issue, which the opposi-
tion has accused of creat-
ing monopolies in various
sectors in the country.
“We are not scared. You
can do as much phone tap-
ping as you want, I don't
care. If you want to take
my phone, I will give it to
you...,” Gandhi said.
While iPhone-maker
Apple Inc said it does not
attribute threat notifica-
tions, such as the ones
received by some MPs
belonging to Opposition
parties, to any specific
state-sponsored attackers
and that it cannot provide
information on what caus-
es such warnings, the BJP
rejected the allegations
against the government as
“baseless and false”.
The government has
ordered an investigation
into the matter and asked
Apple to clarify if its
devices are secure and
why threat notifications
were sent despite the com-
pany's repeated claims
about its products being
designed for privacy.
In a post on X, IT
Minister Ashwini Vaish-
naw said the government
takes its role of protecting
the privacy and security of
all citizens very seriously
and “will investigate to get
to the bottom of these
notifications”. — PTI
ements that promote en-
mity between different
groups, a move which
the most important peri-
od for the country, Modi
said, “There came a peri-
od of 25 years preceding
was slammed by the BJP the country’s independ-
on Tuesday. ence during the last cen-
BJP Kerala chief K tury when every Indian
Surendran alleged that exhausted themselves to
this action by the Pina- achieve independence.
rayi Vijayan govern- Now we are faced with the
ment was aimed at ‘Amrit Kaal’ opportunity
“helping” and “encour- of the next 25 years to
aging” divisive forces work for a prosperous
and those with extremist India.
views. — PTI We have to achieve
Maratha quota: Protests turn
violent, OBC leaders targeted
SONU A senior bureaucrat,
SHRIVASTAVA | DC requesting anonymity, said
MUMBAI, OCT. 31 that Additional Director
General of Police (ADG),
ment politics, Modi said,
“The biggest hindrance
in our development jour-
ney is the politics of
appeasement.
The last many decades
in India have witnessed
the fact that appeasers
never see terrorism, its
horrors and its monstros-
ity.
The appeasers do not
hesitate to stand side by
side with the enemies of
humanity.”
issued to police to register a
case against people involved
in the damages of properties
worth more than `five lakh.

CLASSIFIEDS Amid the violence

over the Maratha
Law and Order, Sanjay
Saxena went early morning
“We will recover the money
from the persons who have

ICMR data breach: Personal

reservation in state, to Beed, which has wit- damaged the public proper-
FOR SALE the Eknath Shinde nessed rioting. “We don’t ties,” an official of the home
government has want to take a chance by department said.
PROPERTY decided to not yeild depending upon the local SP A senior cabinet minister,
before Maratha (Superintendent of Police). requesting anonymity, said

info of 81 mn Indians on sale

INDUSTRIAL SHEDS activist Manoj Therefore, Saxena has been that it has been decided to
APIIC- INDUSTRIAL- All the Areas- (Sell/ Jarange-Patil’s asked to camp in Beed and not buckle under the pres-
Buy /Lease)- Running Industries/ unreasonable supervise the situation,” the sure of Maratha activist
Sheds/ Godowns /Lands in & around demands and deal senior bureaucrat said. Manoj Jarange-Patil, other-
Hyderabad/ Vizag. Parties call:
9398310063/9652900045.
sternly with those The Union ministry of wise it would set a wrong
AVINASH involved in violence. home affairs is also closely precedence. The government
(HYHA/2324/C01358)
PRABHAKAR | DC REPORT HIGHLIGHTED A well-placed keeping watch on the situa- will deal firmly with the peo-
SITUATION VACANT NEW DELHI, OCT. 31 ● On October HUNTER investigators source in the state tion. ple who are vandalising the
● ICMR and the
9th, a threat actor learned that the government said that According to the sources in properties and creating ten-
MULTIPLE VACANCIES As per an US-based cyber- health ministry beside this, the state the state home department, sion in the society by resort-
posted a thread on threat actor is willing have neither
security solutions and government has also instructions have been ing to violence.
✔ IMMEDIATE REQUIREMENTS!
Front Office Executive/ Business services provider “Resecu- Breach Forums
brokering access to
to sell the entire denied nor confirmed
Aadhaar and Indian passport the claim of alleged breach.
called a meeting of
Development Manager/ Counselors/ rity”, the data of more th- all the party leaders
Telecallers (from same industry background)
an 81 crores citizens sour- 815 million Indian dataset for $80,000. over the burgeoning
for HOC Educational Consultants, ● Center is examining the
Punjagutta, Hyderabad. Excellent ced from the Indian Cou- Citizen Aadhaar & issue of Maratha
Communication skills in English/ Hindi/ ncil of Medical Research Passport records, showed alleged reports of breach of reservation at
Telugu & Internet Savvy. Contact-
9000013364/9000038741.
(ICMR) are on sale on the the Resecurity in its blog. personal data and the exercise has Sahydri Guest House
(HYMM/2324/C07105) dark web after an alleged been initiated to probe the issues. in Mumbai on
leak. The data reportedly Wednesday.
NOTICE contains information such Meanwhile, Beed
Readers are advised to make appropri- as Aadhaar and passport records. To put this victim The agency said that fields related to the PII of district police has
ate enquiries while responding to adver- details, along with names, group in perspective, “HUNTER investigators Indian citizens. “Pwn0001 registered 15 FIRs
tisements in these columns. The phone numbers, and addr- India’s entire population established contact with declined to specify how against people
Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd. does
not vouch for any claims made by the esses. “On October 9th, a is just over 1.486 billion the threat actor and they obtained the data. involved in the vio-
Advertisers. The Printer, Publisher, threat actor going by the people”, said the Resec- learned they were willing Without the threat actor lence and ransacking
Editor and Owner of Deccan Chronicle alias ‘pwn0001’ posted a urity in its blog. However, to sell the Aadhaar and disclosing the source of houses of MLAs.
Holdings Ltd. shall not be held responsi- thread on Breach Forums the ICMR and the health Indian passport dataset the data leak any effort to So far, 92 people
ble/ liable for any consequences, in case
such claims are found to be false. brokering access to 815 ministry have neither for $80,000”. It said that diagnose the cause of the have been arrested in
million “Indian Citizen denied nor confirmed the the data set offered by beach will be speculative”, Beed district, said a
Aadhaar & Passport” claim of alleged breach. pwn0001 contains multiple said the services provider. senior police official.
 EDIT
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | 1 NOVEMBER 2023
pg 6

Subhani

1 NOVEMBER 2023

The lessons India can learn

from Sardar Patel & Indira
T
here are very few in world history, perhaps almost none, who oversaw
the Partition of a country and its unification simultaneously. Unifiers
of nations, like Giuseppe Garibaldi or Mazzini or Wilhelm von
Bismarck merely did that, but Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s contribu-
tions and ability to rise to meet the needs of a nation to be created at his-
toric watershed moments makes him an outlier even in the rarest of clubs.
Sardar Patel has carved his extraordinary place in Indian history with his con-
tribution to the freedom movement. A Gandhian with a twist, he was strong and
could stand his ground against any force, which kept India in good stead. He not
only led the country to its Independence, a culmination of our freedom struggle,
but also had to pragmatically oversee the details of the Partition of the nation.
Fighting steadfastly with Muhammad Ali Jinnah and putting in place his
demands, some of them outrageous, like having Kolkata, then known as Calcutta,
as a temporary common capital or building a link between West and East
Pakistan, Patel not only ensured the terms of the Partition did not become too ter-
rible for India, but also gave confidence to a people rendered homeless.
It was also Patel, who simultaneously while overseeing the Partition of India,
also ensured over 850 princely states and petty monarchical territories were inte-
grated into India, among them, Hyderabad.
LETTERS
Ethics, politics and the art
Sardar Patel’s list of achievements is too long even by the extraordinary stan-
dards of his seniors and peers — Gandhi, Ambedkar, Nehru, Subhas Bose — and

WAKE-UP CALL
while on the sidelines of making big time history, he helped in reshaping the All
India Services (AIS), establishing the foundations of modernising the police
forces and supporting the creation of a cooperative like Amul. It has been a wake-up call
On his birth anniversary, observed as National Unity Day (Ekta Diwas), we

of lobbying, wooing voters

have a duty to dedicate ourselves as a people to keeping our country united, stay- for the Indian Railways to
ing strong, secure and never allowing monarchical or separatist tendencies to get its act together in
assert themselves.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, October 31 is a great day but also a terms of railway safety,
sad day in Indian history, a day when Indira Gandhi became the first Prime though no lessons have
Minister to be assassinated while in office. The TMC will have to Prime Minister after the
Indira Gandhi’s legacy is neither white nor black, like her famous hairstyle, 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
been learnt from the past
decide soon on how it incidents (Train mishap:
and along with dark stains of Emergency, of overseeing the degeneration of the To return to power in
deals with the out-
Indian political character, of the loss and death of idealism, of transforming the
party into a dynastic fiefdom, of establishing corruption as a system and of reduc-
Shikha Mukerjee come of the Ethics
2024, the BJP has to win
big in the elections in the
End human error, Oct. 31).
ing state governments to puppets, she was also a fearless leader, who stood for Committee hearing. five states. In reality, the It needs to focus on fool-
strong decisions in the larger interest of the country. The party cannot BJP is being challenged in safety measures. At the
From the 1971 Bangladesh war, which was a return gift of Partition to Pakistan, all five states, which is an
to helping India recover lost military ground against China in 1967, from not bow- remain in denial entirely new state of end of the day, the man on
ing down to religious fundamentalism, which finally took her life, to large-scale mode. The Moitra affairs. This is an unprece- the street wants to safely
disruptions in socioeconomic policy areas, like nationalisation of banks, she affair will figure in the dented situation for the and comfortably reach his

I
towered over the polity of her era. n democracies with
While too much time is lost in criticising leaders of the past, and it is a fair and elected legislatures,
valid endeavour, instead of focusing too much on dreamy counterfactuals, it the interaction
would be best for our leaders and thinkers to focus on the good qualities of the between the repre-
great leaders, lessons we can learn and emulate, and ideas which will benefit the sentatives of the peo-
country and its citizens. ple and the people is not
confined to the curated
visit to a mud hut to eat an
Targeting a CM: Uphold the law equally curated meal with
the host, typically selected
as a representative of the
ond issue, who lobbied
whom and on behalf of
whom, Ms Moitra has to
decide what course of
action she will adopt.
Equally, in the interests of
full disclosure and ethical
conduct, it would be
entirely proper for Dubey
to declare that he repre-
sents a constituency,
annals of India’s
parliamentary history.
mentary history.
While one section of the
public is riveted by the
Mahua Moitra affair, in
five states — Congress-
ruled Rajasthan and
BJP and its leader. The
BJP needs to unseat the destination.
Ashok Gehlot government Dr C. Ghanshyam
in Rajasthan, fight its own
anti-incumbency in after Visakhapatnam
being almost 20 years in
power and find a leader, KERALA BLAST
other than Modi, in The politicisation of issues is not
Chhattisgarh to dislodge
the firmly ensconced
Bhupesh Baghel
restricted to a particular party and
every party is guilty of that prac-
tice (Kerala blast a blot on model

T
he tentacles of the Enforcement Directorate rarely reach Chief Ministers of backward class or caste.
states though the summons to appear served on the Delhi CM Arvind There are interactions
Kejriwal is not exceptional. There may be clear political overtones to this between legislators and
as Opposition leaders have often pointed out about the misuse of Central inves- sections of the public,
tigating agencies by the ruling party against opponents. some powerful, some
It can, however, also be said, in the most general terms, that behind every wealthy, some influential
liquor licensing procedure in every state in India, barring the ones that boast of and some critical. That is
Prohibition as in Gujarat and Bihar, there could be myriad scams and fortunes part of how representa-
given away as kickbacks. Such is the nature of a trade in a commodity that tives hear what the public
invites very high levels of taxes, including a “sin” tax, but still has such huge has to say.
margins as to provide scope for graft. The art of lobbying or
The point is the investigation having progressed to a point that a minister and even the craft of it requires
the deputy Chief Minister of Delhi state were in jail, besides middlemen, for a degree of handling with
extended periods of time, and even leading to Manish Sisodia resigning as deputy care. While the Ethics
Chief Minister, can still take an interminable period of time before the fact is Committee of Parliament
established that money was siphoned for a purpose, including, perhaps to fund will deliberate and pro-
an election, as is being alleged in this case. ceed in the complaint
The current investigation by CBI and ED into the Delhi excise liquor scam has against Mahua Moitra for
been ongoing for a while. But only under the prompting of the Supreme Court, her admitted misconduct,
which pursued the line of reasoning that if corruption allegations are made in her words, limited to
against a political party why is that entity not made a party to the case in charge allowing a staffer of a cor-
sheets, has the ED pointed the case in that direction and had involved Kejriwal, porate body, the
too, who had previously been questioned only by the CBI. Hiranandani Group, to
The acceptance of the possibility of a money trail, as posited in court observa- access her email address,
tions, is what lends a higher degree of interest to the investigation into the Delhi she has vehemently
liquor vending process that was changed abruptly and then again in flip flop denied that there was any
moves. But the court also revealed its scepticism by granting only three months quid pro quo or “where is
for the case to take a proper trajectory lest it reconsider the matter of granting the cash?”
bail to Sisodia. The crux of the matter is that the investigating agencies must be Between the lobs hurled
able to present their cases properly for there to be an establishment of truth and at Mahua Moitra by the
guilt and resultant conviction since not even the high and mighty are exempted indignantly righteous
from the laws of the land. Nishikant Dubey of the
However, the use of the process as punishment of political opponents cannot be BJP, her alleged lobbying
a standard operating procedure. on behalf of the Hiranan-
dani Group and the entire-
ly democratic practice of
DECCAN CHRONICLE
lobbying, there hangs a
KAUSHIK MITTER tale. The tale is not the
Editor alleged cash that Mahua
Moitra received; the tale is
DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at: of two legislators, who
according to Ms Moitra
Hyderabad: 36, Sarojini Devi Road, Secunderabad - 500 003, Ph: 040-27803930-4; Fax : 040-27805256
Vijayawada: No.C-3 & 4 Patamata, Industrial Estate, Auto Nagar, Vijayawada (A.P.), Ph: 0866-2555284. asked her to settle with the
Visakhapatnam: Survey No.1/3A Beach Road, Near Kailasagiri Ropeway, Sector-9 MVP Colony, target of her pointed
Visakhapatnam - 530 017 (A.P), Ph: 0891-2552333/2552334; Fax: 0891-2755285 attacks, namely the now
Rajahmundry: Vemagiri, Dhawaleswaram Rd, Rajahmundry, Ph: 0883-2417618/2417208; Telefax: 0883- famous Adani Group.
2417208 The issue is simple; is Ms
Anantapur: Thapovan colony, Bangalore By-Pass Road, Anantapur - 515004, Ph: 08554-276903; Fax: Moitra’s sharing of her
08554-276904 email address a crime tan-
Karimnagar: H. No. 1-21-12/1, Cheralabhutkur Road, Mugudhumpur Village, Karimnagar-505186, PH. tamount to harm to the
NO. 9121181123.
Nellore: Survey No.527/2, Burranpur Village, Venkatachalam (M), Chemmudugunta Panchayat, Nellore, Ph:
national interest? That is a
0861-2348581/82; Telefax: 0861-2348580 matter of opinion. The
Chennai: SP-3 Developed Plot, Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai - 600 032, Ph: 044-22254747/ 48/50/51; Ethics Committee and Lok
Advt Fax: 22254765/22254766/42305325 Sabha Speaker Om Birla
Coimbatore: Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, No. 2/22 Sengalipalayam Road, N.G.G.O Colony Post, will arrive at an opinion
Kurudampalayam village - 641 022 on the matter. On the sec-
Godda in Jharkhand, that
is home to the “Adani
Power Jharkhand Ltd
(APJL), a wholly owned
subsidiary of Adani
Power Ltd”.
Disclosures are essential
in elected democracies.
Voters must be kept
informed on who does
what and why in order to
make up their minds on
who they will choose to
represent them, because
the responsibility and the
power increases at every
level of the elected repre-
sentation structure.
It is precisely this direct
link between what legisla-
tors do and the wooing of
voters in election season
that makes the Mahua
Moitra issue so critical to
the democratic process.
Ms Moitra cannot be held
to one standard of conduct
if others are not held to the
same standard of conduct.
The conduct of elected
representatives once they
get into the legislatures is
vital to the idea of democ-
racy. Should Members of
Parliament ask pointed
questions about lobbying?
Should they suspect vested
interests at work? Or
should do they confine
their enquires into mat-
ters that are less fraught
with suspicion?
As of now, it seems Ms
Moitra is battling it out
alone. The Trinamul
Congress has chosen not to
embroil itself in the con-
troversy. The TMC will,
however, have to decide
soon on how it deals with
the outcome of the Ethics
Committee hearing. The
party cannot remain in
denial mode. The Moitra
affair will figure in the
annals of India’s parlia-
Chhattisgarh, Bharat
Rashtra Samithi-ruled
Telangana, Mizo National
Front-ruled Mizoram and
BJP- ruled Madhya
Pradesh — voters are
expected to be riveted by
the pitches of competing
political parties. The
Moitra affair is therefore
central to the ongoing bat-
tle to persuade voters.
In theory, the BJP is the
challenger in the
Congress-ruled states and
would like to believe itself
as the challenger in
Telangana. If the Dubey
disclosure had been timed
differently, the focus of
attention would have shift-
ed to the Congress and the
failed seat-sharing within
the I.N.D.I.A. bloc in
Madhya Pradesh.
Attention would have been
firmly focused on the
Mandal (caste census
demand) versus
“Kamandal” (dividing the
nation on the basis of caste
and religion) war.
The Congress has made
both the caste census and
the idea of people power
the central plank of its
campaign. “Sawal ey baat
ke hai ki pradesh hamar
hare ki Adani ke hare” (the
question is: is the state
ours or Adani’s), challeng-
ing Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s propri-
ety on the one hand and
his socio-economic priori-
ties on the other. In con-
trast, as the superstar cam-
paigner for the BJP who
has in the past several
elections, including
Karnataka, Modi has
talked up a storm on the
imperative to establish
“double-engine sarkars”
in every state and predict-
ed his continuity as the
government.
The blatant inducement
in Telangana state to the
“backward classes” of a
chief minister’s chair if
the BJP wins, by indefati-
gable mastermind and
dogged campaigner Amit
Shah, is a giveaway that
the party is flailing around
in search of an appeal that
will work with voters. It
cancels the narrative that
Prime Minister Modi has
constructed that the
Opposition is engaging in
the politics of division by
focusing on caste-identity
issues and regional differ-
ences as a way fomenting
disunity and dismantling
the idea of the majority
central to the BJP’s
Hindutva ideology.
Never before has the star
power of Modi been
spurned as it was by
Mizoram Chief Minister
and MNF boss
Zoramthangma. His mes-
sage was clear and it was
addressed to Modi: “stay
away”. This rejection com-
pelled Modi to cancel his
campaign tour to Mamit.
Modi’s masterly inaction
on Manipur has made him
vulnerable, as never
before.
This round of election is
as much a test for
Narendra Modi as it is for
the Congress and the
I.N.D.I.A. bloc. As much as
the Congress needs a
breakthrough, so does
Modi and the BJP, because
the political equilibrium
that keeps one side in
power and the other side
out of power needs a
change.
Shikha Mukerjee is a
senior journalist in
Kolkata
state of communal harmony, Oct.
31). The all-party meet resolved to
resist communal accusations and
hope all parties stick to that
resolve. This cycle of one blaming
the other will go nowhere unless a
true secular atmosphere prevails in
the country.
Duggaraju Srinivasa Rao
Vijayawada
Had the suspect not surrendered
within hours of the bomb blast to
police, this ghastly incident would
have serious ramifications both in
the state, India and Islamic nations.
Kerala state police and the NIA
must probe whether this is really
an act of an individual as he claims
or part of a deep-rooted conspiracy
or active involvement of others and
organisations. A volatile state like
Kerala should maintain communal
harmony.
Parthasarathy Mandadi
Tirupati
Email your letters to
info@deccanmail.com,
editor@deccanmail.com.
50 YEARS AGO IN
No settlement till Israel
withdraws to Oct. 22 line
CAIRO, Oct. 31.
Egyptian President Anwar
Sadat today declared that there
could be no exchange of war
prisoners or any progress
towards the West Asia peace set-
tlement until Israel forces
return to the lines held when the
United Nations Security Council
cease-fire took effect on October
22. Mr. Sadat’s view of an endan-
gered Israeli force conflicted
with Israel’s claim that it has the
Egyptian 3rd army surrounded.

I
t’s an oft-quoted truism that the more things
change, the more they remain the same. This
is particularly true for neighbouring Pak-
istan, as it undergoes a severe existential cri-
sis and faces a multitude of diverse problems. Last
fortnight’s return home from self-imposed exile in
London of three-time former Prime Minister
Kamal Davar Nawaz Sharif may have rekindled some hope for
normalcy to return to Pakistan, at least among his
supporters of the Pakistan Muslim League
(Nawaz). Importantly, the Pakistan Army’s top
generals too would be optimistic as they had
orchestrated his return with as much conviction
as they planned his ouster four years ago.
Can Nawaz Sharif It is well known that Nawaz Sharif was then dis-
qualified from holding public office, convicted of
corruption charges and banned to his plush
made the Pakistan Army turn back to Nawaz
Sharif to return to the PM’s chair. That is quite
clear to all Pakistan watchers home and abroad.
How long this honeymoon between the Army and
Nawaz Sharif will last is anybody’s guess. But on
the other hand, Imran Khan’s popularity contin-
ues to soar among the Pakistani public, which
worries the Pakistan Army no end. No one can
ever forget that when Imran Khan was ousted
from power by the Pakistani military, his outrag-
ed followers went on a nationwide rampage, even
attacking military installations — something that
had never happened in Pakistan’s history.
The Pakistan Army will be now on an overdrive,
with some help from the judiciary, to disqualify
Imran Khan and debar some leaders of his party,
the Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), from fighting the com-
The Pakistan Army fully understands, like
everyone else, the country’s precarious financial
situation. Pakistan is on the verge of bankruptcy.
The US is not too keen to pull Pakistan out of its
financial mess, and neither are Pakistan’s earlier
financial mentors in the Arab world. The Chinese
too would also be wondering about the future of
CPEC. Most Arab states and South Asian nations
have deepened their economic engagement with
India. The Pakistan Army’s leadership would be
hopeful that Nawaz Sharif can lead their finan-
cially tottering nation out of its economic woes.
Pakistan’s external and internal political stabili-
ty challenges continue to mount. The Taliban in
neighbouring Afghanistan are hardly enamoured
of Pakistan’s efforts to send back lakhs of Afghan
refugees who virtually made Pakistan their home-
ern neighbour, a rising and globally important
India, are at a low ebb, with many in Pakistan’s
civil society clamouring for improving relations,
especially in trade and travel, with India. The
Army leadership is more than aware of what it
loses with its short-sighted bigoted policies on
India. However, it has consistently refused to
change tack, except during Gen. Pervez
Musharraf’s tenure as Army Chief and President
of Pakistan, when relations between the two
nations had acquired some form of normalcy.
Many strategic analysts in the subcontinent have
suggested that, in recent times, Nawaz Sharif does
carry some ability to improve India-Pakistan rela-
tions. However, Nawaz Sharif, in case he comes to
power with the support of the Pakistan Army, will
be able to mend India-Pakistan relations only as

improve ties with London flat at the bidding of Pakistan’s formida-

ble generals. The fact that he is back now with the
blessings of the generals and the approval of the
judiciary might signal a shift in the internal polit-
India if he’s back ical churning within turbulent Pakistan.
But will Pakistan’s Deep State — the unholy trin-
ity of the Pakistan Army, its Inter-Services
ing general election. Imran is now in jail, current-
ly on some cyber-crime charges, with nearly 200
cases registered against him. Despite having got
bail, he remains in jail. The stage for Nawaz Sharif
is being prepared by the Army to ensure that the
PML(N) wins the coming elections. The Pakistani
judiciary has also conveniently forgotten about
land. The Afghans also don’t recognise the British-
imposed 2,630-km 1893-drawn Durand Line, the
official border between the two nations, and ten-
much as the crafty and formidable Pakistani gen-
erals allow him to. Thus, keeping the past track
record of Pakistani generals in mind, it is safe to
sions between the border police forces of say that improvement in the relationship between
Afghanistan and Pakistan continues to fester.
Also, the extremist Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP), based in Afghanistan, continues to mount
the two nations is most likely to be a mirage.
However, India being the largest and most power-
ful South Asian nation, without letting its guard

at the helm in Pak? Intelligence (ISI) and the terror “tanzeems” —

allow Nawaz Sharif to pursue his political moor-
ings? Ousted cricketer-turned-politician Imran
the legal convictions against Nawaz Sharif before
he was overthrown as PM four years ago by a judi-
cial fiat. He was succeeded by the then generals’
periodic terrorist attacks on installations and at
public places in Pakistan. A major irritant
between Kabul and Islamabad has been the close
down, should continue to strive for regional peace.

The writer, a retired lieutenant-general, was the

Khan, the former PM, now languishing in choice, the charismatic Imran Khan, who then relationship between the ruling Taliban and the first head of India’s Defence Intelligence Agency, is
Rawalpindi’s Adila Jail, had fallen from the gradually fell out of favour by refusing to be the TTP cadres, who are mostly Pashtuns. a long-time Pakistan watcher and has been
Army’s good graces sooner than expected, which Army’s puppet. Importantly, Pakistan’s relations with its west- involved in Track-2 diplomacy
 WORLD
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | 1 NOVEMBER 2023
6+257
S. KOREAN COPS
TAKES
STABBED OUTSIDE
PREZ COMPOUND
Seoul, Oct. 31: South Korean
authorities on Tuesday
detained a man after two police
officers were stabbed outside a
compound housing the presi-
dential office in the capital,
Seoul, city police said.
One officer was stabbed in
the stomach and the other in
the left arm at 1:20 p.m. (0420
GMT) after the officers tried to
subdue a man in his 70s who
was shouting in front of the
compound.
The two officers were being
treated in hospital, it said.
UNARMED WOMAN
SHOT AT IN PARIS
FOR OUTBURST
Paris, Oct. 31: French police
on Tuesday shot and seriously
wounded an unarmed woman
who was making threats at a
train station in Paris during
morning rush hour, police and
prosecutors told AFP.
According to witnesses the
38-year-old woman, who was
completely veiled, shouted
“Allahu akbar” (“God is
Greatest”) and “made threats”,
a police source said, adding
that “police fired because they
feared for their safety”.
HINDU TEMPLE IN
CALIFORNIA HIT
BY BURGLARS
New York, Oct. 31: A Hindu
temple in the US State of
California has been raided by
burglars who stole a donation
box from the premises, leaving
the Indian community in a
state of shock.
The incident took place on
Monday at the Hari Om Radha
Krishna Mandir in the
Parkway neighbourhood, at
about 2:15 a.m. Police
Department is investigating
the burglary at the Hindu
Temple.
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | 1 NOVEMBER 2023
quick
%,7(6
INDICATORS % Corporation (IOC) on
Sensex 63,874.93 -0.37
Nifty 50 19,079.60 -0.32
S&P 500* 4,170.19 0.08
Dollar (C 83.25 0.01
Pound Sterling (C) 101.34 -0.38
Euro (C 88.56 -0.54
Gold (10gm)* (C) 61,209▼71 0.12
Brent crude ($/bbl)* 87.77 0.37
IN 10-Yr bond yield 7.358 -0.012
US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 4.858 -0.019
* As of 8:30 PM IST
Zydus acquires
LiqMeds Group
for C689 crore
Zydus Lifesciences on Tuesday
said it has acquired UK-based
LiqMeds Group for GBP 68 mil-
lion (around C689 crore). It will
also pay yearly earn-outs until
2026 on achievement of cer-
tain agreed milestones.
LiqMeds specialises in the
development, manufacturing
and supply of oral liquid prod-
ucts for global markets. Its
subsidiary LM Manufacturing
has an oral liquids manufactur-
ing site at Northampton, UK.
3DN:LOOKDYHWRWDNHXS Kremlin: No ‘free exit’
FURSEXUQLQJZLWK,QGLD for Western
Lahore, which is just 20 km from border, recorded 447 AQI
Lahore, Oct. 31: Pakistan
on Tuesday said it will
raise with India at the
diplomatic level the issue
of stubble burning in
Indian Punjab impacting
the air quality in Lahore,
one of the most polluted
cities across the globe.
During a meeting with
interim Prime Minister
Anwaarul Haq Kakar
here, Punjab caretaker
chief minister Mohsin
Naqvi informed him that
the main reason for the
spread of smog in Lahore
is the burning of residues
of crops in Indian Punjab.
He requested the premier
to take up this matter with
India. Kakar then assured
the Punjab government of
taking up the issue of the
smog with India as he said,
We will take up this matter
with India at diplomatic
level and expressed hope
the matter will be
resolved. Burning of crop
residue takes place at this
time of the year to prepare
the ground for the next
crop planting. The smoke
is a major contributor to
dangerously polluting par-
ticles in the air.
Lahore remained one of
the most polluted cities in
the world with hazardous
air quality conditions pre-
vailing. The Air Quality
Index (AQI) reached 447 in
the provincial capital on
Monday, as reported by
www.iqair.com, a global
air quality monitoring
platform. Air is consid-
ered safe to breathe when
the AQI is below 50.
Lahore is barely 20 kms
west of the border with
India. Just as in India,
farmers in Pakistan too
resort to crop residue
burning at the end of the
monsoon crop to prepare
for the next cycle. — PTI
Firm makes significant trunaround from a loss of C272 crore last fiscal year
,2&4QHWSURILWDWCFU
FC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, OCT. 31
State-owned Indian Oil
Tuesday, posted stand-
alone net profit at `12,967
crore in second quarter
this fiscal, marking a sig-
nificant turnaround from
the same period last year,
when the state-owned
company reported a net
loss of `272 crore due to
holding fuel prices despite
the strong spike in crude
Hotels see revenues go Gold demand up 10% on
up as room rents rise festive buying of jewellery
SANGEETHA G
CHENNAI, OCT. 31
Average daily room rates
and revenues of hotels
went up by double digits
in September compared to
the same month last year
as well as September 2019
prior to the pandemic. G-
20 meetings helped New
Delhi hotel rates go up by
60 per cent.
In September, average
daily rates of hotels stood
between `7000 and `7200
across key cities. This was
17 -19 per cent higher than
the same month in 2022
and 27 -29 per cent higher
than the pre-pandemic
September 2019. This was
also sequentially up by 5
to 7 per cent against
August 2023.
All the key cities wit-
nessed growth in average
daily rates. New Delhi
enjoyed a boost in average
rates during the month,
thanks to the G-20
Summit, with average
rates exceeding `11,000,
showcasing a remarkable
companies
FRANCE ARRESTS RUSSIAN TYCOON
A farmer burns paddy stubble at a field, near Jalandhar on Tuesday. Pakistan said it
will raise the issue with India.
Accountability courts can’t
deliver final verdict in graft
Islamabad, Oct. 31:
Pakistan’s Supreme Court
on Tuesday stopped the
country’s accountability
courts from issuing a final
verdict in corruption
cases, local media here
reported.
The Supreme Court
issued the directives while
hearing the first-ever
intra-court appeals (ICAs)
against its September 15
majority judgment, which
struck down amendments
to the accountability law,
the Dawn newspaper said.
The Supreme Court
adjourned the hearing till
the detailed verdict on the
oil prices.
According to a stock
exchange filing, the com-
pany said that the net
profit came on the back of
a boost in refining and
marketing margin, com-
pared to a loss of `272.35
crore in July-September
2022.
“Besides robust refining
margins, the profit was
aided by a boost in mar-
keting margins as a freeze
on petrol and diesel price
revision despite a fall in
year-on-year growth of
over 60 per cent. Mumbai,
Pune, Kolkata,
Hyderabad, Chennai and
Bangalore saw 10 to 20 per
cent growth. Chandigarh,
Goa and Kochi saw less
than 10 per cent growth.
Revenue per available
rooms too grew 15 – 17 per
cent against September
last year and 19 -21 per
cent compared
September 2019. Revenue
to
per available room stood
at `4200 to `4464 in
September.
Five of the top 10 key
markets experienced a
year-on-year decline in
monthly occupancy rates.
At 60 to 62 per cent, occu-
pancies were down 3 -5 per
cent against September
2019 and 1 -3 per cent com-
pared to September 2022.
It was stable sequentially.
Pune and Bengaluru saw 5
to 10 per cent dip in occu-
pancies, New Delhi,
Hyderabad and Chennai
saw up to 5 per cent
decline. Other cities saw
up to 5 per cent growth.
law clipping the chief jus-
tice’s powers is released.
The first intra-court
appeal was filed after the
implementation of the
Supreme Court (Practice
and Procedure) Act 2023.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
chairman Imran Khan had
challenged the amend-
ments made to the
National Accountability
Bureau (NAB) law last
year. A three-member
bench headed by former
chief justice Umar Ata
Bandial and comprising
Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali
Shah had conducted more
input crude oil prices
helped recover losses
incurred when rates were
high last year,” it said
SANGEETHA G
CHENNAI, OCT. 31
Gold demand in the
September quarter was up
10 per cent to 210 tonnes
compared to 191.7 tonnes
in 2022. Total jewellery
demand was up by 7 per
cent to 155.7 tonnes and
investment demand at 54.5
tonnes increased by 20 per
cent.
Purchase of gold jew-
ellery in India was up 7
per cent aided by softer
gold prices and festive
demand, more pro-
nounced in South India.
Investment gold demand,
that is bars and coins,
jumped 20 per cent.
Price correction was a
major factor that trig-
gered the latent demand
which we believe contin-
ues to be strong under-
pinned by strong positive
economic sentiment
mixed with uncertainties
arising from a variety of
factors such as fear of
inflation, below-normal
— PTI
than 50 hearings in the
case, declaring the first
and second NAB amend-
ments in 2022 null and
void on September 15 by a
majority of 2-1.
The verdict restored the
corruption cases against
the public office-holders
after striking down some
of the amendments made
by the Pakistan
Democratic Movement
(PDM) government to the
National Accountability
Ordinance (NAO) 1999,
declaring it against the
rights pertaining to public
interest enshrined in the
Constitution. — PTI
● PROFIT WAS aided
by a boost in mar-
keting margins as a
freeze on petrol and
diesel price revision
despite a fall in
crude oil prices
helped recover loss-
es incurred last year.
It further said that pre-
tax earnings from the sale
of petroleum products
soared to `17,755.95 crore
monsoon and global devel-
opments, said
Somasundaram PR,
regional chief executive
officer (India) World Gold
Council.
Recycled gold in Q3 2023
was 19.2 tonnes, up by 20
per cent compared to 16
tonnes in Q3 2022. WGC
expects recycling to con-
tinue to grow as initia-
tives of organised players
to increase recycling of
jewellery start gathering
steam.
With HUID in place, pol-
icy and tax incentives for
recycling of HUID marked
Moscow, Oct. 31: The
Kremlin on Tuesday said
there would be no “free
exit” for Western compa-
nies selling their Russian
assets and they would
have to abide with strict
rules dictated by Moscow.
The Russian government
has tightened restrictions
on foreign companies try-
ing to sell their Russian
subsidiaries, placing de
facto caps and deadlines
on transactions, the
Financial Times reported
earlier on Tuesday, citing
people involved in recent
deals.
Hundreds of Western
companies have
Russia in the 20 months
left
since Moscow launched its
assault on Ukraine, with
many taking steep dis-
counts or writing-off
assets entirely.
BORIS’ COVID
RESPONSE WAS
‘MAD’: OFFICIAL
London, Oct. 31: Former
British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson’s approach
to dealing with the Covid-
19 pandemic was “mad
and dangerous” and his
constant indecision made
it “impossible” to tackle
the virus, the govern-
ment’s top civil servant
told officials.
The exchanges between
Simon Case, the govern-
ment’s most senior offi-
cial, and officials in
which he also described
Britain’s response in 2020
as a “terrible, tragic
joke”, were shown on
Monday to the inquiry
into how the government
handled the crisis.
Case said of Johnson:
“He cannot lead and we
cannot support him.”
— Reuters
in the second quarter of
the current fiscal as com-
pared to `104.04 crore in
the same period last year.
Last year, state-owned fuel
retailers IOC, Bharat
Petroleum Corporation
Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan
Petroleum Corporation
Ltd (HPCL) froze prices
despite a spike in global oil
prices following Russia's
invasion of Ukraine. This
was with a view to insu-
late consumers from price
volatility.
pieces may enable recy-
cling growth.
According to the official,
the fourth quarter will get
the usual seasonal boost
due to festivals and wed-
ding purchases. However,
any sharp price rise could
delay the release of pent-
up demand following a rel-
atively weak H1. Trade
feedback is that con-
sumers have accepted the
Rs 60,000 per 10 gm price
point so a downward cor-
rection could trigger a sig-
nificant jump too.
“With first nine months
demand at 481.2 tonnes,
our estimate for full year
gold demand is in the
range of 700-750 tonnes,
marginally lower than last
year's demand of 774
tonnes,” Somasundaram
said.
However, this increased
consumption and the
expected festival demand
may not improve the
annual demand, which is
likely to be lower than 750
tonnes.
KUZMICHEV IN TAX FRAUD PROBE
Paris, Oct. 31: French
police have arrested
Russian billionaire Alexei
Kuzmichev, one of the co-
founders of the Alfa
Group who is targeted by
EU sanctions, on suspi-
cion of tax fraud and vio-
lating sanctions, sources
close to the case said.
Kuzmichev was appre-
hended in the Riviera
“Russia is ready to create
comfortable conditions for
foreign companies work-
ing here” said Kremlin
spokesman D. Peskov.
“But taking into account
the quasi-war that the col-
lective West is waging
Israeli, Hamas
battles intensify
Deir al Balah, Oct. 31:
Israeli troops battled
Hamas militants and
attacked underground
compounds on Tuesday
with a focus on northern
Gaza. An estimated
8,00,000 Palestinians have
fled south, even though
Israeli airstrikes have
pounded the entirety of
the besieged enclave .
Buoyed by the first suc-
cessful rescue of a Palestinian
captive held by Hamas,
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has rejected
calls for a cease-fire and
again vowed to crush
Hamas’ ability to govern
Gaza or threaten Israel fol-
lowing its b l o o dy
October 7 rampage, which
ignited the war.
More than half the terri-
Key infrastructure
sectors grew 8.1%
in September
MADHUSUDAN SAHOO
NEW DELHI, OCT. 31
The growth of eight key
infrastructure sectors was
8.1 per cent in September
2023 against 8.3 per cent a
year ago. The growth rate
in the output of refinery
products, fertilizer,
cement and electricity
during the month under
review has decelerated,
while it was negative in
the case of crude oil,
according to the official
data released on Tuesday.
“Crude oil output dipped
by 0.4 per cent in
September as against a
contraction of 2.3 per cent
in the same month last
year. The core sector
growth in August was 12.5
per cent, which was high-
est since June 2022, when
it was 13.2 per cent,” the
data showed.
The output growth of
the eight sectors was 7.8
per cent in April-
September 2023-24 against
9.8 per cent in the year-ago
period. In September, coal,
natural gas, and steel pro-
duction rose by 16.1 per
cent, 6.5 per cent and 9.6
per cent, respectively. The
growth rate in the produc-
tion of refinery products,
fertilizer, cement and elec-
tricity slowed down to 5.5
per cent, 4.2 per cent, 4.7
per cent and 9.3 per cent,
respectively, in September
this year.
As per the data, in July
the number stood at 8.4
per cent on an annual
basis, while the expansion
in August is the highest
since June 2022, when it
was 13.2 per cent and 8.1
per cent in September
2023. Economists and ana-
lysts, however, believe
that the monsoon factor
pg 
resort of Saint-Tropez, a
source, who asked not to
be named, said.
Police carried out raids
on several locations linked
to the tycoon including his
Paris home, they said.
The European Union had
placed Kuzmichev on a list
of Russian nationals tar-
geted by sanctions in
March 2022. — AFP
with Russia, including an
economic war, a special
regime applies to those
Western companies that
are leaving under pressure
from their governments,”
Peskov said.
— AFP
tory’s 2.3 million Pales-
tinians have fled their
homes, with hundreds of
thousands sheltering in
packed U.N.-run schools-
turned-shelters or in hos-
pitals along thousands of
wounded patients.
Israeli strikes have hit
closer to several northern
hospitals in recent days,
alarming medics.
The U.N. agency for
refugees,
known as UNRWA, says
nearly 672,000 Pales-
tinians are sheltering in
its schools and other facil-
ities four times their
capacity. Thousands of
people broke into its aid
warehouses over the
weekend to take food, as
supplies of basic goods
dwindled. — AP
● COAL, NATURAL GAS
and steel production
rose by 16.1 per cent,
6.5 per cent and 9.6 per
cen. respectively.
Growth in refinery
products, fertilizer, and
cement was 5.5 per
cent, 4.2 per cent, 4.7
per cent respectively.
may not help boost the
core growth in September.
These eight industries
account for 40.27 per cent
of industrial output or
index of industrial pro-
duction (IIP) in the coun-
try. “A pick-up in rainfall
expectedly flattened the
core sector expansion in
September to a four-
month low from 12.5 per
cent, amid the slowdown
in growth of seven of the
eight constituent sectors
barring fertilizer output,”
Icra chief economist Aditi
Nayar said.
“The growth in cement
production was 4.7 per
cent in September. The IIP
growth is likely to moder-
ate to high single digits in
September taking a cue
from the core sector’s tra-
jectory,” Nayar said.
Meanwhile, the central
government’s fiscal deficit
touched 39.3 per cent of
the full year target in the
first half of the current
financial year, slightly
higher than 37.3 per cent
seen a year ago.

short takes
Tendulkar’s statue to
be inaugurated today
A life-size statue of cricket
legend Sachin Tendulkar
will be inaugurated
Wednesday on the eve of the
World Cup match between India
on
and Sri Lanka at the Wankhede
Stadium in Mumbai.
It was revealed earlier this
year that the statue of
Tendulkar, who turned 50 in
April, would be installed inside
the stadium and finishing
touches to the same were being
given here on Tuesday.
The statue depicting the leg-
endary batter in motion of play-
ing a stroke is placed next to the
Sachin Tendulkar stand.
The statue has been made by
Pramod Kamble, a painter-
sculptor from Ahmednagar in
the state.
Virat never thought
of scoring many tons
O n the verge of equalling
Sachin Tendulkar’s record
number of ODI centuries, star
India batter Virat Kohli on
Tuesday said he had never
thought of accumulating so
many runs and hundreds when
he began his career. Kohli has
been in terrific form with the
bat in the ongoing ODI World
Cup with one century and three
half centuries in six matches.
He scored 103 not out against
Bangladesh in Pune on October
19 for his 48th ODI hundred, one
short of Tendulkar’s world
record.
He made 95 against New
Zealand in Dharamsala on
October 22, five runs short of
matching Tendulkar’s record 49
tons in ODI cricket.
“If we talk about cricket, I had
never thought of achieving all,
as in where my career is and
how god has blessed me (with)
such a career span and per-
formances,” Kohli told Star
Sports.
“I had always dreamt I’d do
this, but I had never thought
things would pan out this way
exactly. Nobody can plan these
things, the way your journey is
going, and the way things
unfold in front of you. I hadn’t
thought that I’d score so many
hundreds and so many runs in
these 12 years,” he said.
Proteas inspired by
rugby Cup victory
T he South African cricket
team is “massively”
inspired by Springboks’ record
fourth Rugby World Cup title
and that could be just the inspi-
ration it needs to win a maiden
global title for a country where
“a lot is going wrong”. The
rugby triumph and the words of
captain Siya Kolisi post the
final against New Zealand on
Sunday have fired up the
Proteas who are among the
form teams at the World Cup.
Speaking ahead of their game
against New Zealand, South
Africa batter Rassie van der
Dussen spoke about what the
rugby success meant for him
and his team. “Massively
(inspired). We take massive
inspiration from them, massive
learnings, and lessons from
them as a team, how they go
about what they do, what they
stand for, the purpose they play
for,” he said.
Regd.
Regd.No.
No.AP/VJA/41/24/2000.
H/SD/509/2021-23
PrintedPrinted
and published from Vijayawada
and Published by
byK.K.Sudhakar
Sudhakar on onbehalf
behalfofof
Deccan
DeccanChronicle
ChronicleHoldings
HoldingsLimited
Limited.at
Deccan at
Printed Chronicle
Deccan Holdings
ChroniclePress,
Press
situated
No.atCRajahmundry:
3 & 4 Patamata,Vemagiri,
Dhawaleswaram
IndustrialRd, Rajahmundry,
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Editor: Kaushik Mitter
Editor: Kaushik Mitter
Neeraj eyes gold at Paris Olympics
DEEPIKA DAS | DC
NEW DELHI, OCT. 31
Star javelin thrower Neeraj
Chopra must be in holiday
mode these days and excited
to celebrate Diwali with his
family at home in Faridabad
after a long time but defend-
ing the Olympic gold occu-
pies considerable space in
his mind.
Having added the Asian
Games gold last month,
Neeraj is determined to keep
the javelin honours at the
Paris Olympics next year.
He is leaving no stone
unturned. “I have some
unique and amazing ideas to
prepare for the upcoming
Paris Olympics. I am work-
ing on them during my stay
in India… I will start execut-
ing them and practicing
early next year... will defi-
POWER PAKED
Pakistan knock Bangla out of World Cup with 7-wicket win
Kolkata, Oct. 31: Opener
Fakhar Zaman capped his
return with an attacking
fifty after Shaheen Shah
Afridi’s fiery spell as
Pakistan knocked
Bangladesh out of the
World Cup with a seven-
wicket win to keep their
slim semifinal hopes alive
here on Tuesday.
Shaheen spearheaded
their three-pronged pace
attack with splendid fig-
ures of 9-1-23-3 as Pakistan
bundled out Bangladesh
for a lowly 204 in 45.1
overs.
Fakhar, who missed five
of their six matches
because of a knee injury,
smashed seven sixes and
three fours in his 74-ball
81. Abdullah Shafique also
struck a quick 68 off 69
balls (9x4, 2x6) as the new-
look opening pair laid the
foundation with an impos-
ing 128-run alliance.
Just when it looked like a
one-way traffic for
Pakistan, off-spinner
Mehidy Hasan Miraz
(3/60) took both the open-
ers but with no scoreboard
pressure Pakistan
knocked off the paltry 205-
run target in 32.3 overs.
This was Bangladesh’s
sixth loss on the trot as the
Shakib Al Hasan-led side
became the first team to be
officially eliminated from
the 10-team global show-
piece with two matches in
hand.
They next play Sri Lanka
and Australia in their last
two matches.
Having returned to win-
ning ways after enduring
four defeats, Pakistan
with three wins from
seven matches kept their
faint semifinal hopes
alive. They next take on
New Zealand before con-
cluding their league cam-
paign against England.
Pakistan’s new left-right
handed opening duo start-
ed off with utmost cau-
tion, conceding two maid-
en off Bangladesh’s new
ball bowlers Shoriful
Islam and Taskin Ahmed
in first three overs.
But that was it, as the
Pakistani duo soon started
milking the attack and
Battle of equals as Kiwis face SA
Pune, Oct. 31: One side
endured the agony of a
close defeat and other felt
the ecstacy of victory in a
rip-roaring game but
when New Zealand and
South Africa clash in a
World Cup game here on
Wednesday both will start
on an even keel. The cur-
rent edition of World Cup
has featured mostly lop-
sided games but if the two
games stood out, one cer-
tainly was South Africa’s
one-wicket win against
Pakistan in Chennai and
New Zealand nearly
pulled off a sensational
chase of 388 against
Australia before finishing
five runs short.
With both teams firmly
in contention for semifi-
nal berths, one can expect
good game of cricket
where batters of both
sides are expected to set
the tone of the match.
For New Zealand (8
points from 6 games) , the
Dharamsala-leg after four
nitely improve my technique
and work more on my
strength and flexibility. I will
pick and choose tourna-
ments accordingly so that I
will not burn myself before
the Games. If I am 100 per
cent fit and my groin is all
right, I will do very well at
the Paris Olympics,” Chopra
said on Tuesday.
“Last time when I was in association with supple-
India spending time at ments
home… I put on weight and Nutrition.
was not practicing much but The 25-year-old suffered a
this time I am taking all pre- groin injury earlier this year
cautions to keep myself in before
shape. I took almost one-and- Championship but he con-
a-half months to shed my sulted a doctor in Germany
extra kilos last year when I and is fine now and working
returned to Poland for train- on his full fitness and recov-
ing so I won’t repeat that ery. Chopra has proposed to
mistake this time. I am tak- train in South Africa next
ing care of my diet and train- season.
ing as well,” said Chopra at “I want to say this very
the event announcing his clearly that my best is yet to
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | 1 NOVEMBER 2023
Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman plays a shot en route to his 81 against Bangladesh during
the World Cup match in Kolkata on Tuesday.
raced to 52 for no loss three successive bound-
inside the powerplay. aries. Zaman brought up
The duo soon switched his 16th ODI half-century
gears with Zaman smok- in 51 balls when he
ing Taskin Ahmed over stepped up to Bangla pacer
square leg for a 99-metre Taskin with a massive six
six. There was no stopping down the ground. In the
them and Shaifque took on
Mustafizur Rahman for
previous over, Shafique
took 51 balls to get to his
Live on TV
New Zealand vs S. Africa
from 2 pm on
Star Sports 1, HD
points will almost put
them in the last-four
bracket alongside India.
Hence, it would be one of
the most high-stakes game
of the league stage and a
team like Pakistan would-
n’t mind if New Zealand
suffer a hat-trick of
defeats.
Both teams have put up
more than impressive bat-
ing performances in most
of the games but the track
straight victories didn’t at the Maharashtra
pan out on expected lines Cricket Association
and another loss would ground in Gahunje hasn’t
give the likes of exactly been a belter with
Afghanistan (6 points) and spinners getting sufficient
Pakistan (4 points) a shot help like Afghanistan
at semifinal qualification. spinners did against Sri
On the other hand, if Lanka in their seven-wick-
South Africa (10 points et victory.
from 6 games) win, the 12 The most interesting
come. I have not felt in a com-
petition for a long time that I
have done my best or done
near my best. About 6 cm is
left to be improved. It was
89.94 metres at the
Stockholm Diamond League
(in June 2022). I was a bit
behind the line that time.
Had I thrown my javelin by
moving a bit ahead, it would
have been 90 metres,” the
brand Optimum Diamond League champion
said.
His top-class flexibility and
arm speed made him
the World Olympic and world champi-
on but Chopra wants to per-
fect his leg-blocking tech-
nique. “My coach always
says that it is 60 per cent legs
and 40 per cent upper body.
So leg work is very impor-
tant. I have to do a lot of
improvement in leg work,”
said the javelin superstar.
— AP
third half-century.
Zaman, however, missed
out on a well-deserved cen-
tury, holing out at mid-
wicket to give Mehidy his
third wicket.
Skipper Babar Azam,
however, continued to dis-
appoint getting out for 9
aspect of the contest is the
form of batters from both
sides which has been the
reason of their success so
far. Quinton de Kock (431),
with three hundreds so
far, has had perfect swan-
song tourney and would
be determined to leave the
ODI platform on a high.
As destructive as anyone
on his day, De Kock has
been rolling back years
and showing what he is
capable of.
If De Kock has pul-
verised the opposition
with his game of power
and timing, on the other
end young Rachin
Ravindra (406), with more
of Sachin Tendulkar’s
flair and a bit of Rahul
Dravid’s grit, is setting the
world stage on fire.
The left-hander has
announced his arrival as
New Zealand cricket’s
next batting sensation and
the manner in which he
plays the aerial shots is a
visual delight. — PTI
SADANGI SEALS
OLYMPIC QUOTA
IN SHOOTING
New Delhi, Oct. 31:
Shriyanka Sadangi
grabbed India’s 13th
Paris Olympics quota
when she finished
fourth in the women’s
50m rifle 3 positions (3P)
event at the ongoing
Asian Shooting
Championship in
Changwon, Korea on
Tuesday. Shriyanka shot
440.5, to bow out after
the 43rd shot of the 45-
shot final, equally dis-
tributed between the
kneeling, prone and
standing positions.
Korean Lee Eunseo
clinched the gold while
Han Jiayu of China won
silver. — PTI
SCOREBOARD
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan
lbw b Shaheen Afridi 0,
Litton Das c Agha Salman b
Iftikhar Ahmed 45, Najmul
Hossain Shanto c Usama Mir
b Shaheen Afridi 4,
Mushfiqur Rahim c Rizwan b
Haris Rauf 5, Mahmudullah b
Shaheen Afridi 56, Shakib Al
Hasan c Agha Salman b Haris
Rauf 43, Towhid Hridoy c
Iftikhar Ahmed b Usama Mir
7, Mehidy Hasan Miraz b
Mohammad Wasim Jr 25,
Taskin Ahmed b Mohammad
Wasim Jr 6, Mustafizur
Rahman b Mohammad
Wasim Jr 3, Shoriful Islam
not out 1. Extras (lb-4, w-5)
9. Total (for 7 wkts in 42.3
overs) 204.
FoW: 1-0, 2-6, 3-23, 4-102, 5-
130, 6-140, 7-185, 8-200, 9-
201.
Bowling: Shaheen Afridi 9-1-
23-3, Iftikhar Ahmed 10-0-
44-1, Haris Rauf 8-0-36-2,
Mohammad Wasim Jr 8.1-1-
31-3, Usama Mir 10-0-66-1.
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique
lbw b Mehidy Hasan Miraz
68, Fakhar Zaman c Towhid
Hridoy b Mehidy Hasan Miraz
81, Babar Azam c point.
Mahmudullah b Mehidy
Hasan Miraz 9, Mohammad
Rizwan not out 26, Iftikhar
Ahmed not out 17. Extras (lb-
2, w-2) 4. Total (for 3 wicck-
ets in 32.3 overs) 205.
FoW: 1-128, 2-160, 3-169.
Bowling: Taskin Ahmed 6-1-
36-0, Shoriful Islam 4-1-25-0,
Mehidy Hasan Miraz 9-0-60-
3, Mustafizur Rahman 7-0-
47-0, Shakib Al Hasan 5.3-0-
30-0, Najmul Hossain Shanto
1-0-5-0.
(16b) when he mistimed a
shot off Miraz.
But Mohammad Rizwan
(26 not out) and Iftikhar
Ahmed (17 not out) fin-
ished off the chase with
107 balls to spare.
Earlier, Shaheen rattled
the Bangladeshi top-order
and became the fastest
Pakistani to reach 100 ODI
wickets. Mohammad
Wasim Jr. then cleaned up
the tail returning with fig-
ures of 8.1-1-31-3 as
Bangladesh failed to last
the distance yet again to
be bowled out in 45.1
overs. — PTI
LATHAM COUNTING
ON BOWLERS TO
TAME IN-FORM SA
Pune, Oct. 31: Stand-in
New Zealand skipper
Tom Latham on Tuesday
called on his world-class
bowlers to be proactive
and understand the
match-ups ahead of
their crucial World Cup
clash against a rampag-
ing South Africa here.
“Yeah, I think it’s just
recognising situations
as best you can and try-
ing to be proactive as
much as we can as well
from a bowling point of
view and I guess from a
field placement point of
view as well,” Latham
said.
“South Africa have got
some guys in form from
a batting point of view.
And we have come to a
different venue and
we’ve got to adapt as
quick as we can to this
ground here in Pune.”
— PTI
Messi grabs 8th Ballon d’Or
Paris, Oct. 31: Lionel
Messi won the eighth
Ballon d’Or of his remark-
able career at a glittering
ceremony in Paris on
Monday, while Spain’s
World Cup-winning star
Aitana Bonmati took the
women’s prize.
For Messi, the trophy
rewards, above all else, his
inspirational performanc-
es at last year’s World Cup
in Qatar, when he dragged
Argentina to victory, scor-
ing seven goals and being
named the tournament’s
best player.
It was the crowning
moment of his astonish-
ing career, and it allowed
him to see off stiff compe-
tition, in particular from
Erling Haaland and
Kylian Mbappe, to take
the award on the stage of
pg 8
POINTS TABLE
Teams P W L N/R Pts NRR
India 6 6 0 0 12 1.405
South Africa 6 5 1 0 10 2.032
New Zealand 6 4 2 0 8 1.232
Australia 6 4 2 0 8 0.970
Pakistan 7 3 4 0 6 -0.024
Afghanistan
Sri Lanka
6
6
3
2
3 0 6 -0.718
4 0 4 -0.275
Netherlands 6 2 4 0 4 -1.277
Bangladesh 7 1 6 0 2 -1.446
England 6 1 5 0 2 -1.652
Tabulated as Played, Won, Lost, No Result, Points, Net Run Rate
Iyer focuses on
short ball in nets
Mumbai, Oct. 31: With ● None of the top-
his vulnerability against order bats — captain
the short ball coming to
the fore once again, India
Rohit Sharma, Virat
Kohli and Shubman Gill
number four Shreyas Iyer
trained with the aim of — were in attendance
for the optional
overcoming his long-
standing struggles ahead
of the World Cup game
session. Iyer versus
the short ball was the
against Sri Lanka here on focal point.
Thursday.
None of the top-order
guns — captain Rohit World Cup, faced plenty of
Sharma, Virat Kohli and short balls from throw-
Shubman Gill — were in down specialists in the
attendance for the option- session that lasted for
al session. Iyer versus the nearly two hours under
short ball was the focal the sun.
While he did face some
The team’s famed bowl- local net bowlers to begin
ing attack, which deliv- with, the focus point of
ered a fabulous 100-run the session soon turned
victory over England last into having Iyer facing
Sunday, also opted for innumerable short balls
rest. hurled at him by India’s
Perched at the top of the throwdown specialists D
World Cup points table Raghavendra, the left-
and with a spot in the handed Sri Lankan
semifinals virtually Nuwan Seneviratne and
sealed for Rohit and Co, it batting coach Vikram
is only imperative that Rathour along with a few
the team keeps ironing others.
out the areas of concern Having long batting
along the way. stints on either side of
Iyer’s troubles against the strip on which India
the short ball, combined will take on Sri Lanka,
with the lack of big Iyer was also seen sport-
scores as the preferred No ing a chest guard while he
4, is certainly something kept on pulling and hook-
that the team manage- ing the short balls.
ment and the player want To his credit, Iyer
to overcome and it was responded deftly with
evident as far as his powerful strikes, sending
approach to the session the ball into the stands or
on Tuesday was con- clearing the ropes mostly.
cerned. Towards the end, Iyer
The right-handed batter, also had India head coach
who is back to his home- Rahul Dravid feeding him
ground that he shares throwdowns and for a
with skipper Rohit, change, the batting great
Suryakumar Yadav and also fed a few deliveries to
Shardul Thakur in this
Indian squad for the
Iyer to drive.
— PTI
Shreyas Iyer during a practice session ahead of the
World Cup match against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede
Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday. — PTI
Saint-Germain in June
and his subsequent move
to Inter Miami in Major
League Soccer.
“This is a gift to the
whole Argentina team for
what we achieved,” said
Messi on stage after
receiving his award from
David Beckham, the co-
owner of Inter Miami.
Messi dedicated the tro-
phy to late Argentina leg-
end Diego Maradona, who
would have celebrated his
63rd birthday on Monday.
Lionel Messi poses with “Happy birthday Diego.
the 2023 Ballon d’Or tro- This is for you too,” he
phy in Paris on Monday. said.
— AP Messi benefits from a
recent change which
the Chatelet Theatre in means the award is based
Paris. on a player’s record over
It was a return to the the last season, rather
French capital after his than over the calendar
departure from Paris year. — AFP