The Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room — the meeting room of the UN Human Rights Council, in the Palace of Nations in Geneva visakhapatnam l thursday l October 15, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION China, Pakistan re-elected to UN Human Rights Council Despite their dismal human rights record, the two countries made it to the UNHRC with 139 and 169 votes, respectively Human rights abusers in world body Not just China and Pakistan, the world body has a number of countries with questionable credentials such as Cuba, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Senegal, Libya, Somalia, Mauritania, Ukraine and Russia sitting as judges to determine human rights violations. Saudi Arabia, one of the worst human rights violators, contested but failed as it received only 90 votes 39 countries Activists, Pompeo hit out at unhrc ■ “UN’s newest world judges on human rights include Pakistan, which persecutes Christians, Hindus; and China, which herded one million Uighurs into camps,” said international lawyer Hillel Neuer ■ US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US now stands vindicated for its decision to quit the Council in 2018 Had criticised china last week for its treatment of Uighur Muslims CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI A drone picture of Eluru in West Godavari dist | By spl arrangement with Karun hyderabad floodead Horror as hundreds of colonies go underwater; toll climbs to 32, including 25 in twin cities; GHMC advises residents to stay indoors for three days; late-night rain hampers rescue ops Man gets washed away in swirling water in Falaknuma Video clips showed a man in Falaknuma being washed away in the floodwater. People in the area threw inflatable tubes in an attempt to save him (pic above). Nadeem Colony in Tolichowki, Al Jubail Colony in Falaknuma, Talab Katta, Malakpet, Chandrayangutta and Shaikpet were the worst affected Hyderabad-Vijayawada road connectivity cut off Traffic on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway came to a grinding halt, with the road getting washed away at several places in Hayatnagar on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Waterlogging was so severe that till Wednesday evening, traffic flow could not be restored as water continued to flow across the road A woman breaks down as she holds her newborn, who was rescued by Army and DRF teams in Falaknuma | VINAY MADAPU E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad A day after driving rain paralysed normal life in Hyderabad and the rest of Telangana, accounts of a living nightmare that the people went through the previous night began to unfold on Wednesday . As the day wore on, the toll climbed to 32, including 25 in Hyderabad and seven in erstwhile Mahbubnagnar district. While nine others are missing, deaths due to wall collapses, electrocution and people getting washed away in overflowing nalas have been reported from different parts of Hyderabad and the outskirts. As onlookers watched, three workers were swept away in Ganganpahad, while they were trying to reach a safer place after swirling waters invaded the function hall where they work. In Mylardevpalli, two persons met with a similar fate. In Banjara Hills, a doctor was electrocuted when he tried to drain out water from the cellar of his apartment, and in Dilsukhnagar, a three-year-old girl drowned in the flooded cellar of an apartment. Late on Tuesday eight people died , when a huge boulder crashed into houses at Chandrayangutta. At Lingojiguda of Saroornagar, a woman got trapped in her flooded house and was found drowned on Wednesday morning. At Alwal, a 70-year-old woman drowned in her house, while her husband, who had slept in the next room, escaped in the incident. At SR Nagar, a youngster working in a bar, went into the building’s cellar to switch on the generator on Tues- day night. But as the electricity supply was restored by then, it led to a short circuit and he got electrocuted. Two people were also electrocuted at LB Nagar and Amberpet. The fallout of the torrential rain — inundation of all thoroughfares and colonies in the twin cities — remained unchanged for the second consecutive day though rain stopped beating down on the city Water appeared everywhere as there . was no way for it to flow out, with encroachments reducing the width of lakes into which the water should drain into. Ghatkesar, a small town on Hyderabad’s outskirts, bore the brunt of heaven’s fury of 32 cm rainfall, the highest in Telangana. In all other areas of the city, the rainfall was over 10 cm which led to roads being submerged. At places like Barkas, water flowed with a frightening roar, taking away an unwary middle-aged person along with it. Though people tried to reach out to help him, they could not and watched the horror helplessly . The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport remained cut off for those who used the PVNR flyover. Water, which gushed out of a swollen tank, flowed across the national highway at Aramghad, making further progress impossible for motorists as they exited the flyover. The only way to reach the airport was by the Outer Ring Road but it was a detour for many The air. port was unavailable for flights till late on Tuesday with many being diverted to oth, er cities. The airport became operational more on P5 by early Wednesday . Livestream of HC hearing on capital? E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Andhra Pradesh High Cour t on Wednesday urging it to take steps for the live telecast of the final hearing on petitions pertaining to the capital Amaravati, Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act and the CRDA (Repeal) Act. A student of law, Leela Krishna from Vijayawada filed the plea seeking directions to the Registrar General to formulate guidelines for the live telecast of court proceedings. The Registrar General and the High Court Advocates’ Association have been made respondents. The petitioner opined that live telecast of the proceedings in the High Court will PIL filed in wake of allegations of bias The petitioner filed the public interest litigation (PIL) seeking live telecast of the court hearings, saying it would strengthen public faith in the judiciary in the wake of allegations that verdicts were going in favour of one particular political party strengthen public faith in the judiciary in the wake of allegations that verdicts were going in favour of one particular political party . Besides, this step will provide no scope for levelling such allegations and dispel any misconceptions on the Amaravati controversy, she pointed out. Since the people will get an opportunity to listen to the arguments of all the sides, and as many across the State are interested in these cases, it will be appropriate to direct the Registrar General to take steps for broadcasting live the court proceedings, she said. A senior assistant working at Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam at Simhachalam has been suspended on charges of committing irregularities and misusing his position to encourage illegal encroachments. He is also allegedly the main person responsible for levelling the 13.4 acre site in spite of status quo orders from the High Court. An order issued by endowments special commissioner P Arjuna Rao on Wednesday said senior assistant Paluri Narasinga Rao encouraging illegal constructions, interfering in postings of guards, leaking eviction activities to encroachers in advance, and helping the encroachers of the Madhavadhara site. Earlier, the commissioner asked the then executive officer to take disciplinary action against the senior assistant following a report submitted by an enquiry committee on illegal Eight arrested for stealing brass from temple The Visakhapatnam police arrested eight people accused of stealing 550 kg of brass items worth `1.2 lakh from the Sri Varahalakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Simhachalam. While 34 bags of brass items were stolen, only four bags, weighing 77 kg, were recovered rainfall recorded in Nandigama 10cm rainfall recorded in Therlam (V’nagaram) 5,038 people evacuated Home guard saves nine Home guard RVK Arjun rescued nine people who were stuck in an inundated ceramic unit in Jaggampeta mandal of East Godavari district. He waded through waist-deep water with a long bamboo stick, reached the unit, asked the marooned people to hold the stick and follow him to safety. Director General of Police D Gautam Sawang appreciated him for his efforts | P2 E x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi TWO advocates have filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking the removal of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy for his “scandalising” remarks against the second senior-most judge of the top court. The PIL, filed by lawyers G S Mani and Pradeep Kumar Yadav, pointed out Jagan is facing over 20 criminal cases. The plea said Jagan levelled baseless allegations. It sought a judicial enquiry by constituting , an internal committee headed by sitting or retired judges of the apex court or any authority including the CBI, over the vague allegation made by Jagan against Justice N V Ramana. Meanwhile, the Delhi HC Bar Association and the Supreme Court Advocates-On-Record Association passed resolutions condemning the Andhra CM’s letter. P7 Simhachalam staff suspended over encroachment @ Visakhapatnam 13.4cm The IMD has predicted that thunderstorms and lightning will occur at isolated places in coastal districts of the state on Thursday and Friday, with light to moderate rains in a few places. Light rains are expected in a few places in the Rayalaseema region PIL filed in SC seeking Jagan’s removal as CM Illegal constructions E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e 15,000 hectares of paddy, 3,000 hectares of horticulture crops ready for harvest damaged. More rains ahead constructions. However, no action was taken against Narasinga Rao till now, the commissioner said in the order. He said as per provisions of Section 38 of Act 30/1987 and Endowment office holder and servant disciplinary rules 1987, Narasinga Rao has been suspended pending an inquiry into the charges against him. He said his continuation will hamper the inquiry including mass , land encroachment at Madhavadhara site. Rain subsides but flood fury unabated in State E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The impact of the flood continued in East Godavari, West Godavari, Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Krishna and Guntur districts on Wednesday, with heavy inflows continuing to the Krishna, Godavari, Vamsadhara, Nagavali, Tandava, Varahi and Mahendratanaya though the intensity of the rains subsided. With heavy rains in their upper catchment areas, several minor rivers and streams in the Krishna and Godavari basin are in spate, throwing normal life out of gear. Road connectivity was disrupted in a few places. Floodwater from the Yeleru Reservoir submerged NH-16 at Prathipadu and NH-216 at Gollaprolu. The road connecting Vijayawada to old Amaravati village was cut off due to an overflowing I enquired stream at Peddamaduru village in Guntur dis- about the rain trict. Officials pumped water from the Kondav- situation in AP and Telangana eti Vagu back into the Krishna. Gushing water from upstream areas in the with CMs of Pushkar Canal washed away a house at Rama- those two varam in Jaggampeta mandal. Luckily, seven states and promised help people who lived in the house came outside min- form the utes before it collapsed. People from flood-affect- Centre in every ed areas and low-lying areas in Krishna district manner. I pray have been shifted to relief camps as a precau- for the safety of the victims tionary measure. Most regions of North Andhra are limping Narendra Modi, back to normalcy but almost all canals, streams , Prime Minister and rivers, such as Vamsadhara, Sarada, Varaha,Tandava, Nagavali and Mahendratanaya, are in spate. As streams were overflowing onto bridges and causeways, road connectivity was disrupted in several villages. All reservoirs in Visakhapatnam district, including Pedderu, Raiwada, Tandava and Sileru, are brimming with water. In Srikakulam, the first flood warning was issued at Gotta Barrage on Vamsadhara river in Srikakulam district. Heavy rains and floods severely damaged crops in the North coastal region, twin Godavari districts, and Krishna and Guntur districts. Officials will enumerate the losses once normalcy Continued on P4 is restored.  express read Expedite waiver, Diwali in Govt’s hands: SC New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to waive ‘interest on interest’ on loans up to `2 crore soon, while pulling up the govt for taking so much time to implement a decision already taken. It rejected the Centre’s request for one month’s time and adjourned the matter. The court’s direction came while hearing petitions seeking interest waiver during the loan moratorium Kuchipudi dance exponent Shobha Naidu passes away Thakur not among star campaigners for key Madhya Pradesh bypolls Visakhapatnam: Renowned Kuchipudi dance exponent Shobha Naidu died on Wednesday at a hospital in Hyderabad, where she had been undergoing treatment for the past few days. She was a recipient of Padma Shri and Sangeeta Nataka Academi awards Bhopal: Controversial BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur has failed to find a place in the list of party’s star campaigners for the crucial 28 Assembly bypolls slated for November 3. Sixteen of the 28 Assembly seats, up for he bypolls, are located in the region from where she hails | P8 Soon, non-MBBS staff to teach medicine? S u m i S u k a n ya D u t ta @ New Delhi Days after the new medical education regulator, the National Medical Commission (NMC), came into existence, it has proposed to formalise the hiring of non-medical grads — those without MBBS — as teachers in medical colleges. As per the latest “minimum requirements for MBBS admission regulations 2020”, released for public feedback, non-medical teachers can be recruited in six departments — anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and microbiology, biochem and statistician — in the department of community medicine. Already, up to 30% faculty for first and second year students of various medical colleges are said to comprise those who are not undergrads in medicine because the Medical Council of India (MCI), the previous regulator, did not clearly define it. It all began several decades ago when there weren’t enough PG doctors to serve as faculty official , sources explained. That was when the MCI allowed MBBS degree holders with a general masters in science to be hired as teachers in medical colleges for non-clinical subjects. “Later, even those without an MBBS degree and holding just an MSc or PhD in life sciences, were hired as faculty in medical colleges in states but the MCI simply ignored the issue,” said a source. Meanwhile, Dr Satendra Singh, a senior faculty with the University College of Medical Sciences in Delhi, said the advent of competency based medical education meant that the course will now be cliniP7 cally oriented.