tirupati l wednesday l October 28, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Kerala first state to fix floor price for vegetables Sixteen vegetables will have floor price that would be 20% above their production cost, with effect from November 1 No pain for farmers Even IF market CRASHES Price to be revised on a regular basis Even if the market price went below this, the produce would be procured at the floor price from farmers, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday. The vegetables would be graded as per the quality and the floor price fixed accordingly, he said. “Farmers across the country are not satisfied... but for the last four-and-half years, we have supported them,” he added The 16 vegetables include potato, tomato, beans, tapioca, lady’s finger, bitter gourd, carrot, beetroot, banana among others ■ Farmers with a maximum of 15 acres of vegetable cultivation per season will be eligible for the scheme. The state government will revise the floor price on a regular basis, the chief minister said ■ 15L tonnes Kerala’s ANNUAL vegetable production, ACCORDING TO STATE GOVT 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 Floodgates now opened for anyone to buy land in Jammu & Kashmir in a move that can have longterm political and economic implications for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre on Tuesday notified several laws, including major amendments to the Jammu and Kashmir Land Revenue Act to allow any Indian citizen to buy land in the Union Territory . Agricultural land will be an exception to the law as it can only be transferred or sold to an agriculturist in J&K. However, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs can authorise an agriculturist to ‘alienate’ the hate content Five accords, including the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement, at 2+2 dialogue indicate US solidarity against Chinese aggression S a n a S h a k i l a n d F aya z W a n i @ New Delhi/Srinagar Under-fire FB official Ankhi Das calls it quits E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi Controversial India policy head of Facebook, Ankhi Das, who had opposed blocking of right-wing hate content on its platform, put in her papers on Tuesday . She was outed by US media reports that criticised Facebook for its skew in regulating hate content. The resignation to pursue her interest in ‘public service’ also came close on the heels of her grilling by a parliamentary committee on data protection. She had joined Facebook in 2011. “Ankhi has decided to step down from her role in Facebook to pursue her interest in public service. Ankhi was one of our earliest employees in India and played an instrumental role in the growth of the company and its services over the last 9 years,” said Ajit Mohan, vice president and managing director, India in a statement. In August last, articles in the Wall Street Journal had said Das had intervened in internal review of the communal posts of BJP’s Telangana MLA T Raja Singh. Das, the reports said, had argued that penalising BJP workers’ posts would hurt the social media company’s business prospects in India. The reports soon lit a political fire with the Congress alleging a nexus between Facebook and the BJP . Hizbul Chief Sallahudin in new terror list The Centre on Tuesday designated 18 more individuals as ‘terrorists’, including Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Sallahudin, taking the total number of such proscribed persons to 31 | P7 land to a non-agriculturist for sale, gift or exchange. The new amendment implies domiciles of J&K would now effectively get protection only in government jobs. The Union government had earlier hinted that some protection on land-rights on the lines of Himachal Pradesh will be Sharp message to Beijing from India-US pacts P u s h k a r B a n a k a r & M aya n k S i n g h @ New Delhi India and the US on Tuesday signed five pacts, including the long-negotiated Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) on geospatial data during the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue at a time when New Delhi and Beijing are engaged in a stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. BECA will give India access to accurate US satellite data, which will help in navigation and pinpoint accuracy for weapons. “We are happy that we’ve completed the BECA, which will open new avenues in the information sharing. We are eager to discuss further issues with US,” Singh said after the meeting. Experts say BECA will usher in a new era in ties, especially in defence cooperation. “IndiaUS are looking at geo-spatial intelligence and greater cooperation in all fields. Further, a fair amount of congruence has been achieved in terms of the idea of an inclusive Indo-Pacific. The wider Indo-Pacific sweep includes freedom of navigation, use of global commons and the sea lanes of communication,” Major General (Retd) S B Asthana said. Kriti Upadhyaya of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said that signing of BECA in the backdrop of the India-China tensions definitely sends a message to China that the US stands by India in improving its defences against China. Discussions in the meeting involving US Secretary of State Agriculture land Agricultural land will be reserved for farmers and it can only be sold another agriculturist. However, the land can be transferred for non-agriculture purposes with the Centre’s permission granted to domiciles of J&K. Before the reading down of Article 370 and Article 35-A last year, non-residents could not buy any immovable property in Jammu and Kashmir. But the new order titled the ‘Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of Central Laws) Third Order, 2020’ changed this status. The order issued by the Union home ministry evoked sharp reactions from J&K political parties, ranging from ‘unacceptable’ to ‘betrayal’. Several regional parties, under the umbrella of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, vowed to fight “on all fronts” against it. The MHA has also amended the domicile law declaring the “spouse of a domicile shall also be deemed to be a domicile”. This earlier pertained to children of central government officials posted in J&K for 10 years who are also eligible as domiciles.  Continued on: P7 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addresses the media after the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (R), US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (2L) and US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper (L) look on, at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Tuesday | PTI Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defence Mark Esper, External Affairs Minister S Jaishnakar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh focused around a plethora of regional and global issues, including coronavirus, trade, free and fair Indo-Pacific and enhancing bilateral ties. Earlier in the day, Pompeo and Esper paid tributes at the National War Memorial and had a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. “Warm conversation today with Indian Prime Minister @narendramodi. Our close relationship, which is rooted in our vibrant democratic traditions and fostered by the free and open exchange between our peoples, is beneficial for the world,” Pompeo later tweetContinued on: P7 ed.  Rajnath raps reckless China aggression P u s h k a r B a n a k a r @ New Delhi While US belligerence against China was on expected lines, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh sharp rebuke of the neighbour for its “reckless aggression on our northern borders”, in his opening address at the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue on Tuesday, became one of the day’s talking points. “Excellencies, in the area of defense we are challenged by reckless aggression on our northern borders,” a State Department release after the bilateral dialogue quoted Singh as saying. However, a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence made no such mention. Predictably, visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was more upfront while slamming China. “We paid our respect to the soldiers who laid down their lives in the Galwan Valley recently. The US will stand with India in its efforts to defend its sovereignty and its liberty Our nations are com... mitted to working together into expanding our partnerships across many fronts,” Pompeo India and the US are taking all steps to strengthen cooperation against all threats and not just those posed by the CCP Mike Pompeo US Secretary of State said after the talks. India and China have been involved in a stand-off along the Line of Actual Control with tensions peaking after 20 Indian soldiers were killed by Chinese troops in Galwan Valley of Ladakh on June 15. Pompeo said a robust discussion has been set off about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) due to the pandemic ‘that came from Wuhan’. “Our leaders and our citizens see with increasing clarity that the CCP is no friend to democracy, the rule of law, transparency nor the freedom of navigation, the foundation of a free and open and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Continued on: P7 he said.  Allahabad HC to monitor CBI’s Hathras probe CM: Input subsidy for E x p r e ss n e w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Allahabad High Court to monitor the CBI probe into the alleged Hathras gangrape and murder case. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde asked the CBI to submit its status report to the high court, which shall look into all the as- pects of the case, including providing security to the victim’s family . The court, while hearing a batch of petitions seeking an independent probe into the case, said the plea to transfer the case out of Uttar Pradesh has been left open. The petitions sought an independent probe and for the case to be transferred out of Uttar Pradesh, preferably to Delhi. The petitioners argued a fair trial was not possible in UP . Another prayer was made to ensure adequate witness protection for the victim’s family . Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also told the apex court that a three-fold protection mechanism was in place for the family and witnesses. Accepting Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s suggestion, the top court asked the Allahabad High Court to remove the name of the victim from its orders. The UP government had already recommended a CBI probe into the case even though it continues to deny the woman was raped. The CBI officially took over the case on October 10. The agency will probe all aspects of the alleged gangrape and murder of a 20-year-old Dalit woman in UP’s Hathras district on September 14. Sanskrit varsity online courses a big draw D S u r e n d r a K u m a r @Tirupati The online certificate courses introduced by the National Sanskrit University (NSU), Tirupati have evoked a good response from students. As many as 414 students from India and abroad have evinced interest in pursuing the NSU online courses so far. The foreign students who applied for the courses, hail from Sri Lanka, Australia, Singapore, USA and Arab countries. It may be noted here that the Government of India released a gazette notification on March 25 this year, upgrading Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha (RSVP), Tirupati, as National Sanskrit University (Central University). The NSU conducted Sanskrit and Yoga courses in 19 streams through online from April 5 to May 17 this year in P5 view of the Covid-19 pandemic. traditional fight As part of the annual Banni Utsavam, villagers indulge in the traditional stick fight on Devaragattu Hill in Kurnool district on Monday midnight I Express express read YSRC questions SEC invitation to outsiders Vijayawada: All eyes are on the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA), which has scheduled a meeting on November 2 to discuss and take a call on the issue of revised cost estimates (RCE) of the Polavaram Irrigation Project (PIP) after the Union Finance Ministry sought a confirmation on the price level 2013-14 or 2017-18 - to be considered for finalising the P4 national project’s cost.  through a video conference from his camp office in Tadepalli, Jagan expressed happiChief Minister YS Jagan Mo- ness over implementing such han Reddy on Tuesday re- a scheme, which benefits one leased `1,115 crore as the sec- out of three families in the ond installment of YSR Rythu State. “It is not one or two, but Bharosa - PM Kisan Scheme. over 50 lakh farmers who The sum was directstand to benefit. Out ly credited into the 50L farmers of 1.5 crore houseunencumbered acholds in the State, get `1,115 cr counts of 50.47 lakh About 50.47 lakh one third of them get farmers, including the benefit,” he said, farmers in the tribal beneficiaries describing it as a god State got `1,115 who got ROFR given opportunity . crore as second Pattas. Jagan said they installment of With the click of a are implementing YSR Rythu button, the Chief the scheme as promBharosa - PM Minister also credit- Kisan Scheme. An ised. In the first year, ed `135.73 crore in- input subsidy of the government proput subsidy into the `135.73 crore was vided `6,173 crore to bank accounts of 46.69 lakh farmers in also provided to 1.66 lakh farmers, 1.66 lakh farmers the State under the who suffered crop scheme. The number loss due to heavy of beneficiaries inrains and floods during June creased to 50.50 lakh farmers and September. He promised this year. to pay input subsidy in NoAsserting that a change in vember to farmers for the the system was brought to a crop loss incurred by them level, where all the eligible due to heavy rains and floods farmers stand to benefit from in October. the scheme without any disP5 Addressing the farmers crimination. E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada New car plant PPA meet on Nov 2 may take a call on RCE Vijayawada: TRS, AIADMK and AIMIM are among the political parties invited to the meeting convened by the SEC on Wednesday to discuss holding of local body polls in the State. YSRC official spokesperson Ambati Rambabu asked as to how the SEC, without holding talks with the government on conducting polls, can invite the parties, which do not have any existence in AP for the meeting. rain-hit ryots in Nov Lamborghini likely to invest `1,750 crore in State E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @Vijayawada Italian luxury automobile manufacturer Lamborghini is likely to invest `1,750 crore in AP The Italian firm is planning . to set up its plant in a Special Economic Zone in the State to manufacture electric golf carts and a battery swapping unit. According to official sources, the State government has received a proposal from electric vehicle maker Kinetic Green evincing interest in setting up a manufacturing facility for electric golf carts and a battery swapping unit with an investment of `1,750 crore in AP Ki. netic Green Energy & Power Solutions, which is a part of the Pune-based Kinetic Group, had in February 2018 announced setting up of a joint venture with Tonino Lamborghini in India for design and manufacture of premium segment golf carts and other electric off-road vehicles. The company has proposed to set up a unit in SEZ located near a port for the golf cart project as well as for the battery swapping (infrastructure) to promote electric three-wheelers irrespective of the brand. Both the projects entail an investment of `1,750 crore. For Lamborghini, the firm is looking to set up a plant in SEZ because that will allow it to have an attractive export opP5 portunity  .