visakhapatnam l THURSday l NOVEMber 26, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION Maradona reunites with hand of god s w a r o o p s w a m i n at h a n @ Chennai EVERY so often, an athlete shows the world the possibilities of talent. Every so often, an athlete shows the world that it is possible to inspire millions among millions. Every so often, an athlete shows the world it is possible to make athiests believe. Diego Armando Maradona made the world believe that he was a superior being, sent down to inspire, spread joy and elevate the potential of The Beautiful Game. On Wednesday, the Argentine great passed away after a heart attack following a brain surgery earlier this month. The 60-year-old’s death shocked not only the football world but the wider community as Diego Maradona  well. In a year that has brought about unprecedented chaos to the world, Maradona’s passing away will arguably be the single most piece of news that will reverberate with the most. That is the impact he had, from Buenos Aires to Brisbane and from Arctic to the Antartic. Walk around Asia or Europe or Africa or the Americas or Oceania and the chances of one Oct 30, 1960  Nov 25, 2020 coming across a mural of Maradona is very high. Even if he was a legend, a curly-haired freak of nature, people readily identified with him. Hailing from Villa Fiorita, one of Argentina’s poorer localities, he conquered the world in 1986. That he suffered from drug problems while shouldering the unreal expectations of a football-mad nation only embel- lished what he managed to do on a football field, his natural habitat. He will be live on in memories of videos describing his immortal abilities with a football. As he dribbled past the English side to score one of the most iconic goals ever at the 1986 World Cup, the commentator described it as: “what planet did you P13 come from”. Indeed.  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 Authorities said it would take three hours for the centre of the cyclone to cross the coast and reach land IMD says even after landfall, the system is likely to maintain its intensity for about 6 hours Kadapa Nellore Chittoor The storm is expected to cross the coast, 30 km north of Puducherry at around 2 am Chennai Gale wind speed reaching 65-75 kmph very likely to prevail over interior TN districts Puducherry Cuddalore Nagapattinam A man rides on RC road, which was severely damaged by the rain in Tirupati on Wednesday | Madhav K nivar rains lash South AP Man dies in Nellore district after stepping on live wire that snapped due to uprooted electric pole E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ Vijayawada/Tirupati Under the impact of Cyclone Nivar, which turned into a ‘very severe cyclone’ as it moved towards the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coast to make landfall, Nellore and parts of Chittoor district witnessed heavy rainfall since Wednesday morning. One person died in Nellore after coming in contact with a snapped live wire from an electric pole that was uprooted due to heavy winds. At 8 pm on Wednesday, the IMD said Nivar had moved towards the northwest at a speed of 13 kmph and lay centred over the southwest Bay of Bengal about 110 km from Cuddalore, 115 km from Puducherry and 185 km from Chennai. Nivar was very likely to cross the coast between Karaikal and Mamallapuram after Wednesday mid- Heavy to very heavy rain predicted at most places in the region, likely to continue on Friday as well night. It had not yet made landfall at the time this paper was published. The IMD predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at most places, and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in south coastal AP and the Rayalaseema regions on Thursday On Friday, rainfall is likely at . many places in south Coastal AP and in the Rayalaseema regions. In Tamil Nadu, Cuddalore received the highest rainfall (98 mm), followed by Puducherry (82 mm), and Chennai and Karaikal (69 mm each). Several areas of Chennai were waterlogged. Winds reaching 65-75 kmph and gusting to 85 kmph are very likely in Nellore and Chittoor districts. The sea is expected to be very rough in south AP, and fishing operations have been suspended. Fishermen were asked to evacuate coastal are- as as heavy rains and winds are expected to damage houses and huts, snap power lines and uproot trees. The APSRTC, which resumed bus services to Tamil Nadu on Wednesday said it would decide on , continuing services depending on the situation. The district administrations of the Rayalaseema region, Nellore and Prakasam have been put on alert. Director General of Police Gautam Sawang told policemen to be available for relief and rescue operations, and take the initiative to evacuate people from low-lying areas. The DGP asked the public to dial 100 or 112 for assistance. Meanwhile, heavy rains and winds battered Nellore district, affecting the lives of people in all 12 coastal mandals. In Nellore city Sk , Razak of Venkateswarapuram locality was electrocuted when he About 750 people shifted to shelter homes in Nellore district; 100 NDRF and SDRF personnel deployed stepped on a snapped power cable while trying to escape from a falling tree at Magunta Layout. “We were taking shelter at a shop. After the tree fell on the road, Razak suddenly tried to move elsewhere and stepped on the wire,” said eyewitness Nazeer Basha. Nellore district, on an average, received 6 cm of rainfall. Kota received 15 cm, Vakadu 13.5 cm; Naidupet, Chittmuru, Kodavaluru 12 cm; and Kovur, Muthukuru, Vidavaluru mandals received 11 cm of rainfall till 6 pm on Wednesday of, ficials said. About 750 people were shifted to shelter homes in the district, and around 100 NDRF and SDRF personnel were deployed at Kota, Vakadu, Kavali, Vidavaluru, Tada, Atmakur, Nellore, Sangam and Indukurpeta. Services of the APSP 9th battalion located at Venkatagiri P2,5,7 will also be utilised. Helplines 1077 9100804313 Nellore 14 Chittoor flights cancelled The Indigo and Trujet aircraft were scheduled for November 26 They were to connect, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kadapa SEVEN trains cancelled 100 relief camps have been set up in Nellore district to accommodate 3,000 families 2,000 people shifted to shelter homes in Chittoor district Volunteers pitch in, help reach out to fishermen E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ Nellore In a first-of-its-kind operation, the Nellore district administration has been utilising the services of volunteers for relief work. A dedicated team of around 30-50 members has been deputed for relief and rehabilitation activities in areas that are likely to be affected by the cyclone. The district has a coastline spanning 169 km and covering 12 coastal mandals from Tada to Sullurupeta. There are 108 villages and as many as 1.98 lakh people from the fishermen community who reside in those villages. In fact, officials usually have a tough time trying to reach the fishermen villages during natural disasters. But this time, volunteers, who are from the families that reside in the area, have been supporting the district administration. “They were given printed copies of the measures to be taken by them and the public. They have been raising awareness among the families in their limits in the district,” said Collector KVN Chakradhar Babu, adding that text messages are being sent to people to alert them about the cyclone. Police cut a tree uprooted by the wind in Kota mandal in Nellore district on Wednesday | Express 100 relief centres set up in Nellore district “We set up 100 relief centres with a capacity of 3,000 families in Nellore district. We will also use schools and government offices as shelter homes. We have been shifting people to shelter homes and providing food and drinking water to inmates. Generators and medical equipment were kept ready at Community Health Care centres, Primary Health Care centres in the district for providing medical services to the people,” Collector Chakradhar Babu said Ahmed Patel passes away, Congress loses its best backroom crisis manager R i c h a S h a r m a @ New Delhi ahmed Patel’s demise couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Congress, which is struggling to deal with the revolt by a group of veteran leaders seeking radical changes in the party. His death could, however, pave the way for organisational and generational changes in the party . Patel, 71, who passed away in a Gur ug ram hospital on Wednesday following complications related to Covid-19, was known for his political acumen to take everyone, including the warring young and old guards, together. According to sources, he worked hard to settle the internal strife within the party till Ahmed Patel  Aug 21, 1949  Nov 25, 2020 his last. When voices were raised against the party high command, Patel ensured to reach out to the dissenting leaders who wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot was candid to say that in the current situation, Congress will miss Patel even more. Senior Cong ress leader P Chidambaram said, “Whence do we find another like him?” When the Rajasthan political crisis was at peak, Patel was holding back-channel talks to manage the situation arising out of rebellion by Sachin Pilot. He was part of the threemember committee that looked into issues between Pilot and Gehlot. Patel was part of all major decision-making committees in the Congress. “The road to 10 Janpath (Sonia Gandhi’s official residence) passes through 23 Mother Teresa Crescent (Patel’s residence),” said a senior leader. 65-75 kmph wind speeds expected in Nellore and Chittoor districts 2 days of holiday on November 26, 27 for educational institutions in Nellore district express read AP High Court’s media gag order on Amaravati land scam lifted by SC E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ New Delhi A Supreme Court bench on Wednesday vacated a media gag order issued by the Andhra Pradesh High Court on reporting about a first information report (FIR) filed by the state’s Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the Amaravati land scam case. The case became a hot potato as the FIR names former advocate general Dammalapati Srinivas and two daughters of a senior apex court judge. However, the bench did not lift the high court’s stay into the ACB probe. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan issued notice and slated the matter for final hearing in January last week. It also asked the high court not to decide on Srinivas’ writ petition till it (SC bench) adjudicates the matter. During the hearing, senior advocate Rajeev Dhawan, appearing for the Andhra government, argued that the interim high court order barring probe and gagging the media, couldn’t have been passed at all. The writ petition by Srinivas, Dhavan said, alleged malafide but offered nothing on record to corroborate it. “This was an entirely a political writ petition against the CM and this government,” he emphasised. Pointing to suspicious transactions involving Srinivas and others, Dhavan said, “Should such a complaint be investigated or not? This is the simplest question here.” Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the former A-G, said, “My client is targeted because he was appearing for the (former) CM. This case reeks of malafide. This is worse than Emergency CBI did not . do anything. My reputation is being damaged.”  Continued on P9  something extraordinarily special? Media can be gagged only if there is real and substantial risk of prejudice. “Is there something extraordinarily special in the plea that such orders had to be passed?” Dhavan asked What’s in the FIR adjacent to villages Between June These plots were scheme (LPS) was towhere the land pooling be and December 2014, Dammalapati Srinivas’ father-inlaw, brother-in-law and another relative bought plots in Amaravati region implemented, and within the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) limits the State Srinivas was allegedly privy tolocation of the government’s decision on the capital before it was publicly announced, and sought to make a profit out of it The accused include Dammalapati Srinivas Dammalapati Nagarani Aid for vendors Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy interacts with beneficiaries of Jagananna Thodu after the scheme was launched, at the CM’s Camp Office in Tadepalli on Wednesday | Express From Jan 15, prefix ‘0’ to call mobile numbers New Delhi: Starting January 15, you may prefix ‘0’ to mobile numbers if you are calling from a landline. The move is to free up sufficient numbering resources for future use, the Dept of Communications said ‘Jallikattu’ is India’s official Oscar entry Kochi: Malayalam feature film ‘Jallikattu’ has been selected as India’s official entry for the International Feature Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards, the Film Federation of India announced Nuthalapati Sritanuja (daughter of SC Justice NV Ramana) Nuthalapati Sribhuvana (daughter of SC Justice NV Ramana) of the Somewere The next year, Though the value of plots the land had shot up, Srinivas’ adjacent to the core capital region so it wouldn’t be acquired under LPS and would pay rich dividends Sections they are booked under: relatives sold some of the land they had bought, to him and his wife Srinivas and his wife bought it at almost the same rate at which they were bought the previous year allegedly disclosed official secrets Srinivashis position for pecuniary benefit and abused 409 (criminal breach of 420 (cheating) r/w trust by public servant) 120-b of IPC 13(2) r/w 13 (1) (d) (ii) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988w