visakhapatnam l monday l march 15, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 28 l late city EDITION bhavani 1st indian fencer to qualify for olympics Bhavani Devi took up the sport as a means to escape from the grind of studies. The Chennai woman qualifies on her rankings improves world ranking, goes to tokyo The 27-year-old sabre fencer secured a spot in the World Cup in Hungary after the hosts lost in the quarterfinals of the team event to South Korea. With South Korea qualifying as a team, two individual spots opened up for the Asia and Oceania regions based on World Rankings through which Bhavani managed to make it. She currently holds the 42nd rank ■ 42nd hard work and determination ■ ■ She reached round of 16 at Fencing World Championships in 2019, her best effort so far, where she virtually sealed her spot Not pursuing a well-known sport, she struggled with her finances early on. Tamil Nadu government and family support her She is trained by Italian coach Nicola Zanotti World ranking she occupies to be eligible for Asia slot 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 jagan wave in tact, oppn blown away YSRC scores 100% in ULB polls; wins Vizag, Vijayawada too with ease TDP scrapes through in just Tadipatri, Mydukur; JSP-BJP end up as also rans West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a rally to mark Nandigram Diwas, in Kolkata on Sunday | PTI I have faced a lot of attacks in my life but I have never surrendered before anyone. I will never bow my head. An injured tiger gets more dangerous.... My pain is not greater than the suffering of people as democracy is being trampled through dictatorship Mamata Banerjee EC rules out attack angle, suspends police officers E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi YSRC activists celebrate their landslide victory in municipal elections at the party central office in Tadepalli on Sunday | Prasant Madugula E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Election results at a glance @ Vijayawada It was YSRC all the way! In an encore of its 2019 general elections performance, the party swept the elections to urban local bodies from Srikakulam to Anantapur — from North Andhra to Rayalaseema — putting paid to any hopes the opposition TDP may have had of regaining some lost ground. The YSRC emerged victorious in 11 out of 11 municipal corporations and 73 out of 75 municipalities. The results of the Eluru municipal corporation have been put on hold on the directions of the high court following a petition on alleged discrepancies in voters’ list. The TDP managed to win just two municipalities — Tadipatri in Anantapur district and Mydukur in Kadapa district — that too with slender margins and with bleak chances of winning the chairperson posts in both. The BJP-Jana Sena Party combine grabbed a few seats but interestingly, it was actor Pawan Kalyan’s JSP that fared better than its partner. The results come as a vindication of sorts for Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, particularly for his threecapital formula and his a g enda of welf are schemes. Reacting to the results, the Chief M i n i s t e r t we e t e d , “This is a great victory of the people... this has further increased my responsibility. I will try hard to work as a member of your family .” While the YSRC, predictably had a walk in the park in its strongholds in Rayalaseema, Nellore and Prakasam dis- express read 18 killed in Myanmar as junta goes on rampage Yangon: At least 18 anti-coup protesters were killed on Sunday in one of the deadliest days since Myanmar was thrust back under military rule, as a group of ousted MPs urged citizens to “defend themselves” during the nation’s “darkest moment”. More than 90 have been killed, but the number is expected to rise dramatically after Sunday’s violence —marking it as one of the deadliest days as Myanmar enters its seventh week under a junta regime | P9 WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST YOUR LIFE COACH 28 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) Key Municipal Corporations it’s a landslide 12 11 Municipal corporations Won by YSRC Result of eluru on hold due to high court stay 75 73 2 Municipalities YSRC TDP Guntur (57) - YSRC 44, TDP - 9, BJP-JSP 2, YSRC rebels 2 Vijayawada (64) - YSRC 49, TDP - 14, CPM - 1 NIL GVMC (98) - YSRC 58, TDP - 30, BJP-JSP - 4, others 6 BJP / JSP Tirupati (50) - YSRC 48, TDP - 1 *No poll held to 1 division TDP office looks grim TDP office in Mangalagiri wore a deserted look following the party’s debacle in the municipal elections tricts, it consolidated its gains in TDP bastions — Guntur and Krishna — where, if TDP leaders are to be believed, people are supposedly miffed with the government plan to shift executive capital to Vizag from Amaravati and reduce the latter to legislative capital. In Vijayawada and Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporations, the TDP did put up a fight, particularly in Vizag but the YSRC managed to win a majority in both. In all the nine other corporations, including Tirupati where a bypoll for the Lok Sabha seat is due, the result was completely one-sided. In Tirupati, the YSRC won 48 out of 49 seats. The TDP, which expected a 3-capital plan leaves no impact The YSRC consolidated its gains in Guntur and Krishna where people are supposedly miffed with the plan to shift executive capital to Vizag. In Vizag too, the YSRC won 58 out of 98 YS Jagan Mohan Reddy @ysjagan decent show in Guntur and Vijayawada corporations, failed miserably in Guntur. In fact, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, during his campaign in these two corporations, tried hard to inflame the Amaravati sentiment, going so far as to ask the people if they had any shame to sit by when the capital was being shifted. In Vizag, the YSRC won 58 of the 98 divisions when reports last came in. The TDP won most of the seats in Gajuwaka, Pendurthi and Bhimili Assembly segments indicating that the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant privatisation issue has dented the prospects of the YSRC to some extent. However, in Visakhapatnam North, West and East, the YSRC won 90 per cent P4 of the seats.  This is a great victory of the people... this has further increased my responsibility. I will try hard to work as a member of your family. I convey my heartfelt thanks to each and every sister, brother who won in these elections Don’t lose hope: Naidu to TD cadre TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu advised party activists not to lose hope. He said, “We have put up a strong fight despite threats and misuse of official machinery.” State sees single-day spike of 298 Covid cases in 2 months E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The State witnessed a sharp spike of 298 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours ending Sunday 9 am. This is the second highest single-day spike of coronavirus cases in the past two m o n t h s. T h e t o t a l number of samples tested in the State has crossed the 1.45 crore mark. Chittoor, Guntur, East Godavari and Visakhapatnam accounted for the major chunk of daily Covid count for the third consecutive day . With the surge in daily count, the number of active cases in the State increased to 1,400 from less than 500 a fortnight ago. In all, 164 Covid patients were discharged from hospitals. Two more fatalities, one each in Nellore and Visakhapatnam, took the Covid toll in the State to 7,184. According to the media bulletin released by the State Command Control Room, 45,664 samples were tested in the past 24 hours. Of the total, 298 testP5 ed positive for Covid. 45,664 samples tested As many as 45,664 samples were tested in the past 24 hours. Chittoor accounted for 90 new Covid infections, followed by Guntur with 48 and East Godavari, Krishna and Visakhapatnam with 32 each Rejecting claims that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was attacked in Nandigram, the Election Commission on Sunday attributed the injury she sustained on her left foot on Wednesday to an accident. Nevertheless, the EC placed under suspension a few senior officers for lapses in the CM’s security, and appointed former DGP Intelligence Punjab Anil Kumar Sharma as a special police observer for the state. The poll panel ordered the suspension of Vivek Sahay, Director Security of the CM’s protection team. “The charges must be framed against him within a week for grossly failing in discharge of his primary duty as Director Security to protect the Z+ protectee,” the EC said. It also suspended Pravin Prakash, superintendent of police of Purba Medinipur for failing to provide adequate bandobast at Nandigram. The district magistrate and district election officer of Purba Medinipur, too, was axed. The decisions were based on the report of the chief secretary and the joint report by special general observer Ajay Nayak and special police observer Vivek Dube. BJP bazookas in fray from south bengal P r on a b M on d a l @ Kolkata The BJP is deploying heavy artillary to wrest south Bengal from the Trinamool Congress, if one were to go by the list of candidates for 63 seats in the third and fourth phases of the eight-phase West Bengal Assembly polls. For, it has fielded four BJP members of Parliament, four defectors and an equal number of actors, trying to whip up enthusiasm and possibly create a wave for the big fight. The party has already made deep inroads in north Bengal during the Lok Sabha polls. While Union minister and Asansol MP Babul Supriyo will contest from Tollygunge in Kolkata, Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta will enter the fray from Tarakeshwar. Dasgupta’s name is already doing the rounds as a possible chief ministerial candidate. Tarakeshwar is a popular Hindu pilgrimage site in Hooghly district and his candidature is significant in the backdrop of the BJP’s Hindutva rhetoric. Fielding Supriyo in Tollygunge is being seen as a smart move as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while announcing her party’s candidate list, had hinted she might contest from there besides Nandigram. Former minister in Mamata’s cabinet Rajib Banerjee has been fielded from his own constituency Domjur in Howrah and Trinamool defector Rabindranath Bhattacharya from Singur. Bhattacharya joined the BJP two days after Mamata denied him a ticket. But angry BJP supporters in Singur reportedly locked up visiting Madhya Pradesh health minister Prabhuram Chaudhary in a party office, demanding Bhattacharya’s axing from the list.