visakhapatnam l saturday l march 20, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Flying may cost more as govt lifts base fare band atf PRICE RISE IS THE REASON, SAYS PURI “There has been a continuous rise in price of ATF, so it has been decided to increase the lower fare band keeping the upper fare band unchanged,” Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted on Friday. DGCA had on May 21, 2020, announced seven bands of ticket pricing based on flight duration. The first band was for flights that don’t take more than 40 minutes The Centre has extended domestic fare bands brought in May 2020 till April-end, but decided to hike the lower fares by 5% ■ 100% Second hike in over a month ■ ■ The lower limit for the first band was `2,000, which will now change to 2,100 while the ceiling will remain at `6,000 This is the second time the government has raised fare limits for domestic airlines. The first hike was in February this year No. of flights airlines can fly remains 80% of their pre-Covid levels Flight Operations will be allowed when daily passenger traffic crosses 3.5 lakh 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 manufacturing sector spared Devarakonda Chalapathi Rao, an octogenarian, takes Covid-19 vaccine at New GGH in Vijayawada on Friday I P Ravindra Babu 13.80 lakh given Covid vaccine in AP 3,22,No. of 102 health workers who took first dose of vaccine Emphasis to be laid on preventing spread of Covid-19 Vacant medical staff posts in all the government hospitals to be filled 1,88,407 No. of health workers given second dose 3,40,620 Frontline workers who took the first dose 68,345 No. of frontline workers who took the second dose 2,81,187 No. of people above 60 years of age 98,550 No. of people in the age group of 45 to 59 years with comorbidities VIRAL WATCH 31,546 246 131 New samples tested New cases New recoveries 1 Death A worker collects a swab sample from a resident of Dharavi, in Mumbai on Friday | PTI Uddhav Thackeray, CM Theatres and all private offices in Maharashtra to operate at 50% capacity; locking down option on table, says Uddhav; Punjab, too, announces curbs; lockdown in three MP cities Maha mess with highest ever daily spike, further clampdown imposed Covid-19 vaccine has been administered to 13,80,537 beneficiaries in AP till March 18, says Health Minister Alla Nani Village/ward secretariat to be considered as a unit to speed up the Covid-19 vaccination drive in State Earlier, we were able to contain it, but now the virus is exploding. People should come forward and take the vaccine. We are also planning to increase vaccination centres in Maharashtra Mumbai: In government and semigovernment offices, the head of the office will make the decision on staff attendance. However, the manufacturing sector can function at full steam, but should increase work shifts so that social distance and Covid-19 protocols are maintained, the circular issued by the Maharashtra government read S u m i S u k a n ya D u tta , S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i a n d H a r p r eet B a j w a @ New Delhi /Mumbai/Chandigarh Amid a explosion of Covid-positive cases, Maharashtra and Punjab on Friday announced strict state-wide curbs and Madhya Pradesh imposed restrictions in three major cities even as the Centre expressed concerns over some states not sending samples for genetic sequencing of the virus, as directed. Covid-19 cases in the country grew by over 100% in five weeks. A total 39,726 fresh cases were registered on Friday, the highest since early December, while active cases have crossed 2.71 lakh, registering a growth of 103% since February 11. Eight states are showing an upward trajectory with Maharashtra, Punjab, , Karnataka, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh together accounting for more than 80% of the daily new cases. While a worried Centre has advised states to ramp up RT-PCR testing, a few states rushed to tighten Covid curbs. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray direct- ed that employees’ attendance in private offices be reduced to 50%. Theatres and auditoriums, too, have been asked to operate at 50% capacity till March 31. Establishments related to health and other essentials services and manufacturing sector will be, however, exempted from the curbs. The order came a day after Maharashtra reported a single-day surge of 25,833 cases, the highest ever in the state since the beginning of the pandemic. Till now, the highest count of new cases in the state was 24,896 in September last. Punjab also brought back similar restrictions. Beginning Saturday, educational institutions will remain closed till March 31, cinema halls will be allowed to function at 50% capacity and not more than 100 persons will be allowed in malls at a time. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also appealed to the people to keep social activity to the bare minimum to break the transmission chain. Not more than 10 visitors should be entertained at home, he added. In Madhya Pradesh, lockdowns Pandemic ate into Household savings IN a big way in q2: RBI LIABILITIES SWELL, SAVINGS EBB 19 21  Flow of financial assets  Flow of financial liabilities  Financial savings 10.4 9.8 2.55 2.72 1.3 0.80 Q1 FY20 Q2 FY20 Q3 FY20 Q4 FY20 0.78 8.1 11.4 9.8 10.6 15.1 15.8 (% of GDP) 7.7 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada In a relief to TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and former minister P Narayana, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday stayed investigation for four weeks into the FIR registered against them by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) for alleged irregularities in alienation of assigned lands in the Amaravati capital region. Justice Manavendranath Roy who heard the quash peti, tions filed by Naidu and Narayana, issued the interim orders, pointing out that Section 146 of the Capital Region Development Authority Act prohibits legal action against the government, officials or the CRDA itself for any acts carried out as per its rules. In this backdrop, the CID’s move appears questionable, he said and ruled that until such time the questions are answered, based on available evidence, the probe against Naidu and Narayana be stayed. The judge also directed respondents, YSRC MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy and , the CID to file counter-affidavits as there was a need to get to the bottom of the entire affair given the legal bar against the prosecution under Section 146. Supreme Court senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Naidu, and former advocate general Dammalapati Srinivas, appearing for Narayana, submitted that the powers that be had earlier attacked the petitioners and now got the CID to file cases in P4 a recalibrated move. Q1 FY21 Q2 FY21 Source: RBI report has said the Indian middle class has shrunk as the financial woes of the pandemic pushed 3.2 crore Indians into poverty. A year into the pandemic, the middle class population has shrunk to 6.6 crore from a pre-pandemic estimate of 9.9 crore, it said. ‘GO 41 issued at the behest of Naidu, Narayana’ Additional Advocate General Nagabhushan insisted that GO No. 41 was issued at the behest of the then chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and then municipal administration minister Narayana. The same was endorsed by the then Guntur district collector in a statement under CrPC Section 161. Not only the assignees but also the government and the CRDA suffered loss because of GO 41. In fact, the CRDA rules do not have Assembly approval nor was it in conformity with the PoT Act, the Additional AG said. have been ordered in three big cities — Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur — from Saturday 10 pm to Monday 6 am, though essential services and industries will be exempted. All schools and colleges in these cities will remain closed till March 31. MP on Friday reported 1,140 new cases, its highest this year. Uddhav said the fresh case count has gone past last year’s peak. A harsh lockdown, he added, is one of the options but as of now the government expected more discipline from the people. In Punjab, barring medical and nursing colleges, all educational institutions will remain closed. Dr K K Talwar, who heads the state government’s expert team on Covid, said the surge in cases appeared to be the result of opening of schools and colleges. The state currently has almost 40% cases in under-30 population, he added. The Centre has advised states to increase the overall share of RTPCR tests to more than 70%. The health ministry asked states to follow up on sending samples for genome testing to track virus variP7 ants of concern.  Two medical students test positive Govt seeks HC bar on WhatsApp’s new privacy policy I did not infringe on privilege of any lawmaker, says Nimmagadda Vijayawada: Deputy Chief Minister (Health) Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas (Nani) on Friday directed medical and health officials of Anantapur and Guntur districts to be on alert in view of the Covid-19 spread. In Anantapur, two MBBS first year students of the Government Medical College tested positive for Covid, prompting the authorities to close the institution for a week for the first and second year students. In Repalle of Guntur district, seven persons tested positive and they were admitted to government hospital E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi 4 The financial distress caused by pay cuts and job losses during the pandemic may have forced Indian households to dip into their savings and borrow more to meet expenses. According to RBI data released on Friday, households’ financial savings rate dropped to 10.4% of the GDP in the JulySeptember 2020 quarter compared with 21% in the prec e d i n g q u a r t e r, t h e central bank’s preliminary estimates on household savings. While the drop appears drastic on a sequential basis, a savings rate at 10.4% is still higher than 9.8% recorded in the year-ago period. The report said Indian households appeared to be slowly going back to their pre-Covid spending habits as consumption switched from an ‘essentials only’ pattern to discretionary spending with the gradual reopening of the economy . While the report notes the change is driven by an increase in household borrowings from banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), experts say the drastic drop in income may have accentuated the process. It gives more credence to economists’ prediction that households are still maintaining consumption despite job losses and low income levels. Rising food prices in the midst of widespread economic pain could also force households to dip into their savings. According to RBI, household financial savings have moderated despite an increase in savings in the form of deposits as borrowings from banks and NBFCs have picked up. On the assets side, there was a notable fall in household savings in the form of currency — to 0.4% of GDP in Q2 from 5.3% in Q1. Similarly, household investment in mutual fund products declined to 0.3% from 1.7%, while savings in the form of insurance products moderated to 3% from 3.2% in Q1. Meanwhile, a Pew Research 1.81 Se s a Sen @ New Delhi Naidu gets relief as HC stays CID probe into land scam for 4 weeks E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e The Centre on Friday urged the Delhi High Court to restrain Facebook-owned WhatsApp from implementing its new privacy policy and terms of service that are to take effect from May 15. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology made the submission in its affidavit filed in response to a petition challenging WhatsApp’s new privacy policy . Under the new policy, users can either accept it or exit the app, but cannot opt not to share their data with other Facebook-owned or third party apps. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh listed the matter for further hearing on April 20. The affidavit said India’s IT Rules impose a host of obligations on a company on the security of the data. “Notably, the Rules require a body corporate who collects, stores or otherwise deals with data to issue a privacy policy providing for certain safeguards, in addition to imposing various other obligations. The impugned privacy policy violates the 2011 Rules,” it said. A day after being intimated by the AP Legislative Assembly Secretary to be available for an inquiry by the Privileges Committee in connection with the notices served by Panchayat Raj Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy State Election , Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar denied causing infringement to the privilege of any lawmaker. In his response to the notice of the Assembly Secretary on Friday, Nimmagadda said, “I have the highest regard and respect for the August House. I further wish to state that the notice served on me is lacking in jurisdiction.” He further said, “However, if you still desire to proceed further, I wish to have the benefit of evidence to be made available to me as well as reasonable time to respond.” On being available to the Privileges Committee, Nimmagadda said he recently took Covid-19 vaccine and has been @ Vijayawada sec leave from march 22 After going through the notices referred by the Assembly Speaker, the Privileges Committee headed by Kakani Govardhan Reddy, issued a notice to SEC Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, when he is scheduled to avail himself of Leave Travel Concession (LTC) from March 22 to 24 former crda commissioner questioned Intensifying its investigation into the alleged alienation of assigned lands in Mangalagiri and Tadikonda constituencies, the CID reportedly questioned former commissioner of Capital Region Development Authority Ch Sreedhar on Friday. Sreedhar served as joint collector of Guntur district and later as CRDA commissioner during the TDP regime. He played a key role in acquiring lands from farmers. under medical advice and he will not be available to travel for some days. The Privileges Committee, which met virtually under the chairmanship of K Govardhan Reddy on Wednesday, decided to take up an inquiry on the notices given by Peddireddy . It directed the Assembly Secretary to send a notice to the SEC asking him to be available for inquiry Apart from serving . a notice to move the privilege motion against the SEC, saying that several castigating remarks, which are libellous in nature and far from the truth are made in the letter reportedly written by him to the Governor, Peddireddy issued another notice that the SEC committed breach of privilege by issuing an order to confine him to his residence during local body elections. Municipal Administration Minister Botcha Satyanarayana also served a notice to move a privilege motion against Nimmagadda objecting to the content of the letter addressed to the Governor by the SEC. air connectivity Orvakal airport set to take off on March 28 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kurnool Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will inaugurate Orvakal airport on March 26. Flight services will start from March 28 and the first flight will land at the airport from Bengaluru. The Director General of Civil Aviation has already given clearance for the commencement of flight services from the greenfield airport. The State government has spent more than `150 crore on execution of the airport project, which is envisaged to promote industrial development in the backward region of Rayalaseema. Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy along with , Collector G Veerapandian, inspected the airport on Friday. The Collector informed the Minister about the progress of various development activities at the airport. The government plans to set up a pilot training in- stitute at the airport, besides promoting aero sports activities. “IndiGo will operate flight services from Orvakal to Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru and Chennai from March 28. The airport is poised to witness growth due to its strategic location and proximity to Hyderabad - Bengaluru highway Buggana said. ,” Operations Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday Kurnool to Visakhapatnam Arrival - 10.30 am Departure - 12.40 pm Visakhapatnam to Kurnool Arrival - 1 pm Departure - 2.55 pm Flight schedule Kurnool to Bengaluru Arrival - 3.15 pm, Departure - 4.25 pm Frequency Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday Kurnool to Chennai Bengaluru to Kurnool Arrival - 4.30 pm Arrival - 09.05 am Chennai to Kurnool Departure 10.10 am Departure - 4.10 pm Departure - 5.50 pm Arrival - 2.50 pm