tadepalligudem l monday l march 22, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 28 l city EDITION Aadhaar voluntary for digital Life certificates changes in biometric attendance system With this change, the onus is now on the organisations to offer alternative means for submission of digital Life Certificate under the Jeevan Pramaan scheme. Another notification of March 18 makes Aadhaar authentication voluntary for biometrics attendance systems used in government offices. Here too, offices will have to create alternative system for authentication Authentication norms relaxed after pensioners complained of unreadable fingerprints and non-availability of Aadhaar cards sandes app to be made public soon ■ ■ ■ Govt has also made Aadhaar optional for users of the National Informatics Centre-developed instant messaging app Sandes Developed under Government Instant Messaging System project, Sandes is used by public depts for internal communications The app will soon be made available for the general public, too 150+ departments, including niti aayog, indian army, use sandes app 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 Call on Deshmukh today, says Pawar 368 new cases emerge from 31K tests E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada/Kurnool For the second consecutive day the new Covid-19 infections , went past the 300-mark with 10 of the total 13 districts in the State reporting double-digit daily count. The spurt in Covid cases continued in Guntur, Chittoor, Anantapur, Kurnool, Visakhapatnam and Krishna. Nellore, Srikakulam and Kadapa too recorded a rise in daily count. According to the media bul- letin released by the State Command Control Room, 31,138 samples were tested in the 24 hours ending Sunday 9 am, from which 368 new cases emerged. Guntur reported the highest number of 79 cases, followed by Kurnool with 49, which are higher than Saturday’s count. While there was a slight denew cases recoveries cline in new Covid infections in Visakhapatnam and Chittoor, Anantapur witnessed a rise in daily count. Anantapur and Chittoor reported 40 new cases each, while Visakhapatnam recorded 39 cases. The number of recoveries, on the other hand, was less compared to new Covid infecP3 tions in the State.  caseload Slew of freebies to woo women in BJP manifesto @ New Delhi Days after the resignation of political commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta and economist Arvind Subramanian from Ashoka University, the institution admitted to lapses in its processes on Sunday. Its chancellor said the university remained committed to academic freedom and its board head promised an open line of communication. As for Mehta, he wrote to the the students urging them to not press for his return, pointing out that the circumstances that led to his resig- @ Kolkata nual grant of `6,000 for the past three years. After coming to power in Bengal, we will transfer the due amount of `18,000 in one go. Besides, the annual financial assistance will be increased to `10,000 from `6,000. Landless farmers will also be given `4,000 annual assistance,’’ said Shah. Eying fishermen, who form a considerable chunk of electorate in East Midnapore, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts, the manifesto promised a scheme to give `6,000 per year to each fisher family. Shah also announced that if the party wrests power, three AIIMS will be set up in north Bengal, Junglemahal and Sunderabans. Shah announced a special investigation team will be set up to probe all political killings, adding victim families will get `25 lakh relief irrespective of political allegiance. express read EPS promises to make Arani a district Tiruvannamalai: Tamil Nadu could soon get another district, as Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has promised that a new one, headquartered in Arani, would be carved out of Tiruvannamalai district. He said this while campaigning in the region on Sunday, and pledged that loans of up to `1 lakh, taken by handloom weavers and power loom workers, would be waived. “Power looms will get 1,000 units of free electricity,” he said. nation will not change in the foreseeable future. Mehta recently stepped down as professor saying the founders made it clear that his association with the institution was a ‘political liability’. Subramanian resigned two days later. “We acknowledge that there have been some lapses in institutional processes which we will work to rectify E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Amit Shah releasing the BJP manifesto, at Kolkata on Sunday | Bibhash Lodh Medical and health staff collect swabs from students for the Covid-19 test at a Mandal Parishad school in Sirivella of Kurnool district on Sunday | Express Ashoka Univ admits to lapses Sops for farmers, fisherfolk; CAA right up on agenda; probe on political killings promised The BJP on Sunday sought to woo women voters in a big way , by promising 33% reservation in state government jobs, free travel in state-run public transport network and free education from kindergarten right up to the post graduate level. The promises were part of its 62-page manifesto released by Union home minister Amit Shah here. The document also prioritised the implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, saying it would be taken up at the first state cabinet meet after coming to power. It also promised to give Hindu refugees a financial grant of `10,000 per year for the next five years. “It is not just a manifesto but a resolution letter for West Bengal. It emphasises on women’s safety, infrastructure development, better healthcare services and setting up industries in the state. The core idea is to build a Sonar Bangla,” said Shah. The manifesto promises to give `18,000 to each of 78 lakh farmers in Bengal in one go under the Centre’s PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. “The Bengal government deprived the farmers from getting an- @ Mumbai total samples tested 368 263 2,188 1,47,36,326 In his separate letter, chancellor Rudrangshu Mukherjee wrote, “the founders have never interfered with academic freedom: faculty members have been left free to construct their own courses, follow their own methods of teaching and own methods of assessment.” Gold looted from Polamamba temple E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Visakhapatnam Unidentified miscreants burgled the famous Karakachettu Polamamba temple in the heart of the city on Saturday night and decamped with 350 grams of gold and cash from hundi. Incidentally, the temple is located just a stone’s throw from III Town police station and the office of Visakhapatnam district SP at Peda Waltair, where sentries keep round-the-clock vigil. The miscreants snapped cables of all the 17 CCTV cameras installed on the temple premises and took away the hard disc to erase all evidence. Making their job easy the sanctum sanctorum , keys were kept in an almirah in the temple. They opened the sanctum sanctorum and took away the gold crown and 4 kg of silver ornaments of the presiding deity. The miscreants also broke open the hundi and took away cash. Karakachettu Polamamba is the presiding deity of 14 villages in Peda Waltair. According to the police, the miscreants entered the temple by breaking open the door. A function was held at the temple on Saturday evening. As a result, the temple was closed around midnight. When the temple staff came in the morning, they found the door open and alerted the police. A sniffer dog squad and a P4 clues team were pressed into service.  A sniffer dog squad at Polamamba temple in Vizag | Express WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST YOUR LIFE COACH 28 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) golf tourism Vizag course set to host major tournaments G Janardhana Rao @ Visakhapatnam Indian Golf Union president Lt Gen D Anbu (Retd) tees at the East Point Golf Club in Visakhapatnam on Sunday | G satyanarayana Golf tourism is set to get a big boost in Vizag as the East Point Golf Club (EPGC) at Mudasarlova Park has been declared eligible for national and international tournaments. The golf course has been expanded to 6,900 square yards to qualify for hosting professional golf tournaments as per the international standards. The EPGC expanded the golf course a cost of `14 crore after the government allotted 13 acres of land to it. “Vizag golf course surrounded by hills is a beautiful and ideal location. No city has such natural golf course and they are generally located on hill stations like Ooty said Indian ,” Golf Union president Lt Gen D P4 Anbu (Retd).  in consultation with all stakeholders. This will reaffirm our commitment to academic autonomy and freedom which have always been at the core of the Ashoka University ideals,” the institution said in a statement that was jointly issued by the university chancellor, vice chancellor and the chairman of Board of Trustees, along with Mehta and Subramanian. No interference in academic freedom: Chancellor Blame self for few kids, less ration: Rawat Dehradun: New Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat’s foot-in-themouth moments continued to grow on Sunday, as he berated jealous people with planned families for taking home lesser free ration. “Now brother, who is to blame for this? He produced 20 (children) and you produced only two. So he gets a quintal of ration. When there was time you produced only two and not 20. Now why this jealousy?” the Chief Minister reasoned. They will have to do it now because people are fed up with all this,” said Ribeiro, who has A day after shunted out Mum- served as the Mumbai Police bai police commissioner Para- commissioner and the DGP of mbir Singh outed home minis- Punjab and Gujarat. ter Anil Deshmukh’s extortion Saturday’s letter bomb by racket, an embarrassed NCP Singh had accused Deshmukh chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday of directing controversial asadmitted that the charges were sistant police inspector Sachin very serious and required an Waze, who is at present in in-depth probe. NIA’s custody to run an extor, With Deshmukh’s political tion racket to raise `100 crore future hanging by a per month. thread, Pawar said Trying to deflect the call will be taken criticism from by Chief Minister Thackeray and DeshUddhav Thackeray mukh, Pawar sought by Monday . to blame Waze’s conPawar also tried troversial reinstateto limit dama g e ment on Singh. “It since Deshmukh bewas Singh who asSharad Pawar longs to his party by , signed sensitive cassuggesting that a es to Waze. After probe into the charges be con- Mansukh Hiren’s wife alleged ducted by a celebrated police Waze was involved in her husofficer like Julio Ribeiro. But band’s death, we decided to inRibeiro lobbed the ball back in vestigate it thoroughly,” he Pawar’s court, saying at 92 he claimed. was in no position to initiate a It was only after Singh was probe and in any case it was transferred that he made the the NCP founder who was the allegations, said Pawar. He best person to clear the mess. conceded that Singh had “The probe must be done by briefed him earlier on DeshSharad Pawar himself. He is mukh, but said the CoP had the head of the party. They not mentioned the sum colthemselves know everything lected or handed over to the and they should take action. minister or his staff. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e `14 cr spent on expansion The East Point Golf Club (EPGC) has spent `14 cr for expansion of the golf course at Mudasarlova Park to hold national and international tournaments