visakhapatnam l sunday l november 28, 2021 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION Tractor march suspended, but protests to continue Farmers call off Monday’s Parliament march, but agitation will continue till demands, including the one on MSP, are met Samyukt Kisan Morcha leader Darshan Pal (L) and others at a press conference near Singhu border in New Delhi on Saturday | Pti Unions list pending demands for Centre Stubble burning to be decriminalised The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which is heading the stir against the three farm bills, has said it welcomes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to repeal the bills and is urging fulfillment of six other demands, including a statutory guarantee of Minimum Support Price, withdrawal of the draft Electricity Amendment Bill and suspension of Union Minister Ajay Mishra ■ ■ Earlier on Saturday, the Union agriculture minister said stubble burning will be decriminalised as per the farmers’ demand SKM, an umbrella body of farm unions, also said Modi should direct states and Railways to withdraw cases against protesting farmers. Parliament’s winter session begins on Monday | P7 Dec 4 Next meeting of SKM to decide farmers’ course of action 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 TMC may skip Congress-led meet as it jostles for chief Oppn role E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kolkata In another bid to project itself as the main anti-BJP party the , Trinamool Congress is likely to skip the meeting of opposition parties convened by the Congress on Monday for a joint strategy during the winter Parliament session, party sources said on Saturday . “The Trinamool is not interested in coordinating with the Congress but the party has no problem in coordinating with other opposition parties,” a party leader said. “In such a situation, the Trinamool will lead the alliance. The recent defection from the Congress to Int’l travel curbs may continue as Omicron spreads our party shows we are the main opposition against the Bharatiya Janta Party .” The final decision on boycotting the meeting would be taken by party supremo Mamata Banerjee, and it could arrive at a time when the rift between the Trinamool Congress and the grand old party is growing. The ministry would continue to have restrictions on the number Concerned over the new of weekly flights with India. Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529 found Saturday’s meeting came in in South Africa that has been the backdrop of suspected Omidesignated as a ‘variant of con- cron cases being reported in cer n’ by the World the Netherlands and Health Organization Czech Republic, and and named Omicron, confirmed cases in BelPrime Minister Narengium, Israel, Germany , dra Modi on Saturday Italy and the UK, beasked officials to resides Hong Kong, South view plans for easing Africa and Botswana. of international travel The UK, the US, the restrictions in India. EU, Australia, Brazil, Britain At a comprehensive Turkey, Canada, the tightens meeting to review the United Arab Emirates, public health prepared- Covid rules E g y p t , S r i L a n k a , ness in the backdrop of Oman and Thailand, Britain has Omicron, which is pos- tightened rules among others have alsibly more transmissiready banned travel on foreign ble than the highly in- travellers after from certain African fectious Delta variant, detecting two countries to check pothe PM highlighted the Omicron cases, tential spread. need for monitoring all now requiring a In Saturday’s meetinternational arrivals, RCT-PCR test ing, the PM stressed their testing as per for arrivals. In the need to increase the guidelines with a spe- shops & public second dose coverage cific focus on countries and also asked states to transport, identified as ‘at risk.’ masks are now ensure that all those The meeting was who have got the first mandatory held a day after the civdose are given the secil aviation ministry said regu- ond dose on time. He also dilar international passenger rected officials to work closely flights would resume operation with state governments so that from December 15 with certain there is proper awareness at exceptions. Countries marked the state and district level.   More reports on: P7, 9, 12 as ‘at risk’ by the Union health Jab-o-meter Take your shot Nov 26 65,23,396 doses Nov 27 73,74,792 doses Total: 121,84,12,797 statewide Nov 26 nov 27 NATIONWIDE nov 26 nov 27 Fresh cases 10,549 8,318 Recoveries 9,868 10,967 Deaths 488 465 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths Samples tested 184 248 214 253 1 0 29,731 28,509 express read 5 arrested for ferrying ganja via Amazon Soldiers may be taught to beat China in talks Visakhapatnam: Drug peddlers who often change their modus operandi to escape the police dragnet, opted for e-commerce platform Amazon to smuggle ganja in the guise of ‘Super natural Stevia leaves’. SEB Joint Director Satish said five persons were arrested in Vizag based on inputs given by MP police | P4 New Delhi: The Army is working on honing negotiation skills of soldiers mandated to hold bilateral talks with the Chinese troops. A source said, “The training on negotiation techniques is in its conceptual stage, keeping in mind the way talks have been taking place at different command levels.” | P7 heavy rains in coastal AP likely Vijayawada: Heavy to very heavy rain (7 to 20 cm) is likely to occur over Prakasam and Nellore of south coastal Andhra and Chittoor, Kadapa and Anantapur of Rayalaseema on Sunday. Heavy rain (7 to 11 cm) is likely over Guntur in coastal AP and Kurnool in Rayalaseema. A low-pressure area is likely to form over south Andaman Sea around Nov 29. It is likely to become more marked during subsequent 48 hours Farmers of Cheyyeru ayacut cultivate three crops, including paddy a year. , Rayalaseema in general The same Cheyyeru has now and Kadapa in particular is left people of at least 10 villages synonymous with drought and in despair by causing widedeficit rainfall. A couspread devastation. ple of mandals in RaAll their belongings jampet Assembly conwere swept away in stituency, however, Ground report the deluge caused by are an exception to it the breach of Anas they resemble fern a m ay ya p r o j e c t tile Konaseema in East Goda- bund. The prosperous Eguva vari district. This is all because Mandapalle and Diguva Manof the Cheyyeru river, which is dapalle became impoverished the lifeline of people here. in a blink of an eye. S Nagaraja Rao @ Mandapalle (Kadapa) W ITH THIS ISSU E Metaverse is Coming PLUS 12 PAGES Covid-19 screening at 3 airports from Dec 1 S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada With the Centre issuing an alert to all the States in the wake of rising global concerns over Omicron, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to screen international passengers arriving at Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati airports from December 1. The Medical and Health Department will set up special screening centres at the three airports by Wednesday At the same time, it will alert the . vast network of village/ward volunteers in the State to closely monitor the arrival of people from abroad. The Centre has already advised the States to strengthen surveillance of international air travellers. According to a senior medical and health official, all the international passengers, particularly from those countries which are designated ‘at risk’, will be screened for Covid-19 by conducting RAT (Rapid Antigen Test) and RT-PCR test. Results of RAT are available within a few minutes, while RT-PCR test results can be obtained in six hours. “Samples of those who tested positive, will be sent for Covid-19 whole genome sequencing to verify if they have any mutated variant like Omicron, delta and delta plus. Those who tested positive will be kept in isolation in hospital. Those who tested negative, will be allowed to go and advised to restrict their movements for 9-10 P4 days,” the senior official told TNIE.  slump in price Thieves steal three crates of tomatoes E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada / Kurnool The arrival of low quality tomato at Pathikonda market led to slump in price | Express mool is the main political party that decimated the BJP in Bengal despite the saffron camp’s aggressive campaign,” a senior Trinamool leader said. “We are now busy spreading our footprint in national politics and building an A view of damaged houses in Mandapalle of Rajampet mandal in Kadapa district after Cheyyeru deluge | Madhav k PM seeks review of plans to resume regular flights, urges states to ramp up vaccination K u m a r V i k r a m @ New Delhi Trinamool Congress recently poached Cong ress le gislators in Tripura, Meghalaya and Goa and is portraying itself as the main party confronting the BJP. “The thumping victory in the recent Assembly elections proved that the Trina- Thieves broke into the Penuganchiprolu vegetable market in Krishna district late Thursday night and stole the most valuable thing available there - tomatoes. Yes, three crates of tomatoes worth `7,000 were stolen from the market. Penuganchiprolu police said though the theft took place on Thursday night, it came to light on Friday after the vegetable shop vendor found three crates of tomatoes missing. Each crate contained around 20 kg of tomatoes. It is suspected that the theft might be a handiwork of people who know the market very well and timings of arrival of vegetable stocks. “Normally, vegetable stocks reach the market around 2 am. The miscreants might have committed the theft after conducting a recce,” said a vendor. However, no case has been registered as the vendor did not lodge a complaint, the police said. Even as tomatoes are being sold at `100 a kg or even more in the retail market, the prices of the vegetable came crashing down in wholesale markets in Chittoor and Kurnool districts to `10 a kg on Saturday ending , P4 the dream run of farmers.  image as the only anti-BJP political party But the Congress . is trying to portray itself as the main face of anti-BJP forces by convening the meeting, which we do not agree with,” the leader added. During her recent visit to Delhi, Banerjee did not meet interim Congress president So- nia Gandhi, but instead met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stoking speculation. In October, Banerjee said the Congress had miserably failed to put up a fight against the BJP and the people of India have put the onus on the TMC to create a ‘’new India’’ by ousting the saffron camp. Kadapa villages’ lifeline becomes river of woes Not just crops, even houses, household articles and livestock, were swept away in the deluge of Cheyyeru, which the people of twin villages described as apocalypse. “I am left with nothing and my entire family is on the road now. If the government does not help us, we have no other choice but to die,” said M Subbarayudu of Mandapalle, breaking into tears. He raised paddy crop in his six acres of land, investing `1.5 lakh. He expected a bumper crop yield this season. But the paddy crop was completely ravaged by the Cheyyeru deluge. He recalled the days when his village was brimming with prosperity and happiness. The people had lost everything, including their Aadhaar and ration cards in the deluge. Now, a majority of them are staring at an uncertain future. Both the villages have a population of around 1,500 and most of them are engaged in agriculture, with paddy being P4 the primary crop.