tirupati l thursday l january 27, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION TCS, infy among world’s most valuable i.t. brands Six Indian firms are among the world’s fastest-growing IT Services brands, according to Brand Finance’s new report Accenture strongest it services brand Accenture has retained the title of world’s most valuable and strongest IT services brand, with record brand value of $36.2 billion. Apart from TCS (2nd spot), Infosys (3rd), Wipro (7th), HCL (8th), Tech Mahindra (15th) and LTI (22nd) are the other Indian IT services companies on the London-based global brand valuation firm’s top 25 list, released on Wednesday ■ Tik Tok U.S. TECH GIANT IBM PUSHED TO 4TH SLOT ■ Both TCS (brand value $16.8 bn) and Infosys ($12.8 bn) have beaten IBM, whose value slipped to $10.6 bn after it hived off its managed infra services business as a new entity called Kyndryl A global turn to remote working as well as digitalisation facilitated expansion of IT services hubs within India | P10 Fastest growing brand in the world with an astounding 215% growth CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI AP comes up with draft notification to form 13 new districts by Ugadi tion. As part of the formation @ Vijayawada of new districts, 15 new revenu e d iv i s i o n s we re a l s o THE ANDHRA Pradesh gov- created. ernment on Wednesday issued Out of the total 25 Parliament a draft notification to create 13 segments, the Araku Lok Sabmore districts, taking the total ha constituency, spread over to 26. four districts from Srikakulam The notification was to East Godavari, issued a day after the would be part of the YS Jagan Mohan RedManyam and Alluri dy-led cabinet gave its Sitharama Raju disapproval to carve out tricts with their headthe new districts from quar ters in Parthe existing 13. vathipuram and The move is in tune Paderu, respectively. with the promise the The remaining 24 segruling YSRC had made ments would form one in its poll manifesto district each. Move to that 13 more districts carve out Sai The government has would be created to faensured that none of Baba dist cilitate efficient delivthe Assembly se ghailed ery of public services ments would be spread Devotees of Sri and good governance. over two districts. Sathya Sai Baba The new districts are While the existing discelebrated the likely to be formed on tricts would have the government’s Ugadi, March 2. same district headdecision to form Detailing the revequarters, some of the Sathya Sai Baba nue divisions and newly proposed disDistrict with mandals to be formed tricts would have nearPuttaparthi as its under each district, by towns as their seat headquarters the government invitof administration. ed objections and sugDeputy Chief Minisgestions from people residing ter (Revenue) Dharmana Krishin the corresponding district, na Das told TNIE that people and those who would be affect- have time till February 26 to ed by the creation of new raise their suggestions and obdistricts. jections. The gover nment Objections and suggestions would consider all valid sugcould be made in either Telugu gestions and objections and or English, and send to the re- would make necessary changspective district collector with- es, if any, before finalising the P4 in 30 days of the draft notifica- district boundaries.  E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e drug control Covid vaccine price may be capped at `275 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi The price of Covishield and Covaxin is likely to be capped at `275 per dose after it gets regular market approval from India’s drug regulator, reports said. Currently, Covaxin is priced at `1,200 per dose while Covishield costs `780 in private facilities. The cost includes a service charge of `150. A Subject Expert Committee on Covid-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation had on January 19 approved regular market approval to the two vaccines for use in adult population, subject to certain conditions. The government, however, is yet to announce the conditions for the market sale. According to reports, the authorities had asked the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to start working on the pricing to make it affordable. Although the price will be capped at `275, an additional service charge of `150 will be added. The two vaccines were granted Emergency Use Authorisation on January 3, 2021. Meanwhile, the number of active Covid cases nationally is coming down. On Wednesday, 2.85 lakh new cases were reported — 62,000 fewer than 3.47 lakh reported last week. A reduction of 13,824 cases has been recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours, according to a health ministry bulletin. The active cases have decreased to 22,23,018 and comprise 5.55% of the total infection, it added. Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu accounted for a bulk of the fresh cases reported in the past 24 hours at 49,771, 48,905 and 29,976, respectively. Elsewhere, the active case load is easing. Azad readies to do an Amarinder Expected to float party; won’t have pre-poll pact with the BJP in J&K but would be open to alliance after elections S h a h i d F a r i d i @ New Delhi Veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad is all set to ‘do an Amarinder’ on the Congress party, albeit in a phased manner. Highly placed sources said that Azad is ready to float a new political party in Jammu and Kashmir, where he had once headed a Congress-led coalition government as chief minister. Azad’s new political party would not enter into a formal pre-poll seat-sharing agreement with the BJP but would not shy away from a post-poll understanding if numbers so dictate, sources said. He has already addressed a series of well-attended public meetings in Jammu & Kashmir. And a large number of his supporters from within the Con- Russia US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said on Wednesday that the US believes Russian President Vladimir Putin will use force against Ukraine between now and the middle of February | P9 Ghulam Nabi Azad Bouquets & brickbats With the Centre tactically placing Ghulam Nabi Azad on the Padma list, the gulf between the G23 leaders in the Congress and the Gandhi family loyalists was back in focus. Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma and Raj Babbar greeted Azad saying it was well deserved, but Jairam Ramesh urged him to P7 reject the award  The protesters are opposing the Railways’ decision to hold the examination in two stages, saying the second stage for final selection is tantamount to cheating those who have cleared the first stage of the computer-based test released on January 15 B a n d h a v i Ann a m @ Guntur A train burns after it was set on fire at Gaya Junction in Bihar on Wednesday | PTI Angry job aspirants set train on fire in Bihar, Railways cancels exams E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e a passenger train was set on fire on Wednesday as hundreds of job aspirants stepped up their protest against the anomalies in the recent tests conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board for Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC). As protests entered the third day, an agitated crowd stormed the Gaya Junction, raising slogans, and set fire to the BhabhuaPatna Inter City Express. Nobody was injured. The protesters squatted on railway tracks, vandalised players in the Kashmir Valley — the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party . Altaf Bukhari’s Apni Party (called the King’s party in Kashmir for its proximity with the BJP), Sajjad Lone’s People’s Conference and Ghulam Nabi Azad’s new party are expected to work in tandem to beat the big two in the Valley . The process of delimitation of Assembly constituencies in J&K is underway and once it is completed, elections would be announced in the state. Both the BJP and Azad’s party would go into the election with the promise of restoration of statehood for J&K. As the decision of statehood restoration would be taken by the Central government, the promise may help the BJP sweep elections in the Jammu- Udhampur region. But that may not be enough to form the next government in J&K. A lot, therefore, would depend on the performance of Azad’s party . Sources say that the announcement of Padma Bhushan for Azad is just the beginning of the build up. A slew of other measures are in the pipeline to pitch him at the centre of Valley politics. With his plan to break away from the Congress finalised, Azad appears set to have the last laugh on the Congress joke that his parents named him Ghulam Nabi with the hope that he will be a servant (Ghulam) of the Prophet (Nabi) knowing little that he will end up being a servant of successive Congress presidents. Not true, he can say now. Guntur soldier’s valour wins Shaurya Chakra Why the protest @ New Delhi / Patna likely to invade ukraine by mid-feb gress party have resigned from their posts in J&K. While there have been speculations about BJP’s support to Azad’s outreach, the Congress leadership confirmed its suspicions about his activities by removing him from its central disciplinary committee. The stage now seems set for the septuagenarian Azad to begin a new inning. The BJP, which has had a strong base in the Jammu-Udhampur region but lacks support in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley has been work, ing hard to get friendly parties to win seats in the Valley. Though the BJP is said to have propped up a couple of small outfits like the Apni Party for the purpose, it is banking big on Azad’s new party to make a serious dent on the two main property clashed with security , forces and targeted trains, hitting services. In view of the protests, the Railways said it has suspended its NTPC and Level 1 exams. In a bid to calm frayed nerves, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw set up a high-level committee headed by Deepak Peter Gabriel, principal executive director of industrial relations in the ministry, to examine their grievances. Earlier, he ordered the postponement of the second stage of computer-based test of NTPC, which was slated to start from February 15 across India. He also requested the job as- pirants not to destroy public property. He said more than one crore people applied for 35,281 vacancies notified under the NTPC. “The Railways shortlisted 7,05,446 candidates for the second stage of computerbased test, the miniter added. Wednesday’s incident was a sequel to violent protests started in Patna, Bhojpur, Muzaffarpur, Buxar, Nalanda, and Sitamarhi and other districts in the past three days. In Uttar Pradesh, police arrested two persons and lodged a case against 1,000 unidentified people for allegedly rioting and blocking the train tracks. Maruprolu Jaswanth Reddy (23), a sepoy from Darivada Kothapalem village in Bapatla mandal, who attained martyrdom in an encounter with terrorists, was conferred with the Shaurya Chakra, the country’s third highest peacetime gallantry award. While six army personnel were selected for Shaurya Chakra, five of them, including Jaswanth Reddy were , g i v e n t h e aw a r d posthumously . Jaswanth of 17th Battalion of Madras Regiment, along with another soldier, was killed in a gun battle at the Line of Control during an operation by security forces to foil an infiltration bid at Daddal village in Sunderbani Sector in Rajouri district of Jammu Kashmir on July 8, 2021. At 6:50 am on that fateful day, Jaswanth while carrying out search in the densely forested and rugged terrain as scout No 2, observed the movement of terrorists and confronted them. In the ensuing firefight, Jaswanth blocked the most likely route to escape of the terrorists. He displayed raw courage and eliminated one terrorist in a face-to-face gun fight. While crawling forward to engage other terrorists, he saw his team commander severely injured in the terrorists’ fire. He immediately lobbed grenades to pin down the terrorists and swiftly crawled towards his team commander to pull him to cover. In doing so, he came under heavy gunfire of terrorists and sustained injuries. But disregarding his personal safety, he continued to engage the terrorists and pulled his team commander to cover, before succumbing to his injuries. P4 express read ENC to host Prez Fleet Review, MILAN in Feb Visakhapatnam: The Eastern Naval Command (ENC) will host the Presidential Fleet Review and MILAN in February. While the Fleet Review has been slated for February 21, the naval exercise, MILAN-2022, will be held from February 26 to March 4 | P3 Indians in Ukraine asked to register with embassy Grandeur marks Republic Day Pomp and pageantry Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan inspects the Republic Day parade at the IGMC Stadium in Vijayawada (right) CM Jagan looks at a brochure I Prasant Madugula Indian Army’s Rajput Regiment, wearing the uniform of 1950 and carrying .303 rifle, during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on Wednesday; and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the National War Memorial | Shekhar Yadav New Delhi: The Indian embassy in Ukraine has put up a notice on its website, urging all Indians living there to register with the embassy. The deadline is 5 pm, January 31. It has also asked the Indians to keep checking the embassy’s Facebook and Twitter pages for updates | P7 Nellore forest dept to release 20,000 Olive Ridley hatchlings D S u r en d r a K u m a r @ Nellore The Forest Department in the district plans to release 20,000 Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings into the sea this year. As part of the plan, the department has set up 12 hatcheries along the coast, where the eggs will be collected and protected throughout the incubation period that ranges between 45 to 60 days. The department has been collecting the eggs, which mother turtles lay in nests dug in the sand, to protect them from stray dogs, snakes and even humans. The district’s 169-km-long coastline covers 12 mandals. The hatcheries have been set up at Tupilipalem, Pamanchipalem, Srinivasasatram, Gummaladibba, Venkannapalem, Errannadibba, Utukuru, Ramachandrapuram, Kothur, Pathapalem, Kotha Satram villages in Nellore and Kavali range areas. Besides fencing the hatcheries, the department has also roped in watchers from local villages for a monthly pay of `8,000. Scores of turtles arrive here for nest- ing from December. Several locations in Nellore and Kavali divisions have been turtle destinations for several years. Meanwhile, local fishermen have been supporting the plan. They identify the turtle nests and inform the officials. The Forest Department has collected 1.80 lakh eggs and have released 1.50 lakh hatchlings into the sea over the past ten years. “The collected eggs are kept in the hatcheries. After the in- cubation period, turtles are released into the sea. Killing of turtles is an offense,’ said the Ravindranath Reddy DFO, Sul, lurpeta. Olive Ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as Pacific Ridley sea turtles, are listed as ‘vulnerable’ under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list. They are known for their behaviour synchronised nesting in mass numbers called ‘arribadas.’ NATIONWIDE Jan 25 Jan 26 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 2,55,874 2,85,914 2,67,753 2,99,073 614 665 statewide Jan 25 jan 26 Fresh cases 13,819 13,618 Recoveries 5,716 8,687 Deaths 12 9 Samples tested 46,929 49,143 Jab-o-meter Take your shot January 25 51,64,473 doses January 26 22,10,813 doses Total doses 1,63,81,97,873