HYDERABAD  MONDAY  JUNE 20, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION WAR IN UKRAINE COULD GO ON FOR YEARS, WARNS NATO CHIEF Jens Stoltenberg’s warning comes as Ukrainian president vowed to retake areas that have fallen to Russian forces BAD NEWS FOR ECONOMIES AROUND THE WORLD ITALY JOINS QATAR’S NATURAL GAS PROJECT Stoltenberg’s prediction suggests the world economy could suffer further and possibly plunge into a very deep recession, the likes of which has not been experienced so far. Poorest countries would take the biggest hit. On a positive note, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visiting the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv on Sunday, vowed to restore all that was destroyed ■ ■ The war that began on February 24 has led to record high inflation and crippling food shortages in many countries With Russia using gas supply as a weapon, Europe has turned to new energy sources. Italy’s Eni on Sunday signed up to expand production from Qatar’s largest natural gas field | P9 87 N.O. OF RUSSIAN TROOPS KILLED ON SATURDAY, ACCORDING TO UKRAINE 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 Narrow escape for 185 passengers as Delhi-bound plane catches fire R A M S H A N K A R @ Patna AS many as 185 passengers of a Delhi-bound SpiceJet flight had a narrow escape on Sunday as one of the aircraft’s engines caught fire shortly after take-off following a suspected bird hit. Flight SG-723 took off from Patna airport at 12.04 pm. According to airport officials, “soon after the take-off, the pilot noticed there was an engine problem as the wing started emitting smoke and flames and loud noises.” The pilot promptly turned off the engine and contacted Air Traffic Control to make an emergency landing. The Boeing 737 landed in Patna at 12.22 pm, 18 minutes after it took off. “The flight landed safely and all 185 passengers, including two infants, de-boarded safely . A full emergency was declared Top def officers rebut criticism, say Agnipath on Army to hold 83 recruitment rallies across the country; draft notification on hires today M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi WITH the general situation across the nation easing a tad after days of violent protests, the government fielded senior tri-services officers as well as from the defence ministry to rebut criticism, convey that the short-term Agnipath recruitment scheme was very much on, and to indicate a broad timeline of its rollout. Fielding questions at a press conference on whether the government proposed to review or roll back the scheme, Lt Gen Puri, additional secretary in the Department of Military Affairs, shot back, “No, why should there be a rollback?” He said the whole objective was reduce the average age of the personnel in uniform. “I will give you an example. Do you know how many casualties are reported just for health purposes from high altitude areas? Do read about it, then you would come to know why young is important,” he said. Putting the protesters on notice, Lt Gen Puri warned that they will find no place in the Agnipath scheme. “The Army’s foundation is discipline. There is no space for arson or vandalism. Every individual will give a certificate that they were not part of the protest or vandalism. Police verification is 100%; no one can join without that. If any FIR is lodged against them, they can’t join,” he said. As for allowances, Agniveers will get them at par with regular soldiers. Also the family of any Agniveer sacrificing his/ her life in the service of the nation will get compensation of `1 crore. While many experts have wondered why the defence ministry did not see the need to run a pilot project to test the idea, Lt Gen Puri suggested the first batch of 46,000 hires was meant to do just that — analyse the outcome to tweak the scheme if needed. Lt General Anil Puri gestures as he addresses a tri-services press meet in New Delhi on Sunday | PARVEEN NEGI at the airport and the situation was dealt with effectively air,” port director Atul Prakash informed. According to Patna district magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh, people living close to the airport alerted the district administration and the airport authorities after they noticed smoke coming out of the plane. The airport administration alerted the ATC, who radioed it to the pilot. The pilot, however, Viral vid shows fire beneath left wing A video shot from inside the aircraft shows sparks from under the left wing of the plane. A DGCA official confirmed the validity of the video. This is the second time in over a month that a SpiceJet aircraft had to turn back after a snag within minutes of its take off Video grab of the engine on fire | PTI EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE TRANSFERS IN THE HIGHER JUDICIARY @ New Delhi SIX high courts got new chief justices after the government accepted the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium, the Department of Justice in the Union Law Ministry announced on Sunday . While five high court judges were elevated as chief justices, the chief justice of the Telangana High Court, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, was transferred to the Delhi High Court in the same capacity . The vacancy so created in the Telangana High Court has been filled by promoting Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of the same court as its chief justice. His HC where appointed as Chief Justice Name Vipin Sanghi, judge, Delhi HC Ujjal Bhuyan, judge, Telangana HC Amjad Ahtesham Sayed, judge, Bombay HC Shinde Sambhaji Shiwaji, judge, Bombay HC Rashmin Manharbhai Chhaya, judge, Gujarat HC Name Satish Chandra Sharma, Chief Justice, Telangana HC parent high court is Gauhati. Delhi High Court judge Vipin Sanghi was appointed as the chief justice of the Uttarakhand High Court. He was functioning as the acting chief Uttarakhand Telangana Himachal Pradesh Rajasthan Gauhati High Court where transferred As Chief Justice, Delhi High Court justice of the Delhi High Court after Justice D N Patel retired on March 13. Justice Amjad A Sayed of the Bombay High Court will be the new chief justice in Himachal Pradesh. STUDENTS of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge and Technology (RGUKT) continued their protest demanding proper infrastructure, amenities and adequate faculty on the sixth day on Sunday, even as it appeared that the government would announce holidays for the institution soon. An indication to this effect came by way of the IIIT Basara administration issuing outpasses to hundreds of students, saying that the continuous exposure to the rains and sun during the past five days has taken a toll on their health. Students of the RGUKT perform yoga during the sixth day of their protest demanding infrastructure and faculty in Nirmal district on Sunday. As soon as news spread of the outpasses being issued, representatives of the Students Governing Council (SGC) announced that the agitation would be intensified, and the protesters would be demonstrating round the clock from Sunday instead of 9 am to 9 pm P4 as on Saturday . KIDNEY 2 Pak nationals among 4 DISEASE LINKED TO SUGARCANE ASH SETTING AN EXAMPLE Prime Minister Narendra Modi picks up litter while inspecting the newly-opened Indian Trade Promotion Organisation tunnel built under Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor Project, in New Delhi on Sunday | PTI JAB-O-METER TAKE YOUR SHOT June 18 11,61,176 doses June 19 2,73,256 doses TOTAL: 1,96,06,74,860 NATIONWIDE JUNE 18 JUNE 19 TELANGANA JUNE 18 JUNE 19 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 13,216 12,899 8,148 8,518 23 15 Security personnel stand guard at the Secunderabad Railway Station on Sunday following Friday’s violence ways, said that the bullets could have ricocheted off any hard surface, resulting in pellet injuries to the protesters. The SP said that at 8.56 am, JUSTICE Ujjal Bhuyan, the new Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, obtained his LLB degree from the Government Law College, Guwahati, and LLM from Gauhati University . He enrolled at the Bar in 1991 and practised before the principal seat of the Gauhati High Court and appeared before the Agartala, Shillong, Kohima and Itanagar benches. He also practised before the CAT, Guwahati Bench, and the Assam Board of Revenue. Justice Bhuyan was standing counsel for the I-T department for 16 years, starting in May 1995 before being appointed senior standing counsel in 2008. He was the additional government advocate, Meghalaya, in the principal seat of the Gauhati High Court from April 2002 to October 2006. Justice Bhuyan was was appointed AA-G of Assam in 2011, additional judge of Gauhati High Court on October 17, 2011 and permanent judge on March 20, 2013. He was transferred to Telangana HC on October 22, 2021. @ Adilabad 247 116 0 236 122 0 Silica, a material released during the burning of sugarcane, plays a role in chronic kidney disease, postulates a study coauthored by researchers at the NIMS, Hyderabad PAGE 3 RPF used Insas rifle on protesters, only one bullet hit a youth RAILWAY Protection Force (RPF) personnel, who opened fire during the protest at the Secunderabad Railway Station that turned violent on Friday, used a long range INSAS rifle. A total of 20 rounds were fired, of which only one bullet hit one of the protesters who died. The other youths who were injured had received pellet injuries. Addressing the media late on Sunday, B Anuradha, SP Rail- E N S @ Hyderabad EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE FATAL FORCE @ Hyderabad New CJ began career in 1991 As govt moves to send them home, RGUKT students intensify protest “We want a mix of josh and hosh. That is why we want to reduce the age profile. The average age is 32 years at present and we want to reduce it as per the recommendations of the Kargil review committee and Arun Singh committee report,” Lt Gen Puri said EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE the airport and raised an alarm. But the cabin crew asked us to keep quiet,” another said. The post-landing flight inspection showed that three fan blades of the jet’s left engine were damaged in the suspected bird hit. The airport director said the airline made an alternative arrangement for stranded passengers to reach their destination. Telangana, five other High Courts get new Chief Justices Mix of josh and hosh “In the next 4-5 years, our intake will be 50,000-60,000 and will increase to 90,000-1 lakh subsequently. We’ve started small at 46,000 to analyse the scheme...and to build up infra capacity. Our intake of Agniveers will go up to 1.25 lakh in the near future,” he said. Addressing the press meet, Air Marshal S K Jha said, “Agniveer batch 1 registration will start from June 24 and from July 24, phase 1 of the online examination process would start. Training would commence by December 30.” As for the Army Lt Gen Ban, si Ponappa said a draft notification on the hiring will be issued on Monday. In all, 83 recruitment rallies would be organised across the country . Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said the first batch of naval recruits — both male and female — would join training by November 21. In the first batch, 3,000 Agniveers will be inducted into the Navy ofw whom 20% would , be women, said sources. was aware of the situation by then. After receiving the clearance from Air Traffic Controller, the pilot landed the plane on one engine. The fire was doused soon after landing and there is no serious damage to the fuselage. After de-boarding, passengers shared their experiences. “I have never gotten so scared in my life,” one of them said. “We felt tremors inside the flight soon after it took off from around 300 youths who had gathered outside the railway station, carrying sticks and petrol in cans, barged through Gate No 3. Though the security personnel tried to stop them, the mob forced its way in and started damaging the stalls on the platforms and setting fire to the bogies. “When attempts were made to control them, the youths jumped onto the tracks and started pelting stones at the personnel and trains. This continued even after additional forces joined,” she said. “We have arrested 46 people with strong evidence against them. Probe is on to identify others involved in the attacks. We appeal to the youth that it is a very serious offence to attack any public property. If there are any apprehensions over any issue, people can protest, but not resort to violence” Anuradha said. B Sudhakar, Divisional Security Commissioner, Railways said that property loss was estimated to be around `12 crore. “ The cases registered against the youths, particularly Section 156 of the Railways Act, are very stringent and if convicted under this charge, one can be imprisoned for life,” he said. terrorists killed in Valley forces in Damhal Hanjipora area of Kulgam in south KashFOUR terrorists, including two mir around 3.30 pm. “In the enPakistani nationals, were killed suing encounter, two local miliin two different encounters that tants were killed,” the police were ongoing in Kashmir official said. on Sunday . The slain militants The police and the were identified as Haris Army launched a joint Sharief of Srinagar search operation in the and Zakir Padder of forest area of ChandiKulgam. Haris, accordgam, Lolab in Kuping to the police, bewara district based on longed to Lashkar Operations while Zakir was assoinformation gleaned from an arrested ter- will continue ciated with Jaish. rorist Showkat Ahmad “By targeting “Both the killed milSheikh. innocent civilians itants were part of “During the search including women groups involved in sevof a hideout, terrorists and kids, eral militancy incifired indiscriminately unarmed dents, including aton the troops. The fire policemen and tacks on security was returned and in labourers, forces and civilians,” the ensuing heavy terrorists can’t the official said. Opergunfire, two Pakistani deter our efforts ation in that area was terrorists of Lashkar to bring peace in going on as well when were killed,” a police Valley,” Inspector reports last came in. officer said, adding General of Police, Meanwhile, the pothey suspect a few Kashmir, Vijay lice arrested three asmore terrorists are Kumar said sociates of Al-Badr trapped in the area. He outfit during checking said heavy exchange of gunfire in the Wangam area of Handwas continuing at the time of wara. The trio was identified as going to press. Nazim Ahmad Bhat, Siraj din Another encounter broke out Khan and Adil Gull, all resibetween militants and security dents of Kralgund, Kupwara. F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar