HYDERABAD  FRIDAY  JUNE 24, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 28  LATE CITY EDITION CITIGROUP RAISES GLOBAL RECESSION ODDS TO 50% SUPPLY SHOCKS TO ADD TO ECONOMIC WOES Citigroup analysts’ warning comes in the wake of central banks around the world rushing to raise interest rates to arrest inflation FACTORY ACTIVITY GROWTH SLOWS Recession is an “increasingly palpable risk” for the economy, the analysts said. “The global economy is flashing a number of yellow lights at present, which flow from the persistent supply shocks but also increasingly from central bank tightening and the effects of tighter financial conditions and higher inflation on the behaviour of consumers,” they added ■ ■ Citigroup’s bleak prognosis is shared by Deutsche Bank, which also feels the global economy may be headed for a recession Baring the cracks in the battered global economy, factory activity indices for June released on Thursday in Japan, Britain, the euro zone and US showed a sharp decline in growth 60 CENTRAL BANKS ACROSS THE WORLD HAVE INCREASED INTEREST RATES THIS YEAR 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 Shinde has 37. Prove it on floor of House: Pawar Sena seeks disqualification of 12 MLAs to pressure them; rebel count keeps swelling S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai WITH rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde showcasing the support of 37 party MLAs in a group photo-op at a Guwahati hotel on Thursday he appeared , to have the numbers to escape the anti-defection law. Also seen in the group photo were nine Independent MLAs. But NCP chief Sharad Pawar rallied around beleaguered Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray saying numerical strength , can only be proved in a trust vote on the floor of the Assembly He blamed the BJP for engi. neering it, citing Shinde’s claim that it had assured all support. With the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition making hectic efforts to draw the rebels back home, Sena leader Sanjay Raut sought to dangle a carrot by claiming the party was prepared to concede their demand to step out the alliance if all of them return within 24 hours and meet Uddhav. Parallelly the Sena was said , to have asked the Deputy Speaker to take action against those MLAs who did not attend the legislature party meeting. For their part, the rebels said, “we do not want a change in party president; we want the unatural Aghadi alliance to go and a new a government with the BJP for various reasons. (a) We want harassment by central enforcement agencies to stop. (b) NCP is our real political opponent on the ground. Whenever fresh Assembly elections are held, NCP and Congress cannot be expected to transfer votes to Shiv Sena because they have been our traditional foes. However, when BJP was the ally, the transfer of votes was smooth. (c) BJP is a big party, so keeping it in good humour is smart politics.” TWISTS AND TURNS  Sanjay Raut claims Sena open to considering quitting Aghadi if rebels return in 24 hours  NCP, Cong downplay Raut’s remark, vow to support Uddhav govt  Pawar blames BJP for the crisis  But Dy CM Ajit Pawar says he does not see any BJP role in the rebellion But Raut said those afraid of CBI, ED or income tax raids are not hardcore Shiv Sainiks. As for Shinde, his support group appears to be swelling. When he had initially shepharded them to Surat, his MLA count was 20. It went up to 22 by the time he flew out of Surat to Guwahati, where more joined in. On Thursday, four other Sena MLAs entered his camp, P8 taking his score to 37. 1 2 Anita Alvarez was saved COACH SAVES by her coach at the World U.S. SWIMMER Aquatics Championships IN NICK OF TIME in Budapest on Wednesday BIE may release results this week Sources in the Board of Intermediate Education informed Express that they are busy making arrangements for announcement of results. The results of first year and second year Intermediate examinations are likely to released later this week R E N U K A K A L PA N A @ Hyderabad THE Intermediate syllabus, which was reduced to 70 per cent due to Covid-19 pandemic in the last two years, will be fully restored this year. According to sources, the State government has agreed to revise the syllabus to 100 per cent in 2022-23 academic year and a related file, which was approved by the government, reached the officials of Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) on Thursday . The Education Department is likely to issue orders in this regard very soon. Apart from increasing the syllabus, the BIE is also contemplating changes in the examination pattern and revert to the old system, which was in force before the outbreak of the pandemic. It may be recalled that the BIE reduced the syllabus by 30 per cent in November, 2021, keeping in view the disruption of physical classes due to Covie-19. Only 70 per cent of syllabus was considered for first and second year Intermediate examinations in the last two years. Now, the State government will also revise model papers for 2022-23. P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati FOUR days ago, Amal Das called up his friend Prabal in Kolkata to inform he was standing in ankle-deep floodwaters. Amal was talking from his first floor home in Silchar town, now entirely submerged. Like him, thousands are stranded as the raging river Barak has submerged not just this entire town in southern Assam’s Cachar district but the whole river valley . Silchar is incommunicado and without transport as 5-12 feet waves lash the streets. JAB-O-METER TAKE YOUR SHOT June 22 30,20,119 doses June 23 11,98,992 doses TOTAL: 1,96,75,59,671 Locals say this is unprecedented. Pregnant women and children are the worst sufferers. The town is without power and water supply. Hand pumps, wells, borewells, shops and commercial establishments are all inundated. Batteries of mobile phones have drained out and there is no Internet. Silichar takes pride in producing hundreds of techies — many of them settled abroad. As it is now in the throes of an acute shortage of essentials, the state government began air-dropping food packets, bottles of drinking water and other essentials. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who conducted an aerial survey of the district, of which Silchar is the headquarters, said the government would continue air-droppings for the marooned, apart regular relief. Assam’s Transport Minister Parimal Suklabaidya told this newspaper, “I am at chest-deep water now. Some 4,000 transformers in the district are under water. The flood has made life hell. The administration is providing relief.” NATIONWIDE JUNE 22 JUNE 23 TELANGANA JUNE 22 JUNE 23 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 12,249 13,313 9,862 10,972 13 38 434 129 0 494 126 0 Missing medico case: NIA arrests advocate, 2 others advocate, used to visit her daughter’s college and influTHE NIA on Thursday arrested enced her to join the Maoists. In the name of providing three persons, Dongari Devendra, Dubasi Swapna and Chukka medical treatment to someone, Shilpa after raiding their resi- Pochamma’s daughter was takdences in Rangareddy Medak dis- en away by the Maoist leaders , tricts and Secunderabad, for kid- and she never returned. “The case was initially regisnapping a medical student and indoctrinating her to join the tered as FIR No.01/2022 dated 03.01.2022 at PeddabayaMaoists. The medical lu PS, Visakhapatnam, student’s mother PocAndhra Pradesh. NIA hamma lodged a comhad re-registered the plaint with NIA claimcase on 03.06.2022 and ing that her daughter taken over the investiRadha was kidnapped gation,” an official press three years ago by Chaitrelease said. anya Mahila Sangham It is reported that (CMS), a frontal organi- Chukka Shilpa Radha joined the Maosation of CPI (Maoist). In her complaint, she said that ist group and is working with her daughter was brainwashed the top brass. by the members of CMS and Naming the Maoist leaders, taken to Peddabayalu forest area NIA said Gajarla Ravi alias in Vishakapatnam to join the Uday Secretary of Andhra-Od, Maoists. According to sources, isha Border Special Zone ComCMS leaders Dongari Devendra, mittee (AOBSZC), Devendra, Dubasi Swapna and Chukka Swapna and Shilpa are the acShilpa, who is also a High Court cused in Radha’s kidnap. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad Land for TRS office: HC issues notices to KCR, govt officials `100 per sq.yard THE Telangana High Court on Thursday issued notices to the State government, directing it to file counters within four weeks in response to a PIL filed by K Maheshwar Raj, State president of All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisation, questioning the allotment of prime lands worth about `500 crore in 33 district headquarters at a throwaway price of `100 per square yard for construction of TRS party offices. The notices were issued to the Chief Secretary, Commissioner CCLA, the Principal Secretary to the Revenue Department, Hyderabad Collector as well as TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and General Secretary Srinivas Reddy . The court was hearing the PIL filed seeking suspension of GO 47, dated May 11, 2022. As per the said GO, around 4,935 square yards of government land in NBT Nagar, Road No 12, Banjara Hills, correlated to The High Court ordered the State to provide reasons for allotting 4,935 square yards of land, which is valued at `100 crore, at `100 per square yard, notwithstanding the fact that the open market value of the land is `2 lakh per square yard Survey No.403/P of Shaikpet village, was allotted to the TRS for construction of its Hyderabad district office. BRICS harps on territorial integrity E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi RESPECTING the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States, supporting talks between Russia and Ukraine and warning against using Afghan territory to shelter or train terrorists were some of the highlights of the 14th BRICS Summit Declaration issued on Thursday . The two-day Summit, being hosted by China, saw Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping criticising the West for imposing unilateral sanctions on Moscow, which in turn impacted the world economy at large. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said mutual cooperation can make a useful contribution to the global postCovid recovery . Meanwhile, in the backdrop of several Western brands shutting their outlets in Russia, Putin said Russia is in talks with India to set u p s t o re s a l l ove r t h e country . BRICS comprises five of the world’s largest developing countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This year’s summit is being held amid border tensions between India and China continuing unresolved and Russia being isolated globally over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Hawk Eye fast becoming TS women’s preferred app IN the wake of a series of sexual assault cases being reported from across the State, the latest being the gang rape of a teenage girl in a car near Peddamma Gudi after a party at a Jubilee Hills pub, the Telangana police’s Hawk Eye mobile application is gaining in popularity . The app, which was launched by the Hyderabad City Police back in 5  The US synchronised swimmer sinks to the bottom during her routine in the solo free artistic final  Coach Andrea Fuentes, sensing what has happened, swims to check After grabbing hold of Anita, her coach pulls her to the surface  Another member of Team US dives into the pool to provide support  After lifting her out of water, attempts are made to revive Anita. She has since recovered and is expected to compete on Friday despite her history of fainting at competitions | AFP 17 L DOWNLOADS & COUNTING P R I YA R AT H N A M @ Hyderabad 4 UNPRECEDENTED FLOODING IN TECHIE TOWN OF ASSAM T G N A I D U @ Hyderabad TS to restore pre-pandemic Inter syllabus, exam pattern 3 2014 with main focus on safety of women and to instil confidence among women, has so far b e e n d o w n l o a d e d by 17,15,988 people, of whom 8. 5 lakh are from Hyderabad alone. More and more women are now using Hawk Eye to get in touch with police with complaints of harassment and violence. For instance, from the begin- ning of this year till now, around 135 complaints of crime against women (CAW) were received through this app and they ranged from eve-teasing to domestic violence to assaults as well as breakdown of vehicles at odd hours. The app has several categories in which a user can seek help from the police. They include emergency contacts, SOS, commu- nity policing, know your report status, vehicle and mobile search. While a total of 53,738 complaints were received since its launch, as many as 1,966 complaints were made through this app this year alone. The most popular feature on the app is Travel Made Safe with an average of five to 10 women hitting the button per day while there are about 30 to 50 SOS calls. CONTINUED ON P5 The court ordered the State to provide reasons for allotting 4,935 square yards of land valued at `100 crore at a cost of `100 per square yard, notwithstanding the fact that the open market value of the land is `2 lakh per square yard. Counsel for the petitioner, Chikkudu Prabhakar brought to the court’s attention the Apex Court’s observations in similar cases, that “the State is the legal owner of the natural resources of the State and the government is the trustee of the people and they should be used in the larger interest of the general public.” But in this case, allotment of precious government land worth crores of rupees was made for the construction of TRS party office despite the fact a party office already existed in Jubilee Hills, he said. The petitioner also sought suspension of GO 167, which states that all recognised political parties would receive one acre of land in 32 district headquarters at `100 per square yard.