Tapan Kumar Deka vijayawada l saturday l june 25, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION ex-ias officer parameswaran is the new ceo of niti aayog The former bureaucrat, who spearheaded the Swachh Bharat Mission, will replace incumbent Amitabh Kant Samant Goel Parameswaran Iyer Known for executing large projects Parameswaran Iyer, a 1981-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, had resigned from civil service in 2009. He came back as Secretary in the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation in 2016 and executed the Narendra Modi government’s flagship sanitation scheme. He resigned from the post in July 2020 and went on to work with the World Bank in the US ■ 7 Deka ib chief, Raw’s Goel gets 1-yr extn ■ In another appointment, Tapan Kumar Deka, the ‘crisis man’ who was put in charge of the counter-assaults during the 26/11 Mumbai attack, was named Director, Intelligence Bureau Meanwhile, the tenure of Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) head Samant Goel has been extended by one more year Number of officers Deka has superseded to become ib chief CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■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 SC upholds SIT’s clean chit to Modi Landmark abortion law in US overturned Sees no larger plot in the 2002 Gujarat riots E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @New Delhi The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 post Godhra riots in the state and dismissed a petition by slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri’s wife Zakia Jafri. Bringing the curtains down on the bid to reopen the probe, a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar said the material collected during the investigation does not ‘give rise to strong or grave suspicion regarding hatching of larger criminal conspiracy at the highest level’ for causing mass violence against Muslims. The bench, also comprising justices Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar, termed Zakia’s plea devoid of merit. It spoke of ‘the devious stratagem to keep the pot boiling, obviously, for ulterior design’ and said all those involved in ‘such abuse of process need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law’. The court also appreciated the SIT for its ‘indefatigable work’ in challenging circumstances and said it has come out with ‘flying colours unscathed’. The bench said no fault could be found with the SIT’s approach, adding its final report in 2012 is backed by firm logic, ‘expositing analytical mind and dealing with all aspects objectively for discarding the allegations regarding larger criminal conspiracy’. The bench upheld the decision of a magistrate in accepting the final report submitted by the SIT. Zakia Jafri had challenged the Gujarat High Court’s October 5, 2017 order rejecting her plea against the SIT decision. “We do not countenance the submission of the appellant regarding infraction of rule of law in the matter of investigation and the approach of the magistrate and the high court in dealing with the final report,” the bench said. Congress leader and former MP Ehsan Jafri was among the 68 people killed at Ahmedabad’s Gulbarg Society during violence on February 28, 2002. vandalised The ransacked office of Wayanad Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in Kalpetta on Friday, after a protest march of the SFI, the students wing of ruling CPI(M) in Kerala, turned violent | Express | P5 The US Supreme Court on Friday ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in the Roe v Wade case. The verdict is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the US states. The ruling came more than a month after the leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the overturning | P9 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The State cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy approved the renaming of Konaseema as Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district, on Friday . Anticipating trouble, the police had stepped up vigil in the E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad express read Ex-minister seeks HC nod to travel abroad Hyderabad: Claiming that the CBI has issued a lookout circular preventing him from travelling abroad, former Union Minister Sujana Chowdary sought the High Court’s permission to visit Europe and the US to check EV needs, technological collaboration with firms in the US & European countries | P5 RGV in soup over tweet on NDA Prez candidate Hyderabad: Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma landed in trouble with a recent tweet on BJP’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. On Thursday, he took to Twitter and wrote, “If DRAUPADI is the PRESIDENT who are the PANDAVAS? And more importantly, who are the KAURAVAS?(sic).” J&K set to host G20 Summit next year Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir is all set to host G-20 Summit in 2023. It will be the first major international summit ever to be held in picturesque J&K. The meeting in J&K holds further significance as it will be taking place over three-and-a-half years after the scrapping of Article 370 | P7 S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Two days after vacating his official residence in the wake of a massive revolt, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray sought to take back control by addressing a meeting of the party’s functionaries, invoking Shivaji Maharaj’s spirit to urge the cadre to rebuild the party from scratch. In his emotional address, he also said he was ready to step down as the Shiv Sena president if need be. He said he may have moved out of the official residence of the chief minister, but his determination to fight the crisis was intact. Saying he was pained by the desertion of the MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, he pointed out that he gave him the plum portfolio of urban development and sent Shinde’s son to Parliament. “Despite this, they blame me for promoting Aditya Thackeray Every father will do . that for his son,” he reasoned. Uddhav also chaired a meeting of district collectors and secretaries and asked them to continue with development works related to welfare of the people irrespective of the political twists and turns. He also Back to the roots Of the total 96 Shakha pramukhs of the Sena, 85 attended the meet at Shiv Sena Bhavan at Dadar. Aditya Thackeray addressed them in-person while Uddhav spoke virtually discussed the Covid situation and a possible mask mandate in Mumbai, given that the infection count is going up. In the evening, NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar called on Uddhav at his residence. NCP state president Jayant Patil and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar accompanied Pawar for the meeting. As for Shinde, he sought legal advice after Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal approved the appointment of Ajay Chaudhari as the Sena’s legislative party leader replacing him (Shinde), and Sunil Prabhu as the chief whip. The Shinde camp had written to Zirwal seeking the appointment of Bharat Gogawale as chief whip p8 instead of Prabhu.  Konaseema dist renamed after Dr BR Ambedkar district on Thursday . A large number of police personnel were deployed at strategic locations. Such security ar- rested for their alleged involvement in the violent protest so far. Cases were booked against each offender and it has been learnt that Rao, the director of ASR Sai Defence Academy with branches in both Telugu States, intigated the students through WhatsApp groups. It has been reported that Subba Rao, during interrogation, confessed rangements were necessitated in view of the riots that erupted in Amalapuram town on May 24. Over 43L to receive `6,594 cr aid under Amma Vodi The cabinet gave its nod to disburse `6,594.60 crore under the Amma Vodi scheme on June 27. As many as 43,96,402 beneficiaries (mothers of school-going children), including 5,48,329 fresh applicants, will receive the aid. A total of 82,31,502 children stand to benefit from the scheme S’bad riot: Railway police question ex-army man, arrest to be recorded officially today Railway Police on Friday questioned Avula Subba Rao, an ex-serviceman and director of a defence academy in connection with the riot , that erupted on June 17 at the Secunderabad Railway Station against the Centre’s Agnipath scheme. Rao later underwent a medical checkup at Gandhi Hospital before being produced at a court. A senior official said, “Arrests will be made official on Saturday after a , few more verifications. Once precise evidence like CCTV footage, mobile towers and hotel check-in receipts are collected, they will support the case.” As many as 60 people have been ar- Uddhav tries to wrest initiative, urges cadre to rebuild the Sena from scratch that he had come to the city before the incident and initiated the stir. A source revealed that Rao arrived to the city with Malla Reddy Naresh, , Shiva and Reddappa, who managed other defence academies, and checked into a hotel at Medipally . They even visited the railway station before the protest broke out and left the premises. Sources said Rao cooperated with the WhatsApp group admins and other students. He also provided food to those who were part of the arson. Notices were sent to an academy in Peerzadiguda, also owned by Subba Rao. Authorities were asked to turn up with essential documents. An academy in Guntur has also been served notice. A gazette notification for renaming the district was issued on May 19 and a month’s time was given for making suggestions and objections, if any . Eight police outposts were set up and security was beefed up in Razole, Ravulapalem, Mandapeta and Muramalla as well. APSP battalions were deployed P4 in trouble-prone areas.