tirupati l saturday l november 26, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Indian railways to get 100 ‘tilting trains’ by 2025-26 This technology enables trains to manoeuvre curves on rail tracks at higher speeds, like motorbikes on winding roads Technology already in use in 11 countries India to export Vande Bharat trains Tilting trains have a mechanism that enables higher speed on broad-gauge tracks. The trains tilt while negotiating a bend or curve on the track. Such trains are now operational in 11 countries — Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, the UK, Switzerland, China, Germany and Romania. “We will tie up with a technology partner for this,” said an official ■ ■ The Railways is also looking at becoming a major exporter of Vande Bharat Express trains by 2025-26 to markets in Europe, South America and East Asia, the official added Over the next few years, the railways plans to clock 10-12 lakh km on 75 Vande Bharat trains, for these to be export-ready 475 Number of Vande Bharat Trains the Railways is planning to have by 2025 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 Govt’s response sought on gay marriage 4,000 km in 400 days. S h r u t i K a kk a r @ New Delhi FOUR years after decriminalising consensual sex between homosexuals, the Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre’s response on same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act. The Act provides for civil marriage for Indian citizens irrespective of their religion or faith but limits access to couples comprising one male and one female. A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli was hearing the pleas filed by two gay couples, who said non-recognition of their marriage amounts to discrimination. The bench posted the matter after four weeks. Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul informed the bench that similar petitions are pending before the Kerala and Delhi high courts seeking recognition of same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act, Foreign Marriage Act and Hindu Marriage Act. Terming the issues highlighted in the pleas as ‘live’, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi said, “It’s an important issue affecting the nation. These are sequels of Navtej Singh and Puttaswamy case. We’re only talking about Special Marriage Act. The Act says marriage should be between two persons and doesn’t say that it’ll be a union of A & B.” In Navtej Singh’s case, the SC had held that LGBTQ+ community possesses the same human, fundamental and constitutional rights as other citizens. In Puttaswamy’s case, the SC’s nine-judge bench had held that the Constitution protects non-binary individuals and that protections under Articles 14, 15, 16, 19 & 21 cannot be restricted to biological sex of “male” or “female”. SC allows Teltumbde to walk out of prison Rejects NIA plea against bail granted by the Bombay HC tumbde was actively involved in propagating the ideology of The Supreme Court on Friday the banned CPI(Maoist) outfit. dismissed a special leave peti- “Look at the larger canvas at tion filed by the National Inves- which CPI(Maoist) works. If tigation Agency (NIA) chal- it’s proscribed terrorist organilenging the bail granted to sation, then even assistance or Elgar Parishad case accused affiliation is an offence. But Anand Teltumbde by the Bom- he’s actively involved in propabay High Court last week, pav- gation of ideology organising, , ing the way for his release from fund transfer etc,” she added. Taloja jail. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, A bench of Chief Justice of appearing for Teltumbde, arIndia D Y Chandrachud and gued that the documents proJustice Hima Kohli, duced by the NIA to however, clarified that justify his arrest the trial against the acwere not recovered cused would go on f ro m h i m . A l s o, without being influemails purportedly enced by the HC’s obsent by him were acservations in its Not u a l ly re c ove re d vember 18 bail order. from the laptop of Teltumbde has been co-accused Rona WilAnand Teltumbde in Taloja Central Prisson, he pointed out. on since 2020 for his al“Threshold under leged role in an Elgar Parishad the UAPA Act is very high. He event held in Pune on Decem- wrote about impact of neo-libber 31, 2017. Violence erupted eral globalisation on Dalits. in Bhima Koregaon a day later, Wherever there is a Dalit issue, as speakers and other perform- he is there. In the process there ers at the event allegedly made is some organisation which is provocative speeches. He is fac- closely related to some other oring charges under the stringent ganisation. If I am an academic Unlawful Activities Prevention and I give speech then that Act (UAPA). doesn’t make me a terrorist,” Appearing for the NIA, Addi- Sibal argued. He also said Teltional Solicitor General Aish- tumbde did not even attend the warya Bhati argued that Tel- Elgar Parishad event. S h r u t i K a kk a r @ New Delhi UP shocker as teacher drills into boy’s palm N AMITA BAJPAI @ Lucknow IN a shocking incident, an instructor at a school in Uttar Pradesh ran an electric drilling machine on the palm of a Class 5 student for failing to recite mathematical tables. The shell-shocked boy’s left palm was cut but the presence of mind of a fellow student saved him from deeper injury . The heinous crime took place at Basic Primary Model School in Prem Nagar area of Kanpur on Thursday . Narrating the incident to this paper, the student, Vivan said the instructor asked him to recite the table of 2 but he could not recollect it. “Anuj sir got infuriated and ran the drilling machine on my left hand. Another student, Krishna, who was standing near me pulled the plug out to stop the machine but by then my hand had been cut,” said Vivan. Local sources said the incident happened when Viva n , 9 , w a s p a s s i n g through the library where the instructor Anuj Pandey was overseeing some repairing work with an electric hand-drill machine. ‘Hadn’t met brother in 30 years’ Kapil Sibal said Anand Teltumbde was estranged from his brother Milind, a Maoist leader who was killed in an encounter with security forces last year. They hadn’t met in 30 years, he added HC held mini trial, says NIA The NIA argued that the HC erroneously granted bail by conducting a mini trial by analysing five documents seized during searches on Teltumbde’s premises and his statements under Section 164 of CrPC express read ‘Make civic services app accessible to rural people’ Vijayawada: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed officials to take steps to make the APCMMS (AP Consistent Monitoring of Municipal Services) App being developed by the Urban Development Department accessible to the people of all villages, besides strengthening the response system in the app-based grievances cell | P4 Next Stage blockbusters E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e AS soon as Argentina lost their opening World Cup game to Saudi Arabia, the reactions were predictable. Crisis was the one word that was used often. But the reaction of the team’s inner sanctum itself has been measured. “It’s a blow,” offered Lionel Messi. It was a blow but they will trust in the methods that made them one of the best footballing sides on the planet for the last 18 months or so. Before that loss to the Asian outfit, they were on a 36-match winning streak. It’s not like they were terrible against the Saudis. The underlying metrics suggested that Argentina ought to have won that game comfortably So, the side . will back themselves to complete the turnaround against Mexico on Saturday before the final group game against Poland. Like this team showed at the Copa America in 2021, they are a mature side that doesn’t allow pressure to act as a millstone around their neck. Messi Iran stun Wales Iran players celebrate their victory over Wales in Doha on Friday | ap and coach Lionel Scaloni will ask the team to express themselves and forget about the pressure. There’s lots of it, there’s also the added pressure of expectation (the country’s Labour Minister said something suggesting ‘inflation can wait, first we need to win the Cup’). Another team in a similar position is Germany. After that reverse against Japan, the fourtime champions know a defeat against Spain will be terminal to their chances. Considering die mannschaft revamped the entire coaching staff only last year — they identified German Champions League winning coach Hansi Flick to lead the transformation after Jogi Low’s Iran scored twice deep in stoppage time to stun Wales 2-0 on Friday and breathe new life into a World Cup campaign overshadowed by mass anti-government protests at home. Ramin Rezaeian added a second goal moments after Rouzbeh Cheshmi scored the first | More on: P11 method turned stale. Going home just when the party is about to start could result in a post-mortem. For their part, Spain know that a win will signal their intentions of becoming one of the early favourites. Two of the other favourites are sitting pretty, knowing a second win in the stage will send them through ahead of schedule. Brazil and holders, France. The latter’s attacking depth doesn’t match Brazil but they have Kylian Mbappe. The Selecao purred against Serbia and will not be overly bothered by Neymar’s injury They aren’t . as dependent on him and have multiple avenues to score goals. Big Round 2 matches November 26 l France vs Denmark 9.30 PM (Saturday) l Argentina vs Mexico 12.30 AM (Sunday) November 27 l Germany vs Spain 12.30 AM (Monday) November 28 l Brazil vs Switzerland 9.30 PM (Monday) l Portugal vs Uruguay 12.30 AM(Tuesday) Today’s matches l Tunisia vs Australia 3.30pm l Poland vs Arabia 6.30pm l France vs Denmark 9.30pm Lokesh to embark on Padayatra from Jan 27 S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Come January 27, 2023, TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh is set to embark on a padayatra, covering 4,000 km in 400 days. This would be the longest walkathon in the history of Andhra Pradesh. Lokesh made the announcement on Friday while interacting with the TDP cadre in Mangalagiri constituency . As the Assembly elections in the State are scheduled to be held in April/May (2024), Lokesh would be engaged with his padayatra till March, 2024. The 39-year-old will commence his yatra from Kuppam, represented by his father and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu in the Assembly . The walkathon will culminate at Etched in I c h c h a p u r a m i n S r i k a k u l a m history district. 1,475 km - YS As part of the yatra, Lokesh exRajasekhara Reddy plained that he will be in Mangalagiri constituency from where he will 2,840 km - N , contest the 2024 elections, for four Chandrababu days. Naidu Stating that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will by all means 3,468 km - YS try to defeat him, he appealed to the Jagan Mohan rank and file of the TDP in Mangala- Reddy giri to “guard the constituency and explain to the people on what the party has done for them despite being in the Opposition.” Over the years, padayatra has become a massive programme where political leaders interact with the public and claim power. There also have been several instances where elected representatives occupy the chief minister P4 post on completing their walkathon.  Discom suffers as govt depts sit on `810-crore power bills S N a g a r a j a R a o @ Kadapa Officials of the Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL) are preparing to serve notices to various government departments in Kadapa district as they have not cleared bills to the tune of `810.38 crore. Majority of the dues, accumulated over several years, have to be paid by Panchayat Raj and Water Resources Department. While Panchayat Raj owes `452 crore to the discom, the Water Resources Department has to clear power bills to the tune of `198 crore. APSPDCL will serve notices to these departments as repeated warnings have not yielded any results. It has been reported that the notice will clearly inform government officials that power connection will be disconnected to the respective departments, if dues are not cleared. P4