tirupati l monday l january 23, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Institutional deliveries shoot up in India: REport Medical institutions handled 95.5% of all deliveries in India in 2021-22, up from 88.6% in 2019-2021 100% hospital delivery in TN, T’gana Home deliveries common in many states Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Goa and two Union Territories — Puducherry and Lakshadweep — reported 100% institutional deliveries in 20212022, as per the data released by the Union health ministry’s Health Management Information System. Nine states, including Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, recorded 99% births in institutions | P7 ■ In rural areas of many states, especially in the Northeast, giving birth at home continues to be prevalent, as people lack easy access to institutional health care facilities ■ For instance, in Meghalaya, 42.8% of all births were at home while the figure for Nagaland was 21.7% and 19.4% for Manipur 4.5% National average for home deliveries in 2021-22 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 Modi lauds CJI’s pitch for making SC judgments in regional languages Kapu leaders go into a huddle in Hyderabad RAJ E SH K UMAR T HA K UR @ New Delhi E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Political circles in the State were abuzz after reports of Kapu community leaders from Andhra Pradesh meeting Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) AP unit chief Thota Chandrasekhar emerged on Sunday . It has been reported that former minister and TDP MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao, BJP AP chief Kanna Lakshminarayana as well as BRS AP leader and former IRS officer Ch Pardhasaradhi attended the meeting that took place in Hyderabad on Saturday night. The meeting assumes significance amid plans of BRS to expand in Andhra and to hold a massive meeting in Visakhapatnam. Incidentally both Ganta , and Kanna have been maintaining distance from their respective parties. Explaining his decision on joining the BRS, Chandrasekhar said the party president K Chandrasekhar Rao had assured him that a Kapu leader would be made the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, if the party comes to power. The BRS AP chief also informed the leaders during the meeting that KCR was focused on AP and was planning to visit the State soon to conduct public meetings. Sources also hinted that the Kapu leaders discussed the political situation in Telangana and AP and agreed that the community was poised to emerge as a power centre in both the States. Discussions were reportedly held on the possibility of an electoral alliance between the TDP and Jana Sena Party in Andhra Pradesh, and on who stands to benefit if such a tieup materialises. In conclusion, the leaders reportedly opined that Kapu votes were crucial in both States. FBI agents walk near the crime scene in Monterey Park, California, on Sunday | ap 10 shot dead at Chinese New Year event in US city Suspect at large; police probing hate crime angle; fifth mass killing in the US this month E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e AT least 10 people were killed and 10 others injured, some of the critically, when a gunman opened fire at a Chinese lunar year celebration at a ballroom dance club at Monterey Park in Southern California on Saturday around 10:20 pm local time. This is the fifth mass killing in the US this month. When local police first arrived, people were “pouring out of the location screaming,” Capt Andrew Meyer of the Los Angeles Sheriff ’s Department told reporters in a news briefing at the scene. He added that the police are on the lookout for the male suspect, who is on the run, and are probing whether it was a hate crime or not. While he gave no description of the wanted man, or the kind of gun he used, US media reports quoting witnesses said the gunman shot indiscriminately with a semiautomatic weapon. Footage posted on social media showed injured people on stretchers being taken to ambulances by emergency staff. Around the scene of the shoot- ing police guarded cordoned-off streets, the video showed. Chinese Lunar New Year is an annual 15-day festival to celebrate in the new year on the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. Monterey Park is a city of about 60,000 people that sits at the eastern edge of Los Angeles. The majority of its residents are Asian immigrants or their descendants, most of them Chinese. Police said they are looking into an attempted shooting at a ballroom and dance studio in the neighboring city of Alhambra. Reports said an attack had been thwarted with the alleged gunman tackled and disarmed. “We have investigators on scene trying to determine if there’s a connection between these two incidents,” said Mayer. The Monterey Park violence also marked the deadliest since May 24, 2022 — when 21 people were killed in a school in Uvalde, according to The Associated Press/USA Today database on mass killings in the US. It comes two months after five people were killed at a Colorado Springs nightclub. PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud’s pitch for making Supreme Court judgments available in regional languages. “At a recent function, the Hon’ble CJI Justice DY Chandrachud spoke of the need to work towards making SC judgments available in regional languages. He also suggested the use of technology for it. This is a laudatory thought, which will help many people, particularly youngsters,” Modi tweeted on Sunday . The PM added that governemnt is all for encouraging regional languages and is in favour of making the option available for studying subjects such as engineering and medicine in Indian express read Over 4.5L appear for police recruitment test Vijayawada: A total of 91 per cent candidates attended the AP Special Police and Constable recruitment exam held on Sunday. According to Andhra Pradesh State Level Police Recruitment Board (APSLPRB), a total of 5,03,487 candidates have applied for the examination and nearly 4,58,218 have appeared for the preliminary written test | P3 Panel to probe ‘darshan scam’ in Srisailam Kurnool: Officials of the Srisaila Devasthanam on Sunday appointed a three-member panel to probe into the alleged darshan scam reported at the famous temple. The action comes after an audio clip, purportedly of a Trust Board member asking her assistant to collect money from devotees under the pretext of various sevas and provide them protocol darshan, emerged | P3 pti languages. Tagging a video clip of Chandrachud’s speech, delivered at an event organised by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa in Mumbai recently, the PM tweeted that the government at the Centre has been taking numerous efforts to encourage the Indian languages. Taking to his twitter, the prime minister said that India’s several languages add to cultural vibrancy . It may be recalled that the prime minister has in the past often pitched for making judicial verdicts more accessible to the common man by making those available in regional languages. On July 7 in 2022, PM Modi had also emphasised the importance of providing engineering education in local languages India has several languages, which add to our cultural vibrancy. The Central Government is undertaking numerous efforts to encourage Indian languages including giving the option of studying subjects like engineering and medicine in one’s Matru Bhasha Narendra Modi, PM Hours after asking ‘who’s SRK?’, Assam CM says he spoke to actor on protests P r a s n ata m a z u m da r @ Guwahati Hours after he said, “Who is Shah Rukh Khan? I don’t know anything about him,” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday tweeted saying the actor called him over phone at 2 am and expressed concerns over protests in Guwahati against his latest film Pathaan. “He expressed concern about an incident in Guwahati during screening of his film. I assured him that it’s duty of state govt to maintain law & order. We’ll enquire and ensure no such untoward incidents,” Sarma tweeted. Members of a right-wing organisation allegedly tore up and torched posters of the film in Guwahati. The movie is facing a backlash for showing actor Deepika Padukone clad in A poster of movie Pathaan torn down by miscreants in Guwahati | express a saffron bikini in the song Besharam Rang. Sarma’s tweet comes a day after he said: “Who is Shah Rukh Khan? We have many Shah Rukh Khans here.” Sarma was responding to a question at a press conference on what action his government has taken against those involved in the torching of posters. When pressed further, the Assam CM had said, “If some- Rajampet villagers hope for better days as tender process for Annamayya dam set to conclude soon S N a g a r a j a R a o @ Kadapa As the tender process for the reconstruction of Annamayya irrigation project on the River Cheyyeru in Rajampet has reached its final leg, the hope of several people have rekindled. Once the bids are finalised, works will commence and the deadline for completing them is 24 months. While tenders will be invited in a day or two, a contractor will be finalised through reverse tendering process. The government has already issued administrative sanction of `787.77 crore for the project and has fixed the estimated cost at `635.20 crore. Moreover, the project will be exempted from GST and other taxes. Flash floods caused due to heavy rains had resulted in large volumes of water gushing out of the dam at Badanagadda in Rajampet mandal and breaching the earthen bund on November 19, 2021. The deluge claimed more than 15 lives and survivors were left with no food in at least two dozen villages. The project, with a storage capacity of 2.239 TMC and discharge rate of 1.18 lakh cusecs, prawn traders tap into local Markets as exports nosedive S T r i m u r t h u l u @ Kakinada With exports to China and other countries being hit due to the Covid pandemic, traders of prawn are now looking towards local markets to give their businesses the much-needed boost. It may be noted that Andhra Pradesh used to export nearly five to six lakh tonnes of prawn abroad every year. However, the figures dropped drastically . As an experiment to understand local markets, Prawn Traders’ Association had set up retail outlet recently in Kaki- nada. Besides selling shrimps for a discounted price, they are also trying to create awareness among people on the benefits of eating shrimp. A leading trader, K Raghu said, “The outlet in Kakinada will be run for two months. Similar stalls will be opened at Rajamahendravaram, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad in Telangana.” Elaborating on why the traders are preferring to go local, another trader said, “Exports to other countries, especially China, have been affected due to the Covid pandemic. We cannot consider transporting the produce to the US market as cost for logistics and time conP4 sumed is not viable.”  had received inflows at the rate of 3.2 lakh cusecs in just a few hours. The floodwater flowing over one metre above the bund caused the breach as the dam could not sustain the pressure. According to irrigation officials, the reconstructed dam will have a discharge capacity of 5.6 lakh cusecs as against the earlier 1.8 lakh cusecs. As many as 11 gates will be constructed instead of the previous five and the storage capacity of the reservoir will increase to 2.38 TMC. It will support 13,000 acres during Kharif and 6,500 acres during Rabi seasons. Further, drinking water will be provided to 18 villages. during a virtual meeting with the heads of 107 centrally funded technical institutions on July 7 in 2022. In recent times also, the prime minister cautioned against controversies erupted over languages saying that every regional language is ‘worth –worshiping’ as it keeps reflecting India’s culture and colloquial diversity . On the secuirty front, speaking at the 57th All India Conference of Director Generals and Inspector Generals of Police in Delhi, Modi called for more cooperation between state police forces and central agencies to leverage capabilities. While he said the police forces should be trained in emerging technologies, he also called for further strengthening of the traditional policing mechanisms such as foot patrols. body has done something which violated law and order and a case has been filed, we will take action. If there was a problem, Shah Rukh Khan would have called me. If he calls, I will see to it. I often get calls from Bollywood actors.” The Opposition slammed Sarma, reminding him that he had stated only a day ago that he does not know the actor. “People who became Sanghis to form the government also have to become Congressmen to run the government on Raj Dhar ma,” senior Congress leader Pawan Khera tweeted. Speaking in Guwahati, Trinamool Congress leader Babul Supriyo said, “Shah Rukh Khan has a fan following across the world. By refusing to recognise him, Sarma and his BJP demonstrated their mindset towards the minorities.” Heartbreak at sudden death India’s World Cup ended amid drama in sudden death against New Zealand on Sunday. A look... Poor from top of the D This was an Achilles Heel at WC. India earned a lot of penalty corners but failed to convert many. Out of the ones they scored, most were rebounds Pressure factor This is an old chestnut and coach Graham Reid admitted it could be this. Going forward, he hoped they will have a mental coach with the team Today’s matches New Zealand players celebrate with goalkeeper Lyon Hayward after India’s Samsher missed during sudden death on Sunday | debadatta malik Germany vs France 4.30 PM Argentina vs Korea 7.00 PM wrestling fiasco WFI meet off, uncertain times for grapplers f i r oz m i r z a @ Chennai There is no end to wrestling drama. In less than 24 hours, the Wrestling Federation of India was forced to call off its senior ranking tournament in Gonda and it cancelled emergency meeting too. In reposnse to sports ministry’s directive to cancel all activities with immediate effect, the WFI had said it would take a decision on Sunday and it is understood that after deliberation, they decided to cancel its emergency executive committee and general body meeting. “The proposed meeting has been called off,” tweeted the WFI. As reported by this newspaper, there is uncertainty over India’s participation in Zagreb Open Ranking Series from February 1 to 5. The WFI said that all participation inlcuding national and international might get affected. A provisional entry list had already been sent by the WFI before its chief Brij Bhush- an Sharan Singh got embroiled in the controversy The list in. cluded Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya, Vinesh Phogat, Anshu Malik and Sarita Mor — the wrestlers who led the protest against Singh at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Visa process too had started before the protest. It is understood that Bajrang and his wife withdrew their names. The WFI’s meeting was to discuss various allegations levelled against Singh. All members from various affiliated state units present in Gonda backed the WFI chief, who has been asked to step aside from day-to-day activities of WFI till a proposed oversight committee, which is yet to be named, submits its probe report in four weeks. For wrestlers, the ranking series is important to get points that help them in getting seedings for World Championships, which is also an Olympic qualifier. The Croatia event will be followed by a Ranking Series in Egypt from February 23.