HYDERABAD  MONDAY  JANUARY 23, 2023  `9.00  PAGES 12  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 DAYLIGHT HORROR Man chased, hacked to death on road in Old City R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @Hyderabad IN a horrifying incident, three assailants brutally hacked to death a man in broad daylight in the Kulsumpura police station limits on Sunday evening. While passersby watched in horror, the three men, armed with swords and hunting sickles, chased the victim on the road before killing him in most gruesome manner. The incident took place on Jiyaguda bypass road near Puranapul. Based on the Aadhaar card found in his shirt pocket, the victim was identified as Jangam Sainath (32) of Amberpet. Police reached the spot and sent the body for post-mortem. They have launched investigation to identify the assailants and the motive behind the murder. According to eyewitnesses, the three murderers jumped into the Musi and vanished after killing the man. Kulsumpura Circle Inspector Ashok Kumar said that special police teams have been formed to track down the assailants. The video of the daylight murder shot on mobile phone by a local went viral on social media. The video will be crucial to the case investigation, according to the police. 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 S E R V I C E AT least 10 people were killed and 10 others injured, some of them critically when a gunman , opened fire at a Chinese lunar new year celebration at a ballroom dance club in Southern California’s Monterey Park 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 guards 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 Begin Budget session with guv speech: BJP Hyderabad: Former MLC N Ramchander Rao has demanded that the State government begin the Budget session of the State Legislature on February 3 with the traditional address by the Governor, and also allow leaders of the opposition parties to deliver their speeches | P4 J’khand woman set on fire for resisting rape bid, dies at hosp Ranchi: The 23-year-old woman, who had been set on fire allegedly for resisting rape attempts, succumbed to her burn injuries at a Ranchi hospital on Sunday morning. The incident took place on January 7 and the woman was under treatment at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi with about 70 per cent burn injuries | P8 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 twitter, the prime minister said that India has several languages adding to the country’s 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 Prime Minister Narendra Modi 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 the 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- UNINVITED ‘GUEST’ GIVES IAS OFFICER SMITA SABHARWAL FRIGHT OF HER LIFE EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @Hyderabad CHIEF Minister’s Secretary and senior IAS officer Smita Sabharwal had a terrifying experience recently when an intruder, identified as Anantakumar Reddy, deputy tahsildar from Medchal-Malkajgiri district, knocked on her door late in the night. The senior bureaucrat was taken aback by the appearance of a stranger when she opened the door of her house in a well secured gated community in Jubilee Hills. When Sabharwal confronted him about his identity and his visit without prior appoint- truder broke into my house. I had the presence of mind to deal and save my life. Lessons: no matter how secure you think you are- always check the doors/ locks personally. #Dial100 in emergency (sic).” nity and somehow managed to The 48-year-old deputy tahsilreach the residence of the of- dar is said to have retweeted a ficer. His friend waited in his couple of times the tweets of car outside while the deputy the bureaucrat who is active on tahsildar walked up to Smita social media. Sabharwal’s quarter and The incident had happened rang the bell. at around 11.30 pm on ThursTaking to Twitter on day. The incident was kept Sunday the senior IAS of, secret by the police. But it ficer said, “Had this came to light after the bumost harrowing exreaucrat tweeted her perience, a night harrowing experience The intruder back when an inon Sunday . Thief falls into well while fleeing after stealing mobile phones in girls hostel EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hanamkonda. THE Hasanparthy police have arrested two youths for stealing mobile phones and laptops from a girls hostel in SR University in Ananthsagar in Hanamkonda district. The incident occurred late on Saturday night. One of the two thieves, Thota Charan, a B Tech firstyear student in a private college, had fallen into an agricultural well while fleeing with the booty He had to spend the . entire night in the well before he was rescued by the police on Sunday, while his partner in crime, Thota Madhu, a first-year student of Intermediate, was chased and caught hold of by the university staff and the students. A team of Hasanparthy police took the two into their custody Charan and Mad. hu hail from Maddirala mandal in Suryapet district. Three mobile phones and a laptop were seized from their possession. Speaking to media persons, Hasanparthy sub-inspector (SI) M Bharat Kumar stated that Charan and Madhu entered the girls hostel and stole three mobile phones and a laptop. Some students who noticed the intruders raised an alarm. Following this, the hostel staff and security personnel chased and caught hold of Madhu while Charan fell into the well. A case has been registered for theft against the duo, said Bharat Kumar. 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 minorities.” Heartbreak at sudden death India’s World Cup title dream ended amid drama in sudden death against New Zealand on Sunday. A look... Had this most harrowing experience, a night back when an intruder broke into my house. I had the presence of mind to deal and save my life. Lessons: no matter how secure you think you are- always check the doors/ locks personally. #Dial100 in emergency(sic) — Smita Sabharwal ment, the intruder said he had come to discuss his promotion. The angry IAS officer raised an alarm following which the security personnel rushed to the spot and took him and his friend who accompanied the former, outside. Later, Jubilee Hills police arrived and took the duo into custody . Anantakumar Reddy and his friend, who is said to be a hotelier, went to the gated commu- 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. 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 Leon Hayward after India’s Shamsher 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 response 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 including 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.