tadepalligudem l saturday l february 4, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION IMF giving Pak tough time amid crisis: Shehbaz Sharif The conditions that the Fund wants Pakistan to meet are ‘beyond imagination’, the Pakistan prime minister said $7-billion assistance being reviewed Focus on fiscal consolidation Sharif added that Pakistan will fulfil the conditions, but refused to divulge more details. The IMF mission led by Nathan Porter is in Islamabad to hold talks with the Pakistan side headed by finance minister Ishaq Dar for the review of the $7-billion assistance package. Experts say Pak’s forex reserves have fallen to $3.09 billion, which would cover just around 3 weeks of imports ■ ■ According to reports in local media, the IMF wants clear action to bridge the daunting fiscal gap between 2 and 2.5 lakh crore rupees Pakistan has agreed to increase petroleum prices and allowed a market base exchange rate but that seems too little and too late as the IMF wants more measures to increase revenues $1.1 bn Outstanding amount Pakistan IS TO GET from IMF’S $7-bn bailout SECURED IN 2019 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 VIVEKA MURDER Bid to malign Jagan’s image by TDP ahead of polls: Sajjala E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada YSRC general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy slammed a section of media for their speculative reports on YS Avinash Reddy’s calls made on the day of former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy’s death. Speaking to mediapersons on Friday, Sajjala said that there was nothing wrong in Avinash Reddy informing about the alleged murder of Vivekananda Reddy to CM Jagan Mohan Reddy He went on to say that a sec. tion of media was projecting Avinash Reddy in bad light and peddling baseless information on the questioning of OSD to CM Krishna Mohan Reddy & attender N ave e n by CBI. “A v i n a s h Reddy was informed about Vivekananda Reddy’s death by the latter’s brother-in-law Siva Prakash Reddy. It was Avinash Reddy who called the police and informed them about the death of the former minister. He wanted to inform Jagan Mohan Reddy over the phone. However, since Jagan was not having a phone w i t h h i m , N av e e n a n d Krishnamohan might have been contacted. What is unnatural or sensational about it,” Sajjala questioned. The YSRC leader alleged that TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu was politicising the issue for political mileage. “If there is any conspiracy angle, it is to do with Naidu, who is an expert in managing and manipP4 ulating things,” he said.  express read Apex Court asks Centre for original record of blocking BBC docuseries New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice Centre, Twitter and Google in a pleas challenging Centre’s decision to block the BBC documentary titled “India the Modi Question” on the 2002 Gujarat riots. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and M M Sundresh asked Centre to produce original record relating to blocking the documentary but On students being rusticated for screening the documentary, court said, “We’re more on the legal aspect. How can we allow the writ petition and pass interim order without hearing?” Centre allocates `8,406 cr to boost AP rail infra E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e 20% increase in rail allocation @ Vijayawada Centre allocated a staggering amount of `8,406 crore to Andhra Pradesh for the development of several railway projects this year. Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw interacted with the media of both the Telugu States from Rail Bhavan in New Delhi via video conference on Friday . Speaking on the Railway budget allocation, the minister said ,”Andhra has been allocated `8,406 crore in 2023-24 as against Rs 7,032 crore in 2022-23. Telangana, on the `8,406 crore 2023-24 `7,032 crore 2022-23 72 KEY ALLOCATIONS `8.5 cr allotted for development of Tiruchanur Railway station stations `202 cr allotted for Nadikudito be Srikalahasti new line project upgraded to world- `383.12 cr allotted for construction class of By-pass lines covering Telugu stations States & Karnataka other hand, has been allocated `4,418 crore.” He recalled that the allocation between 2019-2014 for the combined States was only `886 crore. The Union Minister stated that they were taking up `980 cr for Guntur Guntakal doubling many projects in the Telugu States in order to boost transportation facilities. A total of 72 stations in Andhra Pradesh and 39 stations in Telangana would be upgraded to worldclass stations. Ashwini RBI, govt bid to calm nerves on Adani stock SAC H I N K U M A R @ Mumbai WITH the Adani group saga still unravelling, the regulators and the Centre on Friday came up with clarifications to calm investors’ frayed nerves. While the Reserve Bank of India sought to allay the concerns about lenders’ exposure to Adani Group saying the banking sector remains resilient and stable, Union finance minister Nirmala Sithraman reiterated that the exposure of State Bank of India and the Life Insurance Corporation is within limits. Sitharaman said in a television interview t h a t g ove r n m e n t owned financial institutions do not have overexposure in Adani group stocks. On LIC’s exposure, the finance minister said even with valuations falling, the company is still sitting on profits. SBI chairman Dinesh Khara also chipped in, clarifying that the bank’s exposure to Adani group is only 0.88% of its total loans, or `27,000 crore, while Bank of Baroda said its exposure is one-fourth of the permissible ceiling. However, there was no respite for Adani as bad news kept pouring. Credit rating agency Moody’s said the recent sell-off in Adani shares could reduce the group’s ability to raise capital and that it is assessing overall financial flexibility, including liquidity position of Adani firms. Taking a harsh stand, S&P Dow Jones Indices said it would remove Adani Enterprises from the widely used sustainability indices on February 7, making the shares less appealing to environmentconscious investors. In another blow to the Indian conglomerate, S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook for Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone and Adani Electricity from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’. However, the Gautam Adani-led group found backing from Fitch Ratings, which said there is no immediate impact on the ratings of Adani entities and their securities. On Friday, shares of Adani Enterprises recovered after hitting a fresh 52-week low of `1,017.45 on the NSE. Meanwhile, amid opposition parties’ clamour for a Joint Parliamentary Committee, Union minister Pralhad Joshi said on Friday that the government has nothing to do with the Adani issue. India has a stable government and a well-regulated financial market. Our regulators are very stringent about governance practices. One instance should not be going to be indicative Nirmala Sitharaman, finance minister General audit by ‘big four’ In a bid to intill confidence among investors, Adani group said it will appoint one of the ‘big four’ global accounting firms to conduct a general audit of its business. Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings, which said there is no immediate impact on the ratings of Adani entities and their securities Local languages in HCs disallowed by SC full court, says Rijiju Union law minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday told the Lok Sabha that the full court of the Supreme Court has refused proposals by various states to permit use of their local languages in their respective high courts. The proposals were made by Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Karnataka | P7 Chhattisgarh CM and the power of 23 E JA Z K A IS E R @ Raipur “The number 23 is lucky for Bhupesh Baghel. Before becoming the chief minister, he was the state Congress president and travelled on a Scorpio having number 0023. He also owned his personal black Fortuner car with number 0023. In election year 2023, the government has purchased new vehi- cles bearing number 0023. That augurs well for him and the party to move on towards yet another victory,” said Congress leader Ajay Sahu. Ahead of 2018 elections in the state, the then CM Raman Singh of the BJP had got a fleet of 19 Mitsubishi Pajero SUVs with identical numbers ending with ‘004’ for his convoy. Though Singh dismissed any astrological reasons behind the opted numbers — saying he didn’t believe in such numerology or black magic as any number given to him would be lucky — he was confident of securing a fourthterm with the luck numbers. It is another matter that the BJP lost the polls. New cars for security reasons, say officials On record, however, officials claim there is no superstition behind choosing the identical numbers, adding that the old cars of the CM had run more than 1.3 lakh kms and had to be replaced for security reasons. The new vehicles come with the latest safety and security features The newlylaunched Vandhe Bharat train running between Vizag & Sec’bad has been a successful one with occupancy rate reaching almost 120 per cent in the past two weeks Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Railway minister ‘Videshi Vidya DeevenA’ cm aids 213 students E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Dow Jones to drop scrip from sustainability index; Moody’s sees impact on fund raising l u cky c h a r m PEOPLE’s obsession with fancy car registration numbers matching numerology is nothing new. There are numerous examples of such people spending lakhs of rupees to secure the desired set of numbers, which they believe will bring them good luck. Politicians also do it to remain strong in the game of power, though some wouldn’t admit it publicly as they don’t want to be seen as superstitious. On Friday the Chhattisgarh , government acquired a fleet of new black Toyota Fortuner cars in Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s carcade, each carrying the number BB 0023. `800 cr allotted for Vijayawada Gudur 3rd line project Vaishnaw sought the cooperation of States for executing the projects at a brisk pace by keeping the politics aside. “As many as `2.41 lakh crore for Indian Railways is the highest-ever budgetary allocation made, which is about nine times the outlay made in 2013-14,” the minister said. He added, “The Vandhe Bharat train running between Visakhapatnam and Secunderabad has been a successful with occupancy rate almost 120 per cent.” Shivendra Mohan, Divisional Railway Manager of SCR said, “Division saw a huge progress this year.” CM Jagan blessing a student during the launch of Jagananna Videshi Vidya Deevena scheme at his camp office in Tadepalli on Friday | Express Jagan’s stinging attack on TDP Stating that the scheme lacked transparency and was embroiled in corruption during TDP regime , the CM said TDP govt had extended a meagre financial assistance `15 lakh to SC, ST, BC and Minority students and `10 lakh to EBC students Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy disbursed an amount of `19.95 crore as the first installment of financial assistance under ‘Jagananna Videshi Vidya Deevena’ programme to 213 eligible students who secured admissions this year into some of the top 200 universities, as per the late s t Q S Wo rl d U n ive r s i t y rankings. Speaking on the occasion, CM Jagan said on Friday that his government’s greatest investment has been in the education sector as he firmly believes in the development of strong and capable human resources, which will not only change the fate of the families of the students but also the entire State. “Videsi Vidya Deevena is yet another programme meant to ensure a bright future for the students from the State. Our government supports the students to help them reach new heights and bring fame to the country,” he said. The Chief Minister said fees in Carnegie Mellon University is `1.16 crore and `1 crore in University of Southern California. Masters in health information from Boston University is `97 lakh, while the fees in Harvard university is `88.7 lakh. “These fees make the poor and middle class to reconsider their options, even if they are capable of securing a seat. Most of the time, they have to drop for want of money. However, the government is lending a helping hand and will always stand by such talented students,” the CM explained. “Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr B.R.Ambedkar pursued higher studies in foreign Universities. Even US Vice President Kamala Harris and British PM Rishi Sunak also studied in world famous P4 Universities.”  Soon, Top Court to have five more judges S H R U T I K A K K A R @ New Delhi The strength of the Supreme Court could go up from 27 to 32 within the next few days as the Centre on Friday informed the court that the warrants of appointment of five judges recommended by the collegium could be issued by Sunday . “It is happening. The five warrants of appointments are being issues. It goes to the President by evening. They will be issued,” Attorney General R Venkataramani told a bench led by Justice S K Kaul. On December 13, the Supreme Court collegium had recommended US bars eye drops import from Chennai E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has restricted imports of products by Chennai-based Global Pharma after its eye drops were linked to an outbreak of “extensively drug-resistant” bacteria across 12 states in the US, which reportedly infected 55 people and led to the death of one person. After the FDA asked the company to recall its eye drops sold under the brand names EzriCare or Delsam Pharma, Global Pharma said it has voluntarily recalled them. These eye drops are not sold in India. Teams from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Department are on their way to inspect the plant in Chennai. Officials said it is a contract manufacturing plant supplying through others to the US market. the elevation of Pankaj Mithal (Rajasthan HC Chief Justice), Sanjay Karol (Patna HC CJ), P V Sanjay Kumar (Manipur HC CJ), Ahsanuddin Amanullah (Patna HC judge) and Manoj Mishra (Allahabad HC judge) as SC judges. However, the bench expressed displeasure over the delay in even Roasts govt on transfer The bench said any delay in transfer of judges could result in administrative or judicial action, which may not be palatable. It observed that sometimes the govt clears names overnight. On other occasions it lets them hanging clearing recommendations for transfer of high court judges, saying “it is a very very serious issue”. “Don’t make us take a stand which will be very uncomfortable.” “If transfer orders are not implemented, what do you want us to do,” the bench said, adding that “we withdraw judicial work from them, is that what you want?” The court also pointed out that one judge whose elevation as chief justice a HC was recommended, was to demit office in 19 days. “You want him to retire without being appointed as the chief justice?” the bench asked. The A-G said necessary action is being taken on it. TTD plans to automate laddu-making units by Dec will have a unique experience and even the 3D images of the Lord’s The Venkateswara temple in Tiru- jewels will also be displayed,” he mala would soon have a fully auto- added. matic laddu-making Anjanadri temple at machines. Akasa Ganga would be TTD Executive Officer coming up at an estimated AV Dharma Reddy on Fricost of `50 cr-`60cr and the day said that Reliance comnew Parakamani building pany came forward to eswould be operational from tablish this fully automatic February 5 onwards, the machine at a cost of Rs 50 EO said. crore. “With this, we will Briefing on the replacebe able to provide more hyment of the acacia plantagienic and tastier laddus to We will be able to tion in Tirumala, he said provide more devotees.” that the works were underhygienic and He said that the state-ofway at a brisk pace. tastier laddus to art museum, which was devotees through Speaking on the pilgrim underway in Tirumala, visits in the month of Janmachines would be completed by the uary he said that 20.78 lakh , AV Dharma Reddy, year end. devotees had darshan TTD EO Speaking to mediaperwhile 37.38 lakh had Ansons after the Dial your EO naprasadam and 7.51 lakh programme in Tirumala, Dharma offered tonsures. The Hundi collecReddy said, “the SV Museum is all tion stood at `123.07 crore, while set to be ready by December end 1.07 crore laddus were distributed P4 with its new look. “The devotees to pilgrims.  E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Tirumala