HYDERABAD  SATURDAY  FEBRUARY 04, 2023  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE 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 Guv Tamilisai sticks to script, hails TS policies in speech EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE The State is achieving phenomenal development under the able leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, and with the blessings of the people — Tamilisai Soundararajan, Governor @Hyderabad AN atmosphere of bonhomie prevailed in the Assembly on Friday as Gover nor Tamilisai Soundararajan addressed the joint session of the State Assembly and the Council. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Speaker of Assembly and Chairman of Council Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and Gutta Sukhender Reddy respectively, welcomed her and gave her a bouquet. The Governor, who was all smiles, stuck to the script and read out the speech as prepared by the State government. There were no surprises in store for either the State government or the Governor. Tamilisai did not veer off the prepared text nor were there any adverse references to the Central government in the speech. It only highlighted the rapid strides made by the BRS government in the last eight years. On the occasion, the Governor PATIENT DEAD US bars eye drops import from Chennai pharma unit EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ 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 drugresistant” 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. V P Vijayalakshmi, Director in charge of Drugs Control, said details about the unit will be known after the inspection. This is the third incident of India-made drugs being linked with reported deaths abroad since last October. Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) had issued medical alerts twice for India-made drugs linked to alleged deaths of 66 children in The Gambia and 18 children in Uzbekistan. In a statement on Thursday, the FDA cited multiple violations of manufacturing regulations by the company including , a lack of appropriate microbial testing and a lack of proper controls concerning tamperevident packaging. “FDA is warning consumers and health care practitioners not to purchase and immediately stop using EzriCare Artificial Tears or Delsam Pharma’s Artificial Tears due to potential bacterial contamination. Using contaminated artificial tears increases risk of eye infections that could result in blindness or death,” it said. The FDA also placed import alert on it for inadequate response to a records request. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan along with CM K Chandrasekhar Rao arrives to address the joint session of the legislature on Friday quoted excerpts from literary works of poets Kaloji Narayana Rao and Dasaradhi Krishnamacharya, calling upon all to strive for a better world for future generations and dedicate themselves to the nation’s development. In her speech, The Governor said Telangana had become a role model for the rest of the nation. Though the State faced several challenges, it had made rapid progress in several sectors, she said. “The State is achieving phenomenal development on every front under the able administration of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao with the blessings of the people, due to the hard work of the people’s representatives and dedication of government employees,” she said. Tamilisai stated that due to the enormous efforts made by the government, the revenue receipts of the State which stood at ` 62,000 crore in 2014-15, increased RBI, govt bid to calm nerves on Adani stock Dow Jones to drop scrip from sustainability index; Moody’s sees impact on fund raising SAC H I N K U M A R @ Mumbai in Adani shares could reduce the group’s ability to raise capiWITH the Adani group saga tal and that it is assessing overstill unravelling, the regulators all financial flexibility, includand the Centre on Friday came ing liquidity position of Adani up with clarifications to calm firms. investors’ frayed nerves. Taking a harsh stand, S&P While the Reserve Bank of Dow Jones Indices said it would India sought to allay the con- remove Adani Enterprises cerns about lenders’ exposure from the widely used sustainato Adani Group saying bility indices on the banking sector reFebruary 7, making mains resilient and stathe shares less apble, Union finance minpealing to environister Nirmala ment-conscious Sithraman reiterated investors. that the exposure of In another blow to State Bank of India and the Indian conglomthe Life Insurance Corerate, S&P Global poration is within Ratings revised its limits. outlook for Adani Sitharaman said in a Ports and Special India has a stable television interview Economic Zone and government and a that gover nmentAdani Electricity well-regulated owned financial insti- financial market. Our f ro m ‘ s t abl e ’ t o tutions do not have ‘negative’. regulators are very stringent about overexposure in Adani However, the Gaugovernance group stocks. tam Adani-led group practices. One On LIC’s exposure, found backing from the finance minister instance should not Fitch Ratings, which be going to be said even with valuasaid there is no imindicative tions falling, the commediate impact on Nirmala Sitharaman, pany is still sitting on the ratings of Adani finance minister profits.SBI chairman entities and their Dinesh Khara also securities. chipped in, clarifying that the On Friday, shares of Adani bank’s exposure to Adani group Enterprises recovered after hitis only 0.88% of its total loans, ting a fresh 52-week low of or `27,000 crore, while Bank of `1,017.45 on the NSE. Baroda said its exposure is oneMeanwhile, amid Opposition fourth of the per missible parties’ clamour for a Joint ceiling. Parliamentary Committee However, there was no res- probe, Union minister Pralhad pite for Adani as bad news kept Joshi said on Friday that the pouring. Credit rating agency government has nothing to do Moody’s said the recent sell-off with the Adani issue. to `1.84 lakh crore by 2021-22. The per capita income of the State, too, increased to `3,17,115 in 20222023 from `1,24,104 in 2014-15. “The growth rate of several sectors of the economy has doubled since the formation of Telangana due to the government’s focus on capital expenditure. I congratulate the government for this spectacular progress. The inclusive and comprehensive development of Telangana has become a role model for the country said the Governor. ,” “Free and uninterrupted supply of power has increased the confidence of the farmers. Mission Kakatiya has restored the tanks built during the previous regimes. The government has built the multi-purpose lift irrigation project, Kaleshwaram, in a record time of three-and-ahalf years. Irrigation water sup- ply facility has increased to 73,33000 acres from only 20 lakh acres at the time of formation of the State. The government is determined to achieve the target of providing irrigation to more than one crore acres. This target also would be achieved very shortly stated the Governor. ,” The Governor stated that the Rythu Bandhu scheme introduced by the Telangana government drew attention from across the world. The United Nations applauded the programme on the world stage, she said and added that Telangana was the only State which transferred `65,000 crore to 65 lakh farmers as investment assistance. She was all praise for the State government for providing an insurance cover of `5 lakh to each farmer in the State through the Rythu Bima scheme. The Governor also lauded the Dalit Bandhu scheme under which each Dalit family gets a financial assistance of `10 lakh, as historic in the country . LOCAL LANGUAGES IN HCS DISALLOWED BY SC FULL COURT, SAYS RIJIJU Kiren Rijiju on Friday told LS 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 | P7 CONTINUED ON P5 15 km a day for 2 mths, Revanth to walk the talk I R E D DY S R I N I VAS R E D DY @Hyderabad AS a part of the Haath Se Haath Jodo Abhiyan, Telangana Congress president A Revanth Reddy will begin his padayatra on February 6 from Sammakka Saralamma temple at Medaram in Mulugu district. His padayatra will continue for two months. Revanth is likely to cover six Lok Sabha constituencies comprising 42 Assembly se gments. AICC in-charge of Telangana Manik rao Thakre will inaugurate Revanth Reddy’s yatra. Senior leaders of the party are likely to attend the ceremony at Medaram. According to sources, the PCC chief will walk 12 to 15 km every day, interacting with people on various issues in the villages en route. He will kick off his yatra at 8.30 am on the appointed day and will continue till 11.30 am in the morning session. The Lok Sabha constituencies he will cover are Mahabubbad, Warangal, Medak, Karimnagar, Peddapalli and Adilabad. He will participate in street corner meetings every day of the yatra. In the evening, Revanth will commence his yatra at 4 pm which will continue till 7 pm like Rahul Gandhi did during Bharat Jodo Yat- SOON, SC TO HAVE FIVE MORE JUGDES 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 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 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. Tirumala laddu-making to go automatic soon EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Tirumala THE Venkateswara temple in Tirumala will soon have fully automatic laddu-making machines. TTD Executive Officer AV Dharma Reddy on Friday said that Reliance company came forward to establish this fully automatic machine at a cost of `50 crore. “With this, we will be able to provide more hygienic and tasty laddus to the devotees.” He said that the construction work on state-of-the-art museum in Tirumala would be completed by the end of the year. Speaking to mediapersons after the Dial your EO programme in Tirumala, Dhar ma Reddy said, “The SV Museum will be ready by the end of December. “ T h e d evo t e e s will have a unique experience and even the 3D images of the Lord’s jewels will also be displayed,” Dharma Reddy added. Anjanadri temple at Akasa Ganga would be coming up at an estimated cost of `50 cr-`60 cr and the new Parakamani building would be operational from February 5 onwards, the EO said. Briefing on the replacement of the acacia plantation in Tirumala, he said that the works were going at a brisk CONTINUED ON P5 pace. LUCKY CHARM Chhattisgarh CM and the power of 23 E JA Z K A I S E R @ Raipur 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 car rying the number BB 0023. “The number 23 is lucky for Bhupesh Baghel. Before becoming the chief minister, he was the state Congress presi- dent 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 vehicles 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 fourth-ter m with the luck numbers. ra. Revanth may release local chargesheets, focusing on the problems that have remained unaddressed as he continues his padayatra. During lunch, he will interact with local party cadre and leaders. Revanth will direct cadre to strengthen the party and fight against the failures of the BRS government at the local level. He will also meet local influential people in the constituencies during lunchtime. CONTINUED ON P5 TS gets half of what AP does for rly projects S U N N Y B A S K I @ Hyderabad TELANGANA has been allocated half of what Andhra Pradesh and Odisha received for railway projects in the Union Budget 2023-24. The South Central Railway has been allocated a gross amount of `13,786.19 crore compared to `8,349.75 crore for the year 2022-23. The total budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in Telangana is `4,418 crore as against `3,048 crore last year. Though there were many demands from the State government, Centre did not include any new projects for the State and all the allocations have been given for ongoing projects. Whereas for AP, the Centre has allocated `8,406 crore as against `7,032 crore in 2022-23, a 20 per cent increase. The budget allocations to Andhra Pradesh have been witnessing a steady increase with current year’s allocation being almost 9.5 times the average allocation made during 2009-14. Even for Odisha, where the population is similar to that of Telangana, the Centre has made a budgetary allocation of `10,000 crore. An amount of `345 crore has been allocated for the Munirabad-Mahbubnagar new line project. The 244-km project was sanctioned in 1997-98 at an estimated cost of `1,723 crore. Out of 244 km, 68 km falls under the jurisdiction of SCR (Telangana), while the remaining 178 km passes through Karnataka. CONTINUED ON P3 ‘New cars for security’ 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. INSIDE ORDER ON POACHGATE PROBE ON MONDAY I P4 FARMER SUICIDES DROP IN TS : CENTRE I P4