vijayawada l wednesday l january 10, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION Gabriel attal to be France’s youngest, first openly gay PM eyes on june european union elections By picking Attal, who has been popular as the country’s education minister, Macron is hoping to brea the new momentum into his presidency, battered by protests over pension reforms. Attal’s appointment and a looming cabinet reshuffle are meant to boost the popularity of Macron’s centrist party, which is facing a tough challenge from the far-right, ahead of the June EU elections French president Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday named the 34-year-old Attal to replace Elisabeth Borne, who stepped down on Monday ■ 2027 seen as possible successor to macron ■ As education minister, Attal announced a ban on long robes in classrooms, saying the garments worn mainly by Muslims were testing secularism in the schools. The ban took effect in September Attal’s popularity has led to speculations in the French press that he could succeed Macron, who is in his final term as president | P9 When france will hold next presidential elections 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, Macron likely to seal deal on N-plants Accord, which could be for a plant in a state that does not have nuclear power units, may be signed during R-Day visit SHAHID F ARIDI @ New Delhi India and France are likely to sign an agreement to set up two new nuclear power plants in the country. The accord may be signed during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Delhi as the chief guest at the Republic Day parade this year. Sources said the two sides have reached an agreement to expand their civil nuclear cooperation under which France is already committed to constructing six 1,650 MW units at Jaitapur in Rat- nagiri district of Maharashtra. Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar last month signed an agreement with Russia to set up more units at the existing Kudankulam nuclear power station in Tamil Nadu. India has been taking giant strides in cutting carbon emission and the current push for nuclear power is aimed at achieving the enhanced target of Nationally Determined Contribution of reducing the emission intensity of its GDP to 45% by 2030 from the 2005 level. According to sources, the new Indo-French agreement may not be an expansion of the existing facility at Jaitapur in Maharashtra. It may be a greenfield plant in a state that does not already have a nuclear power unit. The Union government has al- Jaitapur talks on Talks are still on with Électricité de France over the Jaitapur plants. India’s stringent Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act has become a sticking point ready announced that it is looking at setting up new nuclear power plants in Madhya Pradesh, Kar nataka, Haryana and Rajasthan. France, along with the US and Russia, has been India’s biggest supporter in its quest for civil nuclear energy as well as in its negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency for safeguards. France was the first country to sign the civil nuclear agreement with India after the latter was given a waiver by the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group. France has emerged as a key ally of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has shared close ties with it successive presidents. He was the guest of France at last year’s Bastille Day, where the two nations signed a number of agreements, including one for the purchase of 26 Rafale Marine fighter jets. France and India entered into a strategic partnership in 1998, which gave a fillip to the bilateral relationship leading to cooperation in a large number of areas. YSRC: TDP resorting Naidu flags volunteers’ to electoral malpractice role in election duties Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan upon his arrival in Ahmedabad | PTI Modi, UAE Prez hold roadshow ahead of Vibrant Gujarat meet DI L IP SI N G H K SHAT RI YA @ Ahmedabad prime Minister Narendra Modi held a 3-km-long roadshow with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The Emirates president is the chief guest of the 10th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, to be inaugurated by Modi on Wednesday . Before the roadshow, Modi welcomed the UAE president at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel In- ternational Airport. After receiving the UAE president, Modi posted on X: “Welcome to India my brother, HH @MohamedBinZayed . It’s an honour to have you visit us.” The roadshow began from the airport and lasted 15 minutes, till the two leaders reached Indira Bridge in Ahmedabad City in a car, covering a distance of 3 km. A large number of people had gathered on both sides of the road to greet them, and the two leaders waved at them from the car. All through the route, banners were erected to welcome the UAE president. After the roadshow, a bilateral meeting was held between Modi and the UAE president, during which four MoUs were signed on renewable energy, healthcare, food processing, and ports. Earlier in the day, Modi held bilateral meetings with the President of Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta and Mozambique President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi. He also met the CEOs of top global corporations. Horror mother in Goa police custody 1 Motive not clear yet Motive behind the murder is not clear. Suchana told cops she & her husband were estranged & she was worried over her son’s custody rights 2 Couple got married in ’09 Suchana and Venkataramana got married in 2009 and Chinmay was born in 2019. In 2020, she set up her AI startup in Bengaluru 3 Dad returns from Jakarta The boy’s father returned to India from Jakarta on Tuesday on hearing about Chinmay’s death, gave consent for post-mortem In a representation to officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI), who are on a two-day visit to the State, a delegation of YSRC leaders, led by party general secretary V Vijayasai Reddy and Rajamahendravaram MP Margani Bharatram, on Tuesday raised six issues on the alleged irregularities in voter enrollment in the State. The ECI team, including Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, arrived in Vijayawada on Monday to review poll preparedness in the State ahead of the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The officials met representatives of various political parties and received representations from them. After the meeting, Vijayasai Reddy, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, elaborated on the issues discussed with the poll panel. Accusing TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu of resorting to electoral malpractice, he alleged that the yellow party was profiling of voters by collecting people’s data, including their address, gender, age and caste, the YSRC leader said, “All P4 the collected data is stored in a server in New York.” Accusing the ruling YSRC of blatantly misusing power against the spirit of democracy TDP supremo N Chandrababu , Naidu, accompanied by his alliance partner and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan, urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to appoint officers for election duties based on best practices at the All-India level, rather than through a selection process. In a 10-page memorandum to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, Naidu said the YSRC government’s attempts to conduct elections by utilising the services of the Secretariat staff and volunteers have raised concerns about the democratic process. Naidu claimed that the State government has filed numerous cases against leaders and activists of other political parties to disrupt their activities during the elections. Taking exception to the government engaging 2,600 Mahila police officers as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in 83 constituencies, he said he appealed to the CEC not to allow staff of secretariats, includP4 ing Mahila police and volunteers, in the poll duties.  Cong close to Maha seat-sharing pact with nominations Sena, NCP; starts talks with SP for UP deal YSRC zeroes in on three leaders for RS P r eet h a N a i r @ New Delhi Naushad Bijapur & G Subhash Chandra @ Panaji/Belagavi/Chitradurga A 39-year-old CEO of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup in Bengaluru was arrested and remanded in police custody on Tuesday for six days for allegedly strangling her four-year-old son to death in a Goa hotel on Sunday night. Suchana Seth, the accused CEO, had stuffed her son Chinmay’s body in a suitcase and was caught in Karnataka’s Chitradurga while taking it back to Bengaluru by a cab. According to Goa SP Nidhin Valsan, Suchana had a strained relationship with her husband Venkataramana and their divorce proceedings were in the final stage. Reportedly upset over her imminent divorce and fear of losing her son’s custody, she murdered him. Suchana checked into Sol Banyan Grande Hotel at Candolim in north Goa on Saturday . After killing Chinmay and stuffing his body in the suitcase, she asked the hotel staff to help her with a cab to go to Bengaluru on Monday morning. Soon after she left, the hotel’s housekeeping staff found blood stained towels in the room and alerted the Goa police. After her arrest in Chitradurga, a team of Goa police reached there and obtained a transit remand. They brought Suchana to Goa and produced her before a local court, which remanded her in police custody for six days. The child’s body has been kept at Hiriyur government hospital mortuary in Chitradurga after postmortem. The medical officer said except for strangulation marks around the child’s neck, there were no other injury marks. Suchana and her husband filed for divorce in 2022 and a court, while awarding the custody of the child to the mother, gave the father visitation rights every Sunday “She was not happy . with the court order and did not allow Venkataramana to visit their son,” the SP said. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i ce @ Vijayawada pics: Prasant Madugula E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i ce @ Vijayawada high honour Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy, a blind cricketer from Palandu district, was conferred with the Arjuna Award on Tuesday | P11 Maharashtra will be the first state to settle seat-sharing negotiations among INDIA bloc parties, the Congress said on Tuesday after concluding talks with Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP. After the meeting, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said they discussed “every single seat” and a consensus was reached on the division of the state’s 48 seats for the Lok Sabha elections. “All the members of Maha Vikas Aghadi came out of the meeting smiling. We agreed on most points. I want to assure everyone that we will fight elections together,” said Raut. The AICC in-charge of Maharashtra Ramesh Chennithala said the seats would be announced within days. “There is no disagreement among the parties. Maharashtra will be the first state to announce the seat-sharing arrangement,” he said. Terming the negotiations positive, NCP leader Jitendra Awhad said: “There was a discussion on all the seats. The meeting was more successful than expected.” Later, SP leaders Ramgopal Yadav and Javed Ali Khan met Congress’s Mukul Wasnik, Salman Khurshid, and Ashok Gehlot. However, sources said the meeting lasted only a few minutes. Khurshid said the formula for seat allocation will be decided in the next few days. Yadav said the meeting was held in a ‘very positive environment’ and more developments will take place on January 12. mitigating man-animal conflicts TTD seeks help from Wildlife Institute of India E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i ce @ Tirupati The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has decided to seek assistance from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun, Uttarakhand to develop models for the proposed aerial walkway, underpass, and overpass on the Alipiri trekking path that leads to the Srivari temple in Tirumala. Proposals for these structures were made in a bid to mitigate man-animal conflicts on the pedestrian route. In August last year, a sixyear-old girl was mauled to death by a leopard while she was trekking to Tirumala along the Alipiri footpath with her parents. Subsequently the tem, ple Trust launched several initiatives to ensure such an incident does not recur. Besides providing sticks to pilgrims, the TTD, in collaboration with the Forest Department, also trapped over half-adozen wild cats in the region and released them into the forest. During a recent review meeting with officials of the Forest Department, TTD executive officer (EO) AV Dharma Reddy assessed the progress of shortter m and long-ter m safety measures for pilgrims. He maintained that steps are being taken to protect devotees from potential animal attacks and ensured them that they can traverse the footpath to Tirumala without fear. Pointing out that the State government had established a joint committee, chaired by the Chief Wildlife Warden of Andhra Pradesh, Dharma Reddy said the panel had submitted reports outlining long-term and immediate measures needed to be taken at the pedestrian route. He also instructed the TTD Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) to request assistance from the Wildlife Institute of India for enhancing forest management practices. P H a r ee s h @ Vijayawada With the tenure of three Rajya Sabha MPs—Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar (TDP), CM Ramesh (BJP) and Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy (YSRC)—set to end in February, the ruling YSRC has reportedly finalised the three leaders it will nominate to the Upper House of Parliament. Considering its strength in the State Assembly the YSRC is , likely to win all the three seats. In line with its policy of social justice, the party leadership has decided to field one candidate each from the Backward Class (BC), Scheduled Caste (SC) and Reddy community, sources said. According to sources, the party is considering nominating Golla Baburao, two-time MLA from Payakaraopet SCreserved constituency, and Chittoor MLA Arani Srinivasulu from the Balija (BC) community. As for the third member, the YSRC is considering to either nominate a Reddy leader from Coastal Andhra or YSRC regional coordinator YV Subba Reddy to the Rajya Sabha. In the recent rejig, Baburao was dropped and Kambala Jogulu was appointed as the incharge of Payakaraopet.  P4