HYDERABAD  THURSDAY  FEBRUARY 08, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION TWIN BLASTS ROCK PAK AHEAD OF ITS GENERAL ELECTIONS TODAY A day before Pakistan’s general elections, twin blasts shook up Balochistan on Wednesday leaving 30 people dead and 40 others injured CANDIDATES ARE THE TARGETS FOR THE BLAST NO CHANGE IN ELECTION SCHEDULE: MINISTER The first blast happened outside the office of an independent candidate in Pishin district. Police say this blast was detonated remotely after a bag of explosives was left outside the office of the candidate. The second blast an hour later was also outside another candidate’s election office. Police say candidates are the targets, even their homes were attacked ■ ■ Pakistan’s Election Commission said security has been increased in Balochistan for Thursday’s election. Balochistan’s home minister Jan Achakzai said elections would be held as per schedule So far no one has claimed responsibility. Separatist groups operating in Balochistan are the prime suspects for the blasts | P9 50 ELECTION-RELATED ATTACKS OCCURRED SINCE SUNDAY IN BALOCHISTAN 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 Local Delhi court Irrigation ENC, Kaleshwaram concurs with ED, in-charge handed pink slips summons Kejri E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad Finds prima facie offence of intentionally disobeying the probe agency’s summonses J A I S O N W I L S O N @ New Delhi Arvind Kejriwal JAL BOARD SCAM The ED said incriminating documents, valuables of `1.97 crore and foreign currency worth `4 lakh were seized during raids on Delhi CM’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar and others in the Jal Board scam | P10 NO BAIL TO SANJAY The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused bail to arrested AAP leader Sanjay Singh in the Delhi excise policy scam. “No ground for grant of bail to the accused at this stage is made out,” the judge said DELHI Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday appeared to lose some wriggle room as a local court summoned him to appear before it on February 17 in the excise policy scam case. It issued the order after taking cognisance of a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) complaining that Kejriwal had failed to comply with its summons in the case for the fifth consecutive time. “Prima facie offence under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 is made out and there are sufficient grounds for proceeding under Section 204 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 against accused Mr. Arvind Kejriwal,” Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra said in her order. As per Section 174, a person who intentionally disobeys the directions issued by the probe agency shall be prosecuted and punished with imprisonment extending up to one month or with a fine or both. The ED had issued summons to Kejriwal on October 30, November 2, December 18, December 22 and January 3 demanding his attendance “to give evidence in connection with the investigation or proceedings under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)” on the alleged excise policy scam. Objecting to the summons as “unsustainable in law”, Kejriwal had argued that the ED had failed to disclose the capacity in which he was being called — as a witness or a suspect. But under PMLA, the investigating officer is not required to disclose the capacity under which a person is summoned at the stage of probe, the agency said in its plea. It would be premature to label the summoned person either as a witness or an accused, it added. The agency told the court that the investigation carried out so far had revealed that the 2021-22 excise policy was formulated “as a part of a criminal conspiracy by the leaders of Aam Aadmi Party with deliberate loopholes to generate and channelize illegal funds” for themselves as well as the party . A day before the commencement of the Budget session, the state government on Wednesday ordered Irrigation engineer-in-chief (ENC) C Muralidh a r R a o t o re s i g n . T h e government removed another ENC, Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) incharge N Venkateshwarlu, from service. The state government, which ordered the Vigilance authorities to conduct an inquiry into the sinking of Medigadda barrage piers, received the report on Wednesday. This was followed by the axing of two senior irrigation officials. Sources suggested there are many startling facts in the report. Upon receiving the report, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy called up Muralidhar and asked the latter to submit his resignation. Both the ENCs were on deputation after attaining superannuation. The state government is also expected to take action against other irrigation officials in the days to come. The government may also release a white paper on the irrigation sector during the Budget session. YOGI PITCH ON SHRINES IN MATHURA, VARANASI Referring to Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, “We asked only for three places, there was no issue over the others.” | P8 U’khand UCC Bill passed, awaits Prez nod N A R E N D R A S E T H I @ Dehradun THE Uttarakhand Assembly on Wednesday passed the Uniform Civil Code bill through a voice vote after two days of deliberations. The bill now awaits President Droupadi Murmu’s assent for its enactment. The bill is expected to be the template for adoption by other BJP-ruled states like Gujarat and Assam. The assembly rejected the opposition’s demand to send the bill to a select committee of the House for vetting. In his reply to the debate, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the legislation comprises 392 sections, with emphasis on succession rights. It establishes a uniform legal framework applicable to all citizens, encompassing crucial aspects such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and even live-in relationships, irrespective of religious affiliation, he added. The Congress chose not to protest in the House during Dhami’s speech. “The bill’s paramount goal is to protect women’s rights,” Dhami said. The law applies to the whole of Uttarakhand and to people from the state living outside. Apparently to bar the practice of halala, the bill specifies “the right to marry the divorced spouse without any condition, such as marrying a third person before such remarriage”. It gives both husband and wife equal rights to seek divorce. The bill makes no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children in terms of property rights. 33x5 GOVT ISSUES ORDER Irrigation Secretary Rahul Bojja in a GO on Wednesday ordered the termination of the reappointment of “N Venkateswarlu, I/c ENC (Retired), as I/c Engineer-inChief, Ramagundam, with immediate effect”. This was done “after careful examination of the V&E Report on Medigadda barrage”, the GO said Extension of service Muralidhar retired from service in June 2013. However, after the formation of Telangana, the BRS gover nment extended his services on a contractual basis, initially till June 2017. While giving him the second extension in 2017, the government said: “Most irrigation projects are at a critical phase and continuity is of paramount importance.” Later, the services of Muralidhar were extended till date. Though several ENCs were appointed by the BRS government in the irrigation department, Muralidhar Rao was the ENC general, or the overall in-charge. Meanwhile, ENC Venkateshwarlu retired as the chief engineer of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project in 2019. After retirement, he was promoted to ENC and his service was extended. However, the Congress government, taking cognisance of the irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project, especially the sinking of Medigadda barrage piers, is engaging in thorough discussions with officials. Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy visited the Medigadda barrage, gave a PowerPoint presentation and pulled up officials during the meeting. He also had discussions with representatives of the contracting company . ‘Burden for govt’ The Congress government is of the view that there was no use in constructing the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme. The estimated cost of the project is `90,000 crore. The government believes that paying the interest and principal amount on loans taken for the Kaleshwaram project have become a burden for the government. IRRIGATION IN SPOTLIGHT Budget session to begin with Guv’s address today EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad WITH the Lok Sabha elections on the horizon, the Budget session, set to commence on Thursday is likely to generate , political heat over contentious issues such as irrigation. The second session of the third Assembly will start with Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan’s address to the joint session of the Legislature on Thursday . Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will announce the dates for the launch of two schemes: domestic gas refill for `500 and 200 units of free electricity. At the same time, the government will have a debate on the irrigation sector. BRS president and former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao did not attend the first session, due to ill health. However he recently took oath as MLA and is expected to attend the session this time. The BRS is preparing to counter the government. During the debate on the irrigation sector, the BRS members will try to attack the Congress for handing CONG OUTDATED PARTY WITH DIVISIVE NARRATIVES, SAYS MODI RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi PICKING up from where he left off in his reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in Lok Sabha on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday trained his guns on the Congress again, accusing it of working against the interests of the marginalised sections of society and trying to create a wedge between north and south India. Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks in the Rajya Sabha, Modi said the Congress had an ‘anti-reservation’ policy during Jawaharlal Nehru’s time to shut out people from the SC, ST and OBC sections. Modi claimed Nehru was against the idea of reservation and had it not been for Babasaheb Ambedkar, the underprivileged sections would not have had any quota. Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday | PTI The Congress’s thought process has become outdated and it is now outsourcing all its work. We are not happy to see such levels of decline and depletion of a party that ruled India for centuries. You have our full sympathies — Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Nehru, Modi said, was of the opinion that the affirmative action to uplift the marginalised communities in the country would promote non-meritorious people and bring inefficiency into the system. “Of late, I remember Nehru ji more often than not. He once wrote a letter to the chief ministers in which he had stated that he was against reservation. He had reasoned it would promote inefficiency amongst the people of eligible sections,” Modi said. In an apparent reference to Karnataka deputy chief minis- ACB unearths assets worth `250 cr belonging to former HMDA director EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad FUND RIGHT Congress leaders from Karnataka led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah staging a protest against the Centre in Delhi on Wednesday over the alleged injustice to the state in the devolution of taxes | PARVEEN NEGI POINT COUNTERPOINT Cong alleged that injustice has been meted out to Karnataka in tax devolution and grants-in-aid Nirmala Sitharaman accused K’taka of having separatist mindset and spreading false narrative It demanded that the Centre undo the losses amounting to `1.87 lakh crore allegedly incurred by the state under the 15th Finance Commission “I want to assure the House (LS) that whatever has been recommended by the Finance Commission, I followed to the last word,” she said over the common irrigation projects to the Krishna River Management Board. The government agenda includes introducing Bills on caste census and other subjects. The government will also take necessary steps to replace ‘TS’ with ‘TG’ on number plates, adopt ‘Jaya Jaya Hey Telangana’ as the state song and modify the state emblem. Meanwhile, officials have made elaborate arrangements for the session. Legislative Council Chair man Gutha Sukhender Reddy Assembly Speaker , Gaddam Prasad and Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu on Wednesday held a meeting with officials and reviewed security and other arrangements for the session. They directed Chief Secretary Santhi Kumar to appoint an IAS officer to provide replies to the questions raised by members. Sridhar Babu directed the officials to see that protocol was extended to all ministers and MLAs properly The Leg. islative Council meetings will be held in the old Assembly building this time. THE Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Wednesday said it has unearthed properties worth `250 crore, allegedly amassed illegally by former HMDA director (town planning) Shiva Balakrishna. Meanwhile, the suspended official moved the City Court for bail in the evening. The ACB officials have identified 214 acres of land, 29 plots in Telangana and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, 19 open plots, seven apartment plots and three villas belonging to Balakrishna and his family members. “The document value of these properties is `13.3 crore and the market value is estimated to be around `250 crore and could be higher too,” a senior ACB official said. According to sources, the officials seized crucial evidence, BALAKRISHNA, KIN HAVE 214 ACRES OF LAND IN TS, AP  The value of amassed properties is approximately `250 crore, according to market value assessments  Lockers belonging to three other benami holders were opened and scrutinised  Plots of Shiva and family were found in Hyderabad, its outskirts and Vizag  Officials are examining whether he invested the amassed amount in real estate  There is a possibility of three additional arrests in connection with the case in the form of gold and incriminating documents, from Balakrishna’s residence and lockers. On the last day of his eight-day-long custody, which ended on Wednesday, Balakrishna reportedly revealed details of properties acquired under his and his family members’ names. The sources added that Balakrishna started cooperating with the ACB investigation after officials presented him with documents seized during the raids. His properties mostly include real estate lands registered under his name and his wife’s. Meanwhile, his brother, Shiva Naveen Kumar, was arrested on Tuesday. Officials are preparing to seek his custody and trying to ascertain the role of other officials in helping Balakrishna acquire the benami properties. Meanwhile, Balakrishna’s lawyer approached the city court seeking bail on Wednesday evening. ter D K Shivakumar’s brother and Congress MP D K Suresh’s recent comment that South India should become a separate country, Modi said the grand old party was trying to divide the country for political gains. Modi said the Congress has become such an ‘outdated’ party that it can only think in terms of how to generate new narratives to divide the country. He said there is no doubt the BJP-led alliance will get its third consecutive mandate. Modi said in stark difference to the Congress’ stand against the SC/STs, the BJP-led government has always accorded top priority to the welfare of marginalised communities. Meanwhile, the Budget session of Parliament has been extended by one day till February 10 amid reports that the government will table a white paper on economy The session, . which began on January 31, was to end on February 9. EXPRESS READ EC allots party name to Pawar Senior New Delhi: The faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by its founder Sharad Pawar, has been allowed to use the title — NCP Sharadchandra Pawar — as a one-time option for the Rajya Sabha elections to be held later this month. The EC had recognised the faction of the NCP led by his nephew Ajit Pawar and allowed his group to use the reserved symbol ‘clock’ | P7 TS to set up help desk for students abroad Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy took to ‘X’ on Wednesday to announce that a help desk will be set up to help people hailing from Telangana in foreign countries. “It is my assurance to all citizens of Telangana, wherever on earth you are, the Congress government is there for you.” This initiative comes after a Hyderabad man was attacked in Chicago by three armed unidentified robbers | P2