HYDERABAD FRIDAY FEBRUARY 09, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 36 LATE CITY EDITION IMRAN’S INDEPENDENTS POSE TOUGH CHALLENGE TO SHARIF Early trends suggest independents supported by Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf were posing a tough challenge to PML-N candidates in Punjab FOUR POLICEMEN KILLED AT A POLLING BOOTH PPP CANDIDATES DOING WELL IN SINDH The election began at 8 am and closed at 5 pm. People in queues were allowed to cast their ballot even after voting closed. Counting is on and the full results are expected by Friday. Four policemen were killed at a polling station leading to delay in the voting process. Polling was postponed in one seat after a candidate was killed in a gun attack ■ ■ Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother Shehbaz were leading in their respective seats from Lahore. In Sindh, the Pakistan Peoples Party candidates were leading in most seats Internet was suspended ahead of polling. Amnesty International called it a blunt attack on the rights to freedom of expression | P9 133 seats NEEDED FOR A SIMPLE MAJORITY TO FORM THE NEXT GOVERNMENT 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 SAYING IT IN BLACK & WHITE Govt document alleges UPA rule ruined economy Congress counter flags unemployment, injustice D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi THE Narendra Modi-led government on Thursday released a white paper on the Indian economy, loaded with the political message that the Congress-led UPA government considerably weakened the country’s economy during its 10-year rule from 2004-14 whereas the NDA government revived it through reforms and action-oriented policies. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the white paper in Parliament on Thursday a week after she made the , promise in her Budget speech on February 1. The paper attacked the UPA government for its all-round failure in managing the country’s economy, which it said was in sound health in 2004. The white paper sought to highlight the inefficiencies of the Manmohan Singh-led government, such as lack of leadership that triggered a policy paralysis, project delays, and unprecedented scams. The paper also listed out 15 scams of the UPA era including those related to 2G and coal blocks allocation. Brought out just before the general elections, the white paper cherry-picked data and quotes of experts to attack the UPA government for mismanaging public finances, creating a banking crisis, and making India externally vulnerable. The paper termed the banking crisis of 2014 as massive with gross bad loan levels touching as high as 12.3% of the advances ‘largely because of political interference by the UPA government in the com- INDIA-MYANMAR TIES Free border travel accord goes to the shredder M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi UNION home minister Amit Shah on Thursday announced the government’s decision to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the borders with Myanmar so as to ensure the country’s security and the demography of Northeastern states. In a social media post on X, Shah said the Ministry of External Affairs is currently in the process of scrapping it after the Ministry of Home Affairs recommended its immediate suspension. The FMR was last amended in 2016 to allow citizens of both India and Myanmar living near the border to venture 16 km into each other’s territory without documents as part of the Act East Policy . Shah made the announcement two days after the decision to fence the entire 1,643 km India-Myanmar border, which passes through Mizoram (510 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km) and Arunachal Pradesh (520 km). Fencing has been a persistent demand of the Imphal valley-based Meitei groups, which have been alleging that tribal militants often enter India through the porous border. They also allege that narcotics are being smuggled in through the unfenced border. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament | PTI Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge showing the ‘black paper’ on the BJP govt to media persons | SHEKHAR YADAV mercial lending decisions of public sector banks’. It pointed out that the gross advances by public sector banks were only `6.6 lakh crore in March 2004, but ballooned to `39 lakh crore by March 2012. A big portion of the paper was devoted to the fiscal and inflation mismanagement of the UPA government during the 10-year period. It cited multiple RBI reports to argue that the Congress-led government indulged in excessive revenue expenditure and showcased poor policy planning and execution, resulting in large unspent funds for several social sector schemes. The 54-page document also elaborated the measures taken by the NDA government since it came to power in 2014 to fix the economic crisis and lay the foundation of a sustainable growth path for the country . P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi IN a counter to the government’s white paper, the Congress on Thursday released a ‘black paper’, also of 54 pages, highlighting what it termed the social, economic, and political ‘injustices’ committed by the Narendra Modi government in its 10-year rule. Titled 10 Saal Anyay Kal and released by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the document claims that in the past 10 years, the Modi government has “devastated the country’s economy , aggravated unemployment, destroyed the country’s agricultural sector, abetted crimes against women, and committed grave injustices against minorities in the country”. On the jobs front, the document said the BJP rule has witnessed the highest unemployment rate in 45 years. “Total unemployment was 1 crore in 2012 but it rose to about 4 crore in 2022. 10 lakh sanctioned central government posts remain unfilled. The unemployment rate for graduates and postgraduates is about 33%. This is why engineers are becoming coolies and PhDs are applying for railway jobs,” it said. It further said that the Modi government’s tenure has seen an unprecedented reduction in incomes. “The NSSO data that the PM suppressed shows consumer spending falling for the first time since 1973, from `1,501 in 2011-12 to `1,446 in 2017-18,” it added. Listing out the failures of the government, the paper said the prices of essential commodities are at all-time high. “Blunders like demonetisation and a poorly-designed GST completely derailed the economy and destroyed job-generating small businesses,” it said. Farmers were promised doubling of their income, but they received pathetic MSP increases and three farm laws were railroaded through Parliament to enrich the PM’s corporate cronies, it added. “700 farmers died fighting against these black laws. Insurance companies under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana have made a profit of `40,000 crore while one farmer dies by suicide every hour,” the document said. Speaking about social injustice, the paper said crimes against SC and ST communities increased by 48% in 2022 compared to 2013. The Congress’s document also mentioned the alleged Chinese incurions in eastern Ladakh. KTR APPROVED FORMULA E DEAL, NOT AN IOTA OF GRAFT: ARVIND P R A S A N N A R S @ Hyderabad THE tripartite agreement that the state government signed with Formula E Operation and a private promoter had the approval of the then Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD) minister KT Rama Rao, clarified Special Chief Secretary of Revenue (Disaster Management) Arvind Kumar in his reply to a memo from the Telangana government. The memo issued to Arvind on January 6 by Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari cited “serious violations” in connection with the For mula E deal and asked the former special chief secretary of MA&UD department why the agreement was entered into without following “due process of approval from the competent authority”. Noting that the then MAUD PRESS CLUSIVE The competent authority, i.e. the minister of the MAUD dept., was kept informed at every stage and due permission was obtained from him. It was not an individual decision at any point of time … There is not an iota of any sort of administrative violation or corruption Arvind Kumar, special chief secretary of Revenue (Disaster Management) minister was the competent authority, Arvind added in his reply that the letter of in- tent to host the event in Hyderabad was entered into with Formula E Operations (FEO) in the presence of Rama Rao in January 2022. Asked why the promoter, “who was at gross default”, allowed “to go free from any liability” without properly examining the financial implications, Arvind said the process is not over yet and “legal action against the then promoter would have been initiated”. It’s open for the state government to go ahead accordingly, he pointed out. “The organisers from the FEO were keen to continue the race in Hyderabad and the Minister for Municipal Administration, in view of the time-bound deadlines which were fast nearing, had instructed the MAUD dept. to go ahead with the event for Season 10,” Arvind said in CONTINUED ON P5 his reply . Governor outlines TS growth via digital highway with AI as guide S BACHAN JEET SINGH @ Hyderabad ASSERTING that her government was determined to harness the power of new technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday said that the focus of the administration would be not just on creating digital infrastructure but also on making it accessible and affordable for all sections of society . Addressing the joint session of the Telangana Legislature on the first day of the Budget session, the Governor said: “We will position Hyderabad and Telangana as the AI capital of the country by inviting the top global and national technology companies to establish their AI centres. We will set up a dedicated AI City in 50–100 acres.” The Governor unveiled an ambitious roadmap for Telangana’s future, saying that her government would introduce the Internet as a basic right. “My government will implement a very thorough digital literacy programme to ensure that every household, regardless of its economic status or location, will be able to benefit from the rapid digital adoption of opportunities that are arising,” she said. DAMMED TO DISUSE Govt proposed Pranahitha project with a proposed ayacut of 16.4 lakh acres in 2008 The total agreement value of Pranahitha project works was `6,373.71 crore Estimated cost of these works, including land acquisition, was `1,806.41 crore Out of the total expenditure incurred, material worth `740.21 crore diverted to KLIS Balance amount of `1,066.20 crore is ‘unfruitful, unjustifiable expenditure’ Canals excavated were not made useful as planned by the govt since the last 10 years Project has been abandoned, which resulted in huge loss to the exchequer Sinking of a few piers of Laxmi barrage, Medigadda reported on Oct 21, 2023 Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy welcomes Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on the Assembly premises on Thursday ‘HC CAN ONLY SPARE RETD JUDGE FOR KLIS PROBE’ Revealing that the Telangana High Court has informed the state government that it could only spare a retired judge to probe the irregularities in the KLIS, CM A Revanth Reddy said that the HC’s response would be discussed in either the Assembly or the Cabinet to make a decision FORMER BRS MLC, WIFE MEET REVANTH Former minister Patnam Mahender Reddy and his wife and ZP chairperson Sunitha met CM A Revanth Reddy here on Thursday, sparking speculation that the duo was seeking a Congress ticket for one of them to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections | P4 Promises to be kept Stating that the promises made by the Congress before the elections would be fulfilled by the government, the Governor said that two more of the six guarantees would be implemented very soon and that Kulaganana (caste census) would be conducted through a doorto-door survey . CONTINUED ON P4 Gross dereliction of duties: Vigilance on Medigadda EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad BRINGING to light “the absolute dereliction of duties”, the Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) report submitted to the state government on Wednesday says that after the inauguration of the Medigadda barrage on June 19, 2019, there was not one instance of operation and maintenance exercise being carried out by the contracting agency or the department. The V&E report also observed that the Irrigation officials did not maintain any records in respect of operation and maintenance as per the Dam Safety Act, 2021 and failed to follow their own guidelines. In response to the incident, a six-member committee led by member (Disaster and Resilience), National Dam Safety Authority was deputed from October 23 to 25, 2023, to investigate the reasons for the sinking of the piers. The committee requested a list of 20 data/inputs for examination, but only 11 items were provided, the V&E report said. “The Irrigation department failed to submit essential data such as pre-monsoon and postmonsoon, inspection, comple- tion and quality control reports,” the Vigilance report said. Acting on its recommendation, the government sacked Kaleshwaram ENC N Venkateshwarlu the same day . Deficiencies in the operation and maintenance of the barrage were observed, emphasising the need for annual sounding and probing in the apron area post-monsoon to assess and launch aprons near structures. The V&E department, which conducted a probe into the sinking of piers of the Medigadda barrage, found several lapses in its construction and maintenance. The report also pointed out that the original cost was revised by 133.67%, taking the total construction cost to `4,321.44 crore from the original cost of `1,849.31 crore. The V&E advised the government to establish an expert committee to determine the causes of failures, as the “examination of project designs, drawings, geological investigations and the structural integrity of all RCC elements is essential”. The V&E requested budgetary funds and the hiring of two engineers and two chartered accountants on contract basis to support further inquiry P4 . Indian technical personnel to replace 88 troops in Maldives Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi INTEREST RATE UNCHANGED Reserve Bank left the key policy rate unchanged at 6.5% for the sixth time. Cost of borrowings for both individuals and corporates may remain stable | P10 MUIZZU GETS SC RELIEF AMID bilateral talks with Maldives to resolve the issue of 88 Indian military personnel stationed in the archipelago, the foreign office on Thursday said they will be replaced with civilians. “Let me say the present military personnel will be replaced by competent Indian technical personnel,’’ said Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in response to a query from this newspaper. Maldivian President Moham- In a respite for Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the suspension of a recent amendment to Parliament’s standing orders that had made it easier for the opposition lawmakers to impeach the president and the vice president ed Muizzu has been harping on the withdrawal of the 88 military personnel who are primarily attached to operating one helicopter and two Dornier air- craft India had gifted. The planes are used for medical evacuation and rescue operations. On February 2, India had issued a statement after the second core group high level meeting with Maldivian officials in Delhi, saying the matter was work in progress. However, the Maldivian statement said the Indian military will be replaced in phases — the first by March 10 and the rest by May 10. During his first Presidential address in Parliament on Mon- day, Muizzu confirmed the position that the Indian military will withdraw from Maldives in a phased manner. The next round of the IndiaMaldives high level core group meeting is slated for the last week of this month in Male. The core group was set up following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Muizzu on the sidelines of the COP28 summit on climate change in Dubai in December. For its part, India said it will continue to support Maldives in all its developmental work. Amidst all this drama, the Maldivian government has written to India to renew its 2019 memorandum of understanding to train 1,000 Maldivian bureaucrats in India over the next five years. I would like to say that the present personnel will be replaced by competent Indian technical personnel... We remain an important committed development partner for the Maldives Randhir Jaiswal, MEA spokesperson
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