tirupati l monday l february 12, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION oz HAND ANOTHER HEARTBREAK TO iNDIA, WIN mEN’S u19 wORLD cUP Months after the senior men’s team beat India to win the ODI World Cup, Australia did the same to secure their fourth U19 WC title. A look... beardman blows away defending champs dream shattered, but promise remains While Australia batters posted a formidable 253/7 on board, it was bowlers who took away India’s dream. Pacer Mahli Beardman (3/15) ran through the top-order before off-spinner Raf MacMillan (3/43) finished the job for Australia as they won their fourth U19 Men’s WC title. The victory perhaps was sweeter, having lost to India in 2012 and 2018 finals ■ ■ Going into the final as one of the unbeaten teams, the other one was Australia, there were high hopes on the Uday Saharan-led side to defend the title and win their sixth U19 trophy | P11 However, despite the defeat, the likes of Musheer Khan, Sachin Dhas, Raj Limbani and Saharan have shown that there is no dearth of talent 2010 Australia’s previous U19 World Cup triumph was in 2010 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 Hectic parleys in Pak as no wriggle room in final tally Pact emerging between Nawaz Sharif and Bilawal’s parties; all eyes on independents E x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e MAJOR political parties in Pakistan on Sunday intensified hectic backroom negotiations after the election commission released the final results of the February 8 general elections, confirming that no party can have a shot at power without the support of others. Out of the 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly, the results of 264 were declared after an inexplicable delay of 60 hours. The result of one constituency was withheld following complaints of fraud, while election to another seat was postponed after the death of a candidate. The final tally gave independent candidates 101 seats, making them the single largest g ro u p. Pa k i s t a n M u s l i m League-Nawaz (PML-N) is technically the single largest part at 75, followed by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of Bilawal Zardari Bhutto at 54, and the Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) at 17. Of the 101 independents who emerged victorious, 93 are reportedly associated with jailed former PM Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). According to reports in Pakistan media, PML-N and PPP, have in-principle agreed to come together to “save the country from political instability”. Senior leadership of PML-N and PPP reportedly met in Lahore’s Bilawal House and decided on political cooperation. MQM-P is already on board. But their tally at 146 is way short of the required number, which leaves the door open for smaller parties and independents. To form government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 contested seats in the National Assembly. Overall, 169 seats are needed to secure a simple majority out of total 336 seats, which include reserved slots for women and minorities that will be allocated based on proportional representation. The drama is still unfolding in the coup-prone country as courts are flooded with complaints of poll rigging. PTI supporters block Peshawar to Islambad highway as they protest against the alleged skewing in Pakistan’s national election results, in Peshawar on Sunday | afp Express read Balineni promises house sites to 25,000 Ongole: Former minister and Ongole MLA Balineni Srinivasa Reddy on Sunday said he had sacrificed his political career for the sake of achieving his sole aim of providing houses to 25,000 poor people in Ongole City. “I will go to any extent for getting funds required for the construction of houses. I will distribute land pattas to all the eligible before the Assembly polls,’’ he said | P4 Number of women organ recipients rises Guntur: There is a significant improvement in the number of organ transplants in women in the country from 4:1 between 1995 and 2021, to 2.36:1 in 2022. According to the government data, out of the total 36,640 organ transplants done from deceased and living donors between 1995 and 2021, as many as 29,695 were transplanted in men and 6,945 in women | P3 Centre looking at FDI in Paytm Payments Services New Delhi: The Centre is examining FDI from China in Paytm Payments Services Ltd (PPSL), the payment aggregator subsidiary of One97 Communications Ltd, which counts Chines firm Ant Group as an investor. Under Press Note 3, the government said prior approval mandatory for foreign investments in any sector from countries that share land border with India to curb takeovers of domestic firms Delhi border security tightened as farmers plan protest on Feb 13 U j w a l j a l a l i & j i t en d r a c h o u b e y @ New Delhi As the farmers from neighbouring states are expected to enter the national capital after on February 13 following their proposed ‘Delhi Chalo March’, the police has strengthened it’s security arrangements across all border areas and imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in northeast Delhi. Several farmers associations, mostly from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, have called for a protest on February 13 to demand a law guaranteeing Minimum Support Price, one of the conditions they had set when they agreed to withdraw their agitation in 2021. Fearing that this protest could turn into an untoward incident, the police in the national capital are on high alert and have activated all its sources to prevent the farmers from entering the city . “Information has been received that some farmer organizations have given a call to their supporters to march to Delhi on February 13 for their demands of law on MSP . They are likely to sit at the border of Delhi till their de- mands are met,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said in an official order. He said that keeping in view the “kind of behavior and adamant approach” farmers have shown during the protests in the past, there is a possibility of mobilization, activities of farmers, supporters from their respective districts to Delhi along with Tractor, Trolleys and Arms. “In order to avoid any untoward incident and to maintain Law & Order, a precautionary Order of section 144 Criminal Procedure Code, is required to be issued to save the life and property in the area,” the order read. As per the order, gathering of the general public at all borders is prohibited. A five-member committee has been constituted to investigate the death of one person and hospitalisation of 21 others allegedly due to the consumption of contaminated water in Guntur city . Over 20 residents of Sri Nagar and Sarada Colony in Guntur city fell sick and suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting after reportedly consuming contaminated water on Saturday. Following this, Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC) Commissioner Kirthi Prime Minister Narendra Modi being presented a bow and arrow by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav during the Janjatiya Sammelan in Jhabua on Sunday | PTI MLAs return to Patna for trust vote RAMASHA N K AR @ Patna SUMIT RUN NAGAL CLINCHES CHENNAI OPEN TITLE Sumit Nagal beat Luca Nardi 6-1, 6-4 to win the Chennai Open — he did so without dropping a set. With this result, he is set to enter the top-100 for the first time in his career Bihar legislators, who were corralled by their respective parties, have started returning to Patna to cast their votes on Monday’s trust vote being faced by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar–this time for the NDA. Congress MLAs have returned from Hyderabad and are believed to be taken to RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav’s house where he had gathered his legislators for the last two days. BJP MLAs, who were gathered in Bodh Gaya for a two-day training workshop, returned to the state capital. Nitish needs the support of at least 122 legislators to win the trust vote. On paper, he has support of 128 MLAs of JD(U), BJP and Jitan Ram Manjhi and one independent in the 243member assembly . BJP leader Haribhushan Thakur exuded confidence that they will win the floor test comfortably and said that the new government will complete its full term. The Opposition grand alliance has a total of 114 MLAs in its favour-eight short of the majority mark of 122. The grand alliance includes RJD, Congress, Left parties. According to the Vidhan Sabha secretariat, the no-confidence motion against the Speaker will be taken up immediately after the governor’s address to members of the bicameral legislature on the inaugural day of the budget session. Senior Bihar minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said the House will first take up the no confidence motion against the Speaker, who is from RJD. Dy Speaker Maheshwar Hazari belongs to the JD(U). As required, 38 MLAs will rise in their seats to endorse the motion after which the Speaker will have to make way for his deputy . central exams in local languages New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs will conduct constable examination for recruitment in CRPF, BSF and CISF in 13 regional languages in addition to Hindi and English from now, according to an official statement. The examination are being held from February 10 to March 7 and 48 lakh candidates are appearing for the constable examination, according to the release full report: p7 Bogus voting probe: Four police officials suspended E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Tirupati Four police officials have been suspended on charges of lackadaisical investigation into the complaints of large-scale irregularities in voter enrolment during the high-stakes Tirupati Lok Sabha by-election held in 2021. This comes close on the heels of suspension of Annamayya district collector PS Girisha, who was Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) Commissioner at the time of the by-election, MEPMA assistant director Chandramouleeswara Reddy the then deputy commis, sioner of MCT as per the directives of the Election Commission of India. The police officials have been suspended over allegations of shoddy investigation aimed at coverup despite availability of evidence like duplicate voter cards. The suspended officers include the then East and West circle inspectors of Tirupati city police BV Siva Prasad Reddy and Siva Prasad, sub-inspec- tor A Jayaswamulu and head constable K Dwarakanatha Reddy . They have been accused of gross negligence, dereliction of duty and carrying out perfunctory investigations into multiple cases registered regarding the alleged irregularities. Alipiri circle inspector Devendra Kumar has been transferred to the vacancy reserve (VR). Based on directives from the ECI, Anantapur Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) RN Ammi Reddy has suspended the four police officers who investigated the complaints of bogus voting and distribution of duplicate voter ID cards during the bitterly-fought by-poll. The ECI crackdown came after a public outcry and demands for a probe by Opposition TDP Jana Sena, , BJP and Left parties who alleged that the ruling YSRC downloaded and printed over 34,000 bogus voter IDs and used fraudulent votes to win the by-poll. Further investigation into the high-profile case has now been handed over to a new set of officers. 5-member panel to probe Guntur water contamination E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Guntur BOW-ING TO WOO HEARTS Chekuri visited the affected areas, conducted a door-to-door inspection and interacted with the public. She said the chlorine level in the water supplied to the residents was within healthy limits. Meanwhile, Health Minister Vidadala Rajini along with district collector Venugopal Reddy held a review meeting with health and municipal officials at the collectorate on Sunday on the situation in the affected areas and the steps taken. She announced the constitution of the five-member committee to probe the reasons that led to the contamination of water. Meanwhile, the municipal commissioner said as many as 32 teams comprising ANMs, volunteers, health department officials and doctors have been deployed in affected areas to provide all required medical assistance and guidance to the public. Health camps have been set up to provide medical services at all local PHCs and UPHCs round-the-clock. Kirthi Cherukuri said a control room has been set up at the District Medical and Health Office to monitor the situation round-theclock and the public can call 8341396104 for any information and assistance. She urged the public not to panic and asserted that the district administration is taking all necessary steps to provide safe drinking water. GGH superintendent Dr Kiran Kumar said out of the 21 people admitted at the hospital, seven were discharged on Sunday . TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh greets people at ‘Sankharavam’ in Ichchapuram on Sunday I Express Lokesh blows poll bugle, promises 20 lakh jobs & dole to unemployed ‘YSRC govt made Vizag ganja capital’ Addressing the people at Ichchapuram, Palasa and Tekkali, Lokesh alleged that CM Jagan failed to develop the State. “The YSRC leaders have looted the State through sand, land, mines and liquor mafia. Jagan has turned Visakhapatnam into a ganja capital instead of developing the IT sector in the Port City,’’ he charged. Instead of mega DSC, notification for just 6,000 posts released before elections, he said. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Srikakulam Blowing the poll bugle from Srikakulam district on Sunday , TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh emphasised that the ‘Super 6’ schemes announced by party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan should reach every doorstep. Lokesh commenced his ‘Sankharavam’ campaign from Ichchapuram, and held three meetings on the first day . He asserted that the TDP-JSP government will create 20 lakh jobs for the youth. “Until job opportunities arise, we assure that unemployed youth will receive a monthly unemployment allowance of `3,000,’’ he said. Lokesh further said under the ‘T halliki Vandanam’ scheme, the TDP-JSP government will provide `15,000 per year to every school-going child and `20,000 to each farmer under the ‘Annadata’ scheme per annum. “We will also provide three free gas cylinders per year to every household under Deepam scheme,’’ he vowed. “Further, our government will also provide `1,500 per month to women aged between 18 and 59 through the ‘ dabidda A Nidhi’ and ensure free travel for women in RTC buses. Every household will be providing purified drinking water.” Alleging neglect of Uttarandhra region by the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government, Lokesh accused it of failing to allocate the necessary land for establishing the Visakhapatnam Railway Zone. He also accused the YSRC government of attempting to grab the lands of Vizag Steel Plant by privatising the unit. “Wait for two months and the TDP will form the government. Our government will buy VSP if needed,’’ he said. ,
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