tirupati l friday l april 19, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l anantapur EDITION Sole woman among 17 Indians on ship seized by Iran returns home Cadet Ann Tessa Joseph was among 17 Indians on board the vessel MSC Aries. She reached the Cochin International Airport on Thursday Indian mission in touch with other 16 sailors The Indian mission in Tehran is in touch with the remaining 16 Indians on board the ship, the Ministry of External Affairs said, adding all of them are in good health and in contact with their family members in India. Joseph who hails from Thrissur was received at the airport by the regional passport officer. She was the only woman cadet on board the ship ■ 25 crew not under arrest: Iranian offical ■ Meanwhile, an Iranian official said the crew members of the vessel are free, and not under arrest. “They can return to India and are under the command of their captain,” the source added The Portugal-flagged vessel was seized near the Strait of Hormuz on April 13 by Iranian special forces amid tensions with Israel The total number of crew members on board the ship 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 Cops arrest 19-yr-old for attack on CM viveka case Oppn told not to comment against Jagan E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Five days after Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was attacked with a stone at Daba Kottu Centre in Ajith Singh Nagar, Vijayawada city police arrested the prime accused and produced him before a local court on Thursday . The accused, identified as Vemula Satish Kumar, is a resident of Vaddera Colony Principal junior civil court-cum. metropolitan magistrate court judge C Ramana Reddy remanded Satish to 14 days in judicial custody The 19-year-old . was shifted to Nellore district prison. According to police, the teenager threw a sharp-edged concrete stone at the YSRC president when the latter’s cavalcade reached Vivekananda School on April 13. In the remand report, police said Satish resorted to the attack with an intention to kill or cause harm to Jagan. According to the remand report submitted to the court, a case has been registered in the Ajith Singh Nagar police station on April 14 under Section 307 (attempt to murder) after Vijayawada West MLA and YSRC’s candidate for Vijayawada Central constituency Velamp a l l i S r i n iv a s a R a o l o d g e d a complaint. In the incident, Velampalli also sustained an injury to his left eye. Based on the investigation carried out by the police and the Special Investigation Team (SIT), a few more IPC Sections, including 120(B) and 107(2), were added to the FIR. The police submitted to the court that Satish attended Jagan’s roadshow along with his friends on April 13 around 7 pm. He was carrying a stone that he picked up from the Singh Nagar bridge. When Jagan’s caravan reached Vivekananda School junction, the accused joined the scores of people who had gathered there to greet the Chief Minister. Satish then threw the stone at Jagan with full force. “As a result, Jagan and Velampalli Srinivasa Rao were injured. This is an act of target to kill or cause harm to Jagan,” said public prosecutor Krishna Kishore, on behalf of Vijayawada poP4 lice. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kadapa Poll officials trekking to the Kadambakuttai tribal habitation with EVMs in Denkanikottai taluk of Krishnagiri Phase 1 today, tough fight for BJP biggies Quite a few Union ministers in the general elections fray Phase One factoids 102 inLS21seats 73; ST (General 11; SC 18) States/UTs 92 assemblySikkim constituencies in Arunachal and 16.63 crore to voters exercise franchise across 1.87 lakh polling stations 35.67 lakh to firsttime voters registered cast their ballot young 3.51ofcrore inyears voters the age group 20-29 1,625 candidates (male 1,491, female 134) in the fray helicopters, 41 vehicles deployed 84 special trains, 1 lakh to ferry polling and security personnel Voting begins at 7 am, ends at 6 pm RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi The electoral fate of over a dozen prominent BJP leaders, including some Union ministers, would be sealed on Friday in the first phase of polling amid tight security . The contest this time around is tougher than in the past, a senior party leader admitted. Heavyweight Union minister Nitin Gadkari is pitted against Vikas Thakre (Congress) as the former seeks to retain his Nagpur seat for the third time. Union minister Bhupendra Yadav is another BJP biggie who is hoping to make his Lok Sabha debut from Alwar in Rajasthan. Besides, Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is pitted against Madan Gopal Meghwal (Cong) from Bikaner. Kiren Rijiju (Arunachal Pradesh West), Jitendra Singh (Udhampur in J&K), Sarbananda Sonowal (Dibrugarh in Assam) and L Murugan (Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu) are among the other ministers in the contest. Former governor Tamilisai Soundararajan is trying her luck from South Chennai and former chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb from Tripura West. It will be interesting to see how Jitin Prasada fares from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, as he replaced the party’s outspoken sitting MP Varun Gandhi. But the biggest talking point in the South would be the performance of Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai in Coimbatore, as his hard work in the run up to the polls drew laudatory references from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the 2019 general elections, the BJP-led NDA had won 39 of the 102 seats that will go to polls in 21 states on Friday The party . is making a big push in the South, particularly in Tamil Nadu, to improve that tally . BJP sources said of the 12 seats where polling will take place in Rajasthan, the BJP is facing tough fights in seats like Churu, where sitting MP Rahul Kaswan is the Congress candidate after the BJP dropped him; and Nagaur, where its former ally and current MP Hanuman Beniwal (Rashtriya Loktantrik Party president) joined hands with the Congress. Bhupender Yadav, too, is facing a hard fight in Alwar, as is Gadkari in Nagpur. Over-suspicion of EVMs not prudent, says SC S U C H ITR A K A LYA N M O H A N TY @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Thursday urged the petitioners seeking complete count of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips against votes cast on electronic voting machines (EVMs) to have trust in the system, saying over-suspicion is not desirable. A bench of judges Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta made the observation during the hearing of pleas on the matter. “We do not have to be suspicious about everything. You can’t be critical of everything,” Justice Khanna told advocate Prashant Bhushan, who was appearing for the NGO Association of Democratic Reforms. The bench, which reserved its verdict, made the remarks when Bhushan said the opaque glass on VVPAT machines should be made transparent so that slips stay visible. Currently, a voter can see the slip through ED attaches actor Shilpa Shetty & hubby’s assets U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth `97.79 crore belonging to Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra in connection with of a money-laundering case. The attached properties include a residential flat in Juhu, which is in the name of Shilpa Shetty another residential bunga, low in Pune, and equity shares in Raj Kundra’s name. The ED had initiated an investigation against Variable Tech Pte Ltd, Late Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj, Mahender Bhardwaj, and a number of multilevel marketing agents, based on FIRs registered by Maharashtra and Delhi police. The case pertains to duping investors through Bitcoins. The accused allegedly collected huge amounts of funds via Bitcoins (worth `6,600 crore in 2017) from the public with false promises of a 10% per month return. The cryptos were supposed to be utilised for Bitcoin mining, and investors were to get huge returns. “But the promoters cheated the investors and have been concealing the ill-gotten Bitcoins in obscure online wallets. Raj Kundra received 285 Bitcoins from the mastermind Amit Bhardwaj,” an official said. opaque glass only when the light is on for seven seconds. “At least the bulb which glows for seven seconds should be allowed to glow continuously after the button is pressed in the EVM,” Bhushan pleaded. The bench said: “Mr Bhushan, now you are going too far. This is too much. Whether it’s transparent or translucent glass on a VVPAT machine or the glowing of a bulb, ultimately it is the voter’s satisfaction and trust (that mat- ters). The bulb only helps you see better.” In the previous hearing on Wednesday, the bench had refused to accept the demand for reverting to ballot papers. Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the Election Commission, said EVMs are standalone machines and can’t be tampered with. The same holds true for VVPATs. He said the EC has matched EVM votes with over 4 crore VVPAT slips and no mismatch has been found so far. The Kadapa district principal district court on Thursday issued interim orders restraining AP Congress Committee president YS Sharmila, her cousin Narreddy Suneetha, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, JSP chief Pawan Kalyan, and others from making defamatory comments against Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and YSRC Kadapa MP candidate YS Avinash Reddy in regard to the assassination of former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy five years ago. The court directed the respondents to restrain from calling Avinash Reddy as the ‘murderer’ of his uncle Vivekananda Reddy and also that Jagan is shielding him. The YSRC had its Kadapa district president K Suresh Babu file a petition before the principal district judge, seeking orders from the court to restrain the respondents from making insinuations against Jagan and Avinash with respect to Viveka’s murder. Besides Sharmila, Suneetha and Naidu, TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh, BJP State chief Daggubati Purandeswari, JSP chief Pawan Kalyan and TDP leader M Ravindranath Reddy were also made respondents. The petitioner said the Viveka murder case was handed over to the CBI and Avinash Reddy was enlarged on bail in the case. P4 express read Midhun Reddy, Sujana Chowdary & Krishna Devarayulu file nominations Vijayawada: Contestants of major parties began filing their nominations amid massive rallies. NDA’s Y Sujana Chowdary, and Kadapa MP candidate Bhupesh Reddy of TDP, Rajampet YSRC candidate PV Midhun Reddy, TDP Lok Sabha candidate for Narasaraopet Lavu Srikrishna Devarayulu were among those who filed their nominations on Thursday. On behalf of Nara Lokesh, TDP, BJP and JSP leaders submitted the papers | P6 2 Hyd-based space startups to meet Elon Musk in Delhi on April 22 Hyderabad: Two Hyderabad-based space startups — Skyroot Aerospace and Dhruva Space — are among the Indian space companies expected to meet Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk when he visits India on April 22. Speaking to TNIE, Pawan Chandana, co-founder and CEO of Skyroot Aerospace, confirmed that the meeting will be held in New Delhi | P5 Patients suffer at Kurnool GGH due to lack of adequate fans & ACs K M A D H U S U D H A K A R @ Kurnool The persisting heatwave-like conditions and the mercury level crossing 44 degrees Celsius in Kurnool has turned the Government General Hospital into a hot cauldron. The lack of fans, coolers, and air conditioners has exacerbated the situation, turning the lives of in-patients into a nightmare. To escape the sweltering heat and suffocation, several patients and their attendants often take shelter under trees on the hospital premises. The Government General Hospital in Kurnool is considered one of the oldest teaching hospitals in the State. Around 2,500 to 3,000 outpatients are treated for various diseases at the hospital daily. More than 450 doctors render their services at 36 units of the 1,150-bed hospital. Not only from Rayalaseema, but patients from Attendants of patients bring their own fans at Kurnool GGH | Express neighbouring Prakasam district, Telangana’s Gadwal, and Mahabubnagar as well as from Karnataka visit the hospital to get treated. With the lack of adequate facilities, the Kurnool GGH has been seeking the government’s attention. Though as many as 800 fans, 150 air conditioners, and 25 coolers were installed in the hospital, 30 per cent of them are said to be under repair. The attendants of patients at the burns ward stated that the unit is better when compared to other wards, where the patients have to face mosquito menace and stinking environment due to poor sanitation, and suf focation in sweltering heat. Speaking to TNIE, G Eswar, an attendant of a patient from Gadwal, said, “My father was admitted to the trauma care unit a few days ago. Though the doctors are taking good care of my father, the lack of fans in this scorching heat is testing our patience. We had to bring a fan from our house to beat the heat.” Complaining that patients are spending sleepless nights due to lack of ventilation, Ramudu, a patient at Sushruthi Bhavan said that he was more comfortable outdoors rather P4 than indoors. KC in must-win contest in the ‘Venice of the East’ C i t ha r a Paul @ T’puram A Rajya Sabha seat from north India becoming a talking point during elections in Kerala may sound bizarre. In this poll season, however, the Alappuzha constituency in central Kerala is abuzz with murmurs over the ‘Rajasthan seat’, courtesy the surprise candidature of AICC general secretary and Rahul Gandhi’s man Friday K C Venugopal. ‘KC’, as he is known in the state’s political circles, is currently a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan, which the BJP wrested from the Congress in the assembly elections last December, and his tenure lasts till 2026. If KC wins in Alappuzha, he will have to relinquish his seat in the upper house of Parliament. And that would be a booster for the BJP, which is just four seats short of majority in the Rajya Sabha. The Left Democratic Front has been raising this bogey, especially among the minority communities that have a significant influence in this constituency . KC is one of the ‘national leaders’ in the fray this year, along with the likes of Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Annie Raja. And this stature is certainly helping him bridge the five-year ‘gap’ with Alappuzha, which had elected him to the Lok Sabha in 2009 and 2014, and the state assembly in 1996, 2001 and 2006. That KC managed to maintain his local connections developed during his previous stints here as an MP and MLA will work to the advantage of Illustration: Mandar Pardikar this former Union minister of state in the UPA II government. However, ironically, the weak organisational structure of the Congress has turned out to be a worry for the AICC general secretary in-charge of organisation. Moreover, KC faces equally strong opponents this time – sitting MP A M Ariff of the CPM and Sobha Surendran of the BJP So, it’s going to be quite . a tight contest. Once celebrated as the ‘Venice of East’, Alappuzha is now one of the poorest districts in the state, with its traditional sectors such as coir industry and fishing going through severe crises. Alappuzha – famous for its backwaters, beach- es, and boat races – is also a l a n d o f r e vo l u t i o n a n d revolutionaries. However, like the famed house boats of the Alappuzha, the constituency has swayed both ways, alternating between the LDF and UDF. Over all, the constituency – with 69% Hindu, 20% Christian and 11% Muslim votes – has elected Left candidates eight times, Congress eight, and its ally RSP once. Notably even when the UDF wave , engulfed Kerala in 2019, Alappuzha emerged as the saving grace for the ruling LDF, which was routed in the other 19 constituencies in the state. It is this unpredictable nature of the constituency that Ariff is banking on as he seeks a second term. Throughout his campaign trail, Ariff keeps reminding voters that he is the only “local candidate” in the Continued on P5 fray .
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