tirupati l saturday l april 20, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION Israel launches missile to strike Iran’s central province Isfahan The projectile struck Iran overnight, US media reported on Friday. There was no comment from Israel while Iran said it shot down three drones Iran plays it down, says no damage done Iranian officials sought to play down the attack, saying there was no missile strike from outside the country though its air defence systems intercepted “three small birds”. Isfahan is home to a large airbase, a major missile production complex, and several nuclear facilities. Islamic Republic News Agency said the city and province of Isfahan were in ‘normal condition’ April 13 NO hand IN ISRAEL’S OFFENSIVE STRIKES: U.S. ■ Reports said Iran activated its air defence system in the early hours of Friday after an explosion was heard near a major airbase in the Isfahan province ■ Experts believe Tehran’s muted reaction means it does not want to escalate matters. The US said it will extend support to Israel if the latter comes under attack, but will not get involved in any offensive strikes launched by Tel Aviv Israel’s strike was in retaliation to Iran’s attack with 300 drones last week 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 Polling in 102 seats across 21 states and Union Territories largely peaceful; 56 villages in Bastar and the Shompen tribe of Great Nicobar voted for the first time, says Election Commission; sporadic incidents of violence reported from West Bengal, strife-torn Manipur, Nagaland and Chhattisgarh Tamil nadu West BENGAL Manipur Jammu and Kashmir Chhattisgarh Tripura Uttar Pradesh VOTING PERCENTAGE VOTING PERCENTAGE VOTING PERCENTAGE VOTING PERCENTAGE VOTING PERCENTAGE VOTING PERCENTAGE VOTING PERCENTAGE 72% The only south Indian state to go to polls in the first phase, TN reported no major untoward incidents. The contest was largely three-way with ruling DMK, AIADMK and BJP leading respective blocs. In 2019, the state saw 72.44% polling 77% Polling held in Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduars seats. Violence reported in Cooch Behar, where workers of TMC and BJP clashed. Multiple complaints about poll violence and voter intimidation lodged 67% Incidents of shooting and intimidation were reported from several places in Inner Manipur seat. A 65year-old man was shot at by unidentified armed men at Moirangkampu Sajeb in Khurai constituency in Imphal East district 65% No untoward incident was reported in Jammu and Kashmir’s in Udhampur. This was the first major election in J&K since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. Officials said people braved bad weather and showed up to vote 65% Naxal-hit Bastar recorded a voter turnout almost equal to the 2019 general elections. A CRPF jawan was killed after a grenade accidentally went off, while another officer was injured in an IED blast triggered by Naxals 80% Congress and CPI(M) alleged that the ruling BJP rigged the polling. Congress leaders alleged that many voters were prevented from approaching the booths for voting while a sizable number of voters were driven out of the queue 58% Eight western UP seats falling in the Jat and sugarcane belt — Saharanpur, Moradabad, Kairana, Nagina, Pilibhit, Bijnor, Rampur, and Muzaffarnagar — went to polls in the first phase. Voting was largely peaceful moderate turnout in first phase Express News Service @ New Delhi The first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday — covering 102 seats across 21 states and Union Territories — witnessed a moderate 62% voter turnout. The figure is expected to go up after inputs from all polling stations, the Election Commission of India said. Friday’s polling was the biggest of the seven-phase festival of democracy. Voters braved the heat in most parts of the country while at some places, they faced rain. There were reports of sporadic incidents of violence in West Bengal, the strife-torn express read Tripartite alliance is Naidu’s show: Jagan Kakinada: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday lashed out at the tripartite alliance, saying that it does not have a philosophy of its own and that it runs on directions of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. Addressing a huge meeting in Kakinada, Jagan said that it was Naidu who took the final call on the alliance Jagan did nothing for Rayalaseema: TDP chief Vijayawada: TDP supremo Nara Chandrababu Naidu flayed Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for miserably failing to provide basic amenities to the people of AP. Speaking at Praja Galam meetings in Anantapur and Kurnool, he termed Jagan a traitor of Rayalaseema as he did nothing for the backward region M a n i p u r, N a g a l a n d a n d Chhattisgarh. As many as 56 villages in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh and the Shompen tribe of Great Nicobar got to exercise their franchise for the first time. Elections were held for all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, all five seats in Uttarakhand, 12 seats in Rajasthan, five in Maharashtra, and all seats in the Northeast and three Union Territories. Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim were held simultaneously . Billed as the world’s largest electoral exercise, elections for the 18th Lok Sabha is crucial for the BJP as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third term in office. Riding on populist welfare schemes such as free ration, housing schemes and construction of the Ram temple, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance aims to reach the 400-seat mark in the 543-strong Lok Sabha. The Opposition’s INDIA bloc, which is looking to dislodge the BJP from power, projects the rising unemployment, inflation and rural distress as the main issues to attack the government. One of the keenly watched contests is in Tamil Nadu, where the BJP is hoping to make significant gains. All eyes are on Coimbatore, where the BJP has fielded state chief K Annamalai. Elections to the eight states in Western Uttar Pradesh are also crucial for the saffron party as it is facing trouble from upper caste communities and farmers. In strife-tor n Manipur, Wangkhem in Thoubal district had the highest turnout among the 32 assembly constituencies under Inner Manipur at 82.41%. In Outer Manipur, Chandel, which has both Naga and Kuki voters, recorded the highest turnout at 85.54%. Incidents of shooting and intimidation were reported from several places in Inner Manipur seat. Armed men fired several rounds in the air near a polling booth in Thamnapokpi under Moirang assembly constituency in Bishnupur district, prompting voters to flee. Additional security personnel were rushed to the spot. In Arunachal, 65.79% electors exercised their franchise in the assembly elections while the voter turnout was slightly higher at 67.13% for the two Lok Sabha seats there. The difference between the turnouts of Lok Sabha and assembly polls is because BJP candidates in 10 assembly seats were elected unopposed, so elections were not held in these segments. Naidu, Bhuvaneswari worth `931 cr B a n dh a v i A n n a m @ Guntur Several bigwigs filed their nominations across the State on Friday Former Chief Min. ister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s wife Bhuvaneswari filed nominations on behalf of her husband at Kuppam. As per the affidavit filed with the Election Commission, the assets of the TDP supremo and his family have increased by over 41% in the last five years, reaching `810.42 crore mark. While the total value of assets held by Naidu and Bhuvaneswari was `668.57 crore in 2019, it shot up to over `931 crore in 2024, including movable assets and offshore assets worth `8,10,41,89,321 and immovable assets wor th `1,21,41,41,609. Nara Bhuvaneswari files the nomination papers on behalf of TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu in Kuppam on Friday | EXPRESS 2019 L668.57 cr 41% Rate of rise in assets in last five years 2024 L810.42 cr Family’s overall liabilities `10 crore L8,10,41,89,321 L1,21,41,41,609 Movable assets & offshore assets Immovable assets Bhuvaneswari’s shares in Heritage Foods Ltd with a market value of `337.85 per share totalling to `764 cr, compared to `545.76 cr in 2019 Her jewellery worth L3,24,24,087 The majority of the assets are owned by Bhuvaneswari, who is the owner of over 2.26 crore shares of Heritage Foods Ltd with a market value of `337.85 per share totalling to `764 crore, compared to `545.76 crore in 2019. In addition, she also owns jewellery worth `3,24,24,087. The TDP supremo personally has movable assets valued at `4.80 lakh and assets valued at `36.31 lakh in immovable assets. Additionally, Naidu owns an Ambassador automobile, which is worth `2.25 lakh. The family’s overall liabilities exceed over `10 crore. While the TDP chief has liabilities of `3.48 crore, which are in the form of a joint housing loan with his son Nara Lokesh, Bhuvaneswari’s liabilities stood at `8.83 crore. Going gets tough for Tejasvi Surya in Bengaluru South D e v a r a j B H i r e h a l l i @ Bengaluru Tejasvi Surya is a powerful orator and the national president of the BJP Yuva Morcha. Yet, the sitting Bengaluru South MP hasn’t campaigned elsewhere, as he is facing a really tough fight. His challenger is Congress candidate Sowmya Reddy , daughter of state transport minister Ramalinga Reddy, a party heavyweight. Speculation is rife that hawala cash is flowing like water in this prestigious constituency When Election Com. mission officials recently seized `1.4 crore from a car, Sowmya blamed on the BJP Te. jaswi Surya (33) promptly lobbed the ball back demanding an impartial probe. This political potboiler will reach its cli- max on April 26, when voters will give their verdict. Ramalinga Reddy represents BTM Layout in the assembly. Sowmya was elected Jayanagara MLA in 2018 by failed to retain it by a whisker in 2023. Of the eight assembly segments in this Lok Sabha constituency, five are with the BJP and three with the Congress. But that isn’t giving Surya much comfort. Since Karnataka is the home turf of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the party is pulling out all the stops to wrest as many seats as possible, hence the candidature of the Reddy scion. Reddy’s bonhomie with leaders cutting across party lines, including the BJP and the respect he com, mands from the common folk is visible. The Congress feels he could go past the party’s traditional vote bank and catch the floating votes to tilt the scales. Reddy is tapping all channels, including former BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) corporators to get them on his side. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has already campaigned extensively in the seat to consolidate the AHINDA vo t e s — shorthand for minorities, backward classes and Dalits. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, too, asked the Vokkaligas to treat Sowmya as his daughter and bless her. A major chunk of the Teluguspeaking populace, including the Reddys and Naidus, would favour Sowmya, but the Kannada-speaking Vokkaligas in Bengaluru South are u n e a s y, observes a resident, Swami Gowda. Illustration: Mandar Pardikar “A major section of Vokkaligas who migrated from Mandya district to Bengaluru South are with the JDS. They are likely to support Surya, a Brahmin, who is the BJP-JD(S) alliance candidate,” he opines. But Suryanarayana, a shopkeeper at Mavalli area, has a different take. “Many voters who claimed to be with the BJP in the past may change their position as the situation is fluid this time around,” he says. This constituency was a BJP citadel for over three decades. It was represented by former Union minister Ananth Kumar in the Lok Sabha for five terms before his untimely demise in 2018. Ananth Kumar had defeated Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani in 2014. Ramalinga Reddy is trying to play a similar role for his daughter Continued on P5 this time.  As many as 42 people were reported injured in sporadic violence. Supporters of two candidates clashed near a polling station in Bameng constituency in East Kameng district, which forced the election authorities to suspend voting. Some miscreants tried to snatch EVMs in three polling stations in the Nacho constituency in Upper Subansiri. In Uttarakhand, the turnout was over 54% in five LS constituencies. The Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar seat recorded 59.99% turnout, followed by Haridwar 59.12%, Tehri Garhwal 51.74%, Pauri Garhwal 49.93% and Almora 45.39%. Among the high profile can- didates seeking the mandate in the first phase are Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Bhupendra Yadav, Kiren Rijiju, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Sarbananda Sonowal; Congress leaders Gaurav Gogoi and Nakul Nath; and DMK’s Kanimozhi. The highest voter turnout was recorded in West Bengal at 77.57%, while Bihar had the lowest at 47.49% till 7 pm. The estimated average voter turnout was over 62%. The second phase of voting for 89 seats in 13 states will be held on April 26 and the seventh phase will be on June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4. Air taxis: Fly from Delhi to Gurgaon in just 7 minutes EX P RESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi GET ready to travel from Central Delhi (Connaught Place) to Gurugram (Gurgaon) in Haryana in just 7 minutes as InterGlobe Enterprises, the promoter g roup of IndiGo, and US-based Archer Aviation plans to launch an all-electric air taxi service in 2026. The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft will be able to carry four passengers and a pilot. The cost could be `2,000-3,000 per passenger. At present, it takes an hour to cover the 27-km distance from Central Delhi to Gurugram by road, and it could take more time if the traffic conditions are bad. Uber and Ola charge `500-800, while Delhi Metro takes 50 minutes and charges `50 to travel between the two locations. The InterGlobe-Archer joint venture plans to launch similar services in Mumbai and Bengaluru as well. Under the terms of the partnership signed in November 2023, Archer will supply 200 eVTOL aircraft for services in India. The 200 planes, each having 12 rotters, will cost around $1 billion. The regulatory nod for these aircraft is expected by next Representational photo year. Archer Aviation Founder and CEO Adam Goldstein on Friday said discussions are on with the US regulator Federal Aviation Administration and the certification process for its aircraft is at an advanced stage. The US certification is expected next year and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will then be approached. Archer’s Chief Commercial Officer Nikhil Goel said that they are in talks with various municipalities for infrastructure and other aspects of the flight operations. Discussions are also on for the real estate space required for vertiports or the launchpads and other infrastructure for starting the flight operations. Archer will open its manufacturing facility in the US this year and will have an initial capacity to produce 650 planes. like helicopters, but with less noise These small planes and operate like helicopters but with less noise. The five-seater Midnight aircraft will be able to accommodate five persons, including the pilot. The plane, which will have six battery packs, will get fully charged in 30-40 minutes and one minute charge broadly translates to one minute of flight