tirupati l tuesday l may 28, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION Cyclone remal leaves trail of destruction in bengal, four killed Strong winds blew away roofs of huts and knocked down power poles, while accompanying downpour caused waterlogging in many areas Rains to continue till tuesday morning flight services resume after 21 hours The cyclone ravaged adjacent coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh between Sagar Island and Khepupara after its landfall process began around 8.30 pm on Sunday. After a night of heavy rainfall, several areas of Kolkata remained inundated. More rainfall is on the cards, not only in the metropolis but also in other parts of the state till Tuesday morning, which may hamper relief works ■ ■ The deaths mostly occurred due to the collapse of roofs and walls of houses due to strong winds and relentless downpours. People have been urged to remain indoors as heavy rain persists in many areas Fight services at the Kolkata airport resumed on Monday morning after remaining suspended for 21 hours because of the cyclone | P7, P9 135 kmph Maximum wind speed recorded as the cyclone tore through bengal coast 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 dip in donation Prakasam faces severe blood scarcity IVNP P r a s a d B a b u @ Ongole Prakasam is grappling with severe blood shortage as no mega blood donation camps have been conducted in the district for a long time. Summer vacation for most educational institutions has been cited as the reason for blood donation camps not being conducted. According to official information, on an average, 100 units of blood are required across the district daily. A serious blood scarcity has been observed in the district with blood donations dropping to 10-15% over the last two months. Blood transfusion plays a key role to treat serious health conditions like Thalassemia and HIV-AIDS, and during emergency/trauma surgeries performed at the Ongole Government General Hospital (GGH) and other private/corporate hospitals. There are around 150 Thalassemia patients, 25 HIV - AIDS patients and 65 cancer patients in the district, who require regular blood transfusion. Red Cross, the Government Blood Bank in the Ongole GGH, KIMS Blood Bank, Navya Blood Bank, and New Vision Blood Bank cater to the needs of the P4 people in Ongole town. express read Ten killed, 3 hurt in 3 separate accidents in AP Vijayawada: At least 10 people killed and three others were injured in three separate road accidents in Andhra Pradesh on Monday. TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and BJP State chief D Purandareswari condoled the bereaved families | P3 Padma awardee to return award over Naxal threat Narayanpur: Traditional medicine practitioner Hemchand Manjhi, renowned for his stellar work from a remote village in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district, on Monday said he will return his Padma Shri award, after he received threats from Naxalites | P8 HC verdict on Pinnelli’s plea reserved E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday reserved its verdict in a petition filed by Macherla MLA Pinnelli Ramakrishna, challenging the three additional cases filed against him by Palnadu police. Hearing in the case was adjourned to Tuesday . Police registered a case against Pinnelli and 15 others under IPC Section 307 for allegedly attacking TDP agent Namburi Seshagiri Rao at Palvai Gate polling booth in Renitchintala mandal on May 13 for trying to stop him from vandalising the electronic voting machine (EVM). Another case was registered against the YSRC leader for insulting a woman voter, Nagasiromani, who questioned his aggression. A third case, also under IPC Section 307, was booked against Pinnelli, his brother and their followers for attacking a police officer on duty in the post-poll violence that erupted at Karampudi. An urgent lunch motion petition was filed in the HC on Sunday, challenging the three cases registered against the Macherla legislator. Justice Pratapa Venkata Jyothirmayee heard the peti- tion at her residence. Petitioner’s counsel T Niranjan Reddy found fault with the DGP and Palnadu police for misleading the court. He accused the Election Commission of adopting a vengeful attitude to arrest Pinnelli. He further alleged that the DGP was very interested in the arrest of Pinnelli for reasons unknown. Pointing out that cases against the Macherla MLA were booked 10 days after the polling, he questioned the delay in registering the cases and sought to know why separate FIRs were filed for the same case. Lost faith in state machinery: Guj HC Roasts Rajkot civic body for not enforcing fire safety rules D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad The Gujarat High Court on Monday hit out at the Rajkot Municipal Corporation and the state government, saying it has lost faith in the state machinery that turns a blind eye to illegal structures and wakes up only after innocent lives are lost. The sharp remarks came a day after the HC took suomotu note of the blaze at the TRP Game Zone in Rajkot on Saturday evening, which killed at least 28 people. The game zone did not have the fire NOC or other permissions for functioning. A special bench of justices Biren Vaishnav and Devan Desai asked the Rajkot civic body why it allowed the game zone to run. The bench was furious when it was told the operators did not apply for permissions. “Were you blind to the existence of this large structure? How do you explain that the entire zone has existed for the last twoand-a-half years? What fire safety measures were applied?” it asked. When a counsel pointed out that drastic actions must be taken to avoid such incidents in future, the bench said: “Who will take such drastic steps? Frankly we no longer , have faith in the state machinery This is the sixth incident in . four years after our orders and their assurances. They only act after lives are lost.” The HC posed a volley of questions to the corporation’s counsel, asking why were the court’s earlier orders on fire safety norms not followed. During the hearing, the bench examined photographs showing Rajkot government officials being present at the gaming zone inauguration. “Who were these officers? Were they there for play? Can we not take judicial notice of that fact? For 18 months, what did the corporation do? Just sit on it?” the bench questioned. On Monday the Gujarat state , government suspended five officials from various departments, including two police inspectors, for negligence in the Rajkot fire tragedy . Debris being removed from the game zone site in Rajkot, where 28 died in a blaze | Pti Notice to past Rajkot officials The HC noted that every municipal commissioner starting from the establishment of the TRP Game Zone in 2021 up to the time of the incident “should be held responsible for the tragedy”. It instructed them to provide individual affidavits Jadavpur joust is on a razor’s edge S u l a g n a S e n g u p ta @ Kolkata The Jadavpur parliamentary constituency is known for its cerebral power as it often sends luminaries to the Lok Sabha. For example, way back in 1984, current Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrested the seat on a Congress ticket from CPM stalwart Somnath Chatterjee. This time around, it could be a toss up between the Trinamool’s Saayoni Ghosh, the CPM’s Srijan Bhattacharyya and the BJP’s Anirban Ganguly because the race is that tight. All three are alumni of Jadavpur University . At 47, Dr Ganguly is the eldest of them. Saayoni and Srijan are 31. Saayoni became the Trinamool Congress youth wing head after Mamata’s nephew and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee vacated the position in 2021. An actor by profession, she got the moniker of a party streetfighter from Mamata. Srijan is member of the CPM’s West Bengal State Committee. He was the State Secretary of the Students’ Federation of India for just over six years till January last. As for Dr Ganguly , he is an academic and chair- man of the BJP’s Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation. While Saayoni parrots Mamata’s seamless connect with the grassroots, adding she introduced various innovative schemes for the upliftment of the poor, Ganguly hammers away at the TMC’s scams under Mamata’s watch and her attempts to shield her tainted party leaders. Saayoni models herself on Mamata’s brand of politics, saying: “I’ve learned that real politics is different from what’s in the textbooks. A true leader understands the people’s needs and struggles, just like Mamata. A leader must be accessible, and I am here for Jadavpur.” Her political From left, Srijan Bhattacharyya, Saayoni Ghosh and Dr Anirban Ganguly Illustration: Mandar Pardikar journey began in February 2021 when she joined the TMC and unsuccessfully contested for the Asansol South assembly seat. In contrast, Srijan has been in politics for a long time. He promises to introduce more industries and bring back jobs to the state that were chased away by the current regime. He flogs the Singur example where the then CPM chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya invited the Tatas to set up their Nano plant, but they were driven away by Mamata’s activism. Ganguly is seen mobilising people from other districts for large road shows and rallies with posters and banners in a demonstration of strength across the constituency Sob. ha Rani Deb, a senior voter in Baghajatin area of Jadavpur is critical of Ganguly’s mobilisation. “This is an election, not a festival. Ganguly’s road shows often end up in creating traffic bottlenecks,” she rued. The Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency includes Baruipur Purba (Scheduled Caste), Baruipur Paschim, Sonarpur, Bhangar, Jadavpur, Sonarpur Uttar and Tollygunge assembly segments. It falls within the 24 Parganas district, which is the sixth-most densely populated in India. Further, Niranjan Reddy pointed out that despite the presence of a public prosecutor, a private advocate was appointed by the police department to appear for the case. Stating that anticipatory bail was granted to Pinnelli in the EVM damage case till June 6, he requested the court to protect the MLA from arrest in the other three cases as well till June 6 so that he can appoint agents on counting day Further, he assured . that the legislator will abide by any conditions set by the court. Appearing for the police department, public prosecutor Y Nagi Reddy said Pinnelli is acP4 cused in nine cases. Below normal monsoon in east, northeast Above-normal rains in AP Vijayawada: Above-normal rains are likely in Andhra Pradesh during the southwest monsoon, which is may hit the State in June first week. Notably, in 2023, besides the delay in monsoon, the State received 13% less rainfall | P7 J i t e n d r a C h o u be y @ New Delhi In its updated long-range forecast for the upcoming Southwest monsoon season, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday predicted above-normal rainfall over central and south peninsular India and normal rains over northwest India. However, eastern and northeast regions and some northern parts such as Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand may likely see be- low-normal rainfall. “The southwest monsoon seasonal rainfall is most likely to be ‘above normal’ over central India and south peninsular India (greater than 106% of the long-period average), ‘normal’ over north- west India (92-108%) and ‘below normal’ over northeast India (less than 94%),” the weather office said. This means India’s core monsoon zone, where agriculture is mostly rain-fed, will get above-normal rains. The IMD has already predicted the onset of the monsoon over Kerala on May 31. In an unusual development, the Bay of Bengal branch of the monsoon may arrive earlier than the Arabian Sea branch due to cyclone Remal, which has pushed up monsoon wind.
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