tirupati l tuesday l june 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Atishi’s fast enters day four, doctors say her health failing The Delhi water minister is on indefinite fast protesting the decline in water supply to Delhi from the neighbouring BJP-ruled Haryana Weight, blood pressure decreasing rapidly Delhi cabinet ministers write to Modi Atishi’s weight and blood pressure are decreasing rapidly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said in a statement. “Doctors have described the speed at which her blood sugar level, blood pressure and weight have decreased as dangerous,” the party said. Atishi, however, has refused to be admitted to a hospital, saying she will continue with her fast until Haryana releases water ■ ■ Delhi cabinet ministers on Monday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to resolve the water crisis on priority Delhi’s water requirement is 1,005 million gallons per day (MGD). About 613 MGD comes from Haryana. The ministers, in their letter, said there has been a 100 MGD drop in water coming from Haryana 2.2 kg drop in Atishi’s weight in four days, claims aam aadmi party 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 Cabinet gives nod to publish white papers on 7 key issues E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Videograb of Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking his oath as a member of the House during the first day of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, in Delhi on Monday | PTI Drama, fireworks on Day 1 PM, 279 others sworn in as members of 18th Lok Sabha; Modi, Kharge spar on Emergency P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi The opening day of the special session of the 18th Lok Sabha witnessed dramatic scenes on Monday as opposition leaders, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, waved copies of the Constitution when Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked up to take his oath as a member of the House. Apart from Modi, several Cabinet ministers, including Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, celebrities like Kangana Ranaut and 16 from NDA ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP) took their oaths. While 280 members were sworn in on Monday, the rest, including Rahul, will be take their oath on Tuesday . The country’s linguistic diversity was on display as MPs took their oaths in languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, Dogri, Bengali, Assamese, Gujarati and Odia, apart from English. In his pre-session remarks, Modi took a swipe at the Congress over the Emergency call, ing it a black spot on democracy when the Constitution was discarded. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was equally pungent in his response, accusing Modi of imposing an undeclared Emergency in the country in the last 10 years. The session began on a com- bative note with the boycott by three Opposition MPs from a panel to assist pro-tem speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab. The Opposition was up in arms against the government for ignoring eight-term Lok Sabha member Kodikunnil Suresh for that post. President Droupadi Murmu had appointed a panel comprising K Suresh, TMC’s Sudip Bandopadhyay and DMK’s T R Baalu along with two other BJP MPs to assist Mahtab. However, the three Opposition MPs refused to be a part of the panel on Monday morning. Most of the Congress MPs held a copy of the Constitution while taking their oath. Rahul sat along with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Ayodhya MP Awadhesh Prasad in the front row on the Opposition side. The BJP poked the Congress with party chief J P Nadda writing to Kharge, questioning the “stoic silence” of his party on the recent hooch tragedy in Tamil Nadu. The coming days of the session are likely to see a belligerent Opposition taking on the NDA government on several issues, including the NEET-NET exam paper leak row, three criminal laws, Manipur violence and the recent train accident. Oppn against Birla, NDA call on Speaker today R A J E SH K UM A R TH A K UR @ New Delhi THE Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to announce its candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post on Tuesday hours before the nom, ination of candidates for the key post starts. According to highly placed sources, the NDA suggested the name of Om Birla, who was the Speaker in the previous Lok Sabha, as a consensus candidate for the Speaker’s position but did not get support from the Opposition parties. Sources said Birla being the first choice is in line with the Narendra Modi-led government’s theme of continuity in its third term. While there is no official word yet from the NDA side on the consensus bid, BJP sources said three more names are being considered. “If everything goes as per plan and the Opposition doesn’t oppose the continuation of Om Birla, the possibility of Birla’s continuation is high. In case of disagreement, the BJP’s East Champaran (Bihar) MP Radha Mohan Singh or the MP from Pali constituency (Rajasthan) P P Chaudhary might be announced as the NDA’s candidate for LS Speaker,” said a senior BJP source. The name of Andhra BJP chief Daggubati Purandeswari is also doing the rounds. Chaudhary is a senior lawyer also and chairperson of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Jan Vishwas Bill 2022. He had earlier served as MoS in the Ministry of Law and Justice in 2019 and MoS in the Ministry of Electronics and IT in 2017. He was also honoured with the Sansad Ratna award twice in 2015 and 2016. Both Choudhary and Singh are experienced in Parliamentary affairs and enjoy rapport with the Opposition parties. Purandeswari is the sisterin-law of TDP chief and Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. The Lok Sabha Speaker’s election will take place on June 26. CM holds talks with former Amaravati contractors Assembly session E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada HC’s stay on kejri’s bail unusual, says SC The Delhi High Court’s decision to grant interim stay on Arvind Kejriwal’s bail, while reserving its verdict, is unusual, says the Supreme Court. The high court will give its verdict on Enforcement Directorate’s plea against the bail today Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday reportedly held talks with representatives of contracting companies who were previously awarded works for various projects in the Amaravati capital region. It is learnt that Naidu met the representatives of some of the construction companies at his Undavalli residence. As the government is keen on expediting the construction of Amaravati, the Chief Minister began the process to resume works, which were The Andhra Pradesh State Assembly is likely to convene in the third week of July. The govt will table the full Budget and also pass a Bill to repeal the AP Land Titling Act stalled by the previous YSRC government. Though the TDP government had invited tenders for several projects in the capital region between 2014 and 2019, the works were suspended by the previous regime. As the tender dates for the works have ended, the TDPled NDA government is now focusing on the way forward with regard to the capital city . In fact, Naidu had visited Amaravati on June 20 and inspected various buildings including the quarters for AIS officers, Ministers, MLAs, MLCs and employees. He blamed the previous YSRC government’s negligence for the pathetic condition of the P4 structures. t20 series Vizag boy in India squad for Zimbabwe tour E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada K Nitish Kumar Reddy a crick, eter from Visakhapatnam, who rose to fame following his performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has been selected to represent India for the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. Nitish is the first player from Andhra Pradesh to play for India in a T20 series, Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) president P Sarath Chandra Reddy said. Though several players like Ambati Rayudu, Venugopal Rao and others from Andhra Pradesh have represented the Indian cricket team in ODIs and Test matches, this is first time that a player from the State is playing for the country in the shortest form of the game. The India-Zimbabwe T20 series will kickoff at Harare in Zimbabwe on July 6. All five matches will be played at the Harare Sports Club. In a post on X, Nitish said, “INDIA Calling #INDvsZim #INDvsAUS’’ A member of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, the 21-year-old was awarded the title of ‘Emerging Player’ by the BCCI in the 2024 IPL season. The all-rounder made his debut in first-class cricket in 2020 and in IPL in 2023. Sunrisers Hyderabad had acquired him for `20 lakh in the 2023 auction. He has also represented Godavari Titans during the Andhra Premier League and was the most expensive player. He was auctioned for `15.6 lakh for this year’s APL season. Nitish began playing cricket when he was just eight years old. He has been trained at the Visakhapatnam District Cricket Academy (VDCA). Two players from VDCA — Nitish and Shabnam — were selected to play for India team in a span of a week. Shabnam has been selected for the Indian women’s team for the South Africa tour. YSRC president and former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy congratulated Nitish on being selected to represent the Indian cricket team. The maiden Cabinet meeting of the NDA gover nment, chaired by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the State Secretariat on Monday, approved a slew of decisions. The Council of Ministers decided that starting June 28, seven white papers pertaining to the Polavaram irrigation project, Amaravati, energy en, vironment (land, sand, mines), liquor, law and order, and State finances will be released. All the documents will be released by July 18. The aim of approving the release of the white papers was to “sensitise the people on the erratic approach of the previous government in dealing with key projects”. Additionally the Cabinet rat, ified the files cleared by the Chief Minister. Naidu had signed five crucial files, including conducting a Mega DSC (District Selection Committee) exam, repealing the AP Land Titling Act, enhancing social security pensions to `4,000 from `3,000, initiative to conduct AP Skill Census and restoration of Anna Canteens. Briefing mediapersons on the Cabinet decisions, Minister for Information and Public Relations Kolusu Parthasarathy said Naidu directed the Ministers to publish seven white papers to raise awareness among the people on the policies adopted by the previous government and highlight the failure of the systems in the State in the past five years. Further, he said a total of 16,347 teacher posts, including 6,371 secondary grade teachers, 132 physical education teacher, 7,725 school assistants, 1,781 trained graduate teachers, 286 post-graduate teachers and 52 principal posts, will be filled through the Mega P4 DSC. major decisions Mega DSC to fill 16,347 White Papers to be released between June 28 to July 18 teacher posts Hiking pensions to `4,000 from `3,000 Five-member Cabinet sub-committee to draw plan for checking drug menace Polavaram irrigation project Reopening of Anna Canteens Conducting skill census Amaravati Repealing AP Land Energy Titling Act Appointment of Dammalapati Srinivas as Advocate General Environment (land, sand, mines) Renaming YSR Pension Liquor Kanuka as NTR Pension Bharosa Renaming Dr YSR Health University in Vijayawada to Dr NTR Health University Law and order State finances Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu chaired the Cabinet meeting at the Secretariat on Monday | Express Police hint at security lapse in NEET paper delivery in Jharkhand Express News service @ New Delhi /Patna/Ranchi even as the CBI took over five new cases of alleged malpractices in NEET-UG in Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan, Bihar police on Monday said the question paper could have been leaked during its transportation in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh. According to a senior official with Bihar police’s economic offfences wing, the question paper could have been leaked either during its transportation from the courier company to the main branch of the State Bank of India or from the bank to Hazaribagh’s Oasis School, where the test was held on May 5. The question papers were stored in the SBI locker. Meanwhile, the CBI on Monday took over five new cases that were being investigated by police in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar. On Sunday it regis, tered its own FIR in connection with the alleged irregularities in the exam. In a separate development, the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra police arrested a Revert to old system, Mamata tells Modi West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee urged PM Narendra Modi to consider abolishing NEET, the national-level medical entrance exam introduced in 2013, and reverting to the system of states conducting the exam Zilla Parishad school teacher from Latur and registered a case against four persons for running a racket to help NEET students willing to pay money to crack the exam. Officials said the CBI has reregistered one case each from Gujarat and Bihar and three cases from Rajasthan as its own FIR, while it is also likely to take up the case from Latur. After taking over these new cases, the CBI is now probing six cases pertaining to alleged irregularities in NEET-UG, the officials said. Barring the case from Bihar, the other four appear to be isolated incidents of impersonation and cheating by local officials, and candidates, officials added. NSUI activists stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Monday | Shekhar Yadav price surge Centre imposes stockholding limits on wheat J i t en d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi The Centre on Monday imposed a stock limit on wheat to reduce hoarding of the grain and stablise its prices. The stock limit will apply to all wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers and processors in all states and Union Territories until March 31, 2025. The stock limit for traders or wholesalers is 3,000 metric tonnes (MT). For retailers, it is 10 MT for each of the outlets while for big chain retailers, it is 10 MT at each of their outlets and 3,000 MT at all their depots. For millers and processors, the stock limit is 70% of the monthly installed capacity multiplied by the remaining months of FY 2024-25. “The government is open to all options if the stock limit would not cool down the price such as by reducing import duty and would soon think to dump wheat in the open market through open market sales scheme,” said Sanjeev Chopra, secretary Department of Food , and Public Distribution in the consumer affairs ministry . The minimum support price of wheat is `2,275, but the grain’s price in the open market is hovering around `2,500. Chopra dispelled worries about supplies. The stock limit comes amid claims of bumper production of the grain in the current Rabi Marketing Season. “I want to dispel the shortage of wheat in the country ... we want prices of wheat to be stable,” Chopra said. He added that the decision was taken to prevent market speculations and hoarding of the grain.
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