hyderabad l tuesday l june 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 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 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 ■ 2.2 kg Delhi cabinet ministers write to Modi ■ 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 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 GARG POWER PRODUCTS PVT.LTD. 5-36, Type-I, 10/A, Prashanthi Nagar, Kukatpally, Hyderabad - 500 072, India. Phone: +91-40-23074040 / 50, Cell No. 99481 23459, E-mail: garg@gdpl.org, Website: www.gdpl.info Transfer 2,450 acres of defence lands to TG, CM urges Rajnath express news service The CM also met Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in New Delhi on Monday. He urged him to: @ Hyderabad 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 I PM, 279 others sworn in as members of 18th Lok Sabha; Modi, Kharge spar on Emergency P r e e 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 take their oath on Tuesday . The country’s linguistic diversity was on display as MPs took their oaths in 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 LS Speaker today R A JESH K UM A R T H 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 cops hint at security lapse in NEET paper delivery in J’khand Express News service 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. HC’s stay on kejri’s bail unusual, says SC|P7 Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday urged Uniion Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to transfer 2,450 acres of land belonging to the MoD to the state government for widening of roads and other needs in Hyderabad. Revanth, who met Rajnath in New Delhi, informed the minister that the Research Centre Imarat (RCI) of the DRDO is using 2,462 acres of land belonging to the Telangana government in Ravirala village. Since the RCI, which comes under the ministry is using state , government lands, he requested the transfer of 2,450 acres of defence lands for construction of roads, flyovers and other in- n Sanction 2.7 lakh houses to TG under beneficiaryled construction model n Extend Smart City Mission project till June 2025 CM Revanth Reddy with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Monday frastructure in Hyderabad and surrounding areas. The CM requested Rajnath to agree to the mutual transfer of lands. Revanth also informed the minister that although a Sainik School had been sanctioned to Cong leader sulks after induction of BRS MLA N a v e e n K u m a r Ta l l a m @ Jagtial Senior Congress leader and MLC T Jeevan Reddy, who is unhappy over the induction of BRS Jagtial MLA M Sanjay Kumar into the grand old party, was pacified by IT Minister D Sridhar Babu on Monday . Earlier in the day, Jeevan held an emergency meeting with his supporters in Jagtial and found fault with the decision of the Congress. “I expected the leadership to at least inform me before welcoming Sanjay into the party the sen,” ior leader said. As the MLC and his followers were peeved over the party’s decision, Congress leaders met him in the afternoon. However, Jeevan’s camp was not satisfied. Vakiti Satyam Reddy , a close aide of Jeevan, resigned as the state coordinator of the Congress Kisan Cell. The IT minister then called on Jeevan in the evening. Speaking to reporters later, Sridhar Babu said that he met n funds for Musi Give river rejuvenation and Metro rail extension Warangal in the past, the previous state government did not take steps to construct it and the permission had lapsed. He urged the ministry to renew it or grant fresh permission for the school. CONTINUED ON P5 price surge Centre imposes stockholding limits on wheat J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi IT Minister D Sridhar Babu with MLC T Jeevan Reddy in Jagtial on Monday Jeevan as the latter was unhappy over Sunday’s decision. “Jeevan Reddy is a senior leader and he should guide the party Sridhar Babu said. ,” Even after the meeting, the sulking MLC’s followers said the latter would take a decision at an appropriate time. Jeevan has been nurturing the Jagtial segment for over four decades and is said to have plans to promote a family member there. With Sanjay’s entry into the Congress on Sunday, the senior leader is likely to lose his grip. At one time, there was talk that Jeevan might switch his loyalties to another party. But his followers did not confirm it. 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 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,” an official said. @ New Delhi /Patna/Ranchi/Mumbai 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. Employees of Blue Dart in Hazaribagh told police that the boxes carrying question papers were transported to the SBI branch in the city using a hired e-rickshaw, in violation of protocol. Flagging anomalies in NEETUG held in Jharkhand, Hazaribagh NTA city coordinator and Oasis School principal Ehsan Ul Haque said the courier firm delivered the question paper on May 3, two days before the test. “The sensitive question paper was sent trusting a driver... the transport agency is under scanner for the paper leak,” he said. Meanwhile, the CBI took over five new cases that were being investigated by police in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar long arms No order to shut shops in Hyd by 11 pm: Police A j ay T o m a r @ Hyderabad Police detain NSUI activists during a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar | Shekhar Yadav 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 on Monday a day after 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 Zilla Parishad school teacher from Latur and registered a case against four persons for running a racket for those who can pay to crack NEET. After taking over these new cases, the CBI will be probing a total of six cases pertaining to alleged irregularities in NEETUG conducted on May 5, officials said. Barring the case from Bihar, the other four appear to be isolated incidents of impersonation and cheating by local officials, and candidates, they added. Hyderabad police on Monday denied that shops in the Old City had been asked to shut down by 11 pm and termed it “fake news”. A clip had gone viral on social media in which police can be purportedly heard warning establishments to either shut down by 11 pm or face the consequences. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi took cognisance of the clip and said shops should be allowed to remain open at least until 12 am. Sneha Mehra, DCP South Zone, told TNIE, “No such order asking the establishments to close by 11 pm has been INSIDE People are seen exiting a shop that is being closed around 10.30 pm at Asifnagar in Old City, Hyderabad on Monday | Sri Loganathan Velmurugan passed. It is fake news. As per the GOs, the closing time for wine shops remains 11 pm and for restaurants, 12 pm, on weekdays. On weekends, it extends up to 1 am.” 47 ias, ips officers transferred in TG | P4 In order to curb brawls that had increased in recent times, police advised owners to not run their restaurants beyond the permitted hours. As many as 12 accused were arrested by the Shalibanda police on Monday for the murder of a person during a brawl outside a restaurant in Mecca Colony late on June 18. In the clip that had gone viral, police can be heard saying: “11 ke baad dikhtey nai, agar dikhtey toh lathi charge kardete. No friendly police after 11 pm, it will be lathi-charge police”. In a post on X, Owaisi asked the police if any such announcement would be made in the upscale Jubilee Hills area. “Big metros across the country allow shops to be open in the night. There’s already an economic downturn. Why is it different in Hyderabad?” Owaisi said. P3 new MSME policy in Budget session: sridhar babu | P2
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