hyderabad l thursday l july 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION 18 killed as plane crashes during takeoff in kathmandu Bombardier jet was bound for pokhara The Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft owned by Saurya Airlines was bound for Pokhara for a scheduled maintenance when it crashed around 11.00 am. There were 19 people on board the ill-fated aircraft. At least 17 of them were employees of the airline, with the other two being the wife and son of one of the employees who were on board, reports said A small aircraft crashed during takeoff from Tribhuvan International Airport on Wednesday morning. All on board except a pilot were killed ■ 914 captain survives, in critical condition ■ Captain Manish Shakya is the sole survivor. He is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Kathmandu and is said to be critical The Nepal government constituted a five-member expert panel to look into the probable causes of the crash. The airport said the plane veered off to its right and crashed on the east side of the runway people have died in air crashes in Nepal since 1955 as per country’s aviation body 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 Govt weighing options to House adopts resolution on neglect of TG open the Chinese FDI tap Express News Service @ Hyderabad Curbs imposed at the height of Ladakh clash in 2020 may be eased D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi two days after the Economic Survey made a strong pitch for Chinese participation in India’s manufacturing growth, top sources on Wednesday told this paper that the government is considering easing restrictions on investments from China. The government’s move to soften its anti-China stance comes amid strong calls from industry, especially manufacturers, to ease the visa curbs on Chinese technicians. A highly placed government source confirmed that discussions are on for reviewing restrictions on investment and imports from China, adding that no final call has been taken in this regard. India issued Press Note 3 restricting investments from China amid border tension in Galwan river valley in Ladakh in 2020. The government also restricted visas to Chinese nationals arriving in the country and levied high duties on Chinese imports. The source mentioned above said industry leaders have been raising the issue of their inability to procure equipment as Chinese incentive Chinese technicians are in high demand in 14 sectors where production-linked incentive schemes are applicable. These sectors, which include solar, drones, and cell battery, face huge talent shortage Skill shortage Most high-tech manufacturing units in India use Chinese-made machinery but don’t have skilled technicians. Industry believes visa relaxations could help well as Chinese technicians due to these restrictions. “For the past 3-4 years, we have been trying to build our own capacity But feedback from industry . suggests that large projects, especially high-tech projects, are facing challenges in completion due to these restrictions,” the source said, adding that the government is now weighing options for easing investment rules for some companies. The softening of the government’s stand on China was evident in the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Monday “To boost Indian manufac. turing and plug India into the global supply chain, it is inevitable that India plugs itself into China’s supply chain. Whether we do so by relying solely on imports or partially through Chinese investments is a choice that India has to make,” the report said, hinting that the anti-China policy has been detrimental to India’s manufacturing sector. Officials said the government has eased the visa rules for Chinese technicians already working in firms availing the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, and is working to streamline the visa process for Chinese workers for non-PLI companies too. In FY24, China became India’s top trading partner with $118 billion in total trade. Can accused seek removal Haryana wants award for cops of verdict after acquittal? The Telangana Legislative Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution expressing its strong protest and unhappiness over the Centre’s “neglect” of the state in the 2024-25 Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday . Tabling the resolution in the Assembly, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that the Union Budget was not just discriminatory but “revenge” and , needs to be condemned. He also confirmed that he would be boycotting the Niti Aayog meeting on July 27, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair, in protest against the “infringe- All eyes on 6Gs in 1st full budget of Cong Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka will present the first full Budget of the Congress government after the formation of Telangana on Thursday. The Budget is expected be around `2.5 lakh crore to `2.9 lakh crore, a major chunk of which will be allocated to implementation of the six guarantees. Report on P4 ment of Telangana’s rights, not issuing required permissions, and not allocating the rightful share of funds to the state” in the Union Budget. The chief minister also criticised BJP MLAs, saying that members of the Assembly were trying to protect the BJP-led NDA government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Revanth laid bare the the stark difference of approach of the Centre towards the south- ern and northern states, stating that the Union government collected `22.26 lakh crore in GST revenue from the five southern states — Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu — and gave back just `6.42 lakh crore. In contrast, the Centre collected `3.41 lakh crore from Uttar Pradesh and gave it `6.91 lakh crore, which is more than the total amount paid to five southern states. While Telangana Modi govt has given much to state: Kishan Express News Service @ Hyderabad MHA poser who stopped farm protest Ha r p r e e t b a j w a @ Chandigarh A rather surprising proposal of the Haryana government to decorate six police officers with the President’s Medal for Gallantry for stopping protesting Punjab farmers at the Shambhu and Khanauri interstate borders in February this year has raised eyebrows. This has prompted the Union home ministry to seek clarification from the state. Haryana government said in its recommendation on July 2 that the six officers displayed ‘exceptional bravery’ in stopping the farmers who were marching to the national capital in February. Of the six, three are Indian Police Service officers and the others from the Haryana Police Service. The Union home ministry on July 8 wrote two letters to the Haryana government seeking “firing details of all recommendees’’ for the award. This has put the state government in a tough spot ahead of the Assembly elections as it has maintained that there was no firing by the police to stop farmers. The home ministry also observed that personnel of the Rapid Action Force, the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, the IndoTibetan Border Police and Sashastra Seema Bal were also deployed, but were not recommended for the award. “A ‘no’ has been mentioned in the question of joint operation,” the home ministry wrote. Sources said the state government is yet to prepare its response to the Centre’s query . Objecting to the recommendations, Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider them. S u c h i t r a K alyan M o h an t y @ New Delhi CAN an accused, after being acquitted in a criminal case, seek removal of the judgment revealing his identity from the public domain under the right to be forgotten? The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine this knotty issue in detail and settle the law. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud was hearing an appeal by Bengaluru-based legal website Indian Kanoon against a Madras High Court order asking it take to down a judgment that revealed the identity of a person who was acquitted in a rape and cheating case. Indian Kanoon’s counsel told the court that the law on the issue appears to be unclear because the high courts of Gujarat and Kerala have earlier ruled that there was no right to be forgotten in such cases. “There is a genuine question of law emerging from contradictory judgements from different high courts,” said lawyer Abiha Zaidi, appearing for the website. The bench, also comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, observed that courts sometimes order redaction of names in sensitive cases but pulling down the entire j u d g m e n t wo u l d b e f a rfetched. The bench said such a precedent would lead to a situation where the litigants in commercial disputes may say that the judgements be removed as they may reveal financial information about the litigating parties. In its plea, the legal website said the Madras HC order “adversely impacts the freedom of speech and expression of the petitioner and the public at large, guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution as well as the petitioner’s freedom of trade, occupation and profession.” There are no specific clauses in Indian laws to define the ‘right to be forgotten’. In August 2017, a nine-judge bench headed by then CJI J S Khehar had declared the right to privacy a fundamental right under Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution, adding that it would include the right to be forgotten and the right to be left alone. express read Jawan, terrorist killed in Kashmir encounter Kamala Harris launches campaign for top post Srinagar: A soldier and a terrorist were killed in an encounter in J&K’s Kupwara district, officials said on Wednesday. It happened as a joint team of the Army and the police were conducting a search after reports of terrorist presence | P7 Washington: US Vice-President Kamala Harris on Wednesday hit out at her Republican rival Donald Trump in the first rally of her campaign, saying the upcoming election was a choice between a former prosecutor and a convicted felon. Harris addressed supporters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin | P9 FTA insecy meets prime minister spotlight As U.K. foreign David Lammy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. “Our Free Trade Agreement negotiations is the floor, not the ceiling of our ambitions ,” Lammy said | P7 contributed `3.68 lakh crore to the Centre in the past five years, it got back just `1.68 lakh crore, the chief minister said. “For every rupee that Telangana contributes to the Centre, we are getting just 47 paisa in return. At the same time, Bihar is getting `7.26 for every rupee. Same is the case with Uttar Pradesh,” Revanth said. He said that he and his Cabinet colleagues, during their 18 visits to Delhi, clearly conveyed to the Centre to give funds for projects like the Musi Riverfront Development, Regional Ring Road, Metro Rail expansion etc., and sought permission for Pharma City to achieve the goal of `5 trillion economy . “However, our requests went in vain,” he said. ontinued on P4 c SP’s Akhilesh Yadav greets Sonia Gandhi during an Opposition protest alleging discrimination in the Budget | PTI Oppn says most states got a raw deal, walks out of RS Ra j e s h K u ma r T h ak u r @ New Delhi A day after the General Budget was presented, members of Opposition INDIA bloc, including Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, on Wednesday staged a brief walkout from the Rajya Sabha over the alleged neglect of most states except Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, in fund allocations. Leader of Opposition Kharge criticised Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for ignoring many states in the Budget, adding it was kursi bachao (save the chair) document. His remarks drew a sharp rebuttal from Sitharaman, who said never in the past had the names of all states been taken in the Budget, not even during the UPA rule. For example, Maharashtra was not named, but that did not prevent the Union Cabinet from approving the `76,000-crore Vadhavan port project in Dahanu in the state last month, she retorted. Mallikarjun Kharge’s mataji barb When Nirmala Sitharaman stood up to rebut, Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Let me speak... Mataji bolne mein toh expert hain, mujhe maloom hai. (Let me finish. Mataji is an expert in speaking, I am aware of that).” Rajya Sabha Charman Jagdeep Dhankar shot back saying Sitharaman, 64, was like a daughter to Kharge, 82 “This is a deliberate attempt of the Opposition, led by the Congress, to give an impression to people that ‘oh, nothing has been given to our states, it has only been given to two states’,” she said. It led to a brief Opposition walkout after which they returned to the House. In the second half of the session, Opposition members continued to describe the Budget as antifederal and anti-poor, with some demanding a white paper on the production-linked incentive scheme. Speaking on the Budget, former finance minister P Chidambaram cautioned the government against taking inflation lightly saying every , family is hit hard by price rise. He also wondered if the proposed employment-linked incentive (ELI) has been mooted as the existing PLI scheme failed to generate employment. Trinamool Congress member Jawhar Sircar alleged that the Budget had ignored West Bengal. “I have not seen such a lacklustre Budget. This is a Budget which is a fig leaf for plutocracy for a rule , by the rich,” he charged. Responding to the TMC charge, Sitharaman said several schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last 10 years for West Bengal have not been implemented in the state. Other members from the treasury benches termed the Budget a historic and aimed at giving a new impetus to development across the country BJP MP Deepak Prakash . said the Budget is a road map for a developed India. Alleging that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was emulating BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao when it comes to criticising the Centre, BJP state president G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday found fault with the state government for moving a resolution against the Union Budget. Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Kishan disputed Revanth’s statement that he visited Delhi several times for the sake of Telangana. “Revanth met Congress leaders more frequently than Union ministers,” he said. Reacting to Revanth’s statement that he would go on a fast unto death at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi if KCR joins him, Kishan said that it would be a decision that only KCR and Revanth should make. Reacting to Revanth’s decision to boycott the July 27 Niti Aayog meeting, the Union minister said that he was leaving it to the wisdom of the chief minister. “Leaders of both the Congress and the BRS cannot hide their failures and inefficiencies by blaming the BJP or the Union government,” Kishan said. He accused both the BRS and Congress of trying to blame the Centre for their failure to implement their promises by saying that it did not release any funds to the state in the last 10 years. “The fact is that the Centre gave `2 lakh crore as devolution of taxes to the state. The Centre gave `10 lakh crore for the development of the state in the last 10 years. The Centre gave `7,000 crore GST compensation,” Kishan said. He added that the Centre gave `2,500 crore under a special package for the development of backward areas, `1.10 lakh crore for the development of national highways and `31,000 crore for railway projects. continued on P4 `5,336 cr for rail projects in Telangana: Vaishnaw Express News Service @ Hyderabad Telangana has received a record allocation of `5,336 crore for railway projects in the 2024-25 Union Budget. This was disclosed by Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw during a virtual press conference from New Delhi. South Central Railway (SCR) general manager Arun Kumar Jain and other senior railway officials participated in the presser at Rail Nilayam, Secunderabad. Vaishnaw said that the average annual Budget outlay for undivided Andhra Pradesh during 2009-14 was `886 crore, thus making the current allocation for Telangana six times higher. For the year 2024-25, Indian Railways has been allocated a total of `2,62,000 crore, with `1.09 lakh crore earmarked for safety-related activities, the Union minister said. “The goal is to make Indian Railways world-class,” he said. Vaishnaw said that the total cost of ongoing railway projects (new tracks) in Telangana is `32,946 crore. “The state’s rail- way network is now fully electrified. Over the past decade, an average of 65 km of new railway tracks have been laid annually, compared to 17 km per year during 2009-14. Additionally, 437 RoBs (Road Over Bridges) and RuBs (Road Under Bridges) have been constructed to enhance safety he said. ,” 40 railway stations in TG to be developed Vaishnaw said that 40 railway stations in Telangana are being redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. These 40 stations are: Adilabad, Basar, Begumpet, Bhadrachalam Road, Gadwal, Hafizpet, Hitec City, Uppuguda, Hyderabad, Jadcherla, Jang aon, Kacheguda, Kamareddy, Karimnagar, Kazipet Jn, Khammam, Lingampally, Madhira, Mahabubabad, Mahbubnagar, Malakpet, Malkajgiri Junction, Mancherial, Medak, Medchal, Miryalaguda, Nalgonda, Nizamabad Junction, Peddapalli Junction, Ramagundam, Secunderabad, Shadnagar, Jogulamba, Tandur, Umdanagar, Vikarabad, Warangal, Yadadri, Yakutpura and Zaheerabad.
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