visakhapatnam l thursday l july 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 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 Probe into liquor ‘scam’ in YSRC regime open the Chinese FDI tap E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada 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. IndiA Bloc leaders `2,047 cr rail back YSRC protest line project budget boon for Amaravati E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada A new railway line to Amaravati costing `2,047 crore has received clearance from NITI Aayog, revealed Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw. Briefing media about the allocations made to Andhra Pradesh in the Union Budget for 2024-25 on Wednesday, he said the 56-km railway line will be laid across River Krishna from Vijayawada to Nambur in Amaravati. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu met a host of Union ministers, and sought funds for various projects in the State, including Amaravati. Apart from `15,000 crore financial assistance, the railway line to Amaravati will further expedite the pace of development of the State capital. Highlighting the allocations made to AP, Ashwini Vaishnaw said the total budgetary allocation for railways is a staggering `9,151 crore for the year 2024-25. “The annual average budget outlay for the erstwhile combined AP during 2009-14 was `886 crore only The . budget allocation to AP has been witnessing a sustained increase with current fiscal allocation being almost 10 times the average allocation made during 2009-14 for the combined AP he highlighted. ,’’ The ongoing railway projects (new tracks) in Andhra Pradesh are worth `73,743 crore. The rail line network in Andhra Pradesh is now 100% electrified. As many as 73 railway stations in AP are being redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat station scheme,” he said. Prominent stations that will be developed under the scheme are Vijayawada, Vizag, Vizianagaram, Tirupati, Ongole, Guntur and Kuppam, he added. E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada/ New Delhi In a move that triggered speculation that the INDI Alliance partners are trying to take the YSRC into their fold, a host of INDI Alliance parties, barring the Congress extended their support to the protest organised by the YSRC against the TDP-led Andhra Pradesh government in New Delhi on Tuesday How. ever, YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy did not make any announcement in this regard. Samajwadi Par ty chief Akhilesh Yadav was the first to attend the protest and strongly condemned the ongoing violence against YSRC workers ‘perpetrated’ by TDP supporters. Shiv Sena (UBT), AIADMK and Trinamool Congress leaders also extended their support to Jagan. Condemning the violence, Akhilesh Yadav expressed his gratitude to Jagan for inviting him. The TDP’s actions are an attempt to instil fear among the people of AP by targeting YSRC workers,’’ he alleged. Speaking at the protest, Jagan said Andhra Pradesh has witnessed a series of unprecedented atrocities under the TDP government in the last 45 P4 days. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav with YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at the protest staged by the latter in New Delhi on Wednesday | Parveen Negi The State government has decided to order a probe into the alleged large scale irregularities that took place in the sale of liquor in Andhra Pradesh during the previous YSRC regime from 2019 to 2024. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced it in the State Legislative Assembly after presenting a white paper on the Excise Policy and the discussion that followed, when members of the House demanded a detailed probe into the liquor sale fraud, which they said could run into several thousands of crores. The Chief Minister assured the House that a detailed probe by CB-CID will be ordered, and the Enforcement Directorate will be entrusted with the task if needed as the total loss due to the previous government’s excise policy was pegged at `18,860.51 crore. At length he explained how the previous dispensation had resorted to intimidation tactics to take over the liquor sale, monopolise production and marketing of inferior quality liquor, posing a severe risk to public health. Haryana wants award for cops who stopped farm protest Ha r p r e e t b a j w a @ Chandigarh 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 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 re- vealed 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 t o b e fo r g o t t e n i n s u ch 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 judgment would be far-fetched. 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 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. 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. express read Can accused seek removal of verdict after acquittal? @ New Delhi The AP Legislative Assembly on Wednesday passed the bill to repeal the Andhra Pradesh Land Titling Act, 2022 and also another bill to restore the name of Dr NTR University of Health Sciences to Dr YSR University of Health Sciences MHA poser Right to be forgotten S u c h i t r a K alyan M o h an t y Assembly passes bill to repeal Land Titling Act “Strong-arm tactics were adopted to take over the distilleries by the previous regime, and MNC brands were chased out of the State,” he said. Naidu said there were allegations of extortion at every level. It was reported that `200 per case of liquor and `50 per case of beer sold were extorted, and the estimated illegal collection in this manner was `3,113 crore. He said what is more worrying was the fact that digital payments were replaced by monetary transactions, contrary to the practice adopted P4 across the country . 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. Jawan, terrorist killed in Kashmir encounter Centre permits sale of excess tobacco in AP 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 Vijayawada: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has approved the sale of the excess Flue Cured Virginia tobacco produced by registered growers at the auction platforms in Andhra Pradesh for 2023-24 crop season. It will benefit a large number of tobacco farmers 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
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25-07-2024 of The New Indian Express-Vishakapatnam