Lakshya Sen tirupati l thursday l august 01, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Lakshya and Kusale victories headline India’s day at the Games Shuttler Lakshya Sen overpowered Indonesia’s world number 3 Jonatan Christie while Swapnil Kusale entered 50 m rifle 3 positions final Chance for another medal in shooting India’s third medal at Paris Olympics could also come in shooting with Swapnil Kusale qualifying for the finals of 50m rifle 3 positions. While Aishwary Pratap Tomar missed out, Kusale has a chance to add to India’s tally in the final on Thursday. Meanwhile, boxer Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg) advanced to the quarterfinals and is one win away from securing a medal ■ 2nd Laskhya, Sindhu enter Round of 16 ■ Despite being in a must-win position, Lakshya Sen was not flustered. That he was up against World No 3 Jonatan Christie didn’t matter. In a contest that lasted less than an hour, Sen cruised past the reigning All England and Asian champion 21-18, 21-12 to enter the pre-quarters P V Sindhu, beat Kristin Kuuba 21-5 21-10 to reach last 16 | P11 Consecutive gold for New Zealand women in Rugby sevens event 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 Ordinance for `1.29L crore vote on account issued E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada An aerial view of Chooralmala, part of which was wiped off in Tuesday’s landslides; rescue workers could be seen looking for signs of life beneath the slush | Governor S Abdul Nazeer on Wednesday promulgated the Andhra Pradesh Appropriation (Vote-on-Account No.2) Ordinance, 2024 with an outlay of `1.29 lakh crore for four months from August 1 to November 30. Grants for 40 gover nment departments have been earmarked in the Ordinance. Although the Ordinance has been issued till the end of November, sources said the government will table the full Budget in the Legislative Assembly in September itself. This is the second such ordinance issued in the current financial year. Ahead of the elections, Budget Estimates (Vote-on-Account) for financial year 2024-25 were presented and approved in the State Legislature in February to in- S Senbagapandiyan 249 and counting 1,500 rescued so far; 240 people still missing Almost 90% of houses in Mundakkai destroyed toll could go up as time runs out for rescue M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n @ Chooralmala FLATTENED houses, mangled vehicles, huge boulders, uprooted trees, and mud and slush everywhere. The twin Wayanad villages of Chooralmala and Mundakkai resemble graveyards after two landslides ripped through them in the early hours of Tuesday . According to sources, the toll has touched 249. And around 240 are missing. Their relatives wait in anguish as scores of rescue workers continue wading through knee-deep slush searching for signs of life. In Mundakkai, around 90% of the houses have been destroyed; they are filled with heaps of mud. The villagers were asleep when the mountains came crashing down, bringing torrents of mud, water and boulders. They didn’t have a chance to escape. The debris crashed into houses and buried them. The village, which was known for its scenic beauty and the green canopy is now , filled with mud. There is no trace of any greenery . The feet sink as one steps into the courtyards of houses. There are many open wells in the area that have been filled with mud, caution rescue workers. Death lurks around every corner and one reckless step can be costly . The Army, Navy, National Disaster Response Force, Coast Guard, Fire Force, Police, Civil Defence Force, and volunteers of NGOs are risking their own lives as they search for survivors in the slush. On Wednesday, the rescue workers brought 19 people who were stranded at a resort in Mundakkai to the relief centre and retrieved five bodies. In all, 1,500 people were saved from landslide-hit areas. However, their job is not over as many are missing and the task gets tougher as they reach remote areas. The rescue workers, most of them volunteers, are fighting inclement weather and hostile terrain. “My wife and eight other family members are missing,” said Soman of Mandapathil house in Mundakkai. “The house lies buried,” he said. “We are removing the debris of collapsed houses to search for missing persons. Trained dogs of the K9 squad have helped identify four spots,” said ADGP M R Ajithkumar. Wayanad received 7% of its seasonal rainfall on July 30 Grants Made in Advance for estimated expenditure Revenue Kerala govt ignored our alerts: Shah The Centre had sent multiple warnings about floods and landslides, starting as early as July 23, but the Kerala government ignored them, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday in Parliament There was no warning: Pinarayi Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said only an orange alert was issued and the actual rainfall was much higher than forecast. He said a red alert was issued after the landslides Hamas’ political chief Haniyeh killed @ Vijayawada `2015,22,76,000 `2017,76,93,000 School Education `9875,25,43,000 `1458,37,24,000 Higher Education `736,05,98,000 `141,03,58,000 Skill Development and Training `606,64,25,000 `8183,84,000 Medical and Health `6782,02,89,000 `198,12,61,000 `32,000 crore GST notice shock for Infy U m a K a nn a n @ Bengaluru Top: A mother and daughter at a relief camp; Above: People searching for their belongings | A Sanesh / S Senbagapandiyan Infosys, the second largest IT services company in the country has been slapped with `32,403 crore GST evasion notice by , the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). The preshow cause notice is for non-payment of GST from July 2017 to March 2022 towards expenses incurred by its overseas branch offices. The company in a BSE filing said Karnataka State GST authorities first issued a notice. Subsequently Infy received a no, tice from DGGI. According to the notice viewed by this paper, “Infosys Ltd, Bengaluru is liable to pay IGST (Integrated Goods and Services Tax) under reverse charge mechanism on supplies received from branches located outside India to the tune of `32,403.46 crores for the period 2017-18 (July 2017 onwards) to 2021-22.” In its filing, Infosys said, “The Company believes that as per regulations, GST is not applicable on these expenses. Additionally, as per a recent Circular issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on the recommendations of the GST Council, services provided by the overseas branches to Indian entity are not subject to GST.” Infosys paid all its GST dues, the company added. Formulate new policies for 5 sectors within 100 days, Naidu tells officials A g en c i e s In the most significant blow to Hamas since the start of the ongoing war in Gaza, its political chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran on Wednesday . Iran said Israel was behind the predawn airstrike that killed him. Israel is yet to comment. Just a day earlier, Haniyeh had attended Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration in Tehran. The assassination follows an Israeli attack on Beirut targeting a Hezbollah commander, who is said to have ordered a rocket attack that killed 12 children in Golan Heights. The attacks on two regional capitals have heightened fears of a wider conflict. “We consider it our duty to seek revenge for his blood,” Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. Full coverage on P9  E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday directed officials to roll out new policies in five sectors — Industries, MSMEs, Food Processing, Textiles, and Electronics, IT and Cloud — in the next 100 days. Instructing officials to create a favourable atmosphere for attracting investments through better policies, Naidu said the new policies should focus on turning the State into a hub for green hydrogen and green energy . During a meeting held at the State Secretariat to review the Industries Department, the Chief Minister also asked officials to prepare proposals to set up industrial clusters at Kuppam in Chittoor district, Moolapeta in Srikakulam district, Lepakshi in Sri Sathya Sai district, Donakonda or Pamuru in Proposals for four industrial clusters Officials were directed to prepare proposals to set up industrial clusters at Kuppam in Chittoor, Moolapeta in Srikakulam, Lepakshi in Sri Sathya Sai, Donakonda or Pamuru in Prakasam district Prakasam district, and seek the Central government’s approval for the same. Further, he advised them to set up units for electronics, phar ma, food processing and hardware in these clusters. He took stock of the progress of Krishnapatnam, Nakkapalli, Orvakal and Kopparthy industrial nodes and also enquired about the status of the bulk drug park, which is set to come up at Nakkapalli with an estimated cost of `11,542 crore, the `60,000-crore NTPC Green Hydrogen Hub and the BPCL refinery . Pointing out that investment agreements to the tune of `16 lakh crore were inked during the TDP regime from 2014-19, Naidu said the investors withdrew their proposal because of policies adopted by the previous YSRC government. Underscoring the need to instill confidence among the investors, he directed officials to hold consultations with investors, who reneged from investP4 ing in the State.  Capital Roads and Buildings J IT E N DRA CHO U B E y @ New Delhi Wayanad received extreme rainfall in the few days prior to Tuesday’s landslide, according to data released by India Meteorological Department. An analysis of the data shows that the district received as much as 7% of its entire seasonal rainfall in 24 hours (from Monday morning to Tuesday morning) and 21% of the total seasonal rainfall in the past two weeks. The district, which had been facing deficient rainfall since the arrival of the Southwest monsoon, dramatically jumped to the ‘normal rainfall’ category due to the extreme rainfall in the 24 hours between July 29 (Monday) and July 30 (Tuesday). For example, on July 28 (Sunday), the district received only 9 mm rainfall, which was 73% lesser than that day’s normal (32.9 mm) rainfall. In contrast, the next day on , July 29 (Monday), it received a whopping 141.9 mm of rainfall, which was 493% above the daily normal rainfall. Wayanad’s annual average rainfall is 2,800 mm while the Southwest monsoon’s seasonal average rainfall (June-September) in the district is 2,464.7 mm. It means, the total precipitation from July 29 morning to July 30 morning was 6% of the annual precipitation and around 7% of the seasonal precipitation. The unusually high rainfall in such a short span of time could have contributed to the landslide. cur expenditure for the first four months of the current fiscal (April, 1, 2024 to 31 July , 2024). Approval of the Legislature was to be obtained for full Budget for FY2024-25 before July 31, 2024 so that the State government can incur expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the State from August 1, 2024 onwards. However, the new government has sought more time to table the full Budget as the Finance Department is finalising the liabilities and also resources in the State in coordination with revenue department. In order to facilitate the departments to draw the money , the vote on account was approved and an Ordinance was issued to appropriate money from the Consolidated Fund of the State for meeting the expenditure in the State for the period four months. Prasant Madugula express read Buggana flays govt for ordinance route Vijayawada: Former Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath criticised the TDP-led government for taking the ordinance route for vote-on-account Budget. He said, “Normally when the elections are scheduled during the financial year, a vote on account is passed for the period up to the date of formation of the new government. Else, a vote on account is passed only in exceptional circumstances” |P4 bumpy ride Commuters try to negotiate the massive potholes near Tadepalli in Guntur district on Wednesday. The service road is crucial as it is the only option that commuters have to travel between Vijayawada and Repalle. Rains lashing the city for the past two days have only exacerbated the plight of the motorists According to the Met department, Mangalagiri in Guntur district and Chintalapudi in Eluru district recorded 3 cm rainfall in the last 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday. People have been asked to stay alert as thunderstorm & gusty winds are likely in parts of the State on Thursday 96 DSP rank police officers transferred Vijayawada: In a major rejig of police officials at the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) rank, DGP Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao on Wednesday transferred 96 officials in the State. In all, 57 officials were asked to report to the Police Headquarters for further posting. The Police Establishment Board went through the records and service particulars, and recommended the transfers and postings | P4