HYDERABAD  SATURDAY  AUGUST 31, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION VISTARA TO MERGE WITH AIR INDIA FROM NOV 12, DEAL GETS GOVT NOD Singapore Airlines (SIA) said the Indian govt has cleared its `2,058.50 crore FDI into the enlarged Air India Group as part of Vistara-Air India merger NO IMMEDIATE CHANGE IN SCHEDULE, AIRCRAFT CONCERNS OVER SERVICE POST-MERGER From September 3, those trying to book Vistara for travel on November 12 or beyond will be redirected to Air India’s website. Customers who have already booked Vistara will automatically have their reservations converted to Air India flight numbers. Though flight numbers will change, the aircraft fleet, flight schedules, and crews will largely remain the same till early 2025 ■ Vistara, which has 90 aircraft, is known for its excellent service quality and in-flight experience, while Air India gets panned for its older planes and disruptions due to crew shortage. Industry experts have flagged concerns whether Air India will be able to match up to Vistara’s high standards ■ The merger will create one of the world’s largest airline groups | P10 25.1% STAKE SINGAPORE AIRLINES WILL GET FOR INVESTING `2,058.5 CR IN AIR INDIA GROUP 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 Those who consider Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as their deity and have been deeply hurt, I bow my head and apologise to them Narendra Modi, prime minister Modi apologises over collapse of Shivaji’s statue Takes a swipe at Rahul Gandhi for insulting Veer Savarkar, another son of the land S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai Visited Raigad in 2013: PM “In 2013, when my party projected me as the prime ministerial candidate, the first thing I did was to visit Raigad Fort. I bowed before Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue and sought his blessings,” Modi recalled in his address at Palghar Shinde, Ajit said sorry A few days ago, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Ajit Pawar had extended their apology. However, the Opposition continues to demand Shinde’s resignation WITH assembly elections in Maharashtra around the corner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sought to limit the political damage caused by the recent collapse of a 35-ft statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the state, by apologising to the legendary ruler and all those who were hurt by it. Modi had inaugurated the statue at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg district on December 4, 2023, on the occasion of Navy Day . The prime minister was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of the `76,000-crore Vadhvan Port project in Palghar district located adjoining Mumbai. “The moment I landed here, I first apologised to Shivaji over the statue collapse. I also apologise to the people who were hurt by the collapse,” he said. “Those who consider Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as their deity and have been deeply hurt, I bow my head and apologise to them. For us, nothing is bigger than our deity he added. ,” The statue was erected to honour the legacy of the Maratha Navy and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj towards pioneering maritime defence and security and its historical linkage with the mod, ern Indian Navy . Modi also took a swipe at the Opposition for insulting and abusing another famous son of the land, Veer Savarkar. “Our values are different, we are not those who keep abusing and insulting the great son of Mother India, the son of this land, Veer Savarkar. They are not ready to apologise, they are ready to go to the courts and fight,” he added, taking potshots at Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. However, the Opposition said there can be no pardon for the corruption in the construction of the statue. NCP (SP) president Jayant Patil said that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj never condoned corruption and negligence. “Maharashtra follows the path shown by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. So, sir (Modi), Maharashtra will not forgive this mistake. The people who are responsible for this lapse will have to face punishment,” Patil said. Hyd should be AI capital, beat B’luru: Sridhar Babu EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad TOO much hype about tech was created during the 10 years of BRS rule, but not much work was done, said Telangana IT & Industries Minister Sridhar Babu. In his first major interview since taking charge of the IT department, he acknowledged to TNIE that there was a big gap between Hyderabad and Bengaluru currently and said the state has to ultimately beat Karnataka in software exports. “Hyderabad is trying to invite AI players. This is where we must take a leap before some other state or country does so,” the minister said. Speaking at TNIE’s latest edition of Hyderabad Dialogues, Sridhar Babu revealed that the government will introduce Telangana’s first MSME policy in POOR performance of the agriculture and services sectors pulled down India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the April-June 2024 quarter to a 15-month low of 6.7%, against 8.2% in the yearago period, government data released on Friday showed. The agriculture sector registered a 2% growth during April-June 2024, down from 3.7% in the same quarter a year ago. Trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting moderated to 5.7% from 9.7%, as per data released by the National Statistical Office. The NSO data also indicated that India’s gross value added or GVA, which measures the TG GOVT TO INTRODUCE THREE NEW POLICIES on temple tourism, ecotourism and health tourism, also build a new zoo on 1,000 acres outside Hyd | P4 growth in supply by subtracting net product taxes from GDP , showcased a 6.8% growth rate in the April-June quarter. The latest GDP growth rate is less than the Reserve Bank of India’s estimate of 7.1% for the same period and also lowest in the past five quarters. Explaining the dip, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said it could be due to reduced government spending during the general elections. “Growth momentum has remained strong, with the slowdown in the first quarter anticipated due to elections and less spending by the Government ,” he said. The CEA noted that the final consumption expenditure and IT & Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu gestures while speaking at TNIE’s latest edition of Hyderabad Dialogues | SRI LOGANATHAN VELMURUGAN Now, all the disruptive technologies are playing a major role – AI, data analytics, cybersecurity … In some field, we have to take the lead. That’s the reason we chose AI. The best of grey matter is here in Hyderabad – D Sridhar Babu, IT & Industries minister ITIs. After seeing one of TNIE’s reports on ITIs, I spoke to the labour commissioner. He told me that the articles will be rebutted after two years.” He noted that the state was STRONG WORDS Era of non-stop talks with Pak over: EAM Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi Avani Lekhara celebrates her gold medal with coach Suma Shirur at Chateaurous on Friday | AP SHOOTING FOR THE STARS 10th INDIA ARE 10TH ON THE OVERALL STANDINGS India also won a silver medal through Manish Narwal in the men’s 10m air pistol (SH1) final at Chateauroux AVANI’S HISTORIC GOLD Avani Lekhara became the first Indian to win two successive Paralympic gold medals with a recordbreaking performance. She bettered her Olympic record set in Tokyo to finish ahead of South Korea’s Lee Yunri. Mona Agarwal won bronze on her maiden Paralympics in SH1 air rifle | P11 ATHLETE ON TRACK India won their first track medal at the Paralympics in Paris when Preethi Pal finished third in T35 category GDP GROWTH SLIPS TO 15-MONTH LOW IN Q1 M O N I K A YA D A V @ New Delhi September. “Its final draft is almost ready and it is now being vetted by our ministry and also the chief minister,” he stated. A new energy policy that encourages green energy and a new industrial policy are also in the works, Sridhar Babu said. Reiterating that Telangana would fill two lakh government jobs, the minister pointed out that since nearly 30 lakh people need employment, only the private sector can provide them jobs. “There, we noticed a skill gap and we are fixing it to ensure at least 70–80% of them get jobs,” he disclosed, referring to the recently created Young India Skill University . Responding to this newspaper’s series of articles on the deplorable condition of Industrial Training Institutes across the state, the minister said, “We have just started and are infusing about `2,400 crore in net exports have remained resilient, even as the growth rate in agriculture and livestock sectors appears to be reaching its lowest point. Nageswaran said India is positioned to achieve a GDP growth of 6.5-7% in FY25, as projected in the Economic Survey. He added that growth exceeding 7% is attainable, especially since the Budget includes measures to enhance employment generation. According to the CEA, a decrease in net FDI does not indicate a lack of confidence in the Indian economy; rather, it reflects profitable exits in FY24. This trend should serve as an encouragement for future investment, he observed. EXPRESS READ HYDRAA demolishes bar, shops built on nala Sikhs urge CM to ban Kangana’s ‘Emergency’ Hyderabad: HYDRAA officials on Friday demolished structures including shops, a toddy compound, a bar and a restaurant, which were allegedly built on a storm water drain (nala) and a public road at Ram Nagar in Hyderabad | P2 Hyderabad: Md Ali Shabbir, adviser to the state government, on Friday said that the chief minister has assured the Sikh community that the government would consider banning the release of the film “Emergency” pending legal consultation | P2 SEC 40 OMISSION JD(U), TDP join Oppn walkout from Waqf JPC P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi THE second Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Friday ran into rough weather after Opposition MPs and the ruling NDA allies staged a walkout over several amendments in the proposed legislation. Sources said the Opposition walked out after officials of the minority affairs ministry failed to provide satisfactory replies regarding the pro- MAKING posed omission of Section A POINT 40 from the Waqf Act 1995, Along with TDP which currently allows and JD(U), Waqf boards to decide if a Congress, DMK, property is a Waqf or not. & AAP walked The Opposition also al- out of the leged that the government meeting. AIMIM was trying to mislead the MP Asaduddin public by giving misinfor- Owaisi too mation regarding the bill. joined the Sources said DMK’s A Opposition Raja questioned the govern- walkout. ment’s intention to remove Section 40, which was included by amending the Waqf Act 1995 in 2013 under the Manmohan Singh government. As per Section 40 of the Waqf Act 1995 (as amended in 2013), the state Waqf Board is empowered to decide any question that arises as to whether a particular property is a Waqf property or not. “An amendment passed by Parliament included Section 40 in the law. How can the government overrule the law?” Raja asked. THE era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is over, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday Speaking at a book launch here, he said all actions— . positive or negative—will have consequences, adding that nobody can expect India to remain a silent spectator in matters concerning its core national interests. “As far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, Article 370 is done. India is not passive and whether events take a positive or negative direction – either way we react,” Jaishankar said while speaking at the release of former ambassador Rajiv Sikri’s book, Strategic Conundrums: Reshaping India’s Foreign Policy. Commenting on the turmoil in India’s neighbourhood, he said neighbours are “always a conundrum” and so are “major powers”. He went on to explain that major powers are challenging because of their broad interests. Their agendas will sometimes align with India but can also differ, he said, adding that mature countries work their way around such complexities. planning another skill initiative that would guarantee jobs to around 10,000 students in the BFSI sector. “CM [Revanth Reddy] and I have asked a BFSI consortium to include a curriculum module in the second year of BCom and engineering programmes, with their teaching staff coming and training the students. After getting to know about this, the Karnataka government too has started it,” Sridhar Babu disclosed. Responding to criticism over the deal with Swachh Bio, signed during his recent US trip, he alleged a controversy has been created for political reasons. He revealed: “When our officers did due diligence, they found that this company has got eight patents over the past 17 years. They have got a new technology that is not there in the world in terms of producing ethanol.” INTERVIEW ON P3 SC order: CM regrets remarks EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad A day after the Supreme Court expressed its strong objection, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday expressed “unconditional regret” for his remarks on the bail granted to BRS MLC K Kavitha that he said were taken out of context. Revanth reiterated his “highest regard and full faith” in the judiciary. “I understand that certain press reports ... containing comments attributed to me have given the impression that I am questioning the judicial wisdom of the Hon’ble Court (sic)”, Revanth tweeted. “I unconditionally express my regret for the statements reflected in the press reports (sic)”, he tweeted.