hyderabad l tuesday l september 03, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Govt summons netflix content head amid row over IC-814 series The Netflix series on the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight triggered an uproar over Hindu names of two of the hijackers Explanation to be sought on alleged distortion Several social media users claimed the makers of IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack changed the names of the hijackers to ‘Shankar’ and ‘Bhola’ to play down their Muslim identity. Many also criticised the series for its “humane projection” of the terrorists. Sources said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will seek an explanation on these aspects from the content head of Netflix India | p7 ■ IC-814 ‘Can’t play with sentiments of people’ ■ Reacting sharply, a senior I&B ministry official said, “Nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the people of this nation.” The official added that the OTT platform might be asked to make changes Makers of the series said the terrorists who hijacked the Indian Airlines flight had used code names, with Bhola and Shankar being two of them was hijacked by Pak-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen 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 true extent of catastrophe emerges as rains abate summing up Thousands of families begin to come to grips with nature’s fury even as flood water recedes B S at ya n a r aya n a R e d d y & u m a h e s h @ Khammam/ Kesamudram For the residents of 15 colonies along the Munneru river in Khammam, life has turned upside-down in a matter of days as they struggle with the aftermath of sudden rains and severe flooding since Sunday . Thousands of families have been displaced, and the damage is estimated to be in hundreds of crores. Many residents, forced to flee to relief camps, left behind their homes and belongings which were swept away in the floodwaters. Fear of further calamities has left many unable to sleep at night. Approximately 10,000 families in these colonies have been severely impacted. The situation in Kesamudram mandal of Mahabubabad district is no different. Erstwhile Khammam and Warangal districts have been the worst hit by the rains. In Kesamudram mandal, groups of women were seen sitting outside their homes, discussing their losses while others were busy cleaning their homes. Men were seen lifting garbage with their tractors and dumping it on the outskirts of the mandal headquarters. Locals, like J Prem Kumar, a INSIDE garment merchant, said that they suffered huge losses. “Floodwaters entered my shop, ruining cloth material worth around `2.5 lakh,” he said, pointing to his submerged store. The government has initiated rescue and relief operations, setting up 34 relief camps in Khammam, where around 7,000 individuals from 2,119 families have sought shelter. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force and state police are conducting search operations in affected areas to find persons washed away in the floodwaters. In Khammam, most of the victims of the floods are poor. Unless they work, they cannot keep the wolf away from the door. They alleged that they were living in miserable conditions because the government had not put in place any mechanism to warn them in advance of any impending natural calamity . An elderly resident, reflecting on the scale of the disaster, said, “I have never seen floods of this magnitude in my 70 years. We cannot even cook food as mud has filled our homes. The future feels uncertain, and we have lost everything.”  continued on p5 16 is the 110 reliefand death camps toll while crops in established 4.15 lakh acres were damaged as per initial estimates more than 4,000 people shifted to these camps I extend my deepest condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones. I urge Congress workers to mobilise all available resources to support the ongoing relief and rescue efforts. I urge the Centre to swiftly provide comprehensive rehabilitation packages for the flood-affected Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Over 140 trains cancelled n  least one track on the At Intakanne-Kesamudram section which is part of the Delhi-Chennai grand trunk route likely to be restored by Tuesday evening `5 lakh eachuptoofthe `4 next of kin the flood victims, from lakh in earlier instances n  Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway cleared, traffic movement resumes n  immediate relief activities, For `5 crore each released to worst affected Khammam, Suryapet, Bhadradri-Kothagudem and Mahabubabad districts of the 42 gates 40 oflocated in Sriramsagar Project Mendora of Nizamabad lifted n  govt decides to create State Telangana Disaster Response Force on the lines of the NDRF to tackle natural calamities like floods n yellow alert remains in A effect for Tuesday, warning of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds at isolated places in Adilabad, Kumurambheem-Asifabad, Mancherial, Peddapalli, Jayashankar-Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Khammam, Suryapet and Mahabubabad districts It’s a national calamity, CM tells Modi E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad Khammam residents, top, remove a 3-ft thick layer of silt from their home; Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy interacts with flood victims in the city on Monday Locals blame encroachments for floods I P2 Urging the Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the floods as a national calamity that has resulted in loss of life and crops in lakhs of acres, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday asked the Centre to release `2,000 crore as immediate assistance. Revealing that as per preliminary estimates, crops and property worth `5,438 crore were damaged due to heavy rains and resultant floods, he directed Chief Secretary San- Godavari projects receive bountiful inflows I P4 thi Kumari to write to the PM asking him to undertake a visit to flood-af fected areas in Telangana. The chief minister chaired a review meeting in the Integrated Command and Control Center with available ministers and officials of various departments. After the meeting, he left for the flood-affected areas in Khammam and Suryapet districts. In Suryapet, Revanth’s first halt was at Mothe which has borne the brunt of the floods in the district. He inspected the damaged roads and crops along with ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy . From Mothe, Revanth proceeded to Khammam, which is the worst-affected district. In Khammam, the chief minister first visited the breached Palair Left Canal and inspected the damaged crops along with his Cabinet colleagues, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and Thummala Nageswara Rao. He also inspected the damages in various colonies in Khammam and spoke to the residents and rain victims.  continued on p4 Death toll in AP @ 17 as relief ops gather pace I P5 Ahead of crucial state polls, RSS backs caste census, but with a rider Cabinet OKs 7 farm schemes S h ya m P V @ Palakkad E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi inside Ahead of the crucial Haryana and J&K elections, the Centre on Monday approved seven new schemes to improve farmers’ lives and increase their incomes with a total outlay of `14,235.30 crore. As for Maharashtra, which will go to polls in the next few months, the Union Cabinet approved a new Railway line between Mumbai’s Malad and Indore covering 309 km at a cost of `18,036 crore. The Centre also approved a proposal of Kaynes Semicon Pvt Ltd to set up a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat. The seven schemes for the farmers are Digital Agriculture Mission, Crop Science for Food and Nutritional Security, Strengthening Agricultural Education, Management and Social Sciences, Sustainable livestock health and production, Sustainable development of Horticulture, Strengthening of Krishi Vigyan Kendra and Natural Resource Management. Briefing the media, Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, the objective of the Digital Agriculture CBI arrests former principal of RG Kar in corruption case I P8 The semiconductor plant by Kaynes will come up in 46 acres in Sanand. It is a big plant and a large portion of the production will go for Kaynes Industries —Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister kaynes plant can churn out 63L chips a day The Kaynes semiconductor plant with an investment of `3,307 crore can produce as many as 63 lakh chips per day. It is the fourth semiconductor plant in Gujarat. Its chips will cater to a wide variety of applications, including industrial, automotive, electric vehicles, consumer electronics, telecom and mobile phones, Vaishnaw said | P10 Mission is to create a digital database related to soil profile, digital crop estimation, and yield modelling. “It also facilitates crop loans with use of modern technologies like AI and big data and helps connect farmers with buyers and bring new knowledge on mobile phones.” The scheme on Crop Science for Food and Nutritional Security with a , total outlay of `3,979 crore, would prepare farmers for climate resilience and provide for food security by 2047. As for the railway line between Manmad and Indore, the Russian missile barrage ahead in ukraine I P9 project will require more than a crore human days and will be completed in the next eight years. It is expected to significantly enhance connectivity across key regions in Maharashtra and MP, Vaishnaw said. “Manmad-Indore rail line will currently be built as single track, but it is being designed in such a way that in future it would easily be converted into double line,” he said. “The project will generate 12 lakh employment. We are looking at connecting it to the hinterland in Maharashtra, MP and UP.” when kargil soldiers helped nitesh play I P11 IN a clear message to the BJP which is yet to declare its stance on the contentious caste census issue, the RSS said on Monday that it has no objection to collecting data on specific communities or castes to ensure effective delivery of social welfare schemes. However, the Sangh Parivar fountainhead added a rider: “Don’t use the census data as a political tool.” The RSS statement comes amid extensive campaigning by the opposition parties led by the Congress seeking a nationwide caste census. Addressing the media after Samanway Baithak, a three-day national coordination conclave, in Kerala’s Palakkad, RSS publicity in-charge Sunil Ambekar said: “The RSS thinks that for all welfare activities, particularly those targeting such communities or castes which are lagging behind... if the government needs the numbers, it is a wellestablished practice. But it should be done only for the wel- fare of those communities and castes. It should not be used as a political tool for elections. So we put this forth with a line of caution for everyone.” As a Hindu society, caste and caste relations are sensitive issues in India, he said. “It is an important issue for our national unity and integrity. The RSS and our affiliated organisations have always kept the national interest first. So, the caste census should be dealt with very sensitively and not on the basis of elections or electoral practices and politics,” he added. Ambekar said the Sangh Parivar organisations have noticed a large number of religious conversions in Tamil Nadu by missionaries. “It’s very worrisome. We will conduct a ground study and formulate a strategy,” he added. The conclave condemned the rape and murder of a female doctor in a Kolkata hospital. It was necessary to revisit laws and penal actions to expedite swift justice for women who suffer atrocities, he said. SC: Guidelines soon on bulldozer justice S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi lost & found A bronze statue ‘Diana of Versaille’ found in the wreckage of Titanic that sank in the Atlantic in 1912 | AP | P9 The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the practice of ‘bulldozer justice’ in some states, wherein properties of the accused or those convicted in criminal cases are demolished, saying even if a person is convicted, his or her property cannot be demolished without following the procedure prescribed by the law. The top court said it will soon lay down guidelines on the issue. “How can anybody’s house be demolished just because he is an accused? Even if he is a convict, it (house) can’t be de- molished. Even after telling SC Bar, we don’t find any change in attitude,” a two-judge bench comprising justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said. The bench was hearing a joint petition filed by Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind and others seeking directions to various state governments to ensure no further demolition of properties of those accused in cases of rioting and violence takes place. Senior advocate Chander Uday Singh, appearing for one of the petitioners, said even properties rented out have been demolished. He highlighted that some houses were destroyed because the tenant was involved in a criminal case. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, referred to an earlier affidavit filed by the state in the matter. Mehta said the state has said that demolition of immovable property can take place “only for violation of and in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the respective applicable municipal law or law governing development authorities of the area”. Responding to this, the court said, “You are saying demolition only if violation of municipal laws. There is a need for guidelines, it needs to be documented,” the bench said, adding it will not protect any unauthorised construction.