HYDERABAD  WEDNESDAY  SEPTEMBER 04, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION BENGALURU FIRM TESTS INDIA’S FIRST INDIGENOUS COMBAT DRONE Flying Wedge Defence and Aerospace announced the successful maiden flight of indigenous unmanned bomber aircraft, the FWD 200B ARMED WITH MISSILE-LIKE WEAPONS Classified as a Medium Altitude (15,000 feet) Long Endurance Combat Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, FWD 200B is equipped with optical payloads for surveillance and missile-like weapons for air strikes and bombing, the firm’s founder-CEO Suhas Tejaskanda said. It has a wingspan of 5 metres, length of 3.5 metres, maximum take-off weight of 102 kg & payload capacity of 30 kg 12,000 sq ft CAN FLY NON-STOP FOR 7 HRS; UP TO 800 KM ■ The drone can fly at a cruise speed of 152 km per hour, with a maximum speed of 250 km per hour. Its runway requirement is just 300 metres allowing it to operate from shorter airstrips, the company said ■ With an endurance of 7 hours and a range of 800 km, FWD 200B doesn’t need frequent refuelling or landing, Tejaskanda said AREA OF THE FIRM’S STATE-OF-THE-ART MANUFACTURING FACILITY IN BENGALURU 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 Telangana constitutes Education Commission HYDRAA-like units across TG will prevent flooding: CM Encroaching water bodies, govt lands more dangerous than natural calamities, says Revanth U M A H E S H @ Mahabubabad EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad THE state government has constituted the Telangana Education Commission to prepare a comprehensive education policy for pre-primary to university level, including technical education. The Commission will have a chairperson, three members who are specialised in the areas of education, and a member secretary of the rank of head of the department. The tenure of non-official members of the commission will be two years from the date of appointment. As per the orders issued by Education department principal secretary Burra Venkatesham on Tuesday the commis, sion will study and make recommendations to the government on universalisation of early childhood education through pre-primary schools in primary school campuses; on quality education in schools focused on holistic development of the students; on quality higher education and integration of apprenticeship or employability skills with higher educational institutions; on ensuring that students are equipped with foundational skills from primary to higher education; on egalitarian value-based education to prepare the students as good and responsible global citizens and other matters related to education. The objectives of the commission are to advise on policy making and work as a thinktank in the field of education to the Telangana government duly taking into the consideration of changing education landscape and to add value by the way of brainstorming, ideation, pilot studies, consultations in developing policy notes, guidelines, rules, facilitating exposure visits and others. The commission will hold wide consultations with stakeholders to formulate recommendations. The government said that the commission can engage experts, consultants and professionals. 67,000 people in 117 villages affected 49,000 Following incessant rainfall, water inundates a field in Nalgonda district EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO COTTON, MAIZE AND OTHER CROPS  68,000 acres in Khammam  2,930 acres in Bhadradri Kothagudem people in erstwhile Khammam affected  3,000 acres in erstwhile Medak 133  800 acres in Siddipet rehabilitation centres set up across the state 44 houses partially completely damaged, 600  1,300 acres in Sangareddy  792 acres in Nalgonda  Under-construction pump house of PRLIS at Vattem submerged. Officials say it will take at least three months for work to resume NINE Maoists, including six women cadre, were gunned down in an encounter with the security forces at the PurangelAndri hilly terrain along the inter-district border of Dantewada and Bijapur in south Chhattisgarh on Tuesday . Acting on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of Maoists belonging to the West Bastar Division committee and Peoples’ Liberation Guer rilla Ar my company EXPRESS READ Hyd has potential to be No. 1 in AI: TASK CEO Hyderabad: Ahead of the two-day AI Summit, TASK CEO Shrikant Sinha highlighted the need for a huge boost in manufacturing to position Telangana as a global leader in Artificial Intelligence | P3 Late night rains lash Hyd Downpours lashed several parts of Hyderabad late on Tuesday night with Kapra recording 7.3 cm rains in just a couple of hours. The IMD has issued a yellow alert for five districts Wednesday, with heavy rain likely to occur at isolated places in north & east Telangana | P3 Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy consoles the family members of Nunavath Motilal who was washed away along with his daughter Ashwini, a scientist, in the recent floods trict has been affected by floods it was because of such encroachments.” He asked the collector not to spare anyone who had encroached lake areas. He, however, asked the collec- Union govt stands by KOLKATA’S STUNNING the people, says Kishan TAHRIR SQUARE MOMENT EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad STATING that the Centre stands by the people of both the Telugu states that have been ravaged by floods over the weekend, Union Minister and BJP state president G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday urged the governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to send reports on the damage caused to facilitate a Central team to visit and assess the losses. He wondered why the floods should be declared a national calamity “when the Centre was providing assistance and cooperation by releasing funds”. Kishan said that if necessary, the PM will visit the flood-affected areas. Addressing a press conference at the BJP party office in Hyderabad, Kishan expressed regret at the loss of life and said that people in 11 districts were facing problems due to the rains. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on the flood situation and enquired about the impact of the rains on the state. He said that the Centre also sent NDRF teams to help the flood victims in Khammam and other districts. “The Centre will periodically review the situation in AP and Telangana and the Prime Minister’s Office has directed the departments concerned to repair the damaged national highways and railway lines,” he said. Revealing that there was a corpus of `1,345 crore in the State Disaster Response Fund, the Union minister appealed to the state government to spend on relief and rehabilitation of the flood-affected people and farmers and submit the utilisation certificates to the Centre to get additional funds under CONTINUED ON P4 SDRF. 9 more Maoists killed in C’garh E J A Z K A I S E R @ Raipur ACKNOWLEDGING that there were demands from across the state to expand the Hyderabad Disaster Relief and Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRAA) beyond the capital, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday directed the district collectors to prepare action plans locally to remove illegal structures within the full tank levels and buffer zones of water bodies. Reiterating that his government’s priority was to remove encroachments on tanks and nalas, Revanth said that there was no going back on this. He recalled that flooding was avoided following the removal of encroachments on a nala at Ramnagar in Hyderabad. Speaking to reporters after visiting the flood-affected areas, the chief minister said that the government would conduct a comprehensive survey on Akeru stream and ensure that it does not cause much damage in future floods. He directed Mahabubabad District Collector Adwait Kumar Singh to demolish all illegal structures that have encroached lakes and tanks to minimise flooding whenever there is heavy rain. Reviewing the situation after the rains and floods had ravaged the district, Revanth said that it had been brought to his notice that flooding of residential areas took place because the lakes and tanks had been encroached. “Illegal occupation of government lands and lakes is more dangerous than natural calamities,” he said. The chief minister said: “It has come to my notice that a former minister from the district has occupied several government nalas and lakes in Khammam. If Khammam dis- number 2 in the area, a joint team comprising personnel from District Reserve Guards, Bastar Fighters and the Central Reserve Police Force launched a search operation. “Exchange of fire ensued around 10.30 am between the security forces and the Maoists. Nine bodies of armed Maoists in uniform, including six women, along with weapons have been recovered,” said Sunderraj P, Bastar inspector general of police. A large quantity of weapons, including self loading rifle, 303 rifle, 315 bore rifle, BGL launchers, huge explosives besides other items of the Maoists were recovered. “The forces engaged in the operation are safe. The recovered bodies are yet to be identified. Since there is a possibility of the presence of several other dead or injured Maoists in and around the encounter site, additional reinforcement has been sent to the area,” said Gaurav Rai, Dantewada district police chief. I T was Kolkata’s own Tahrir Square moment, its own Shahbagh. Actually let me revise that. I , watched Tahrir Square very closely on TV I saw . Shahbagh with my own eyes, having had the opportunity to report on that movement in Dhaka. But Kolkata today is perhaps even more extraordinary All of Kolkata . today became the hallowed ground of the most astonishing people’s protest ever. In the 77 years of its Independence, I dare say India has not seen anything like it. With a grating, metallic screech, the nine-foot-high m e t a l b a r r i c a d e s we re dragged aside this afternoon by policemen on the narrow BB Ganguly Street. The road leads to Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters. Rising over the cacophony were the strains of We Shall Overcome, the American civil rights song, and the Bengali anthem of protest, Kazi Nazrul Islam’s Karar Oi Louho Kopat Bhang — break down the iron gates of prison. The singers, all junior doctors who had been camping at the location through rain, shine and a hot muggy night for last 22 hours, gathered to MONIDEEPA BANERJIE Veteran journalist demand justice for their colleague, raped and murdered in their hospital while she was on duty on the night of August 9. In the hands of the junior doctors who marched slowly forward singing those songs, meaning every word in those powerful lyrics, were rajanigandhar malas — garlands of tuberose speckled with red roses. One doctor held aloft what must be the movement’s icon: a plastic replica of the human spine. These doctors have demonstrated over the last 24 days that their vertebral column is in place. Their unique protest exhorted everyone to keep theirs upright and straight. Especially the police. Just before heading into Lalbazar, the doctors’ delegation broke into a song again, signing off with Jana Gana Mana. Behind them, other doctors standing in a series of human chains joined in. Everyone stood still. Time stood still. Protesting junior doctors march towards the police HQ after they were allowed to meet the police chief, in Kolkata | PTI HOUSEHOLD SAVINGS ON REBOUND B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai AFTER sharply declining during the pandemic, India’s household savings are rebounding on the back of rising income levels, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Speaking in Mumbai on Tuesday, RBI deputy governor Michael Debabrata Patra said that the rebound process has already begun, noting that households’ financial assets have increased from 10.6% of GDP during 2011-17 to 11.5% during 2017-23. And there is room to grow further because the level was 15% of GDP during the early 2000s till the global financial crisis. Household savings are the portion of income that is not spent on consumption and set aside for future use; these are usually deposited in banks or invested in other financial instruments. Because of their sheer size, household funds are considered a major driver of longterm economic growth. Explaining the reasons for After the meeting with the commissioner of Kolkata Police, the doctors said they were not satisfied with officer’s responses but they would end their sit-in demo on BB Ganguly Street. However, their protests would continue in other forms. One night this week, the junior doctors called for a voluntary blackout in every home in Kolkata for 60 minutes, with only candles to be lit through the dark hour. Kolkata has responded magnificently All of Tuesday . , thousands of people stood holding hands all along the 16 km stretch of the arterial Eastern Metropolitan Bypass road that swings around the city No blocking traffic, no po. litical flags, only banners and posters demanding justice for the RG Kar victim and an occasional burst of slogans, mostly Justice for RG Kar. In the human chain were doctors, nurses, students and scores of ordinary folk, moved by the movement for justice and outraged by the way the state has handled both. Collectively, Kolkata is today a tsunami of righteous anger. An anger it has chosen to express with the red rose. Mahatma Gandhi would P8 have approved. the fall in the domestic savings level of late, Patra noted that the net household savings have halved, hitting a five-year low of 5.2% of GDP in fiscal 2024, but he attributed this to ‘behavioural changes’ during the pandemic, driven by shifts from financial assets to physical assets such as property . According to Patra, that phase is over and households are now rebuilding their financial assets. “Going forward, boosted by rising incomes, households will likely build back their financial assets,” Patra said while addressing a finance summit organised by the CII here on Tuesday . Concurrently, households’ physical savings have also risen in post-pandemic years to over 12% of GDP. These can rise further—these had reached 16% of GDP in 2010-11. Households are expected to remain the top net lenders to the rest of the economy in the coming decades, he said. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had earlier raised concerns tor to make sure that he took legal opinion before moving in. “If necessary I would issue or, ders for appointing advocates to help the administration,” Revanth said. CONTINUED ON P4 NEW SUMIT Advice from Neeraj, enduring back pain, Sumit wins gold E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai IT is as if winning gold has become a habit for Sumit Antil. The back pain that had been afflicting him for the last one-and -a-half year vanished. He was focussed on the job in hand — retaining gold at the Paris Paralympics. And he did it in style when he threw the javelin to 70.59 m — a new Paralympics record. It had not been easy. During a virtual interaction, he revealed that he felt more pressure in Paris than in Tokyo. Perhaps, it’s the burden of expectations on Monday in his F46 event. There are quite a few things that separate Sumit from the rest. He is one of those paraathletes who previously competed against ablebodied athletes. One among the competitors was Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic silver-medallist. During the interaction he revealed that he keeps speaking with Neeraj and the champion javelin thrower had given him an advice or two before the Paralympics. He said that he has been in touch with Neeraj but before the Parlympics he did not speak to him directly but through his manager. “I got a message from Neeraj bhai through someone and he told me that the atmosphere (in Paris) is good,” said Sumit. He also asked him to not try anything new. “I just took his advice and it was a really good experience.” HOME TRUTHS Net financial savings of households halved from 2020-21 levels due to behavioural changes during the pandemic and shift towards physical assets such as housing. But with rising incomes, households are now rebuilding their financial assets Households will remain the top net lenders to the rest of the economy in the coming decades 11.5% Households’ financial assets have increased from 10.6% of GDP during 2011-17 to 11.5% during 2017-23 (excluding pandemic year) REVIVAL IN CAPEX CYCLE IS LIKELY TO PUSH UP PRIVATE SECTOR’S BORROWING NEEDS, WHICH COULD BE PARTLY MET BY HOUSEHOLDS over more and more household savings going into financial instruments such as mutual funds and stocks, saying this had led to banks facing a deposit drought.