BENGALURU  THURSDAY  SEPTEMBER 05, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 20  LATE CITY EDITION HARVINDER CREATES HISTORY, 1ST INDIAN TO WIN ARCHERY GOLD India won their fourth gold of the Paralympics thanks to Harvinder Singh’s brilliance in the men’s recurve archery on Wednesday Harvinder Singh Mariyappan Thangavelu HAT-TRICK OF RECORD-BREAKING DAYS If Monday (most medals in a single day) and Tuesday (going past 19 for most medals in a single Paralympics) witnessed records, Wednesday also continued that trend, thanks to Harvinder’s exploits. He had won bronze in Tokyo in 2021. Late on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu’s Mariyappan Thangavelu and Bihar’s Sharad Kumar won bronze and silver in the men’s T63 high jump FIRST MEDAL RUSH CONTINUES ON WEDNESDAY ■ If Harvinder added a golden touch late on Wednesday, the first medal of the day came courtesy of Sachin Khilari, who won silver in the F46 shot-put category. Thus far, India have won 22 medals | P15 ■ Bhavinaben Patel, a silver-medallist in table tennis (C4) in Tokyo, bowed out at the hands of China’s Ying Zhou in the last eight stage MARIYAPPAN IS THE 1ST INDIAN TO WIN MEDALS IN 3 STRAIGHT PARALYMPICS 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 SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Darshan accused No. 2 in 3,991-page chargesheet E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru 1,00,000 Thousands of uprooted trees in the Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary in Mulugu district after a gale last Saturday. (Left) Volunteers rescue an woman from a flooded area on Wednesday | PRASANT MADUGULA TREES UPROOTED IN T’GANA FOREST Freak weather at Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary produced tornado-like effect U M A H E S H & A A R T I K A S H YA P @ Mulugu/Hyderabad A rare weather phenomenon left waste thousands of trees — some estimates put the figure at over one lakh — across 200 hectares in the Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary between Medaram-Pasara and Medaram-Tadavi in Telangana. While there was no loss to fauna due to what was described by some environmentalists as a squall, the ecological damage was incalculable. Panchayat Raj Minister Danasari Anasuya alias Seethakka said they never expected around one lakh trees getting uprooted due to a heavy gale. According to forest officials, trees like neem, banyan, peepal and others bore the brunt of nature’s fury. Leopards were spotted in the sanctuary spread over 81,200 hectares though wild animals seldom venture to this area. Elusing Meru, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Protection and Vigilance) told this newspaper: “This is a very rare incident and very unlikely in a state like Telangana. This is probably the result of high winds and cloudburst.” Senior officials of the India Meteorological Department said, “This is a highly localised convective activity We are ex. amining the exact nature and cause. Our preliminary observations are that it was an effect of thunderstorm activity and strong pressure deficiency giv, ing it a tornado effect.” Experts concurred. Environmentalist and public policy expert Donthi Narasimha Reddy said: “What has happened in Mulugu seems to be a squall, a localised storm or sudden gusty winds, a very unusual weather condition, due to heavy rains and thunderstorms. Such occurrences are common in West Bengal and the Northeast but very rare in a geography like Telangana.” Mulugu District Forest Officer (DFO) Rahul Jadhav told reporters that the devastation occurred on August 31, possibly due to localised strong wind pressure and a cloudburst. He said the incessant rains appeared to have led to soil erosion, contributing to the uprooting of the trees. NEW ROLE FOR FIRE ENGINES Fire engines from across Andhra parked at BRTS road to clean the accumulated silt in flooded Singh Nagar since the water is receding, in Vijayawada on Wednesday. It was among the worst affected areas due to the rains | PRASANT MADUGULA DIAGONAL WIND FLATTENED THEM? “From the extent of damage, the squall appears to be over 90 kmph. Besides, the winds must have been diagonal, unlike the regular horizontal winds. Horizontal winds do not have the potential to cause such massive destruction,” said environmentalist Donthi Narasimha Reddy BRANCH FALLS ON AUTO, KILLS DRIVER A 60-year-old autorickshaw driver lost his life when a branch of a tree fell on his vehicle near Jayanagar 4th T Block in Bengaluru, on Wednesday. The victim, Khaleel Khan, suffered head injuries and was rushed to NIMHANS, but could not be saved. P2 India for development, not Kannada film body for expansionism: PM in Brunei panel to probe ‘abuse’ EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took a swipe at China saying India supports a “policy of development, and not expansionism” as he concluded his two-day visit to Brunei Darussalam. Modi’s comment at a banquet hosted by Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah came at a time when China is engaged in territorial disputes with the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Taiwan. “A code of conduct should be finalised in this region,” Modi said, EXPRESS READ Phogat, Punia may fight polls on Congress ticket NEW DELHI: Wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi here on Wednesday, with sources saying they are likely to contest the upcoming Haryana assembly polls on the party’s ticket. Sources said deliberations are on to finalise the seats for the two wrestlers with Julana and Badli seats under consideration for Phogat and Punia respectively | P10 adding: “We support freedom of navigation and overflight under international laws like UNCLOS. This was the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Brunei. According to a joint statement issued after the visit, India and Brunei have elevated their relationship to an ‘enhanced partnership’. After concluding his Brunei visit, PM Modi arrived in Singapore for a two-day visit. He was hosted by Singapore PM Lawrence Wong for a private dinner. Modi and Wong will have an official bilateral meeting on Thursday . B A N S Y K A L A P PA @ Bengaluru WITH the Justice Hema Committee’s shocking revelations about the Kerala Film Industry, including sexual abuses, the Film Industry for Rights & Equality (FIRE) has urged the Karnataka Government to set up a committee headed by a retired judge to investigate and report such alleged incidents of abuse faced by women in Sandalwood. In all, 153 individuals from the Karnataka Film Industry and other organisations fighting for gender justice have signed a petition initiated by FIRE. Actor Chetan, who welcomed this initiative, told TNIE that the petition is ready and FIRE will submit it to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah shortly “We expect the state government to be proac. tive and take swift action. I know CM Siddaramaiah is committed to these issues. If Kerala can do it, why can’t we? In Kerala’s 300-page report, about 60 are dedicated to addressing sexual harassment. If they can clean up, so can we.” P2 Rahul intellectual, Rajiv doer: Pitroda E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi SAM Pitroda, a Rajiv Gandhi aide, on Wednesday claimed that Rahul Gandhi is more intellectual and more of a strategist than his father Rajiv. Pitroda, who heads the Indian Overseas Congress, described both as “custodians of the idea of India”. He made the remarks in an interview with a news agency ahead of Rahul’s visit to the US next week. Pitroda said Rajiv was a little more doer. “I had an opportunity to see many Pms from very close quarters but the difference between Rahul and Rajiv maybe is that Rahul is much more intellectual, and thinker, Rajiv was a little more doer. They have the same DNA, concerns and feelings for the people, genuinely believe in building a better India for everybody, and are genuinely simple people,” he said. “Rahul is a strategist, more so than Rajiv was. They are products of different times... Poor Rahul has gone through two big shocks in life, the death of his grandmother and his father. So they have had different paths to travel,” he said. A 3,991-page chargesheet against actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, Pavithra Gowda and 15 other accused in the Renukaswamy murder case was placed before the 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Ma gistrate (ACMM) Cour t here on Wednesday . Pavithra has been named prime accused, while Darshan as accused No 2. K a m a k s h i p a l ya p o l i c e s u b m i t t e d t h e chargesheet. It contains statements of 231 witnesses, of which three are direct witness accounts. It also contains statements of 27 people made before a magistrate, 56 police personnel, eight other government officials and 97 independent witnesses. Eight reports from Forensic Science Laboratory and Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) of Hyderabad have also been included in the chargesheet. Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B Dayananda told reporters that the case has been investigated from all angles. “Tahsildars, doctors, RTO officials and government engineers have been made witnesses in the case. Reports pertaining to data from electronic devices seized are yet to be received from CFSL. They will be included in the additional chargesheet,” he said. The chargesheet states that the victim had sent lewd messages to accused No 1 Pavithra Gowda using a fake Instagram ID @gowtham_ks_1990. These messages were the motive behind Renukaswamy’s murder. Information from Instagram has P5 been included in the chargesheet. AIR INDIA’S BENGALURU MRO TO CREATE 1,200 JOBS H R I T H I K K I R A N B A G A D E @ Bengaluru THE Air India Group on Wednesday announced the construction of a mega Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the Kempegowda International Airport, for which it has earmarked Rs 1,400 crore investment. With this, the Tata Group-owned airline behemoth eyes developing Bengaluru as a major hub, apart from Delhi and Mumbai, while also aiming to build a strong self-reliant aviation ecosystem for the country . Earlier this year, Air India signed an MoU with the Karnataka government to establish the MRO facility in Bengaluru. The upcoming facility spread across 35 acres, is , slated to become an important hub for Air India Group’s aircraft maintenance operations in the region, as it modernises its fleet and expands global reach. CONTINUED ON P13