HYDERABAD  THURSDAY  SEPTEMBER 12, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION KAMALA PUTS TRUMP ON THE DEFENSIVE IN THEIR FIRST DEBATE Kamala Harris and Donald Trump engaged in a fiery debate on Tuesday, their first and the only direct face-off before the US elections DON RATTLED BY SHARP ATTACKS FROM V-P VOTERS FEEL HARRIS BESTED TRUMP Harris went on the offensive right from the start of the ABC News debate, attacking Trump on various issues. One of their most intense exchanges was on abortion. She slammed Trump’s push to end the federal right to abortion. Trump tried to defend saying the states should determine abortion policy. He tore into Harris as too liberal and a continuation of the current administration ■ ■ Harris promised tax cuts for the middle class while Trump said his proposed tariffs would help the US stop being cheated by allies A CNN snap poll conducted soon after the debate had 63% of registered voters saying Harris did better than Trump. Conservative Fox News too agreed, calling Harris “a clear winner” of the debate | P9 Nov 5 WHEN THE U.S. WILL HOLD THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 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 India to drive global semicon industry: PM It’s Rahul’s turn N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India is poised to play a significant role in driving the global semiconductor industry forward. He was speaking after inaugurating SEMICON India — 2024, a three-day exhibition, at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The prime minister said his government will do everything to make India a semiconductor powerhouse, adding that it is a dream to have an Indian-made chip in every device in the world. He said India is building a robust semiconductor workforce comprising 85,000 technicians, engineers, and research and development experts. The country, he added, must prepare its students and professionals to contribute to the growth of the sector. India has attracted investments exceeding `1.5 lakh crore for its semiconductor sector in a short span of time, Modi said adding that the country possessed a “three-dimensional power” — a reformist government, a rapidly expanding manufacturing base and a large, aspirational market appreciating and embracing technology — that can propel the growth of the chip industry . Drawing an analogy between the semiconductor industry and a diode, where energy flows in only one direction, Modi said India’s semiconductor sector was unique, featuring special “diodes” where energy flew in both directions. He explained that while industries invested and generated value, the government reciprocated by offering stable policies and promoting the ‘Ease of Doing Business.’ Modi said the goal is to have India make not just the chips but the finished products too. The prime minister stressed the need to have supply chains that are resilient from shock events like Covid-19. “Resilience of the supply chain is very important,” he said. “Whether it is mobile manufacturing, electronics, or semiconductors, our focus is clear — we want to build a world that doesn’t stop or pause in times of crisis but keeps moving forward,” the prime minister said, adding that, “When the chips are down, you can bet on India.” Modi said India is one of the largest consumers of semiconductors, which enabled the creation of world-class digital public infrastructure. This small chip, played a crucial role in ensuring last-mile delivery across the country, he said. to get into the quota firing line Semicon 2.0 soon The second phase of the Centre’s chip policy, Semicon 2.0 is expected to be in place in 3-4 months, Union Information and Broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Shah, Mayawati, Shinde criticise statement on abolishing it ‘when India is a fair place’ @ New Delhi 6 million jobs With India’s electronics sector now valued at over $150 billion, the Prime Minister outlined a goal to grow the country’s electronics sector to $500 billion and create as many as 6 million jobs by the end of this decade Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects an exhibit during the inauguration of SEMICON India 2024, in Greater Noida | PTI It is our dream to have an Indian-made chip in every device in the world. We will do everything that is needed to make India a semiconductor powerhouse Narendra Modi CLEAR SIGNS Won’t hesitate to HYDRAA may get send encroachers nod to clear Musi to jail, asserts CM of encroachments EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad MAKING it clear that he would not hesitate to send those who encroach state land t o j a il, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday reiterated that the government will remove all illegal constructions within the full tank level and buffer zones of water bodies and nalas. “Some people are making irresponsible comments on HYDRAA. Floods are occurring due to encroachment of ponds, lakes and canals. Poor people are at the receiving end of such natural calamities. Wealthy people have built farmhouses in Gandipet and Himayatsagar and let sewage into the lakes,” Revanth said. He was addressing the gathering after participating in the passing-out parade of subinspector cadets at the RVBR Telangana Police Academy here. The chief minister appealed to all illegal occupants of water bodies to voluntarily vacate and demolish their il- Bhagwat’s comment that the reservation policy could do with a ‘social review’ kicked up UNION home minister and the a huge controversy forcing him , BJP’s principal election strate- to clarify that he did not mean gist Amit Shah on Wednesday to say practice should end. made a blistering attack on On Wednesday, BSP chief Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Mayawati and Maharashtra for his comment that the Con- CM Eknath Shinde also hit out gress will think of scrapping at Gandhi for his remark. reservation when India is a fair “Rahul Gandhi’s views replace. Rahul, who is currently flect his petty mentality It has ... on a trip to the US, been Cong ress’s had made the rehabit to do politics mark on Tuesday in the name of reliwhile answering a gion and caste,” question posed by Shinde said. students of the Mayawati said Georgetown Unithat when not in versity in Washingpower, the Conton DC. gress talks about “By speaking SC, ST and OBC; about abolishing but when in power, ‘NOT AGAINST reservations in the it works against RESERVATION’ c o u n t r y, R a h u l their interests, addClaiming that his Gandhi has once ing, “People should statement was again brought the be cautious of this “misrepresented”, Congress’s anticonspiracy .” Rahul Gandhi said on reservation face to Shah also acWednesday that he is the forefront. The cused the Congress thoughts that were not against reservation leader of making and will try to take it in his mind eventustatements aimed beyond the 50% cap ally found their at hurting the counway out as words,” try’s image and Shah posted on X, adding that meeting people who work nobody will be able to scrap res- against India’s interests. ervation as long as the BJP is On Tuesday, Rahul had met around. some US lawmakers, including Reservation is a touchy sub- Ilhan Omar, a known India-critject and several leaders have ic who made a controversial come under attack in the past trip to Pakistan-occupied Kashfor expressing their opinion on mir in April 2022—an act India it. In 2015, weeks before the Bi- considers as a violation of its har elections, RSS chief Mohan sovereignty . RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR S BACHAN JEET SINGH legal constructions. “If they @ Hyderabad do not budge, the government will not hesitate to demolish BY stating that 2BHK houses all illegal structures on water will be constructed for the bodies,” the chief minister 11,000-odd people living along said. He added that though the banks of the Musi river, some encroachers may get Chief Minister A Revanth temporary relief from courts, Reddy has indicated that he the government will not rewill soon give his nod to HYlent and approach courts to DRAA to clear illegal conget the stay orders vacated structions in the 50and remove the metre buffer zone of encroachments. the river. He said: “There is HYDRAA On Wednesday the , no question of reguNOC must? chief minister catelarisation of strucSources say govt gorically said that tures in FTL and may make a NOC unauthorised enbuffer zones. There from HYDRAA croachments will be are schemes to regumandatory to removed for the Musi larise constructions take up Riverfront Developin gover nment constructions ment Project (MRDP) lands, but none for near water and that those living illegal structures in bodies | P3 on the banks of the FTL, buffer zones r ive r wo u l d b e and nalas.” rehabilitated. He also made it HYDRAA has been quite acclear that encroachments will tive over the past two months be removed for the Musi Riv— demolishing structures erfront Development Project built within full tank level and 2BHK houses will be con(FTL) and buffer zones of wastructed for those living along ter bodies in Greater Hyderathe river. “The government bad limits — and it is clear will rehabilitate all these that it will be turning its focus 11,000 people,” Revanth anCONTINUED ON P4 to removing encroachments nounced. within the 50-metre buffer zone of Musi sooner than later. The state government has proposed the MRDP to revitalise the 55-km stretch of the Musi that courses through the city at an estimated cost of over `1 lakh crore. Revenue officials have identified numerous illegal constructions at Chaderghat, Moosarambagh, Puranapul and Attapur. For the state government to advance the MRDP project and achieve its goals of rejuvenation, these encroachments that have come up in the past two decades must be cleared. Sources said that before showing the green flag to bulldozers, the state government plans to rehabilitate the people to be affected. They said that though the structures are illegal, the government may announce a suitable compensation package on humanitarian grounds. In April 2024, the GHMC decided to not issue further permissions for any new layouts or buildings or developmental activities within 50 metres of the Musi river. 2IN J&K ENCOUNTER; OPERATION ONGOING TERRORISTS KILLED Two terrorists affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammad were killed in an operation in upper reaches of Basantgarh in Jammu & Kashmir’s Udhampur on Wednesday. Bodies of the two terrorists, believed to be from Pakistan, along with an M-4 carbine, an AK assault rifle, a pistol and large quantity of ammunition and eatables were recovered | P8 THE state government is set to establish two new engineering colleges under the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT), commonly referred to as IIIT-Basara, in Mahbubnagar and Khammam districts. The decision was made at a Cabinet sub-committee meeting on ‘Reforms in the Educational Sector’ held at the state Secretariat on Wednesday . The aim is to decongest the existing RGUKT campus in Basara, which cur rently houses around 9,000 engineering students, and improve accessibility for rural students. RGUKT, established in 2008, offers six undergraduate engineering courses and has an intake of about 1,500 students annually . Telangana to form College Service Commission The state has also decided to form the Telangana Government College Service Commis- sion (TGCSC), which will serve as a central agency for recruiting teaching staff in state universities, degree, polytechnic, and DIET colleges. This decision aims to address vacancies in educational institutions. State to review NEP-2020 before any decision The sub-committee discussed the Centre’s New Educational Policy-2020 (NEP) and resolved to study its implementation in other states before making a de- cision on adopting it in Telangana. Officials were directed to examine the benefits and challenges of the policy . Polytechnic colleges to soon offer courses on AI Nine polytechnic colleges, including those in Hyderabad, Warangal and other districts, will soon see upgrades to include courses in Computer Science Engineering (CSE), CSE (AI&ML), and CSE (Data Science). The objective is to enhance the scope of education in these areas. CONTINUED ON P4 M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi AHEAD of the elections in Haryana and J&K, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved `5 lakh free health coverage for all senior citizens aged 70 years and above under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), irrespective of their income. The free health cover will benefit approximately six crore senior citizens in 4.5 crore families at an annual cost of `3,437 crore. “With this approval, all senior citizens of 70 years and above irrespective of their socio-economic status would be eligible to avail the benefits under the scheme. Eligible senior citizens would be issued a new distinct card,” Union I&B minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. Senior citizens from families already covered under the scheme will get an additional top-up cover up to `5 lakh per year for themselves, which they do not have to share with the other members of the family . Senior citizens already availing benefits of other public health insurance schemes may either stick to their existing scheme or can opt for the AB PM-JAY. Bengal govt rejects terms set by junior doctors for talks CM’s presence during the talks, a delegation of 30, instead of THE standoff between the pro- 12-15 proposed by the governtesting junior doctors and ment, live telecast of the interthe West Bengal government action for transparency imme, continued on Wednesday diate arrest of other accused in with the latter rejecting the de- the rape-murder of the doctor, mands for Chief Minister resignation of the city Police Mamata Banerjee’s presCommissioner, suspenence and a live broadsion of the Director of cast as pre-conditions Medical Education as for talks to resolve well as the Director of their month-long Health Services, and agitation. disciplinary action Thousands of junagainst ex-principal ior doctors from Sandip Ghosh. across the state conOn Tuesday, the tinued their sit-in No meeting can be principal secretary, protest — more than health, had sent an held with so many conditions. 28 hours since Sepemail the students, inThey did not take tember 10 — outside viting them for talks. the Swasthya Bha- any proactive steps The students turned it to resolve the van (the state health down, saying the letter situation department headwas “insulting”. quarters) against the Chandrima Bhattacharya Reacting to the stuhorrific rape-murder dents’ email, minister of a trainee doctor at RG Kar of state for health Chandrima Medical College and Hospital Bhattacharya urged the stuon August 9, with students from dents not to get provoked by unseveral Kolkata colleges join- necessary politics. ing them on Wednesday . The agitating junior doctors, Responding to the chief sec- however, said, “We have been retary’s mail for a meeting at non-political from day one. We the state secretariat at 6 pm, will continue our movement the students insisted on the demanding justice.” E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kolkata 2 more premier tech colleges under RGUKT soon B K A R T H E E K @ Hyderabad Nod for free health cover for all over 70 Junior doctors during their dharna, in Kolkata on Wednesday | PTI PATIENT ATTACKS DOC IN GANDHI HOSPITAL Hyderabad: An on-duty lady doctor was attacked by a patient who was allegedly drunk, in the casualty ward of Gandhi Hospital on Wednesday. CCTV clips of the attack went viral within minutes, leading to doctors demanding tighter security in the hospital | P3