HYDERABAD  FRIDAY  SEPTEMBER 13, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 36  LATE CITY EDITION TWO CIVILIANS COMPLETE WORLD’S FIRST-EVER PRIVATE SPACEWALK US entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis on Thursday became the first non-astronauts to perform spacewalk ANOTHER MAJOR MILESTONE FOR SPACEX CREW TEST NEW SPACEWALKING SUITS Isaacman opened the hatch of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and made his way through to open space. After about 15 minutes, he was replaced by Gillis. Two other crew members remained strapped to their seats to monitor from inside. The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, which lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral, is yet another major milestone for Elon Musk’s space firm | P9 ■ ■ All four crew members donned SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits to protect themselves from the harsh vacuum. Both Isaacman and Gillis flexed their arms and legs to see how the new spacesuit held up They remained connected to the spacecraft through their hands, feet and the tethers. The entire extravehicular activity lasted 1 hour, 46 minutes Two years HOW LONG IT TOOK THE FOUR TO PREPARE FOR THIS HISTORIC MISSION 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 Both sides refuse to yield MANDAR PARDIKAR Live telecast sticking point Govt cites court case to block it No talks for 2nd straight day, Didi offers to resign E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kolkata ATTEMPTING to change the optics following widespread protests by people from all walks of life against the horrific rape-murder of a 31-yearold trainee doctor at the staterun RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here on August 9, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday dramatically offered to quit. “I do not care for my chair and am ready to resign for the sake of the people. I, too, want justice,” Mamata said at the state secretariat soon after the proposed talks between her government and the protesting junior doctors failed as the medics refused to enter the venue following rejection of their de- SITARAM YECHURY 1 2 AU G U ST 1 9 5 2 - 1 2 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 24 EXIT, STAGE LEFT: A COMRADE TO ALL SANTWANA BHATTACHARYA EDITOR A mop of frizzy hair that placed him in a permanent Seventies, a boyish face that seemed to be built for laughter, eyes that were always smiling (though of late touched by sadness), a manner that was the very definition of amiable, speech that was erudite but easy, persuasive rather than offensive, smooth but always guided by conviction. Of all the talk of revolution that swirled around, he must have been the gentlest apostle. Which is why everyone, even the fiercest antagonists, will recall Sitaram Yechury, the person, as much as what he stood for. With fondness and not a trace of rancour. That’s what places him in a rare category among politicians—he was one of those who could converse with anyone, everyone, as a friend. Ideology defined him, but did not exhaust his inventory An endangered tribe these days, it . has lost one of its best, and not at the best of times. One would have to say Comrade Yechury at 72, is gone too soon. , Most appraisals of his career will read Yechury in terms of his well-known trajectory as a Communist frontman, starting from his days as a student leader during a definitive era at Jawaharlal Nehru University and analyse whether that promise was filled out or not in terms of building the Left movement in India. Only few realise what a talent India has been deprived of—in universalist terms. A political life that was oath-bound to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) meant that its puritanical aloofness in New Delhi always applied to him—and always kept him out of government. In fact, strangely for a politician, the question never seemed to even arise. The loss was perhaps India’s as much as the Left’s. Judge by what he managed at the highest levels, even as a faceless, behind-the-scenes interlocutor. The Manmohan Singh government’s final nuclear deal with the US—with conditions favourable to India—was a document that bore the stamp of an exhaustive, point-by-point, clause-by-clause, process of critique and emendation conducted by Yechury’s team. Imagine a deal with capitalist America being rewritten by a Communist. Ironic that his party finally withdrew support to the UPA on that very deal. Around those same days, his mediation was accepted, and bore fruit, within Nepal’s polity and vis-a-vis its India relations, at a particularly dark time in its history . CONTINUED ON: P7 Man sentenced to death for rape, murder of 5-yr-old E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Sangareddy A special POCSO court on Thursday found a 56-yearold man guilty of rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in October 2023 and sentenced him to death. Additionally the judge, Jayanti, ordered `10 lakh com, pensation to be paid to the relatives of the victim. According to SP Ch Rupesh, Ghaffar (56) lured the girl saying he would buy her a soft drink and laced it with liquor. Subsequently he took her to a cotton , farm nearby and raped her before killing her, Rupesh added. Based on a complaint filed by the parents of the victim, the police registered a case and began investigation. The SP added that the police approached the Telangana HC requesting a speedy trial, following which a fast-track court was set up. After verifying the evidence, the judge found Ghaffar guilty . Junior doctors at the dharna site in Kolkata on Thursday | PTI GUV TURNS THE SCREWS FURTHER Governor CV Ananda Bose on Thursday said he will not share any public platform with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in view of people’s outcry over RG Kar. Bose said he will also socially boycott her 7 LAKH PEOPLE HIT BY AGITATION: CM Didn’t ask CM to quit, say docs Mamata claimed that around 27 patients have died and approximately 7 lakh people have suffered because of the ongoing ceasework agitation of the junior doctors mand to telecast it live for transparancy . The junior doctors, too, expressed disappointment with the talks falling through and said they would continue their agitation. They added that they were open for talks. Earlier in the day senior doc, tors of state-run hospitals warned that they would join the protests if any action is taken against their junior colleagues protesting against the rape-murder. The junior doctors said that they were disappointed at the CM talking about her chair since they never wanted her resignation. Mamata said the meeting couldn’t be live-streamed since the matter is sub-judice. “What the Supreme Court can, we can’t,” she said, hinting at ex- We have tolerated a lot of canards for the last 33 days. I thought the doctors would engage in talks for the sake of the patients and on humanitarian grounds — Mamata Banerjee ternal political forces influencing a section of the doctors. “I did my best, but I apologise to the people for failing to bring them to the negotiating table. There are instructions from outside, asking some of the junior doctors not to sit for negotiations,” she said. Earlier in the day, chief secretary Manoj Pant sent an email inviting the junior doctors, holding sit-in outside the state health department headquarters at Salt Lake since Tuesday, for the meeting with the CM at 5 pm. Though the email had mentioned a 15-member delegation, the government later blinked and allowed 30 doctors as desired by the protesting medics. The doctors reached the secretariat around 5.25 pm, but stayed put outside the venue for over two hours. “We made recording arrangements. There should be mutual trust,” Pant said. BJP, BRS out to destabilise my govt: Revanth E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad Strict enforcement of antidefection law would secure my govt and then the existing 65 seats would be sufficient for its stability Revanth Reddy, chief minister ACCUSING the BJP and BRS of trying to destabilise his gover nment, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy asserted that strict enforcement of a n t i - d e f e c t i o n l aw would secure his government and that the existing 65 seats would then be sufficient for its stability “If the Representation . of the People Act and the antidefection Act are strict, it will benefit the Congress,” he said and added, “those who previously encouraged defections are now preaching morality .” Revanth, however, was reluctant to comment on the recent high court directive concerning disqualification of petitions. He said: “This matter falls under the purview of the court and the Speaker. I will not comment on it. The Speaker will make a decision independently .” It may be recalled that so far 10 BRS MLAs, including Arekapudi Gandhi who was recently appointed the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman, joined the Congress. In an informal chat with reporters in Delhi, the CM clarified that the PAC chairman post is traditionally given to an opposition party MLA. He asked BRS to explain why, if they believe Arekapudi Gandhi’s switch to the Congress is an issue, they did not raise objections when the Assembly reported that the BRS had 38 MLAs on the last day of the previous session. Revanth also questioned why the BRS appointed AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi as PAC chairman in 2019 when the Congress was the principal opposition party in the CONTINUED ON P4 state. PAC Chairman Arekapudi Gandhi, along with his followers, reach BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy’s residence in Hyderabad on Thursday Missiles, expletives fly as Congress, BRS battle on EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad EXPRESS READ HC order on GO 33: State moves SC New Delhi: The Telangana government on Thursday moved the SC against the TG HC order that said that permanent residents of Telangana, who are eligible for admission into MBBS based on merit, cannot be denied the benefit of admission under local quota merely because of their study outside Telangana | P4 WITH THIS ISSUE CITY’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 36 PAGES, INCLUDING 24 OF INDULGE (TABLOID) CHAMPIONS MEET PM Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulating India’s Paralympians for their record haul of 29 medals at the recently concluded Paris Games, in New Delhi on Thursday | PTI Retail inflation inches up as base effect diminishes D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi RETAIL inflation stayed below RBI’s target of 4% for the second straight month in August at 3.65%, though it is a tad higher than July’s 3.60%. The uptick is due to a 5.3% annual rise in food prices, led by vegetables and fruits. According to experts, a favourable base effect helped retail inflation stay below 4% in the past two months but this effect could fade from September, leading to a spike in Consumer Price Index (CPI). Vegetable prices shot up 10.71% year-on-year in August, though prices dropped 2.51% on a month-on-month basis. “The overall outlook for the agriculture sector has improved due to a good monsoon and improved kharif sowing. However, challenges remain, particularly with the uneven distribution of rainfall,” said Rajani Sinha, chief economist at Care Ratings. Core inflation (CPI excluding food and beverages, and fuel prices) also eased to 3.5% in August from 3.6% in July. Analysts feel this is a temporary dip, and the same may go up through the rest of the financial year. Meanwhile, industrial output in July grew at 4.8%, bettering the 4.7% growth witnessed in the previous month. THE game of one-upmanship between the Congress and BRS gained intensity on Thursday with BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy and newly appointed PAC Chairman Arekapudi Gandhi taking centrestage. G a n d h i , re s p o n d i n g t o Kaushik Reddy’s challenge, reached the latter’s residence along with a posse of his followers and dared him to offer the BRS scarf. While their followers let loose tomatoes, eggs, footwear and pebbles, the leaders themselves hurled expletives at each other before the police managed to rein them in. Later in the evening, BRS leaders — T Harish Rao, P Sabitha Indra Reddy and Vemula Prasanth Reddy — marched to the Cyberabad Police Com- missioner’s office along with BRS workers where they demanded an attempt-to-murder case be filed against Gandhi. They refused to leave until their demand was met. In response, the police arrested Harish and others and carried them away . The Gachibowli police have filed a case against Gandhi, Miyapur Corporator Uppalapati Srikanth, Serilingampally Corporator Ragam Nagender Yadav and 12 others under various Sections of the BNS. They were charged with unlawful assembly criminal conspiracy at, , tempting to deter public servants from discharging their duty, criminal trespass and criminal intimidation. Notably , the FIR did not include Section 109, which pertains to attempted murder — a key demand of BRS leaders during their proCONTINUED ON P4 test. Oppn states seek equal tax share EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ T’Puram States need Centre’s consent for borrowing .... Yet, the Centre often exceeds its own fiscal deficit targets Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Dy CM | P4 A conclave of the finance ministers from five Oppositionruled states here on Thursday flagged concerns over the rise in surcharges and cesses and the low share for states from the divisible pool of taxes. The conclave, hosted by the Kerala government, was attended by Telangana deputy CM and finance minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Tamil Nadu finance minister Thangam Thennarasu, Karnataka revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda, and Punjab finance minister Sardar Harpal Singh Cheema, besides Kerala finance minister K N Balagopal. Inaugurating the conclave, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said states need a higher share from the taxes collected by the Union government, adding that Kerala has been demanding that the states’ share be raised to 50% considering the “vertical fiscal imbalance between the taxing powers and expenditure obligations of the Union and the states”. The meet also discussed the approach towards the 16th Finance Commission and issues of fiscal federalism. MINS FROM 5 STATES ATTEND CONCLAVE The conclave was attended by Telangana deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, TN’s finance minister, Karnataka’s revenue minister, Punjab’s finance minister, besides Kerala’s finance minister “We need a strategy to reward performing states while handholding the laggards,” Kerala FM Balagopal said. Telangana minister Bhatti Vikramakra said the Finance Commission should ensure fair and equitable distribution of resources among the Centre and states. TN minister Thennarasu said, “Effective devolution is less due to imposition of cess and surcharges.” Punjab minister Cheema said the GST rollout limited the fiscal autonomy of states. Karnataka Revenue Minister Gowda said the Finance Commission should recommend capping cesses / surcharges at 5%, adding that anything above that should be part of the divisible pool. Now, surcharge and cess are not part of this pool.