vijayawada l thursday l september 26, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION India engaging Russia and Ukraine to help end war, says Jaishankar India has been holding talks with both countries to see if there is something it can do to initiate negotiations between them, the minister said talks exploratory, no peace plan India uniquely placed to facilitate talks Jaishankar said India does not have a peace plan or any suggestions on how to end the conflict. Rather, it is having conversations about ending the conflict with each of the two sides and keeping each apprised of what the other side is saying. He said to end the war there must be serious negotiations between the two, and these talks aim to initiate that ■ ■ Highlighting India’s unique position, the external affairs minister said there are not many countries that have the ability or the willingness to engage both Moscow and Kyiv at the same time India has not taken sides in the war. Instead, it has been engaging both countries, urging them to end the conflict through negotiations Zelenskyy says he has already invited India to the second peace summit 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 Naidu disburses `602 crore to 4l flood victims E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The State gover nment on Wednesday deposited a total of `602 crore to four lakh flood victims in a record time of 15 days after the flood water receded. Speaking to mediapersons after disbursing the aid at the NTR District Collectorate in Vijayawada, the Chief Minister explained that the total damage caused due to the floods has been pegged at `7,600 crore, which includes public and private assets. Highlighting the government’s swift response and coordinated efforts, he revealed that the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) received donations to the tune of `400 crore. Describing the donations as historic, the Chief Minister acknowledged the overwhelming public response to the flood re- lief efforts and said, “Young and old alike, all responded. If we stay united, we can face any disaster.” “The floods affected 16 districts. We have given financial aid of `25,000 to persons whose ground-floor houses were submerged, and `10,000 to those on the first floor. Help was also extended to people whose twowheelers, autos, grocery stores, and pushcarts were damaged in the deluge,” Naidu noted. FLOOD FURY J7,600 cr Estimated damage 47 Death toll Relief Measures CMRF receives `400 crore donations 5,900 Requests for electric, plumbing & carpentry repairs resolved 75,000 Houses cleaned using fire engines Commending the efforts of officials from various departments, the Chief Minister said, “My employees and I worked tirelessly for 11 days to provide all possible assistance to the flood victims.” Chandrababu Naidu pointed out that unprecedented inflows of 11.90 lakh cusecs were received at the Prakasam Barrage. Further, he blamed the previous YSRC government for the flood triggered by the Lokayukta police Jagan set to visit Srivari temple on Sept 28 to probe MUDA dirt against Siddu Spl court directs SP to register a case under land grab law, submit report in 3 months Yat h i r a j u @ Bengaluru A day after the Karnataka High Court allowed investigation against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam case, a special court directed the Lokayukta police to probe the allotment of 14 compensatory sites to his wife Parvathy B M. The Lokayukta police has been asked to submit its re port within three months. The special court in Bengaluru, which exclusively deals with criminal cases against sitting and former MPs and MLAs, also directed the Superintendent of Police, Mysuru Division of Karnataka Lokayukta, to register a case under the provisions of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act and the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act. This is in addition to provisions under IPC sections 120B (conspiracy), 166 (disobeying law), 403 (misappropriation), 406 (breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 426 (mischief), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery of an electronic record), 340 (wrongful confinement), 351 (use of criminal force) and other relevant sections, under Section 9 (bribing public servant) and 13 (criminal misconduct) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. In his order, Special Court Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat ordered registration of a private complaint against Siddaramaiah, his wife, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, and one Davaraju J, among others, in connection with the MUD’s illegal allotment of the compensatory sites. The case pertains to 14 sites worth `56 crore being allotted illegally in an upscale Vijayanagar 3rd Stage for the land acquired at Kesare village, a down market area on the outskirts of Mysuru, due to alleged undue advantage taken by Siddaramaiah when in power. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada YSRC president and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is set to visit Tirumala on September 27 and offer prayers at the Lord Venkateswara Swamy Temple on September 28 (Saturday). His visit to Tirumala is a significant development amid the snowballing Laddu controversy . Additionally, the YSRC has urged devotees across the State to participate in pujas that will be performed in various temples on September 28 for the sanctity of Tirumala, which the party said was tarnished by Naidu. In a post on social media platform X (formerly), Jagan urged people to raise their voice against the false claims made by Naidu. He said the Chief Minister’s claims that the Srivari Laddu was adulterated with animal fat misled devotees and tarnished the revered image of Lord Venkateswara Swamy. The YSRC chief said this act, driven by political motives, deeply hurt the sentiments of devotees. YSRC leaders, including former ministers Perni Venkatramaiah (Nani) and Kodali Venkatramaiah (Nani), and party leader Vallabhaneni Vamsi, accused the TDP of spreading canards regarding express read One arrested for setting fire to temple chariot in Anantapur Anantapur: Police have solved the temple chariot burning case at Hanakanahal village in Kanekal mandal of Anantapur district. Bodimalla Eswar Reddy (35) of YSRC, who was accused of setting the chariot on fire, was arrested on Wednesday. Sources said four more people were picked up for questioning | P4 Tirumala Laddu row probe: DGP holds meeting with SIT members Vijayawada: In a major development in the investigation into adulteration of the Tirumala Laddu, DGP Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao held a meeting with members of the SIT headed by Guntur Range IG Sarvashresth Tripathi on Wednesday. However, the State government is yet to issue orders on setting up of the SIT | P4 SC: Avoid misogynistic remarks S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday war ned courts across India against making remarks that could be construed as “misogynistic” or directed towards a certain “gender or community”. “Courts, therefore, have to be careful not to make comments in the course of judicial proceedings which may be construed as being misogynistic or for that matter prejudicial to any segment of our society,” a five-judge bench of the court said while closing the suo motu proceedings over Karnataka High Court judge Justice V Srishananda’s alleged objectionable comments during one of his court hearings. The bench, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandarchud, advised judges to conduct proceedings conscious of the wider impact of casual observations on the community at large. In video clips that went viral, Justice Srishananda made some objectionable comments against a woman lawyer when she intervened during a hearing. The bench said it refrained from any further proceedings against Justice Srishananda as he had apologised. Foreign diplomats after visiting a polling booth in Srinagar, for a first-hand assessment of the assembly elections in J&K on Wednesday | Zahoor Punjabi Heartening to see Kashmiris cast votes: Foreign diplomats F aya z W a n i @ Srinagar The second phase of polling for 26 assembly seats in J&K on Wednesday recorded a healthy 56.05% turnout, which could go up further. While brisk polling took place in five districts, there were no long queues in Srinagar, where the poll percentage for eight seats stood at 29.24%. However, 4.41% more voters turned up to vote in Srinagar as compared to the Lok Sabha polls in April-May when the percentage was 24.83%. A team of foreign diplomats visited a few polling stations and found it “heartening” to see Kashmiris casting their votes after 10 years. US Deputy chief of Mission Jorgan K Andrews, who was among the visiting diplomats said, “It has been excellent and fascinating to see how India organises its elections and how thorough the preparations are. It has been very inspiring.” It looks very healthy and democratic, he added. The turnout was good in the three violence-hit districts in the Jammu re gion Reasi (74.14%), Poonch (73.78%) and Rajouri (69.84%) Even Ganderbal (62.63%) and Budgam (61.31%) in the Kashmir region did well. “The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi seat in Reasi district recorded the highest voter turnout of 79.95%,” informed J&K Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P K Pole. No poll boycott in Srinagar In Srinagar, a hot bed of separatist politics, people came out to vote for first Assembly polls without any boycott or militant threat. “There are no jobs & power bills are high. We hope the new govt will provide relief to people,” a resident said the preparation of the sacred Tirumala Laddu. Speaking to mediapersons at the party central office in Tadepalli on Wednesday YSRC lead, ers criticised the TDP supremo for making baseless allegations that ghee used for the preparation of the Laddu Prasadam was adulterated with animal fat. They described the accusation as an insult to crores of devotees. Perni Nani and Kodali Nani alleged that it was under Naidu’s previous regime that adulterated ghee was supplied to the TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams). “Complaints regarding the quality of the Laddu had surfaced only after Chandrababu Naidu became the Chief Minister,” they claimed. They also condemned the lack of action against Jana Sena Party MLA Pantham Nanaji for attacking a Dalit professor and against Undi MLA Raghu Rama Krishna Raju for allegedly tearing a poster of Dr BR Ambedkar. breach to the Budamer u Rivulet. Recalling his government’s flood relief measures, the Chief Minister said he had personally monitored the situation from the Collector’s office, visited Singh Nagar and other affected regions along with officials, and sought help from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for additional boats and P4 helicopters. TTD plaint on AR Dairy E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The TTD lodged a complaint with police against Tamil Nadu-based AR Dairy Foods Private Limited for allegedly supplying adulterated ghee. In a written complaint, TTD’s marketing and procurement wing general manager Murali Krishna said AR Dairy violated the tender agreement by supplying adulterated ghee even though higher officials had flagged the low quality. Police said as per the agreement, the TTD can file a criminal case against the supplier if terms agreed upon are violated. P4
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