vijayawada l saturday l september 28, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION SC blasts dELHI Air Quality PANEL FOR failure to curb POLLUTION The Supreme Court noted that the Commission for Air Quality Management has not taken steps to stop stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana No penal action, orders remain on paper Panel directed to file compliance report A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih observed that no punitive action has been taken against those who burn crop stubble. “There has been total non-compliance of the Act,” the bench said, expressing its dissatisfaction. “If there is no penal action, the prohibitive directions against farm fires will remain only on paper”, Justice Oka orally observed ■ ■ The panel must immediately ensure the equipment given by the Centre for avoiding stubble burning are actually used by farmers, the bench said “We are of the view that though the Commission has taken steps, it needs to be more active,” the bench said while directing the panel to file a better compliance report and posted the matter for October 3 82 No. of directions issued by the panel, but no action taken against violators 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■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Registration services at secretariats withdrawn E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The State government has withdrawn re gistration services at village/ward secretariats. Orders to this effect were issued by Special Chief Secretary (Revenue) RP Sisodia on Friday . The previous government had issued a series of orders declaring the new registration sub-districts and village/ward secretariats as offices of the joint sub-registrar/sub-registrar and the panchayat secretaries concerned as sub-registrars for registering the property documents. However, following a request from the Commissioner and Inspector General of Registration and Stamps Department, the government issued the orders to stop registration services at village/ ward secretariats. After taking up land resurvey, the previous government had decided to provide registration services in Village/Ward Secretariats for the convenience of property owners. Initially, the previous YSRC dispensation had declared 195 Village and Ward Secretariats as offices of Sub-Registrar and Joint SubRegistrar for registration of property related documents in villages and wards. After Jagan defers trip to Tirumala, the Chief Minister asserts no one prevented him from visiting the hill shrine No one is above traditions and customs: Naidu E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Asserting that no one prevented YSRC president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy from visiting Tirumala, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said, “If he (Jagan) wants to go to Tirumala, he can go. But he should respect the traditions and customs followed there. No person is above traditions and customs.” Strongly condemning Jagan’s claims that notices were issued against his visit, Naidu said as Section 30 of the Police Act was imposed in Tirupati, police served notices on YSRC leaders to prevent them from congregating in large numbers to avoid law and order issues. “Jagan should prove his claims by showing the notice to the media,” Naidu said and further alleged that the YSRC chief was not interested in going to the hill shrine, hence was making false claims. Responding to the former chief minister’s comments on the declaration of his faith, Naidu sought to know why Jagan was objecting to signing the declaration form if everyone knows he is a Christian. In response to Jagan’s statement that he has visited the hill shrine several times without signing the declaration form, Naidu said, “The YSRC chief violated norms by misusing his power as chief minister, but he cannot continue to do so.” Refuting Jagan’s claim that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Executive Officer had categorically mentioned that adulterated ghee was not used in making the Prasadam, Naidu said of all the eight tankers of ghee supplied by AR Foods, four tankers were used and the remaining four were rejected after getting a report from an NDDB lab. “In fact, the TTD had no mechanism for checking adulteration. After receiving complaints from devotees, samples of ghee were sent to an NDDB lab for quality check. It was then found that the ghee was adulterated,” he pointed out. Further, he reiterated that a state of the art laboratory will be established in Tirumala soon to check adulteration. Additionally, the Chief Minister announced that an act will be formulated to ensure that all places of worship have employees from that particular reliP4 gion. Humanity is my religion: Jagan on declaring faith E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Why is Jagan objecting to sign the declaration form if everyone knows he is a Christian. By not declaring his faith during his previous visits, the YSRC chief violated norms by misusing his power as CM. He cannot continue to do so N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minsiter Are we living in a secular country? They say I should declare my religion if I want to visit the temple. If this is the plight of a former chief minister, what about Dalits? Will they be allowed or not? YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, YSRC chief The TTD sets up a hoarding on Friday, urging non-Hindu pilgrims to furnish a declaration form before offering prayers at the Tirumala temple | Express Accusing the State government of trying to prevent him from visiting the Srivari temple at Tirumala, former chief minister and YSRC president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday asserted that his religion was humanity and the same could be taken as his declaration of faith. He made the comments in response to demands from the government that he declare his faith before entering the temple. Addressing a presser at his residence in Tadepalli, he said he had deferred his visit to Tirumala, where he was supposed to go on Friday, in the wake of the NDA government’s moves. “Notices were served on our party leaders, corporators and cadre, stating that there was no permission for his visit to Tirumala and action would be taken if they participate in the programme,” Jagan said quoting from a notice allegedly served on YSRC leaders in Tirupati. Describing the NDA rule as demonic for seeking to prevent him from having the darshan of Lord Balaji, Jagan said he was surprised to also know that BJP activists were arriving in Tirupati from neighbouring States and thousands of police were deployed. Terming the focus of the TDP and the BJP on his personal faith as an attention diversion tactic from their “failed” attempt to politicise the Tirumala Laddu adulteration issue, the YSRC chief said everyone in the State and the country knows what his faith is. Recalling that he has visited Tirumala several times in the past, he said his father, late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, was blessed with the opportunity to present clothes to Lord Balaji during Brahmotsavams and he, too, as chief minister was fortunate to have the same blessing. “I visited Srivari temple several times even before I became the chief minister. I took the Lord’s blessings before and after I took up the 3,648 km padayatra. After the walkathon, I went on foot to the temple. Naidu was the chief minister at the time and I was the opposition leader. You can ask for declaration if someone is visiting for the first time, but after having visited 10-11 times already, why these obstructions P4 for me?” he wondered. Sharif plays Kashmir card at UNGA meet Ye s h i Seli @ New Delhi A day ahead of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s address at the UN General Assembly, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday raked up the Kashmir issue and sought to draw similarities between the situation in Kashmir and Palestine. India normally uses its right to reply to give it back to Pakistan, adding Kashmir is an inalienable part of India. “Like the people of Palestine, the people of J&K, too, struggled for a century for their freedom and right to self-determination,” said Sharif in his UNGA address. He accused India of reneging on its commitments to implement the UN Security Council resolutions there. “India’s policy of brutal coercion and oppression in Kashmir has ensured that Burhan Wani’s legacy continues to inspire the struggle and sacrifices of millions of Kashmiris. Inspired by the legitimacy of their epic struggle, they remain defiant,’’ claimed Sharif. “In a classic settler-colonial project, India is seizing Kashmiri lands and properties and settling outsiders in J&K in their nefarious design to transform the Muslim majority into a minority he charged. ,” Central govt’s total debt shoots up by 25% D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi THE Central government’s total debt at the end of June 2024 quarter has reached `176 lakh crore, up 25% from the previous year’s `141 lakh crore. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the debt rose 1.2%, much lower than 4.6% growth witnessed in the same period last year. As for the composition of the Centre’s total debt, external debt accounted for `9.78 lakh crore, up from `8.50 lakh crore in the same period last year. Of the `149 lakh crore internal loans, market loans (raised through government bonds) ac- express read Israeli forces strike Hezbollah’s HQ waterlogged Following heavy rain, an arterial road in Visakhapatnam was completely inundated on Friday | G Satyanarayana Venkata Reddy arrested in mining scam case, remanded till Oct 10 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested VG Venkata Reddy former director , of Mines and Geology , who is the prime accused in the alleged multi-crore sand mining case, and produced him in the Vijayawada Special ACB Court on Friday He was sent to . 14-day judicial remand till October 10. According to an ACB official release, Venkata Reddy absconded after an FIR was regis- tered against him on October 11 in the sand mining case. He was arrested from his residence at Beauty Green Resort in Sulthanpalli village, Telangana. The scam came to light after the Commissioner of Mines and Geology submitted a report to the Principal Secretary (Industries and Commerce) in July this year, stating that the former director had committed violations in tenders/ agreements, operations of sand mining, and even orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Supreme Court, for wrongful gains to the private parties, and caused a loss to the tune of `2,566 crore to the State exchequer. After conducting a departmental inquiry the report was , sent to the ACB Director General, who held a preliminary investigation, and registered an FIR under Sections 7, 9, 10, 12 and 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, Sections 406, 409, 120B of the IPC, and Sections 4 (1), 4 (1) (A) read with 21 of the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, P4 1957. Jerusalem: Israeli forces carried out air strikes on the south of Lebanon’s capital Beirut that it said targeted Hezbollah’s headquarters, moments after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep fighting the militant group. Leading Israeli tv networks reported that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the air strike. However, a source close to Hezbollah said Nasrallah was “fine” | P11 AP, K’taka ink pact for forest conservation Vijayawada: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka on forest preservation and wildlife conservation at an Inter-State coordination meeting in Vijayawada on Friday. The pact, signed in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, focuses on forest conservation, elephant management, ecotourism development, skill training for tribals, and curbing of red sanders smuggling | P4 counted for `104.5 lakh crore, `27 lakh was raised through securities against small savings, `10.5 lakh crore through T-bills, and `78,500 crore through gold bonds. It must be noted that the government has maintained the borrowing target in the current financial year at `14.1 lakh crore. The finance ministry on Thursday announced `6.61 lakh crore borrowing plan in the second half of the current financial year. Though the government has maintained its FY25 borrowing target of `14.01 lakh crore, analysts expect the government to cut down on borrowing this financial year. According to Nomura, spending does not appear to have picked up after the initial boost. “It is possible that the GOI will underspend this year and therefore IGB issuance can be reduced,” it says. Gaura Sen Gupta, chief economist at IDFC First Bank, feels there is scope for the fiscal deficit to undershoot the FY25 target of 4.9%, as this is a truncated year (due to the general election). She says the Centre has refrained from reducing G-Sec supply due to additional demand from index inclusion. The government pays 19% of its total revenue collection in paying interest towards outstanding debt. For FY25, it has budgeted for `11.6 lakh crore in interest payment. The Centre’s total debt at the end of June quarter is 54% of the country’s estimated GDP of `326 lakh crore in FY25. Last year (FY24), the Centre’s debt/ GDP ratio was at 57.5%. The Centre’s debt-to-GDP ratio has been falling since FY21, when it peaked at 62.75%. Zelenskyy claims some peace merchants have a Nobel dream y e s h i Seli @ New Delhi AS efforts to end the RussiaUkraine conflict continue, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has remarked that some are attempting to broker peace with an eye on Nobel Prize and not real peace. A comprehensive peace formula is already in place but some countries are proposing alternative settlement plans aimed at pausing, not ending, the war; such a move will only g iv e R u s s i a n p r e s i d e n t Vladimir Putin more room to continue the war and bring more damage to Ukraine, Zelenskyy said while addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday “As a global initiative, the . peace formula has already existed for the past two years. And maybe somebody wants a Nobel Prize for their political biography for frozen truce instead of real peace, but the only prizes Putin will give you in re- turn are more suffering and disasters,’’ said Zelenskyy . While the Ukrainian leader did not name any country while making this remark, in his speech, he mentioned: “When the Chinese-Brazilian duo tries to grow into a choir of voices – with someone in Europe, with someone in Africa, saying something alternative to a full and just peace, the question arises – what is the true interest? Everyone must understand – you won’t boost your power at Ukraine’s expense.” The war between Russia and Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. Many world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jingping, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have tried to impress upon Ukraine and Russia to end the conflict. India has always maintained that the best way to end the conflict is through dialogue and diplomacy . When some propose half-hearted plans, it not only ignores Ukrainians interest but also helps Putin Volodymyr Zelenskyy Meets Trump Zelenskyy met Donald Trump on Friday in New York. ‘I think we have a common view that the war in Ukraine has to be stopped and Putin can’t win,’ Zelenskyy said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin Will end war: Don Trump said he will end the war if elected as US prez. “It’s a shame... This is a war that should have never happened... Too many people dead,” he said after meeting Zelenskyy
Express Network Private Limited publishes thirty three E-paper editions of The New Indian Express newspaper , thirty two E-paper editions of Dinamani, one E-paper edition of The Morning Standard, one E-paper edition of Malayalam Vaarika magazine and one E-paper edition of the Indulge - The Morning Standard, Kolkatta.