vijayawada l friday l october 04, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Israel steps up air strikes on Beirut, says Hezbollah Intel HQ hit Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters and other buildings linked to the group in Beirut, killing 15 fighters More lebanon residents told to evacuate Markets tank; no attack on iran today A source close to Hezbollah said one of the attacks hit an “evacuated” building housing the group’s media relations office. Earlier in the day, a rare Israeli attack on central Beirut hit a residential building, killing nine. In the south, the Israeli military asked residents in 20 areas to evacuate northward, signaling that it may widen a ground operation launched earlier this week ■ ■ Suspense continued over Israeli response to the Iranian missiles attacks. US President Joe Biden said he is discussing with Israel about striking Iran’s oil facilities. “There is nothing going to happen today,” he added Amid the spiralling conflict in West Asia, domestic equity markets fell sharply. Sensex and Nifty tanked more than 2% each on Thursday 1,974 people killed in ISraeli attacks on Lebanon since last october 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 SC outlaws caste All set for Brahmotsavams from today discrimination in jails across India E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Tirumala Quashes jail manual rules of 10 states, says caste-based work allocation in prisons illegal wala and Manoj Misra. It also ordered the Centre to make changes according to the IN a landmark verdict, the Su- judgment to address castepreme Court on Thursday held based discrimination in the that there should not be any Model Prison Manual, 2016 and caste discrimination in the Model Prisons and No caste prisons across the Correctional Services details to country and all present Act, 2023. provisions in jail man- be entered The apex court gave ual perpetuating such The CJI-led bench the Centre and states discrimination must three months to amend also ordered go. It also registered a their prison manuals. the deletion of suo motu case to monicaste details of The verdict came on a tor the issue. plea filed by Sukanya prisoners from A three-judge bench prison registrars. Shantha, a native of led by the Chief Justice Kalyan in Maharash“Caste column in convict or D Y Chandrachud ditra, alleging that prison undertrial rected all states and manuals of some states Union territories to re- registrars shall be encourage caste-based vise their prison manu- deleted,” it said in discrimination. The orits order als to end caste-based der dealt with certain allotment of work. discriminatory provi“Distribution of manual work sions of jail manuals of Uttar among prisoners on the basis Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya of their caste hierarchy is dis- Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odicriminatory and unconstitu- sha, Kerala, Karnataka, Mational,” said the bench, also harashtra, and Himachal comprising Justices J B Pardi- Pradesh and set them aside. S UC H ITRA K ALYAN MO H ANTY @ New Delhi The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has made elaborate arrangements for the multitude of devotees, who are expected to throng Tirumala for the nine-day annual Brahmotsavams from Friday. As a prelude to the commencement of the annual festival, the Ankurarpanam ritual was performed traditionally on Thursday night. Addressing mediapersons at Annamayya Bhavan in Tirumala, TTD Executive Officer J Shyamala Rao, along with Additional EO Ch Venkaiah Chowdary, said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will present the Pattu Vastrams to the Lord on behalf of the State government on the first day of Brahmotsavams. The procession of Lord Senadhipathi Varu at Tirumala I Express “After getting Vedasirvachanam at Ranganayakula Mandapam, the Chief Minister will release the 2025 TTD calendars and diaries. Thereafter, he will take part in the Pedda Sesha Vahana Seva. On October 5, he will inaugurate the newly constructed `13.45 crore modern temple kitchen behind the Panchajanyam Rest House,” he said. Elaborating on the arrangements for the annual festival, he said the TTD has cancelled all Arjita Sevas, Anga Pradak- shina and VIP break (except for protocol) darshan. On Garuda Seva day (October 8), even protocol darshan remains cancelled. “We have kept a buffer stock of seven lakh laddus to meet the pilgrim demand. The accommodation capacity in Tirumala, including rest houses and Pilgrim Amenities Complexes, is 45,000 pilgrims. As we are anticipating around 3.5 lakh pilgrims for Garuda Seva, we have made all arrangements to meet the pilgrim needs. The galleries along the Four Mada Streets have been spruced up to accommodate nearly two lakh pilgrims,” he explained. He said 3,000 round trips have been planned to transport three lakh pilgrims on the day of Garuda Seva in 400 plus RTC buses, and 2,000 round trips on other days. P4 express read Konda Surekha retracts statement on divorce Hyderabad: Under attack from various quarters for linking the divorce of actors Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya to BRS leader KT Rama Rao, Endowments Minister Konda Surekha “unconditionally” withdrew her statement only to attempt to justify it later in the day. She said her comment was intended to target KTR | P5 Tomato prices skyrocket to `90 per kg in State Tirupati: Tomato prices in the State are projected to exceed `100 per kg in retail markets as wholesale price at Madanapalle, Asia’s largest tomato market, has climbed to `90. Anantapur’s wholesale market reported similar figures, with prices reaching `91 per kg on Wednesday. The rise can be attributed to the crop damage in neighbouring States | P3 Enact Act, set up board to protect Sanatana Dharma: Pawan D S u r e n d r a K u m a r @ Tirupati Jana Sena Party chief and Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan emphasised the need for the immediate enactment of an Act to protect Sanatana Dharma in the country, and the establishment of Sana- tana Dharma Protection Board, at both the national and State levels, which should receive annual funding for its effective functioning. Addressing ‘Varahi Sabha’ in Tirupati on Thursday, he highlighted the key points of JSP’s ‘Varahi Declaration’. Pawan Kalyan asserted that secularism should be upheld in a manner that guarantees a uniform response to threats against any religion. The JSP chief proposed the concept of ‘Sanatana Dharma Certification’ to guarantee the purity of materials used in of- ferings to the deities and prasadam at temples, ensuring strict adherence to spiritual standards. Pawan Kalyan underlined the need for evolving a strategy of non-cooperation towards individuals or organisations which spread hatred or harm Sanatana Dharma. P4