HYDERABAD  SATURDAY  OCTOBER 26, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION CENTRE ASKS STATES TO DISCOURAGE FIRECRACKERS TO CURB POLLUTION With air pollution levels soaring in many cities, the Union health ministry has shot off a letter to all states, urging them to take preventive steps STOP STUBBLE BURNING, REDUCE GENSETS USE CHECK AIR QUALITY BEFORE VENTURING OUT In the letter, Director General of Health Services Dr Atul Goel advised state authorities to discourage stubble and waste burning and spread awareness among people about reducing firecrackers during festivities, promoting public transportation, limiting reliance on diesel-based generators, and curbing smoking. The letter noted that air pollution has become a health hazard ■ ■ ■ The advisory said people in polluted cities must minimise their exposure to polluted air and check the air quality indices before venturing out The other preventive measures include avoiding congested areas, and opting for cleaner fuels at home for cooking, heating, and lighting Those with pre-existing health conditions must take extra care, it added 0-50 HEALTHY AIR QUALITY INDEX (AQI) RANGE. ANYTHING ABOVE THIS IS DEEMED HARMFUL 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 PILGRIMS PANIC Bomb threats to four hotels in Tirupati D S U R E N D R A K U M A R @ Tirupati A series of bomb threats sent by e-mail to four hotels in Tirupati on Thursday triggered widespread panic in the temple town. The threats targeted three hotels along the Tirumala bypass road and another at Ramanuja Circle, leaving residents and pilgrims anxious. Under the supervision of Tirupati DSP Venkata Narayana, police teams launched an intensive search operation at the targeted hotels. Special teams, including bomb squads and sniffer dogs, were deployed to inspect each hotel thoroughly No explosives or suspicious . items were found. Speaking to mediapersons on Friday DSP Narayana said vig, il has been stepped up. He explained that teams have been mobilised to carry out searches and assured the public that no explosives were found during their inspections. Hotels in the city have been advised to remain vigilant for suspicious activity or unclaimed items. Thousands of people travel to Tirupati every day to offer prayers at the Srivari temple in Tirumala. Amidst grilling, IAS officer faces fresh complaint E N S @ Hyderabad ON a day a fresh complaint was lodged against him, senior IAS officer and former Rangareddy district collector D Amoy Kumar faced a volley of questions from the sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate regarding the allegedly illegal transfer of 42 acres of Bhoodan land in Nagaram village of Maheshwaram mandal to private individuals. The fresh complaint was lodged by representatives of the Madhuranagar Plot Owners Welfare Association, alleging that the IAS officer illegally transferred ownership rights and amended revenue records in the Dharani portal to benefit a builder. The association has challenged these orders in the High Court, securing a stay. The association’s representatives have requested that the ED investigate financial transactions linked to the alleged amendments in Dharani records and identify those responsible. According to the complainants, the association owns 104 acres in Survey Nos. 108, 109, 110 and 111 at Tatti Annaram, Abdullapurmet, Rangareddy district, valued over `1,000 CONTINUED ON P5 crore. Modi govt neglecting South, says Revanth E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad CHIEF Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday came down heavily on the Centre for alleged stepmotherly treatment being meted out to the southern states. The Congress, when it was in power at the Centre, did not discriminate against the South, as was being done now under the NDA dispensation, he said. The chief minister, participating in a private programme here, said that many major projects like Bhakra Nangal and Nagarjunasagar were built during the Congress rule. It was then that new universities were estab- lished and a slew of revolutionary changes were brought in the education system. He recalled that, to ensure food security, many reforms were introduced with the slogan of ‘Garibi Hatao’ during the late Indira Gandhi regime. Former prime minister late Rajiv Gandhi reduced the voting age to 18 from 21 years besides ushering IT revolution and introducing reforms in the telecom sector. He recalled that former prime minister late PV Narasimha Rao, who was from the Disengagement to be complete by Tuesday Regular patrolling along LAC expected to resume on Wednesday was inked on Monday, troops pullout and dismantling of the THE disengagement of troops temporary structures started from the two remaining fric- on Wednesday The whole proc. tion points in eastern Lada- ess is expected to complete by kh—Depsang and Demchok— next Tuesday and coordinated is in full swing and is likely to patrolling from the next day be complete by October 29, after ground verification. sources said. Giving clarity on “Both sides will inform each its progress on the ground, other about their patrols to Army sources told this paper ward off any faceoff and unsaon Friday that patrols are voury incidents. Also, surlikely to resume from veillance mechanisms October 30. will be set to keep an Both sides are moveye on everything,” ing fast on the recently said sources. reached agreement to Officials said the de-escalate tensions on c u r re n t b at ch of the Line of Actual agreements is excluControl (LAC), where sively for the disenIndian and Chinese gagement of Depsang troops were locked in a Tents and shades and Demchok and face-off since 2020. Exdoes not talk about are being removed. The plaining the process, patrolling limits and sources said tempo- vehicles are also buffer zones in the arrary structures are be- being shifted back eas where disengagein batches ing knocked down. Adment has already takhering to agreements en place. Army sources between the two sides, The agreement on Indian troops have beDepsang and Demgun to pull back equipment to chok is expected to lead to the rear locations in these areas. forces reaching their pre-Gal“The tents and shades are wan positions of April 2020. being removed with continuThe ties between India and ous verifications being done. China had nosedived following The vehicles are also being a fierce clash in the Galwan shifted back in batches,” sourc- Valley in June 2020 that marked es said. the most serious military conWhile the agreement be- flict between the two sides in tween the Corps Commanders decades. M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi THE muddled Trudeau government has decided to slash its immigrant intake by about 20% from the next year so as to right-size its population. While Trudeau had earlier announced he would allow 5 lakh immigrants each in 2025 and 2026, he admitted that after the pandemic, “between addressing labour needs and maintaining population growth, we didn’t get the balance right.” As per the new plan, 3.95 lakh PATROLLING TROOPS WILL CARRY WEAPONS For better coordination and smooth operations, each side will inform the other about the size of the patrolling team and the schedule. Also, the patrolling troops will carry weapons including rifles, sources said BOTH SIDES TO GO BACK TO PRE-2020 SITES Under the recent pact, both Indian and Chinese troops will fall back to the positions they had held before April 2020. They will now resume patrolling the same areas they used to do till that date CHARM OFFENSIVE German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a joint press conference at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Friday | SHEKHAR YADAV | P7 FEWER INDIANS TO GET VISA POWER AS CANADA CUTS TARGET M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi South, introduced economic reforms like liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation and saved the country from an imminent economic crisis then. All Congress leaders from Nehru to Indira Gandhi had put in efforts to fulfil the basic needs of the people. Congress-led UPA provided services in technology telecom and other sec, tors in the last 30 years. Revanth Reddy questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to what revolutionary changes he had ushered in so far. Stating that Narendra Modi has become the prime new permanent residents will be allowed in 2025, down from 4.85 lakh in 2024. The revised targets for 2026 and 2027 are 3.8 lakh and 3.65 lakh, respectively . The announcement comes months after student visas were cut by almost 35%, as compared to the previous year. Besides, student visas were capped at 3,60,000 for two years. Cumulatively, Trudeau’s announcement is expected to affect Indians in a big way. India h a d a ro u n d 3,19,000 students studying in Canada in 2023. The cut in student visas primarily impacted Indians, who constitute more than 41% of Canada’s international student population. In a post on X, Trudeau said, “We’re going to have fewer temporary foreign workers in Canada. We’re bringing in stricter rules for companies to prove why they can’t hire Canadian workers first.” This move is expected to complicate job opportunities for immigrants settling in Canada. As per Statistics Canada, the country had 2.8 million temporary residents, including workers and students, in the second quarter of 2024. EXPRESS READ NO MORE DEROGATORY COMMENTS ON KTR: COURT TO SUREKHA Hyderabad: The City Civil Court on Friday directed Endowments Minister Konda Surekha not to make any further comments against BRS working president KT Rama Rao that could be considered derogatory and to ensure removal of her previous such comments from social media | P4 minister for the third time, Revanth wondered what his contribution to the nation is. He alleged that the BJP regime toppled the state governments and divided political parties. He accused the Modi government of being focused only on forming BJP governments in the states by engineering defections. “Except splitting opposition parties and whipping up emotions in politics, the BJP government has done nothing either for the people or for farmers. The Centre is driving a very deep wedge between North and South India,” he alleged. CONTINUED ON P4 Lokayukta police question Siddu’s wife in MUDA case E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Mysuru THE Lokayukta police on Friday questioned Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathy in the alleged irregularities in allotment of 14 sites to her by MUDA (Mysore Urban Development Authority). She is accused No 2 in the case. Mallikarjuna S w a m y, Siddaramaiah’s brother-inlaw, was questioned last week. An FIR was filed against Siddaramaiah and three others following a special court order to submit a report after conducting a probe into a complaint filed by activist Snehamayi Krishna of Mysuru. Sources said a team led by Lokayukta Superintendent of Police T J Udesh questioned Parvathy in the morning. Parvathy was interrogated for three hours and the questions focused on her decision to return the 14 sites to MUDA, the manner in which sites were allotted, and land acquired from her for formation of a residential layout, sources told this newspaper. The Lokayukta police also questioned her regarding allegations of a sub-registrar visiting her house to complete the land registration and cancellation procedures. The Lokayukta SP issued a notice on Thursday asking Parvathy to appear in person for questioning.