tirupati l saturday l april 19, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Bhagavad Gita, Natyashastra part of UNESCO’s World Register Manuscripts of Bhagavad Gita and Natyashastra are among 74 documentary collections added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register proud moment for every indian, says pm ‘central text of the indian tradition’ Entries on scientific revolution, women’s contribution to history and major milestones from 72 countries and four international organisations are included in the register. The development comes on World Heritage Day on April 18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, on Friday described the inscriptions as “a proud moment for every Indian across the world”. ■ ■ The Natyashastra of Bharat Muni is “an epitome of the Natyaveda, a body of knowledge of performing art containing 36,000 verses known as the Gandharvaveda”, the UNESCO said in its citation Bhagavad Gita is a central text in the continuous, cumulative ancient intellectual Indian tradition, UNESCO’s citation read 570 total number of inscribed collections of unesco as of now 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 Oppn lights into N-missile V-P broadside against SC Never seen any RS chairperson make such political comments: Sibal P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi brisk arrangements Arrangements for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit are in full swing in the capital region Amaravati on Friday | express Modi speaks to Musk on tech ties amid trade talks J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a phone conversation with Tesla and SpaceX CEO and a key advisor of President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, discussing opportunities for collaboration in technology and innovation. The phone call comes amid ongoing trade negotiations and ahead of the upcoming visit of US Vice President J D Vance to India from April 21, as Muskled ventures Tesla and Starlink also look to expand their presence in the Indian market. Taking to X, Modi said: “Spoke to Elon Musk and talked about various issues, including the topics we covered during our meeting in Wa s h i n g t o n DC earlier this year. We discussed the immense potential for collaboration in the areas of technology and innovation. India remains committed to advancing our partnerships with the US in these domains.” In February, Modi had met Musk at DC during an official visit. Their discussions at the time covered key sectors including space, electric mobility , and technological innovation. Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal had on Wednesday met senior Starlink executives to explore the company’s interest in launching satellitebased internet services in India. Starlink is currently awaiting re gulatory approvals, including clarity on India’s upcoming spectrum policy and a pending security clearance. Despite these hurdles, the company remains keen to offer highspeed satellite internet across the country, especially in remote and underserved areas. Tesla is also making moves to enter the Indian market. Khalistani radical wanted for terror attacks held in US H a r p r ee t B a j w a @ Chandigarh GANGSTER-TURNED-TERRORIST Harpreet Singh alias Happy Passia, wanted in connection with multiple terror attacks across Punjab and who is alleged to have collaborated with Pakistan’s Deep State and Khalistani group BKI, has been arrested in the US, officials said Friday . Passia alias Jora, who had illegally entered the US, was arrested by the FBI and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations in Sacramento, the US federal law enforcement agency said. Punjab Police chief Gaurav Yadav said the arrest is a “major milestone in the success of war against terror”, adding the matter has been taken up with the Central government and efforts are on to extradite Passia. Yadav said between 2023 and 2025, Passia played a “central role in orchestrating targeted killings, grenade attacks on police establishments, and extortion across Punjab and various other states”. Harpreet Singh alias Happy Passia had illegally entered the US | PTI In the last seven months, 16 grenade attacks took place in Punjab, mostly targeting police posts, religious places and residences of public figures including BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia. Passia’s name has cropped up during investigations into at least 14 such attacks. It is reliably learnt that Pasia is the key operative of the Khalistani militant outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) which has ties with Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan. Since 2023, Passia is associated with Khalistani militant Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda and they have been involved in setting up terror modules in Punjab, sources said. A day after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar used strong words against the judiciary, several leaders from across the Opposition spectrum lit into him on Thursday, asserting such interventions are part of a broader, dangerous strategy to erode judicial independence, weaken federalism and centralise executive power. Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal hit out at the V-P for questioning the Supreme Court that set a timeline for the President to take decisions. Sibal said the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman remain equidistant between the Opposition and the ruling party adding he , had never seen any Rajya Sabha Chairman make “political statements” of this nature. “Independence of the judiciary is fundamental to democracy What is being done is un. constitutional,” he added. The Constitution — not the government — gave Article 142 powers to the Supreme Court. You said Article 142 is nuclear missile material. How can you say this? — Kapil Sibal, president, Supreme Court Bar Association The Vice President Mr Jagdeep Dhankar’s observations on this SC verdict is unethical! — Tiruchy Siva, DMK deputy general secretary The statement made by Dhankhar on SC judges borders on contempt — Kalyan Banerjee, TMC “I respect him a lot but you said Article 142 is nuclear missile material, how can you say this?” Sibal said. Echoing the view, Constitutional expert P D T Achary told this paper that the SC rightly used Article 142 and did not override any core Constitutional provision. “Article 142 empowers the highest judicial forum in this country to do complete justice in a particular case. Granting complete justice is the aim of the judiciary and THE Delhi High Court has dropped an adultery case filed by a man against another person who was allegedly in a relationship with his wife. The court said women cannot be treated as “property of their husbands”. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna referred to Draupadi from Mahabharat, and ruled, “She had no say in the matter, and what followed was a terrible war that caused the deaths of many.” The court said even though Draupadi’s tale is wellknown, the society took a long time to understand that treat- ing women as a chattel is wrong. It was only when the Supreme Court, in the Joseph Shine case in 2018, struck down Section 497 of the IPC (adultery) that the society reflected on this misogynistic view. The case was filed by a man who claimed his wife was having an affair with the petition- Don blinks Tit-for-tat China levy over? “I don’t want to go higher. At a certain point... people don’t buy,” Trump said White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett says Trump and his team are studying whether to firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell express read Govt rolls out minor mineral policy 2025 Vijayawada: Aimed at promoting sustainable, responsible, and transparent mineral development, the State government on Friday rolled out the Andhra Pradesh Minor Mineral Policy 2025. It aims to boost the revenue of the government, besides curbing illegal mining effectively Leopard death: Villagers deplore locals’ arrest E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Chittoor Tension prevailed at Ponnetipalem in Madanapalle mandal on Friday following a protest by villagers against the arrest of locals in connection with the death of a pregnant leopard after getting trapped in a snare. The leopard, which got trapped in the snare on Tuesday, succumbed to injuries on Wednesday . T he leopard death has sparked an outrage. Venkataramana Reddy, Reddeppa Reddy and Gangadhar were arrested in this connection, and lodged in sub-jail. On Friday morning, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest PV Chalapathi Rao, Chief Conservator of Forest C Selvam, and police officials visited the spot to probe the matter. While returning to Madanapalle, the officials were stopped by irate villagers of Ponnetipalem. The family members of the arrested blocked the convoy of the forest officials, and staged a protest. They raised slogans against the police alleging arrest of innocent persons in connection with the leopard death, and sought justice. They demanded the immediate release of the P4 three arrested.  pk’s gesture Kasireddy is kingpin behind Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan ensured the distribution of footwear to 345 people from Pedapadu village of Dumbriguda mandal in ASR district | P3 liquor scam: Vijayasai Reddy P h a n i n d r a Pa pa s a n i @ Vijayawada Delhi HC Invokes Draupadi, says woman is not husband’s property S h e k h a r S i n g h @ New Delhi the Constitution has entrusted the SC with this job,” he said. Dhankhar had described Article 142, which grants plenary powers to the Supreme Court, as a “nuclear missile against democratic forces available to the judiciary 24x7”. Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said the ruling is “timely accurate, cou, rageous, and a correction to the notion that those holding high office are above checks and balances... In our democracy only , the Constitution of India is supreme and most elevated. No office — be it that of the President, PM or governor — is above the fetters of Constitutional propriety he said. ,” DMK deputy general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Tiruchi Siva said, “The recent Supreme Court verdict on the role of Governors and President invoking Article 142 undoubtedly has established that no individual in the name of being a constitutional authority can sit over bills passed by a legislature indefinitely .” TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee accusing the V-P of “repeated disregard” for the judiciary . White House suggests broader US-Europe summit during Trump’s visit. Meloni is bridge between US-EU er. He claimed that the two had gone to Lucknow, stayed in a hotel room together pretending to be a married couple, and had sexual relations. When he confronted his wife, she told him to leave if he had a problem. Justice Krishna said that as per an old ruling, once a law is declared unconstitutional, it applies to all ongoing cases. The court said sharing a hotel room does not prove that two people had sex. “Just staying in the same room isn’t enough to assume anything happened,” the judge said, discharging the man and setting aside the complaint. Judge faults society The mindset of our society understood this only when the Supreme Court struck down Section 497 IPC that deals with the offence of adultery, the HC said Former Rajya Sabha MP V Vijayasai Reddy appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) at the Vijayawada City Police Commissionerate on Friday in connection with the alleged `4,000 crore liquor scam during the previous YSRCP regime. The SIT officials recorded his statements, questioning him about the formulation and implementation of the liquor policy, the sale of liquor, and the role of officials and others involved in the alleged scam. A team of four senior officials, led by NTR district Commissioner of Police SV Rajashekhar Babu, grilled Vijayasai about the involvement of prime suspect Kasireddy Rajasekhar Reddy alias Raj Kasireddy and others in the alleged scam. The , questioning lasted around three hours, from 2 to 5 pm. The SIT officials gave him a questionnaire containing around 25 questions related to the formulation of the liquor policy persons involved in , meetings, role of officials and private individuals such as Kasireddy irregularities in sales, and ha, wala network transactions. After being questioned, he addressed the media, stating that he had cooperated with the investigation officers. He mentioned that he was summoned based on statements given by former APSBCL MD P4 D Vasudeva Reddy and Satya Prasad. Former MP V Vijayasai Reddy speaks to the media after appearing before SIT for questioning in Vijayawada | Express Mithun to appear before SIT today Rajampet YSRCP MP PV Mithun Reddy is set to appear before the SIT at the Vijayawada City Police Commissionerate on Saturday, following notices served on him. As per the Andhra Pradesh High Court orders, the questioning will take place in the presence of his legal counsel. self-employment Lack of credit score proves to be a hindrance to jobless youth to get subsidised loans Y B r a h m a j i @ Vijayawada Youth and unemployed individuals in the State, who applied for corporation subsidy loans, are facing difficulties accessing the funds due to the lack of a CIBIL or credit score, leading to arbitrary rejection of their applications by bankers despite being shortlisted by mandal-level committees. This issue is distressing many young people who aim to set up small business units for livelihood. The State government has resumed subsidy loan schemes through various corporations, allocating thousands of crores for the economic uplift of the unemployed. Applications were invited for subsidy loans through the Andhra Pradesh Online Beneficiary Management and Monitoring System (APOBMMS) for various corporations, including BC, EBC, Arya Vysya, Kshatriya, Brahmin, and Kapu. Around six lakh applications were received, with 4.29 lakh applications for BC corporation loans and 1.62 lakh applications for EBC cor poration loans. This year, the government removed limitation on loan amount for certain schemes, and introduced two categories of loans - Self-employment schemes covering sectors like agriculture, transport, industries, services, and business, as well as generic pharmacies under MSME for pharmacy graduates. To address previous issues, a slab system was implemented for loan units, offering varying subsidy amounts based on the loan size. Unlike the previous single slab with a 50% subsidy up to `2 lakh, the new system offers 50% subsidy up to `1 lakh for unit costs up to `2 lakh; 50% subsidy capped at `1.25 lakh for unit costs between `2 and `30 lakh; and 50% subsidy capped at `2 lakh for unit costs above `3 lakh, with a maximum loan limit of around `10 lakh. The government released special guidelines for selecting candidates for subsidy loans due to a large number of applications, with mandal-level leaders participating in the process. Each mandal was allocated around 40-60 loans. However, public sector banks, which were the only institutions involved in sanctioning these loans this year (excluding cooperative banks), imposed strict restrictions. Despite mandal committees selecting eligible candidates, bankers rejected applications due to insufficient credit scores. This has dashed the hopes of many youths who were expecting to benefit from the scheme. In contrast, during 2014-18, such curbs were not in place, and thousands of youths benefited from similar schemes. P4