tadepalligudem l friday l june 06, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Trump bans citizens of 12 countries from entering U.S. VISA Policy takes effect from monday The policy takes effect Monday at 12:01 am and does not have an end date. The travel ban applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen; apart from restricted entry for citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela President Donald Trump cited national security concerns to ban citizens of 12 countries from Africa and West Asia from entering the US trump cites ‘terrorism risk’ for move ■ ■ Since returning to White House, Trump has launched an unprecedented campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges Trump said nationals of countries being banned pose ‘terrorism’ and ‘public-safety’ risks, as well as risks of overystaying on their visas | P9 Jan 20 order seeking to identify ‘hostile attitudes’ toward U.S. behind fiat 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 Court poses 9 questions to K’taka govt; top cops suspended; judicial, CID probes ordered Heads roll as K’taka HC takes up suo-motu PIL YAT H I R A J U & A S HW I N I M S R I PA D @ Bengaluru THE Karnataka government suspended Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda and four other police officials on Thursday evening, hours after Karnataka High Court registered a suo motu public interest litigation taking cognisance of the stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium on We d n e s d ay, w h i c h claimed 11 young lives when the crowds were trying to enter the stadium for the celebrations organised by the IPL-2025 winners Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said after a lateevening cabinet meeting that he has ordered the DG & IGP M A Saleem to arrest representatives of RCB; DNA Networks, the event manager, and the KSCA. The Cubbon Park police, under whose jurisdiction new posting Centre appoints Sandeep Mathur as GM of South Coast Railway E x press N e w s S er v i c e @ Visakhapatnam The Centre has appointed Sandeep Mathur, HAG/IRSSE as the General Manager of South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone, headquartered in Vizag. He is currently serving as Principal Executive Director (Signal Modernisation) in the Railway Board. The appointment marks an important administrative step towards the operationalisation of the SCoR Zone, which has been under planning, and partial implementation since its announcement. Visakhapatnam MP M Sribharat, who had written to the Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on January 21 in this regard, welcomed the development. In his letter, the MP had requested the Centre to appoint a full-time General Manager to accelerate the progress of the new railway zone, and oversee key development works. Speaking on the occasion, the MP noted that with the appointment of a GM, the zone is poised to make tangible progress. “A dream of Vizagites is finally coming true,” he said. He reiterated that the SCoR Zone, with Waltair Division integrated, is already a reality, and stated that he is continuously working towards getting the Gazette Notification issued at the earliest. Visakhapatnam Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC) member Chalasani Gandhi, along with railway union representatives, and other stakeholders, appreciated the move, and acknowledged the role played by the MP in pursuing the matter with the P4 Railway Ministry  . Chinnaswamy Stadium falls, has already registered an FIR against the three. Siddaramaiah cited ‘substantial dereliction of duty’ while suspending Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B Dayananda; Additional Commissioner of Police, West Division, Vikash Kumar Vikash; Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) H T Shekhar; Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cubbon Park) C Balakrishna; and Inspector of Police (Cubbon Park) A K Girish, with immediate effect. The suspension order stated that the Office of the Commissioner of Police had failed to give a written reply rejecting permission to RCB to hold a victory parade on June 4. The Karnataka government ordered a judicial probe by a one-man commission headed by retired High Court Judge, Justice John Michael D’Cunha, besides a parallel probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Criminal Inves- M AYA N K S I N GH & M A N D A R A V I N D E R R E DDY @ New Delhi / Hyderabad K’taka home minister G Parameshara and police commissioner B Dayananda taking stock of the situation at Chinnaswamy Stadium | Allen Egenuse J COURT’S QUESTIONS TO STATE GOVT When and who 1 has taken the decision to hold the victory celebrations and in what manner? 2 What steps were taken to regulate the traffic? 3 What steps were taken to regulate the public/crowd? 4 What medical / other facilities were arranged at the venue? 5 Any assessment was made in advance on number of people, who may be present at the time of celebrations? 6 Whether persons injured were given immediate medical attention at the venue? If not why? tigation Department (CID) into the stampede. He said they have given 30 days’ time to the Justice D’Cunha Commission to submit a report. Earlier in the day, a High Court division bench of acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice CM Joshi passed the order registering a suo motu PIL while taking cogni- 7 How much time was taken to take the injured to the hospitals? 8 Whether any Standard Operating Procedure has been formulated to manage a crowd of 50,000 and above in any sports event 9 Any permission was sought to organise the event? sance of the fatal stampede, seeking the reasons leading to the tragedy, and whether it could have been prevented. The court also issued a notice to the state government and directed it to submit replies on the further status report based on nine questions (see box) by June 10, the next date of hearing. World’s highest railway arch bridge CHENAB RAIL BRIDGE 1,315 metres long steel arch bridge PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate it on Friday 30,000 tonnes steel used to build the bridge 260 kmph Jammu & Kashmir Udhampur Can withstand wind speeds of up to 260 kmph Bridge will enhance connectivity between Jammu and Srinagar | Built to last 120 yrs | Project cost: `1,486 cr 17 spans 133.7m Max. height Total length 1.3 KM Situated at a height of 359 m above the river File photo Top Maoist Sudhakar killed in encounter E J A Z K A I S E R @ Raipur IN a big blow to the Maoist leadership, security forces eliminated CPI (Maoist) central committee member Narasimha Chalam alias Sudhakar, 67, in the National park area of Bijapur on Thursday. After neutralising CPI (Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju on May 21, the death of another senior leader comes as a severe blow Made-in-India Rafale fighter jet fuselages to roll out in 2028 to the banned outfit. with an AK-47 rifle. He is reActing on specific intelli- sponsible for a host of violent gence, a joint team of incidents,” P Sunderpersonnel from district raj, IG (Bastar range) reserve guard, STF, and told this newspaper. CoBRA launched a coorAs the in-charge of dinated operation on the Maoist ideological June 5 inside Indravati training school (ReNational Park. “An enPOS), Sudhakar was incounter ensued followvolved in misleading Sudhakar ing which forces recovand radicalising youth ered the body of CCM with violent and antimember Narasimha Chalam, national ideologies. IN a major boost to India’s defence manufacturing sector, French aviation giant Dassault Aviation has joined hands with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) to build a dedicated facility in Hyderabad to manufacture Rafale fighter jet fuselage for global markets. On Wednesday, both companies signed production transfer agreements. The deal is expected to strengthen the country’s aircraft manufacturing skills and support the global aerospace supply chain. The Hyderabad facility will make key structural parts of the Rafale jet, including lateral shells of the rear fuselage, the complete rear section, central fuselage and front section. The first fuselage sections are ex- Key partnership TASL said its partnership with Dassault will strengthen India’s position as a key player in the global aerospace supply chain pected to roll off the assembly line in FY2028, with the facility expected to deliver up to two complete fuselages per month. Dassault Aviation’s chairman and CEO Eric Trappier said this is the first time Rafale fuselages will be made outside France. “This is a major step in building our supply chain in India,” he added. Sukaran Singh, CEO and managing director of Tata Advanced Systems, said the partnership shows India’s growing role in global aerospace. “Making the entire Rafale fuselage in India proves the strength of our partnership with Dassault and the capability of our aerospace ecosystem,” he added. Dassault Aviation has till now delivered over 10,000 military and civil aircraft (including 2,700 Falcons) in more than 90 countries over the last century. It has deep expertise in design, production, sale and support of all types of aircraft. Tata Advanced Systems Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, has a strong portfolio of joint ventures with global aerospace and defence firms, a statement said. Tribal couple plants saplings minutes after tying the knot U s h a P eri @ Visakhapatnam Minutes after tying the knot, a young tribal couple from Paidigudem village in Kunavaram mandal of Alluri Sitarama Raju district marked the World Environment Day in a meaningful way by joining a sapling plantation drive organised by Forest Department. Naveen (24), a daily wager, and Ramya (21), a nursing student, participated briefly in the programme before returning to continue their wedding celebrations. Their gesture stood as a quiet yet powerful statement about the importance of environmental conservation. “This day is not just about the union of our two families but a reminder that all of us have a shared responsibility to protect the nature,” the couple said, adding, “We want our surroundings, rich in biodiversity , to be preserved and made bett e r fo r b o t h p e o p l e a n d wildlife.” They further expressed, “These forests are the heart of tribal life. It is our duty to conserve them. Marking this day with tree planting gives us hope for a healthier future for our forests.” The drive in Kunavaram division saw the participation of around 150 members from the Forest Department and other officials. As part of the celebrations, 35,000 saplings of 12 different native species were planted across 44 forest ranges in Chinturu division. In addition to the plantation drive, officials also conducted a plastic waste collection programme, removing large quantities of plastic waste that had been unlawfully discarded in P4 the forest ranges.  Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan take part in Vana Mahotsav-2025 at Anantavaram on Thursday | Express cm sets target of 5 crore plants by next wed P h anin d ra Papasani @ Vijayawada Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has set a target of planting five crore saplings in the State by the next World Environment Day (WED). Naidu, along with Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan, attended Vana Mahotsav-2025 organised at Anantavaram village in the capital region to mark World Environment Day Speaking . on the occasion, Naidu said one crore saplings are being planted across the State to mark Environment Day . “Environmental protection is everyone’s responsibility. Every citizen should contribute to Swachh And- hra Mission. Is it fair to expect clean air without planting trees? Andhra Pradesh will set an example for the nation in environmental protection,” he said. After planing saplings in ADC Park, Naidu and Pawan Kalyan went round the stalls set up by the Pollution Control Board to mark the occasion. “It is a matter of great pride to launch the initiative of planting one crore saplings on a single day By . the next World Environment Day, we aim to plant 5.58 crore saplings. Currently, AP has 37,421 sq km of forest area, which is 23% of the total area. Including greenery outside forests, the State’s green cover stands at 30.05% P4 now,” Naidu said.  Ashwini Lohani new chief of pm museum & library Former CMD of Air India and ex-chairman of the Railway Board Ashwani Lohani has been appointed as the director of the Prime Ministers Museum and Library n e w allia n c e Mahua Moitra, Pinaki Mishra In Coalition of the Willing E x press N e w s S er v i c e @ New Delhi/Kolkata IN a quiet closed ceremony that flew under the radar, and possibly under the political grapevine, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has married Supreme Court lawyer and former BJD MP Pinaki Misra. Neither Moitra (50) nor Mis- ra (65) issued any official statement on the wedding but the TMC MP posted a photo of them together, in a way confirming the news but without divulging the details. Reports said they married in Germany on May 30. The fierce speaker seen sparring in Parliament with trademark fire and flair, traded her punchlines for pallu—and looked every bit the graceful bride in traditional attire, topped off with gold jewellery that did a fair bit of sparkling on its own. Her new husband brought a cool, courtroom calm to the equation—a senior lawyer and ex-MP from Odisha. Despite their prominent roles in public life, the two managed to keep their nuptials out of the limelight. The low-key wedding caught many off guard, especially given Moitra’s recent headline-heavy year, which included a public spat lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, the man who accused her in the “cash-forquery” scandal that led to her expulsion from the Lok Sabha last December. The news of their wedding broke after some media outlets accessed the couple’s photograph has been enough to send ripples through political and chatterati circles alike. In a world where personal lives of public figures are often dissected in real time, their decision to keep things private is radical as it is intensely private. Born in Assam, Moitra grew up amid tea estates and privilege, before heading off to the US to study economics and math. Her political journey started in 2008.