The New Indian Express Wishes its readers a Happy Ugadi Our offices and press will remain closed today and there will be no issue of the paper on Wednesday visakhapatnam l tuesday l april 09, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Combined m-cap of BSE-listed companies hits `400 lakh crore The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms reached all-time closing high of `400.86 lakh crore on Monday amid a record rally in equities records 300% growth in a decade 266 Investors betting on q4 growth hopes ■ The unprecedented bull run in Indian equities comes amid rising retail participation as shown by sharp surge in the number of demat account holders from 36 million in 2019 to 151 million in 2023 ■ “Investors are betting big on Indian stocks on expectations of a strong growth momentum,” Prashanth Tapse of Mehta Equities said The combined market cap of BSE-listed companies zoomed 300% since March 2014 when it first crossed the `100 crore milestone. The `200 lakh crore mark was first touched in February 2021 and `300 lakh crore in July 2023—a mere nine months ago. During Monday’s trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 0.67% to settle at 74,742.50—up 3.4% year-to-date | P12 stocks hit their 52-week high on the bombay stock exchange on Monday 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 rejects interim bail to Kavitha in excise scam Says prima facie material shows her involvement in alleged offence SUCHITRA KALYAN MOHANTY @ New Delhi celestial diamond ring The Moon almost covers the Sun during a total solar eclipse, as seen from Mazatlan, Mexico, on Monday | AP Saudi push for Kashmir talks between India, Pak Y e s h i S e l i @ New Delhi The issue of Kashmir figured in the talks visiting Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Mohammad bin Salman in Makkah. “The two leaders stressed the importance of dialogue between India and Pakistan to resolve the outstanding issues between the two nations, especially for the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to ensure peace and stability in the region,’’ their joint statement released on Monday read after the bilateral talks a day earlier. The two leaders also discussed the situation in Gaza and supported the peace process in accordance with the resolutions of UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly and the Arab Peace Initiative “for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital”. New Delhi’s long-held position is that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and there is no ques- tion of any third party role. Diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan remain downgraded ever since 2019 after Article 370 that gave J&K special powers was read down. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished his newly elected Pakistani counterpart after the latter assumed power. Though things haven’t improved on the ground yet, the business community in Pakistan is pressing for resumption of cross-border trade with India. But New Delhi has always maintained that ties with Islamabad can improve only if it stop its terror factory . Recently Pakistan de, nounced defence minister Rajnath Singh’s comment in a televised interview where he said India would track down and liquidate terrorists and even if they manage to cross the border. These comments came after Pakistan cited a Guardian report alleging that India had killed 20 people in Pakistan since 2020 as part of a broader plan to target terrorists residing in foreign soil. Bibi says date fixed to invade Rafah Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday escalated his pledge to invade southern Gaza’s, saying, ‘There is a date’. He said Rafah operation is essential for Israel’s victory over Hamas IN a setback to BRS leader K Kavitha, a Delhi court on Monday denied her interim bail in the Delhi excise policy case. Rejecting the bail plea, special Judge Kaveri Baweja said the material presented by the Enforcement Directorate prima facie shows the Telangana politician is actively involved in the alleged money laundering offence, destruction of evidence, and attempting to influence witnesses in the case. Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, had sought interim bail saying her 16-year-old son has exams and needs her ‘moral and emotional support’. The judge said there was no apparent reason why close relatives can’t provide moral support to the child, rejecting the argument that they can’t be a substitute for the mother to address the exam-related anxiety of the ward. The court also noted that Kavitha, 46, can by no standards be considered a ‘vulnerable’ woman who could be made a scapegoat for committing the alleged offences, adding there is no compelling reason to grant her interim relief at this stage. Kavitha was arrested by the ED on March 15 and remanded in the probe agency’s custody till March 23, which was subsequently extended. Since March 26, she has been in judicial custody . According to the ED, she is part of the ‘South Group’ lobby which allegedly paid `100 crore as , kickbacks to AAP leaders in return for a big share of Delhi liquor licences. The Supreme Court on Monday asked Google to explain how the pin location-sharing feature works on its Maps application so that it can decide whether asking an accused to share his pin location with the investigators as a pre-condition for granting bail would violate his right to privacy . “We need to examine if an accused (on the orders of the court) has to provide the investigators with detailed information about their whereabouts, then will it be likely to infringe the individual’s right to privacy or not,” a two-judge bench of the top court, headed by Justice Abhay S Oka and comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan asked. On the Union government’s advice, the Supreme Court had on February 23 asked Google India to file a detailed affidavit explaining the technical aspects of pin-location feature on Google Maps. “The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has given an affidavit and has suggested that as far as work- E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Nellore The YSRC on Monday alleged that Kovur TDP contender Vemireddy Prashanthi Reddy tried to strike a deal with a YSRC leader to sow seeds of discord within the Nallapureddy family . YSRC Nellore MP candidate V Vijayasai Reddy released an audio conversation in which Prasanthi was purportedly speaking to Nallapureddy Rajendranath Reddy, brother of Kovur MLA N Prasanna Kumar Reddy not to cooperate for , the victory of his brother. express read Trump no to abortion ban New York: Former President Donald Trump said he believes that abortion limits should be left to the states, in a video released on Monday declining to endorse a national ban after months of mixed messages | P11 ing of the Google pin is concerned, it’s appropriate if the information is sought from Google India Pvt Ltd,” the court said. However, during Monday’s hearing, a counsel for Google India said since the product was developed by US-based Google LLC, it would be the appropriate entity to explain how the pinlocation feature works. The court took notice of the submission and issued a notice to Google LLC. The top court had earlier re- Ferry accident leaves 97 dead Maputo: Rescuers took up a search operation off the northern coast of Mozambique on Monday after a makeshift ferry boat carrying people fleeing a cholera outbreak capsized, killing at least 97 | P11 marked that requiring the accused to share their Google pin location with investigators prima facie violates the right to privacy of the accused. It had also observed that when an accused has been enlarged on bail by courts with the conditions set by them, it might be improper to know and track his or her whereabouts, as it could hamper their right to privacy The court’s concern . appears to be rooted in the 2017 constitution bench judgment which had unanimously declared that the right to privacy was a fundamental right. E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada Express THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar and Aam Aadmi Party legislator Durgesh Pathak in connection with the money laundering probe in Delhi excise policy case, evoking a sharp reaction from AAP that the BJP wants to stop it from campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls. Sources said Kumar was questioned to seek some clarifications on some documents in the excise probe, while Pathak was called in connection with the party’s 2021-22 poll campaign for the Goa assembly polls. Pathak was the AAP’s in-charge for Goa elections. According to the ED, `45 crore from criminal activities were utilised in the electoral campaign of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for Goa. The probe agency had in its earlier chargesheets alleged that at least 36 accused, including former deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Bibhav Kumar, had destroyed, used or changed 170 phones to conceal evidence of ‘kickbacks’ worth thousands of crores in the alleged scam. According to the ED, Bibhav’s mobile phone IMEI number had been changed four times between September 2021 and July 2022. Rajendranath said, “The family of Nallapureddy is held in high esteem by the YSR family . I don’t have any differences with Prasanna Kumar. Prashanthi had contacted me for support in the elections. She has been trying to sow differences in the Nallapureddy family .” Delhi HC bail order The SC was hearing a plea against a bail order granted to a Nigerian national by the Delhi HC in a case booked under the NDPS Act. He was required to share his location with investigators while on bail Annaiah Chiranjeevi lends a helping hand to Tammudu JSP president Pawan Kalyan called on his brother Chiranjeevi in Hyderabad U J WAL J ALALI @ New Delhi Prashanthi audio sends ripples in Nellore Supreme Court seeks ‘pin-point’ response from Google S u c h i t r a M o h a n t y @ New Delhi AAP cries foul as ED grills MLA, Kejri aide Film actor Chiranjeevi donated `5 crore to his brother and Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan in Hyderabad on Monday . The JSP chief was scheduled to resume his campaign on Monday in Andhra Pradesh, but did not as he was suffering from fever. Chiranjeevi blessed his youngest brother and handed over the donation to be used for election purposes. His brother Naga Babu was also present. Chiranjeevi was on sets for Vishwambhara in Muchintal near Hy- derabad when Pawan called on him. When the three brothers met at one place, an emotional scene unfolded, with Pawan touching the feet of his eldest brother and seeking his blessings. “Jana Sena Ku Vijayosthu, Vijayee Bhava’, said Chiranjeevi, wishing victory for his brother in his endeavours. The gesture is perceived to have sent a message that Chiranjeevi, who has considerable clout and respect among the Kapu community, is with his brother’s party though not direct, ly involved. Vijayasai claimed that Prashanthi expressed disregard for the people’s welfare, suggesting a focus on business interests in the event of defeat. Stating that Prasanna is accessible and committed to public service, he requested support P4 for the Kovur MLA. backlash Burning of documents at CID office kicks up a row Express News Service @ Vijayawada The burning of a large number of documents near the CID’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) office in Kunchanapalli village sparked a political furore Monday with the TDP leaders alleging that the CID put the important articles of evidence on fire intentionally . There were reports that the SIT, which is probing several cases involving TDP leaders and collected sensitive data during their questioning, had set afire to important evidence. Criticising a few All India Service (AIS) officers in the State, Lokesh said they have transformed themselves into JPS (Jagan Police Service). He also alleged that the documents were burnt on the direction of CID officer K Raghurami Reddy. “Knowing that days are numbered for the YSRC party, the documents were burnt to cover their tracks. This is the first time in the history of the country that some IPS officers, who are supposed to uphold law, have committed such a crime,” Lokesh posted in X. Responding, CID officials refuted the allegations levelled P4 against them. WITH THIS ISSUE Ugadi Panchangam additional 4 PAGES
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09-04-2024 of The New Indian Express-Vishakapatnam