visakhapatnam l monday l june 24, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION T20 World Cup: afghanistan stun 2021 champs australia Defending a par total of 148, bowlers deliver a clinical performance as the Rashid Khan-led side beat Oz by 21 runs... Naib conjures magic in historic victory Who needs to do what to qualify? Afghanistan came close in the ODI World Cup, but couldn’t cross the line against Australia. On Saturday, however, the stars had aligned. Pat Cummins’ hat-trick didn’t matter. Neither did the fighting fifty from Glenn Maxwell. Naveen-ul-Haq (3/20) and Gulbadin Naib (4/20) rose to the occasion — sharing seven wickets between them — to take Afghanistan across the line | p11 ■ ■ For Australia, it’s simple. They have to beat India by a significant margin. If it is a close result, they need Bangladesh to beat Afghanistan in the evening match Afghanistan will know what they need to do when they take the field. There is a chance of three teams finishing with 2 points each 45 Mohammad Nabi has been part of int’l wins against 45 countries 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 maiden meet cabinet to focus on Amaravati & Polavaram proj P H a r ee s h @ Vijayawada Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will chair the first Cabinet meeting after forming government, on Monday. In all likelihood, the main focus of the Cabinet will be on Amaravati capital city and Polavaram Project, sources said. Within a week of taking charge, Naidu visited Polavaram and Amaravati. He has touted the Polavaram irrigation project as the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh, and Amaravati capital city as his dream project. The government has sought reports on damage caused to the Polavaram project, and the status of various infrastructure projects in Amaravati. The Ministers are likely to discuss them during the Cabinet meeting. The Council of Ministers are scheduled to meet at the State Secretariat at 10 am. Before the meeting, Naidu’s son and Mangalagiri MLA Nara Lokesh will assume office as Minister for Human Resources Development, IT, Electronics and Communications, and RTG, while Machilipatnam MLA Kollu Ravindra will take charge as Minister for Mines and Geology and Excise. , It has been learnt that the volunteer system, which had become an election issue, might also come up during the meeting. In the run up to the polls, the NDA had promised to enhance the honorarium of volunteers to `10,000 from `5,000. Sources indicated that the leaders might discuss the number of volunteers to be reinstated and their roles. It may be pointed out that scores of volunteers had resigned before the elections. Following the formation of the new government, they have been demanding reinstatement, claiming that they had resigned due to pressure from the YSRC. P4 express read Good days are ahead, Jagan tells YSRC cadre Kadapa: As part of his three-day visit to his home constituency Pulivendula, YSRC chief and former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy met a slew of leaders on Sunday. He reportedly enquired about the reasons for the party’s debacle in the district despite implementation of several development projects and welfare schemes. “Focus on highlighting people’s issues. Don’t get disheartened, good days are ahead,” the former chief minister told the party cadre | P4 Isro’s Reusable Launch Vehicle ‘Pushpak’ lands during Sunday’s final test | PTI Isro’s reusable launch vehicle test successful E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chitradurga It was super Sunday for the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) as it successfully conducted the Reusable Launch Vehicle Landing Experiment for the third consecutive time. The third and final Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Landing Experiment (LEX) was conducted at 7.10 am at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) at Kudapura in Challakere taluk of Chitradurga. The mission demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of the launch vehicle under more challenging conditions at the ATR. The vehicle, Pushpak, was released from an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter at an altitude of 4.5 km. Pushpak autonomously executed cross-range correction manoeuvres, approached the runway and performed a precise horizontal landing at the centreline. Because of Pushpak’s low lift-todrag ratio aerodynamic configuration, the landing velocity exceeded 320 kmph, compared to 260 kmph for a commercial aircraft. After the touchdown, the vehicle velocity was reduced to nearly 100 kmph using its brake parachute. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director S Unnikrishnan Nair said this success bolsters Isro’s confidence in critical technologies necessary for future orbital re-entry missions. CBI takes over NEET-UG probe, registers FIR Special teams formed, despatched to Bihar and Gujarat where cases of question paper leaks have been registered Poor turnout for retest as 50% candidates absent M UK E S H RA N J A N @ New Delhi THE Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday filed an FIR and initiated a probe into alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEETUG held on May 5 on a complaint it received from the Union education ministry officials , said. The complaint by the Department of Higher Education, now part of the FIR, cites “certain isolated incidents” in a few states during the conduct of the examination. In its communication to the CBI, the education department sought a detailed probe into conspiracy, cheating, impersonation, breach of trust, and destruction of evidence by candidates, institutes and middlemen. The department has also requested the CBI to look into the role of public servants, if any, connected with the conduct of the examination. The central probe agency has sent its teams to Bihar’s Patna and also to Godhra in Gujarat, where cases of question paper leaks have been registered by local police, officials said, adding that the CBI may take over those cases. “The probe agency has accordingly registered a criminal case and initiated an investigation. Special teams have been formed by it to investigate the matter on top priority. Teams are being sent to Patna and Godhra, where local police have registered cases in this regard,” a senior CBI official said. The allegations of irregularities sparked protests in several cities and a litany of litigation. decision to award grace marks was strange, as the rule book clearly states that in the event THE NEET-UG retest for 1,563 of an exam delay, extra time candidates who were previous- should be granted at the centre. ly awarded grace marks saw The source highlighted that the poor turnout on Sunday as only top 100,000 students from 4,750 half of them turned up at the centres showcased the nationseven re-examination centres wide desire to succeed. spread across Chhattisgarh, The re-exam saw varied atGujarat, Haryana, Meghalaya, tendance rates across different and Chandigarh. Officials said states and centres. Gujarat re813 (52%) of the eligible candi- corded the highest attendance dates attended the reat 100%, while Chantest while 750 (48%) digarh had the lowest 63 debarred chose to skip it. at 0%. In Chandigarh Sixty-three The re-test was (UT), none of the two candidates have held on the orders of eligible candidates been debarred the Supreme Court appeared. In Chhatnationwide for following complaints tisgarh, of the 602 elimalpractices of irregularities in gible candidates, 291 during the NEETthe medical entrance (48.34%) appeared. UG, according to exam after 1,563 canGujarat’s Surat had the NTA. This didates were given one eligible candidate includes 17 grace marks to make who attended, achievcandidates from up for the loss of time ing a 100% attendi n s o m e c e n t r e s Bihar and 30 from ance rate. In Jhajjar, Godhra where the test started Haryana, DAV Police late on May 5. Public School and Apart from the controversy Kendriya Vidyalaya saw 287 out over the award of grace marks, of 494 (58.09%) eligible candithe coveted entrance test was dates attend. In Meghalaya, 234 also marred by allegations of out of 464 (50.43%) eligible canpaper leak, putting the Nation- didates appeared for the exam. al Testing Agency (NTA), which Education ministry sources held the tests, in bad light. said that education had been Speaking to this newspaper, “unbundled” with exam coacha high-level source in the Union ing centres being at the foreeducation ministry admitted front, driven by parents’ desire that the NTA did not “instil for their children’s success. Ofconfidence” among the public. ficials rubbished rumours that The source mentioned that the NTA portal has been hacked. K E TA N N AROTTA M TA N N A @ New Delhi Screen grab of CBI personnel confronted by villagers in Bihar’s Nawada district Probe team attacked in Bihar A team of CBI officials probing alleged irregularities in the conduct of the UGC-NET examination was attacked by a mob in Bihar’s Nawada district after which four persons were arrested by police on a complaint from the central agency, officials said Sunday. According to police, the villagers attacked the CBI team under the impression that they were imposters trying to harass them on the pretext of investigation. The incident occurred on Saturday evening when the CBI sleuths reached Kasiadeeh village. Some officials sustained minor injuries in the scuffle Opposition parties have also latched on to the issue to put pressure on the government ahead of Parliament session. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad questioned two teachers who run a private coaching centre in Latur in connection with the alleged irregularities. It is to be noted that besides NEET-UG, three other exams— UGC NET, CSIR-UGC NET, and NEET-PG—have also faced controversy. The UGC NET was cancelled by the government a day after the exam, while the CSIR-UGC NET and NEET-PG exams have been postponed. To combat exam malpractice, the central government has also notified rules to implement the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. This Act aims to prevent unfair practices in public examinations and address related issues. Also, high-level panel of experts chaired by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan has been formed to ensure transparent, smooth, and fair conduct of examinaP7 tions. Security forces bust Parl session to begin today Maoist fake currency amid pro-tem speaker row operation in C’garh P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi E j a z K a i s e r @ Raipur Security forces on Sunday tracked down a Maoist-run facility in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh which was allegedly being used for printing counterfeit currency notes. On receiving a tip-off, a joint team of security forces comprising personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), District Reserve Guards of the Chhattisgarh Police, and Bastar Fighters — a special force formed in 2022 to fight Maoist threat — launched a joint search operation. “Recovered a cache of counterfeit notes, colour printers, more than 200 ink bottles, printer cartridges, rollers and other equipment,” Sukma police chief Kiran Chouhan said. He added that the ultras managed to escape into a nearby jungle as the forces were closing in on the facility . Sources said currency notes of denominations of `50, 100, 200 and 500 were recovered during a search. Chouhan said Maoists have resorted to printing fake currency notes to cope with a fall in cash flow amid aggressive counter-insurgency operations by the security forces. “The pressure had mounted on the extremists after several new security camps that were set up in remote areas started derailing their funding source,” Chouhan said. In a separate incident, two CRPF jawans were killed when the ultras blew up a truck with an improvised explosive device in the Sukma district. The deceased jawans were identified as constable Vishnu R, 35, from Kerala, and driver Shailendra, 29, from Uttar Pradesh. The two belonged to the force’s jungle warfare unit CoBRA. The incident happened near Timmapuram village between Silger and Tekalgudem camps of the security forces. AMID the row over appointment of seven-term member Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJP as pro-tem speaker, the inaugural session of the 18th Lok Sabha is set to begin on a combative note on Monday . The first day of the special Parliament session will see oath-taking by 280 newly elected MPs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Council of Ministers. The remaining 264 parliamentarians including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will take oath on Tuesday The focus will be shift. ed to the election of the Lok Sabha Speaker on June 26 and President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint sitting of both the Houses on June 27. The row over pro-tem speaker is likely to escalate on Monday as three Opposition MPs consider pulling out of the panel of chairpersons to assist Mahtab in carrying out the proceedings of the House till the election of the Speaker. Early this week, President Murmu appointed Mahtab as pro-tem speaker and nominated a panel of senior MPs including Congress’ Kodikunnil Suresh, DMK MP T R Baalu, TMC’s Sudip Bandyopadhyay, and BJP leaders Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste to assist Mahtab. Speaking to this newspaper, K Suresh said a final decision on boycotting the panel will be taken on Monday . The Opposition is up in arms over Mahtab’s appointment. They allege the claim of K Suresh, an eighth-term MP, to the post was bypassed by the government. Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju says that Mahtab has had seven uninterrupted terms as a Lok Sabha member, making him eligible for the post and the Congress is trying to mislead people. The Opposition and the government are likely to lock horns over the election of the Speaker and deputy speaker posts. While the government remains secretive about its Speaker candidate, the Opposition stands firm on its claim to the deputy speaker post. The debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, which begins on June 28, may also witness stor my scenes. The Opposition will try to pressure the government on various issues including NEETUG and UGC-NET exams, new criminal laws, and the Kanchanjunga Express accident. The PM is likely to respond to debate on July 2 or 3. Both Houses will go into a brief recess and re-assemble on July 22 for Budget. State records 50.2% excess rainfall S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada bolt & beautiful A lightning strike captured over the sea in Visakhapatnam | G Satyanarayana In the first 23 days of the current water year, Andhra Pradesh has recorded 50.2% excess rainfall than normal. The State has logged 118.7 mm rainfall as against the normal of 78.9 mm. Out of 26 districts, 10 reported large excess rainfall, nine logged excess rainfall, four received normal rainfall and the remaining three reported deficit rainfall. The onset of the South West Monsoon this year has been on time. The above normal rainfall expected in the State has been attributed to favourable conditions. While farmers are happy that the State is receiving more than normal rainfall, they have raised concerns over the low water levels in various reservoirs. According to data from the State Planning Department and the Water Resources Department, rainfall in June 2023 was just 65.8 mm as against the normal rainfall of 96 mm. The rea- son for this deficit was the delayed onset of monsoon and dry spells. This year, however, the State has recorded good rainfall, particularly in the Rayalaseema region. Among the 10 districts which received large excess rainfall in the last 23 days, eight are in Rayalaseema. They are: Kurnool, Nandyal, Anantapur, Sri Satya Sai, YSR, Annamaiah, Chittoor, and Tirupati. The other two districts are Kakinada and PraP4 kasam. suspect nabbed 32-yr-old from Bapatla killed in supermarket shooting in US E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Guntur A 32-year-old man from Andhra Pradesh was killed in a shooting reported at a grocery store in Central Arkansas, USA. The deceased was identified as Dasari Gopi Krishna of Yajali village in Karlapalem mandal, Bapatla district. While the incident took place on Friday, Gopi succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on Sunday The Arkansas State po. lice have taken the shooter into custody and identified him as Travis Eugene Posey (44) of New Edinburg. He was also shot and sustained injuries that are regarded as non-life-threatening, said M i ke H a g a r, Cabinet Secretary of Arkansas Department of Public Safety in a statement. According to reports reach- Gopi Krishna ing here, Gopi Krishna moved to the US eight months ago. He was working at a grocery store called Mad Butcher in Fordyce, a small town in Arkansas. CCTV footage shows the shooter entering the store and opening fire on Gopi Krishna who was at the billing counter. As the victim collapsed, the gunman jumped over the counter, picked something up from a shelf and fled. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died on Sunday. His family was shattered upon receiving the news. The 32-year-old is survived by his wife and son. A pall of gloom descended Gopi KrishP4 na’s village.
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24-06-2024 of The New Indian Express-Vishakapatnam