HYDERABAD THURSDAY JULY 04, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 16 LATE CITY EDITION POLL FINDS HARRIS, NOT BIDEN, HAS BETTER CHANCE OF BEATING TRUMP Indian-origin US Vice President Kamala Harris is better placed to beat Donald Trump than President Joe Biden, according to a CNN poll TRUMP HAS 6-POINT LEAD OVER PRESIDENT MORE PRESSURE ON BIDEN TO STEP DOWN About 47% of registered voters support Trump, while 45% back Harris in a hypothetical matchup, the poll found. In the Biden vs Trump matchup, 49% of registered voters said they would vote for Trump as against 43% for Biden. His poor performance in last week’s debate with Trump has put the spotlight back on Biden’s advanced age and ability to lead the US | P9 ■ Pressure is mounting on Biden to step down as Democratic party’s presidential nominee. “There’s a large and increasing group of House Democrats concerned about (his) candidacy,” a Democratic lawmaker said ■ According to one Democratic aide, at least 25 party lawmakers in the House of Representatives are preparing to demand that Biden step aside Sept 10 IS WHEN BIDEN AND TRUMP WILL FACE OFF IN THE NEXT DEBATE 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 Judicial probe into Hathras stampede Markets on a roll, Sensex at 80,000 level Ex-Allahabad HC judge Brijesh Srivastava to head 3-member panel, submit report in 2 months; Yogi flags conspiracy angle N A M I TA B A J PA I & P R A B H AT S H U K L A @ Lucknow / Hathras A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi REGISTERING a new landmark for India’s equity market this year, the BSE Sensex for the first time scaled the 80,000-mark on Wednesday The 30-share benchmark hit . a high of 80,057.90 during the first 30 minutes of the trading session. The Nifty50 index also touched an alltime high of 24,294.60. The Sensex has added the latest 10,000 points in less than seven months as it had first breached the 70,000 mark on December 11, 2023. Its journey from 60,000 to 70,000 was a lengthy one as it took 1.5 years for the market to add the previous 10,000 points. Sensex had scaled the 60,000 mark on September 24, 2021. What is notable is that the benchmark index has added about 8,000 points from the lows of June 4, the general election results day Sensex . had ended the June 4 session with a massive loss of 4,390 points, or 5.74%, at 72,079.05. Much of Wednesday’s early gain is attributed to a sharp pick-up in HDFC Bank shares. The stock opened 3% higher and hit a high of `1,792 per share as its weightage is expected to shoot up in the MSCI index. “The focus of market activity today will be HDFC Bank which will continue its upward move factoring in the news of potentially increasing the weightage of the stock in the MSCI Index. The delivery based buying in the stock witnessed in the last many days has the potential to continue for a few more days pushing the stock further up and imparting resilience to it. As the weightage of HDFC Bank in Nifty increases there will be more delivery based buying by ETFs and also active funds,” said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services. He added that the US Fed’s latest take on inflation is also positive news for equity markets globally “The Fed’s next rate action is likely to be a rate . cut. RBI also is likely to follow suit with a rate cut in the next policy meeting,” he said. Road to 80K Sensex has given a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.8% since July 1990 1K JUL 1990 10K 20K 30K 40K 50K 60K 70K 6 FEB, 19 OCT, 4 MAR, 23 MAY, 21 JAN, 24 SEP, 11 DEC, 2006 2007 2015 2019 2021 2021 2023 BSE m-cap ( lakh cr) 80K 3 JUL, 2024 445 lakh crore 6.9 25 73 100.4 188 2000 2005 2010 2015 2024 2020 Bags and other belongings lying at the scene a day after a massive stampede that took place after a satsang in Sikandara Rao area in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday | PTI BABA ON THE RUN, POLICE RAID TRUST A day after the stampede in Hathras claimed 121 lives, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday announced a judicial probe led by for mer Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava into the tragedy Re. tired IAS officer Hemant Rao and former IPS officer Bhavesh Kumar Singh are the other members in the judicial commission. Speaking to reporters after visiting the spot and meeting the injured persons admitted in hospitals, Yogi said the conspiracy angle can’t be ruled out. He said the panel will look into all aspects of the tragedy . The panel will complete its probe and submit its report within two months. To prevent such mishaps from recurring, the judicial commission will also suggest the standard oper- Hathras deputy superintendent of police Sunil Kumar said the baba is on the run and yet to be traced. On Wednesday, police raided Baba’s abode at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri district Decision on Cabinet Modi finally ends silence, says berths, TPCC chief Manipur violence is declining may take more time R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi BREAKING his silence on Manipur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that violence in the troubletorn state is declining and security and social stability are improving. He saw in them a positive trend towards peace. Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address, Modi said normal life has been restored in most parts of Manipur with schools, colleges, offices, businesses and other institutions functioning normally in Manipur. The state, however, is facing floods now, he added. Amid walkout by the Opposition, Modi said law enforcement agencies have lodged more than 11,000 FIRs and arrested over 500 suspects in Manipur after the eth- nic violence erupted in the state. “Our government is continuously making efforts to restore normalcy and it is showing results. Union home minister Amit Shah camped there and steered all efforts of peace,” he said. In a stern message, he said, “I want to warn all the elements trying to add fuel to the fire in Manipur to stop such activities. A time will come when Manipur itself will reject such people.” Keeping up his tirade against the Congress, Modi said the grand old party was the “biggest opponent of the Constitution” and was anti-SC, ST and OBCs. Taking a swipe at the Opposition for its walkout, he said, “They are unable to digest the people’s mandate to the NDA to serve the nation. That’s why they never face the government on the floor.” B K A R T H E E K @ Hyderabad Kharge with Sonia Gandhi after walking out of the Rajya Sabha | PTI Kharge raps RSS Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of being antiConstitution, quoting an article from Organiser’s November 30, 1950 edition Hear cases on Jagan daily, CBI court ordered EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad Champai exits, Hemant stakes claim to be CM M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi JHARKHAND Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren on Wednesday staked his claim to form the Jharkhand government, hours after Champai Soren resigned as chief minister. Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a land scam case in January. He was released on bail last week. Hours before his arrest, he had resigned as Jharkhand chief minister and Champai Soren was sworn in. Earlier on Wednesday, a meeting of INDIA bloc MLAs was held at the official residence of the chief minister in Ranchi. During the meeting, it was decided to make Hemant Soren the chief minister again. Soon after the meeting, he was unanimously elected as the leader of the JMM legislative party. Hemant Soren told reporters that all the formalities have been completed. ating procedure to be followed during such events, Yogi said. Referring to the initial report filed by the special investigative team led by ADG Agra zone Anupam Kulshreshtha, Yogi said the volunteers of Bhole Baba, in whose event the stampede happened, were managing it and district administration officials were not allowed inside the pandal. Police personnel were stationed outside the pandal. Yogi said the baba’s volunteers fled immediately after the stampede without making any effort to help the injured. Referring to pictures and videos of the baba with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, he said it showed the baba’s political connections. On why the baba’s name was missing in the FIR, which only named the organisers, Yogi said the initial report was filed against those who sought permission for the event. “As the investigation progresses, the ambit of the FIR will also expand to include all those responsible and accountable for the tragedy he added. ,” Meanwhile, eyewitnesses and locals who rushed to the spot immediately after the tragedy blamed the organisers for poor management. Locals said the crowd was so large that the national highway abutting the venue was cut off for up to 5 km on both sides, blocked by buses carrying devotees from far-off places. Because of this, ambulances took an hour to reach. THE Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the Special Court for CBI cases, which is hearing the disproportionate assets case registered against former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, to conduct hearings on a daily basis. The high court observed that there was not much progress in the case proceedings for years now. A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice T Vinod Kumar was dealing with a PIL filed by former minister and Kapu patriarch Chegondi Venkata Harirama Jogaiah be- POINTS TO BE NOTED Jagan, V Vijayasai Reddy and other accused filed 129 discharge petitions Bench tells CBI court to submit report on the progress of the trial to the HC HC orders holding of hearings daily, posts matter to July 23 The PIL was filed by former minister Chegondi Venkata Harirama Jogaiah fore the elections seeking directions to the CBI court to conclude the trial against Jagan before 2024 polls. Harirama Jogaiah informed the court that Jagan and the other accused, including YSR Congress senior leader V Vija- yasai Reddy filed 129 discharge , petitions in the 20 cases registered by the CBI and ED and being tried by the Principal Special Judge for CBI cases, Hyderabad, and the Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Nampally . In an earlier hearing, the court had directed the CBI and the courts concerned to conclude all the trials against Jagan expeditiously . When the petition came for hearing on Wednesday Harira, ma Jogaiah told the court that the accused were deliberately delaying the trial and sought directions for expeditious hearings. Agreeing with the petition, the bench directed the CBI court to conduct hearings on a daily basis and submit a report on the progress of the trial to the high court. The bench posted the matter for further hearing to July 23 and asked the CBI court to submit its report on the proceedings of the trial on that day . THE much-awaited expansion of the Telangana Cabinet led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the appointment of the next Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief are expected to be delayed by at least one week. Congress insiders attribute this delay to the high command’s desire to ensure social justice while finalising the Cabinet berths and Revanth’s successor as TPCC chief. The sources indicated that the high command found the proposals by the state leadership falling short of doing justice to community representation and geopolitical balance. For example, one of the proposals is the appointment of another Reddy leader from a district already represented by two ministers from the same community . The chief minister arrived in the national capital on Rajya Sabha member K Keshava Rao poses for a picture with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy after joining the Congress in New Delhi on Wednesday Tardy progress of trials against MLAs, MPs upsets HC EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad THE Telangana High Court on Wednesday questioned the state government about the tardy pace of trials against MLAs and MPs. Stressing the need for expediting trials against legislators in line with the Supreme Court’s directives, a bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice T Vinod Kumar expressed surprise at the minimal progress of trials against legislators in the last one month. Reviewing the progress of these trials, the court directed the state government to provide details of the summons issued to the accused and the witnesses examined over the past month. The matter was then scheduled for further hearing on July 23. The review follows the Supreme Court’s guidelines in the Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay case, which the high court adopted as a suo motu case to Why have summons not been issued despite the availability and public presence of MPs and MLAs involved? Why has there been a delay in summoning witnesses? – Bench of the Telangana High Court monitor the progress of trials against MPs and MLAs. The high court had conducted a similar review last month. Senior advocate G Vidyasagar, representing the High Court Registrar, submitted a status report that said that 115 cases were registered against MPs and MLAs in the state. Of these, summons are yet to be issued in 46 cases, the report said. The bench expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of prosecution, noting that only nine summons were issued in the last month. The court questioned why Wednesday, ostensibly to address various political and official matters, including the Cabinet expansion, and discuss the party’s internal dynamics with the high command. He is understood to have submitted his opinions during his meeting with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, former AICC president Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary ( o r g a n i s at i o n ) KC Venugopal on the sidelines of a programme to welcome BRS general secretary K Keshava Rao into the party fold. Notably, this was the CM’s second visit to Delhi in a week and had set off speculation that the Cabinet expansion and the appointment of a new TPCC chief were imminent. But the decisions have been deferred by at least a week. Incidentally, Ashada Masam, as per Hindu calendar, begins from July 7 and is perceived as inauspicious. This may cause further delay . summons had not been issued despite the availability and public presence of the MPs and MLAs involved. The bench also sought an explanation for the delay in summoning witnesses. In response, Additional Advocate General requested additional time to provide the required details. The case will be heard next on July 23. EXPRESS READ Blue Notices sought on phone-tapping accused Hyderabad: The city police on Wednesday told the High Court that they have requested the CBI to issue Blue Notices through the Interpol against former SIB chief T Prabhakar Rao and Shravan Kumar, a former journalist, both accused in the phone-tapping case | P4 2 BRS MLAs BOOKED UNDER NEW CRIMINAL LAW | P4
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