tirupati l tuesday l september 03, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION Govt summons netflix content head amid row over IC-814 series The Netflix series on the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight triggered an uproar over Hindu names of two of the hijackers Explanation to be sought on alleged distortion ‘Can’t play with sentiments of people’ Several social media users claimed the makers of IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack changed the names of the hijackers to ‘Shankar’ and ‘Bhola’ to play down their Muslim identity. Many also criticised the series for its “humane projection” of the terrorists. Sources said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will seek an explanation on these aspects from the content head of Netflix India ■ ■ Reacting sharply, a senior I&B ministry official said, “Nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the people of this nation.” The official added that the OTT platform might be asked to make changes Makers of the series said the terrorists who hijacked the Indian Airlines flight had used code names, with Bhola and Shankar being two of them IC-814 was hijacked by Pak-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen 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 relief ops kick off... on the ground Flood flow in areas affected by Budameru deluge recedes | Drones and choppers deployed to distribute food to people | Fishing boats roped in to manoeuvre through narrow lanes E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Rescue and relief operations continued in a full-fledged manner in the flood-affected areas of the erstwhile undivided Krishna and Guntur districts. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu supervised the rescue and relief operations in the flood-hit areas of Vijayawada from the ground zero on Monday as well. Total toll in rain-related incidents increased to 19 from 15, with three more deaths reported in Guntur district and one in Vijayawada on Monday Three . persons were reported missing. In Vijayawada, besides the 17 marooned colonies in Budameru deluge, Krishna Lanka, Bhupesh Nagar, Yanamalakuduru and other areas abutting the Krishna River are also facing flood threat. Food and water was being distributed to the flood-hit people using boats. Choppers were also deployed for the distribution of food at some places. Five choppers (two from the Navy and three from the Air Force) airdropped food items and airlifted people stranded in the inPrasant Madugula undated areas. Rescue and relief operations picked up momentum as additional NDRF teams joined to distribute relief material by Monday afternoon. SDRF and fire service personnel, police and revenue staff were also engaged in rescue and relief efforts. A total of 19 NDRF teams and 18 SDRF teams were deployed for search, rescue and relief efforts in Vijayawada, Guntur and other parts of the State. Fishermen from Machilipatnam, Gilakaladinne and other parts also came with their boats to take part in the rescue operations. Krishna District Collector DK Balaji convinced the fishermen to bring their boats, so that they could be used for rescue efforts. In case of any damages, he assured them that the government would take care of them. A total of 224 boats (143 motorized and 54 non-motorized) were deployed to evacuate the people from inundated areas of Ajit Singh Nagar, YSR Colony, Jakkampudi Colony and Ambapuram in Vijayawada (Urban/Rural), Krishna and BapP4 atla districts.  4,48,007 People affected 46,751 188 Relief camps 19 People accommodated Total lives lost 5 Choppers 188 Medical camps A drone delivered food to stranded people on the rooftop of a flood-hit building in Vijayawada; (L) An elderly couple take refuge on the top of a building near Kabela centre while waiting to be evacuated; People were shifted from the flood-affected Carmel Nagar to a relief camp in a country boat | Prasant Madugula / Express 19 18 224 NDRF SDRF Boats teams teams on base more rains today IMD says a fresh low-pressure area is likely to form over west-central and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal around Sept 5. Under its influence, light to moderate rains are likely at a few places across the State on Tuesday ...but stranded citizens still in misery quested him to rescue her husband as he had recently undergone heart and brain surgery. A day after flash floods affected On Naidu’s directives, an NDRF more than two lakh people in 16 team evacuated the couple. divisions of Vijayawada city, However, the response was people in several other colo- not so prompt for several other nies, abutting the Krishna Riv- stranded people. M Venkat Rao er, feared inundation as Pra- from Singh Nagar rued that kasam Barrage many elderly and r e c e iv e d r e c o r d children did not reinflows. ceive any help. While the situaKadheer Basha of tion improved on Ground Zero Payakapuram said, Monday with author“Boats cannot access ities trying to plug the breach all lanes. People need food and at Budameru Canal, a number other supplies. However, in of people continued to wait many divisions like Prakash a n x i o u s l y f o r f o o d a n d Nagar, Kandrika, and Vambay evacuation. Colony, no food was distributDuring one of Chief Minis- ed. Officials should prioritise ter N Chandrababu Naidu’s reaching out to the victims visit to Singh Nagar, an elderly with food and water instead of P4 woman, Subbaravamma, re- appearing on TV  .” K K a lya n K r i s h n a K u m a r @ Vijayawada UNPRECEDENTED INFLOWS 11.43 L cusecs Water received at Prakasam Barrage 11.10 L cusecs CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu visits flood-affected Ramalingeswarnagar on Monday | Express Maximum inflows received during historic floods in 2009 Movement of vehicles & people suspended Torrential rains in Telangana: Reason for high inflows to Prakasam Barrage ONE GATE DAMAGED Four boats, which were washed away by the strong currents, collided with gate number 69. As a result, the structure suffered some damage People throng a distribution centre, where food and buttermilk was being given to the flood affected residents at Chitti Nagar in Vijayawada | Prasant Madugula RSS backs caste census, but with a rider Ahead of elections, Union Cabinet S h ya m P V @ Palakkad IN a clear message to the BJP which is yet to declare its stance on the contentious caste census issue, the RSS said on Monday that it has no objection to collecting data on specific communities or castes to ensure effective delivery of social welfare schemes. However, the Sangh Parivar fountainhead added a rider: “Don’t use the census data as a political tool.” The RSS statement comes amid extensive campaigning by the opposition parties led by the Congress seeking a nationwide caste census. Addressing the media after Samanway Baithak, a three-day national coordination conclave, in Kerala’s Palakkad, RSS publicity in-charge Sunil Ambekar said: “The RSS thinks that for all welfare activities, particularly those targeting such communities or castes which are lagging behind... if the government needs the numbers, it is a wellestablished practice. But it should be done only for the wel- fare of those communities and castes. It should not be used as a political tool for elections. So we put this forth with a line of caution for everyone.” As a Hindu society, caste and caste relations are sensitive issues in India, he said. “It is an important issue for our national unity and integrity. The RSS and our affiliated organisations have always kept the national interest first. So, the caste census should be dealt with very sensitively and not on the basis Guidelines soon on bulldozer justice: SC S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the practice of ‘bulldozer justice’ in some states, wherein properties of the accused or those convicted in criminal cases are demolished, saying even if a person is convicted, his or her property cannot be demolished without following the procedure prescribed by the law. The SC said it will soon lay down guidelines on the issue. “How can anybody’s house be demolished just because he is an accused? Even if he is a convict, it (house) can’t be demolished. Even after telling SC Bar, we don’t find any change in attitude,” a two-judge bench comprising justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said. They were hearing a joint petition filed by Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind and others seeking directions to various state governments on the matter. Senior advocate Chander Uday Singh, appearing for a petitioner, said even rented properties have been demolished. Appearing for Uttar Pradesh, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta referred to an affidavit filed by the state and said it has said that demolition of immovable property can take place “only in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the respective applicable municipal law or law governing development authorities of the area”. of elections or electoral practices and politics,” he added. Ambekar said the Sangh Parivar organisations have noticed a large number of religious conversions in Tamil Nadu by missionaries. “It’s very worrisome. We will conduct a ground study and formulate a strategy,” he added. The conclave condemned the rape and murder of a female doctor in a Kolkata hospital. It was necessary to revisit laws and penal actions to expedite swift justice for women who suffer atrocities, he said. Express read Nitesh wins maiden Paralympic gold India’s Kumar Nitesh clinched his maiden gold medal at the Paralympics after beating Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell in a thrilling men’s singles SL3 badminton final here on Monday. The 29-year-old from Haryana was rock solid in his defence and spot on with his shot selections as he beat Tokyo silver medallist Bethell 21-14 18-21 23-21 in an absorbing contest that lasted an hour and 20 minutes  PTI approves seven farm schemes E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Ahead of the crucial Haryana and J&K elections, the Centre on Monday approved seven new schemes to improve farmers’ lives and increase their incomes with a total outlay of `14,235.30 crore. As for Maharashtra, which will go to polls in the next few months, the Union Cabinet approved a new Railway line between Mumbai’s Malad and Indore covering 309 km at a cost of `18,036 crore. The Centre also approved a proposal of Kaynes Semicon Pvt Ltd to set up a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat. The seven schemes for the farmers are Digital Agriculture Mission, Crop Science for Food and Nutritional Security, Strengthening Agricultural Education, Management and Social Sciences, Sustainable livestock health and production, Sustainable development of Horticulture, Strengthening of Krishi Vigyan Kendra and Natural Resource Management. Briefing the media, Informa- The semiconductor plant by Kaynes will come up in 46 acres in Sanand. It is a big plant and a large portion of the production will go for Kaynes Industries —Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister kaynes plant can churn out 63L chips a day The Kaynes semiconductor plant with an investment of `3,307 crore can produce as many as 63 lakh chips per day. It is the fourth semiconductor plant in Gujarat. Its chips will cater to a wide variety of applications, including industrial, automotive, electric vehicles, consumer electronics, telecom and mobile phones, Vaishnaw said | P10 tion & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, the objective of the Digital Agriculture Mission is to create a digital database related to soil profile, digital crop estimation, and yield modelling. “It also facilitates crop loans with use of modern technologies like AI and big data and helps connect farmers with buyers and bring new knowledge on mobile phones.” The scheme on Crop Science for Food and Nutri- tional Security with a total out, lay of `3,979 crore, would prepare far mers for climate resilience and provide for food security by 2047. As for the railway line between Manmad and Indore, the project will require more than a crore human days and will be completed in the next eight years. It is expected to significantly enhance connectivity across key regions in Maharashtra and MP, Vaishnaw said.