tirupati l wednesday l september 04, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Bengaluru firm tests India’s first indigenous combat drone Armed with missile-like weapons Classified as a Medium Altitude (15,000 feet) Long Endurance Combat Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, FWD 200B is equipped with optical payloads for surveillance and missile-like weapons for air strikes and bombing, the firm’s founder-CEO Suhas Tejaskanda said. It has a wingspan of 5 metres, length of 3.5 metres, maximum take-off weight of 102 kg & payload capacity of 30 kg Flying Wedge Defence and Aerospace announced the successful maiden flight of indigenous unmanned bomber aircraft, the FWD 200B Can fly non-stop for 7 hrs; up to 800 km ■ The drone can fly at a cruise speed of 152 km per hour, with a maximum speed of 250 km per hour. Its runway requirement is just 300 metres allowing it to operate from shorter airstrips, the company said ■ With an endurance of 7 hours and a range of 800 km, FWD 200B doesn’t need frequent refuelling or landing, Tejaskanda said 12,000 sq ft Area of the firm’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Bengaluru 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 intensified, over 7L packets of food distributed Naidu tours flood-hit areas, asks officials to adopt humanitarian approach towards victims E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Relief and rescue operations were intensified on Tuesday as floodwater levels in areas hit by the Budameru deluge and inflows to the Prakasam Barrage receded. According to officials, 6,44,536 people have been affected due to the floods. As many as 190 relief camps have been set up and 44,041 people have been shifted to the camps. More than two dozen drones have been employed to drop food and medicines in the flood-affected areas that are inaccessible to boats and choppers. Over seven lakh packets of food were distributed to the people. Besides NDRF and SDRF personnel, several volunteers also joined the rescue efforts. A total of 26 NDRF and 22 SDRF teams are engaged in the flood relief operations. Some Ministers also helped in carrying out the relief works. Five choppers, belonging to the Indian Air Force and Navy have operated , several sorties to drop food and water packets as well as rescue people stranded in the floodwater. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu continued to moni- Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu interacting with flood-affected residents in Vijayawada on Tuesday | express 6,44,536 Population affected 42,707 People accommodated 18 TWO Total lives lost Persons missing budameru fury Weather forecast isolated places today  No rain predicted for Rayalaseema  Tirupati and Tada receive highest rainfall of 5 cm on Tuesday tor the relief measures on day three of the floods. He toured every locality that was hit by the deluge. He hopped on an excavator and travelled 22 kms, covering the areas of Bhavanipuram, Singh Nagar, Vambay Colony, YSR Colony, Nunna, Kandrika and other areas. He started his visit from Sitara Centre and concluded it at Ramavarapadu Ring Road. It has been learnt Budameru Canal develops another breach, experts rule out any threats to nearby areas Vijayawada: Budameru canal developed another breach at the Vijaya Durga Nagar railway bridge at Madhura Nagar in Vijayawada City on Tuesday evening. The breach developed at Maddi Katta and Budameru water started flowing into the Eluru canal. Irrigation department engineers explained that it would not pose any threat to the nearby areas. Two days ago, Budameru water was overflowing into the Eluru canal, which too was flowing Nine more Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh Nine Maoists, including six women cadre, were gunned down in an encounter with the security forces at the PurangelAndri hilly terrain along the inter-district border of Dantewada and Bijapur in south Chhattisgarh on Tuesday . Acting on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of Maoists belonging to the West Bastar Division committee and Peoples’ Liberation Guer rilla Ar my company number 2 in the area, a joint team comprising personnel from District Reserve Guards, Bastar Fighters and the Central Reserve Police Force launched a search operation. “Exchange of fire ensued around 10.30 am between the 193  Heavy rains in express read E J A Z K A IS E R @ Raipur CM suspects foul play in damage to barrage gate, flays ‘negligent’ officials security forces and the Maoists. Nine bodies of armed Maoists in uniform, including six women, along with weapons have been recovered,” said Sunderraj P, Bastar inspector general of police. A large quantity of weapons, including self loading rifle, 303 rifle, 315 bore rifle, BGL launchers, huge explosives besides other items of the Maoists were recovered. “The forces engaged in the operation are safe. The recovered bodies are yet to be identified. Since there is a possibility of the presence of several other dead or injured Maoists in and around the encounter site, additional reinforcement has been sent to the area,” said Gaurav Rai, Dantewada district police chief. Relief camps 194 Medical camps Deployments SDRF 22 NDRF 26 Choppers 5 Boats 228 Buses 167 Drones 40 that the Chief Minister skipped his lunch. He interacted with the people and sought feedback on the supply of food. He instructed officials to adopt a humanitarian approach while serving the flood victims. Later, he reached Ramavarappadu Ring Road on the excavator and reviewed the situation with officials and Ministers after taking a short break. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada A child was shifted in a tub from the flood-affected Singh Nagar on Tuesday | Prasant Madugula On the ground, there were contrasting scenes as people in a few areas thronged distribution centres to get food and water, while in other places several packets of food were found discarded. Several parents with infants and young kids desperately tried to get the attention of relief workers to get water, milk, and food for their children.  P4 Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu took strong exception to the lackadaisical attitude of some officials deployed for flood relief and rescue operations. Further, he warned them of serious action if they do not fall in line. Speaking to mediapersons on Tuesday afternoon, Naidu said he has been forced to suspect foul play following a series of incidents that have happened. “We will find out where the boats, which damaged the counterweight of gate 69 of the Prakasam Barrage, came from and who they belong to,” he said. Angry over the non-cooperation from certain officials, the after covid, Household savings on a rebound B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai AFTER sharply declining during the pandemic, India’s household savings are rebounding on the back of rising income levels, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Speaking at an event in Mumbai on Tuesday, RBI deputy governor Michael Debabrata Patra said that the rebound process has already begun, noting that households’ financial assets have increased from 10.6% of GDP during 2011-17 to 11.5% during 2017-23. And there is room to grow further because the level was 15% of GDP during the early 2000s till the global financial crisis. Household savings are the portion of income that is not spent on consumption and set aside for future use; these are usually deposited in banks or invested in other financial instruments. Because of their sheer size, household funds are considered a major driver of longterm economic growth. Explaining the reasons for the fall in the domestic savings level of late, Patra noted that the net household sav- HOME TRUTHS Net financial savings of households halved from 2020-21 levels due to behavioural changes during the pandemic and shift towards physical assets such as housing. But with rising incomes, households are now rebuilding their financial assets Households will remain the top net lenders to the rest of the economy in the coming decades 11.5% Households’ financial assets have increased from 10.6% of GDP during 2011-17 to 11.5% during 2017-23 (excluding pandemic year) revival in capex cycle is likely to push up private sector’s borrowing needs, which could be partly met by households ings have halved, hitting a five-year low of 5.2% of GDP in fiscal 2024, but he attributed this to ‘behavioural changes’ during the pandemic, driven by shifts from financial assets to physical assets such as property . According to Patra, that phase is over and households are now rebuilding their financial assets. “Going forward, boosted by rising incomes, households will likely build back their financial assets,” Patra said while addressing a finance summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here on Tuesday . Concurrently households’ , physical savings have also risen in post-pandemic years to over 12% of GDP . These can rise further— these had reached 16% of GDP in 2010-11. Households are expected to remain the top net lenders to the rest of the economy in the coming decades, Patra said. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had earlier raised concerns over more and more household savings going into financial instruments such as mutual funds and stocks, saying this had led to banks facing a deposit drought. NEW sumit Advice from Neeraj, enduring back pain, Sumit wins gold E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai IT is as if winning gold has become a habit for Sumit Antil. The back pain that had been afflicting him for the last one-and -a-half year vanished. He was focussed on the job in hand — retaining gold at the Paris Paralympics. And he did it in style when he threw the javelin to 70.59 m — a new Paralympics record. It had not been easy. During a virtual interaction, he revealed that he felt more pressure in Paris than in Tokyo. Perhaps, it’s the burden of expectations on Monday in his F46 event. There are quite a few things that separate Sumit from the rest. He is one of those para-athletes who previously competed against able-bodied athletes. One among the competitors was Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic sil- ver-medallist. During the interaction he revealed that he keeps speaking with Neeraj and the champion javelin thrower had given him an advice or two before the Paralympics. He said that he has been in touch with Neeraj but before the Parlympics he did not speak to him directly but through his manager. “I got a message from Neeraj bhai through someone and he told me that the atmosphere (in Paris) is good,” said Sumit. He also asked him to not try anything new. “I just took his advice and it was a really good experience.” Sumit also spoke about how he created a para world record while competing against able- To be under pressure is normal at such a big stage and we try not to get stressed due to pressure. I read very less book but I do meditation, watch movies — Sumit Antil bodied athletes in Patiala during a Grand Prix event in 2021. “I threw some 66.43 m and that time it was a record. I wanted to find out how it feels to compete with able-bodied athletes.” With gold secured, he has set sights on a three-peat at the LA Paralympics as his next target. But crossing 80 m too would be one of his dreams. Sumit is the second para athlete after shooter Avani Lekhara to defend their title. Lekhara on Tuesday finished fifth in 50m 3P . no danger to prakasam barrage Irrigation expert and advisor to the State government Kannaiah Naidu inspected Prakasam Barrage gate number 69, where the counterweight was damaged. He confirmed that there was no danger to the barrage and advised removing of the boats before taking up repairs Chief Minister said during the five years under the previous dispensation, every system was rendered inefficient and ineffective. “Showcause notices have been issued to some, while one official in Jakkampudi has been suspended. I will not spare anyone. I will not hesitate to take action against my ministers if they do not work properly he asserted. ,” Reminding officials that both he and them are here to work for the people, as it is taxpayers’ money that is being paid as salaries, Naidu stressed, “It is our bounden duty to serve the people, more so in this hour of need.” Further, he told negligent officials not to lose their dignity by such conduct. Dismissing YSRC president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s visit to flood-affected areas as a ‘fiveminute show’, Naidu sought to know if the former Chief Minister gave even a single food packet to anyone or saved anyone or interacted with the afP3, 4 fected residents.  Kolkata’s stunning Tahrir Square moment I t was Kolkata’s own Tahrir Square moment, its own Shahbagh. Actually let me , revise that. I watched Tahrir Square very closely on TV. I saw Shahbagh with my own eyes, having had the opportunity to report on that movement in Dhaka. But Kolkata today is perhaps even more extraordinary All of . Kolkata today became the hallowed ground of the most astonishing people’s protest ever. In the 77 years of its Independence, I dare say India has not seen anything like it. With a grating, metallic screech, the nine-foot-high metal barricades were dragged aside this afternoon by policemen on the narrow BB Ganguly Street. The road leads to Lalbaz a r, t h e Ko l k a t a Po l i c e headquarters. Rising over the cacophony were the strains of We Shall Overcome, the American civil rights song, and the Bengali anthem of protest, Kazi Nazrul Islam’s Karar Oi Louho Kopat Bhang — break down the iron gates of prison. The singers, all junior doctors who had been camping at the location through rain, shine and a hot muggy night for last 22 hours, gathered to demand justice for their colleague, raped and murdered in their hospital while she was on duty on the night of August 9. In the hands of the junior doctors who marched slowly forward singing those songs, Monideepa Banerjie Veteran journalist meaning every word in those powerful lyrics, were rajanigandhar malas — garlands of tuberose speckled with red roses. One doctor held aloft what must be the movement’s icon: a plastic replica of the human spine. These doctors have demonstrated over the last 24 days that their vertebral column is in place. Their unique protest exhorted everyone to keep theirs upright and straight. Especially the police. Just before heading into Lalbazar, the doctors’ delegation broke into a song again, signing off with Jana Gana Mana. Behind them, other doctors standing in a series of human chains joined in. Everyone stood still. Time stood still. After the meeting with the commissioner of Kolkata Police, the doctors said they were not satisfied with officer’s responses but they would end their sit-in demo on BB Ganguly Street. However, their protests would continue in other forms.  Collectively Kolkata is today , a tsunami of righteous anger. An anger it has chosen to express with the red rose. Mahatma Gandhi would have P8 approved. Protesting junior doctors march towards the police HQ after they were allowed to meet the police chief, in Kolkata | PTI