HYDERABAD THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 16 LATE CITY EDITION INDIA ENGAGING RUSSIA AND UKRAINE TO HELP END WAR, SAYS JAISHANKAR India has been holding talks with both countries to see if there is something it can do to initiate negotiations between them, the minister said TALKS EXPLORATORY, NO PEACE PLAN Jaishankar said India does not have a peace plan or any suggestions on how to end the conflict. Rather, it is having conversations about ending the conflict with each of the two sides and keeping each apprised of what the other side is saying. He said to end the war there must be serious negotiations between the two, and these talks aim to initiate that ■ Zelenskyy INDIA UNIQUELY PLACED TO FACILITATE TALKS ■ Highlighting India’s unique position, the external affairs minister said there are not many countries that have the ability or the willingness to engage both Moscow and Kyiv at the same time India has not taken sides in the war. Instead, it has been engaging both countries, urging them to end the conflict through negotiations SAYS HE HAS ALREADY INVITED INDIA TO THE SECOND PEACE SUMMIT 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 Lokayukta police to probe MUDA dirt against Siddu Special court directs the SP to register a case under land grab law YAT H I R A J U @ Bengaluru A day after the Karnataka High Court allowed investigation against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam case, a special court directed the Lokayukta police to probe the allotment of 14 compensatory sites to his wife Parvathy B M. The Lokayukta police has been asked to submit its report within three months. The special court in Bengaluru, which exclusively deals with criminal cases against sitting and former MPs and MLAs, also directed the Superintendent of Police, Mysuru Division of Karnataka Lokayukta, to register a case under the provisions of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act and the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act. This is in addition to provisions under Indian Penal Code sections 120B (conspiracy), 166 (disobeying law), 403 (misap- Siddaramaiah ‘Not scared of probe’ Siddaramaiah said he is ready to face any probe and will continue the legal fight. “We are not scared of investigation and are prepared for the legal fight. I said it yesterday and am reiterating it today,” he said propriation), 406 (breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 426 (mischief), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery of an electronic record), 340 (wrongful confinement), 351 (use of criminal force) and oth- er relevant sections of the IPC, under Section 9 (bribing public servant) and 13 (criminal misconduct) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. In his order, Special Court Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat ordered registration of a private complaint against Siddaramaiah, his wife, brother-inlaw Mallikarjuna Swamy, and one Davaraju J, among others, in connection with the MUD’s illegal allotment of the compensatory sites. The case pertains to 14 sites worth `56 crore being allotted illegally in an upscale Vijayanagar 3rd Stage for the land acquired at Kesare village, a down market area on the outskirts of Mysuru, due to alleged undue advantage taken by Siddaramaiah when in power. On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court had upheld Governor Thawarchand Gehlot’s approval to conduct a probe into the MUDA case and the allegedly illegal allotment of 14 sites to the CM’s wife. SC to lower courts: Avoid misogynistic remarks Another 35K vacancies to be filled in next 2-3 months: Revanth E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad CM orders handover of vacant Dignity houses in Hyderabad E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad ASSERTING that his government is well aware of the probASKING officials why the double-bedroom ‘Dignity’ houses lem of growing unemployment in the state, Chief Minister A built during the previous BRS government remain vacant, Revanth Reddy on Wednesday announced that a decision has Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday instructed been made to fill another 35,000 vacancies over the next two them to complete the handover of 25,000 2BHK units to the to three months. He also said that the Congress govidentified beneficiaries. He also instructed the ofernment will make efforts to increase the state ficials to ensure all basic amenities like water, powBudget from present `3 lakh crore to `7 lakh crore er and drainage connections were provided to the in the next four years. units before the handover. Recalling that his government handed over apOf the around 40,000 completed 2BHK units withpointment orders to 30,000 individuals within three in GHMC limits, the government has allocated months of coming to power, Revanth said that Tel15,000 houses to the families who stand to be affectangana has witnessed an abnormal increase in uned by the Musi Riverfront Development Project. employment over the last 10 years. “The youth had Chairing a review meeting with officials of the been deprived of jobs and employment opportuniHousing department here on Wednesday, the CM ties,” he said. asked them why the 2BHK units were not handed The chief minister was addressing the gathering 15K units allotted over when the beneficiaries were already selected. to Musi oustees after launching a Banking, Finance Services and During the meeting, he instructed the officials to Insurance (BFSI) skill training programme in Hyauction the blocks and houses built under the Rajiv The govt has issued derabad. The programme aims to equip job seekers orders allotting about Swagruha scheme. Stating that it was not prudent with skills tailored to industry needs. to keep them vacant for years, he instructed offi15,000 2BHK houses Admitting that the problem of unemployment cials to prepare proposals for their auctioning. to the families will exist even after the government fills two lakh The CM also directed officials to constitute Inresiding in structures vacancies, he said that this was the reason behind diramma Committees which would select the benon the riverbed and the skill development programmes for job aspir- within the buffer zone eficiaries for the Indiramma Housing Scheme by ants. “About three lakh students are graduating in Dasara. He instructed formulation of modalities for of the Musi in GHMC the state every year. However, they are not getting constituting committees at the village, ward, manlimits | P2 job opportunities due to lack of skills to meet the dal, town, constituency and district levels. industrial requirements. We held talks with BFSI Pointing out that other states were ahead in seto provide required skilled workforce to the industries. An curing houses from the Union government under the Prime action plan was prepared based on the proposals submitted Minister Awaas Yojana, the CM said that Telangana was lagby the BFSI and this skill development programme was deging behind in this regard and instructed the officials to invised. The idea is to impart training to students before they crease efforts for getting more houses sanctioned to the state. complete graduation. With this, the students will get jobs in He also instructed them to take measures to get the pending banking, financial services and insurance sectors after comdues released from the Centre by giving necessary informapleting the training programme,” the chief minister said. tion on the Indiramma Housing scheme. Recalling that the government was upgrading 65 ITIs into When officials said that there would be a shortage of engiAdvanced Technology Centres in collaboration with Tata neers and other staff once construction of a large number of Technologies, the CM assured that the government will upIndiramma houses begins, the CM instructed them to appoint grade all ITIs as ATCs in the next two years. CONTINUED ON P4 personnel on outsourcing basis. Phase II done, heartening to see Kashmiris casting their votes, say foreign diplomats Foreign diplomats after visiting a polling booth in Srinagar, for a first-hand assessment of the assembly elections in J&K on Wednesday | F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar THE second phase of polling for 26 assembly seats in J&K on Wednesday recorded a healthy 56.05% turnout, which could go up further. While brisk polling took place in five districts, there were no long queues in Srinagar, where the poll percentage for eight seats stood at 29.24%. However, 4.41% more voters turned up to vote in Srinagar as compared to the Lok Sabha polls in April-May when the percentage was 24.83%. A team of foreign diplomats visited a few polling stations and found it “heartening” to see Kashmiris casting their votes after 10 years. ZAHOOR PUNJABI US Deputy chief of Mission Jorgan K Andrews, who was among the visiting diplomats said, “It has been excellent and fascinating to see how India organises its elections and how thorough the preparations are. It has been very inspiring.” It looks very healthy and democratic, he added. The turnout was good in the three violence-hit districts in the Jammu re gion Reasi (74.14%), Poonch (73.78%) and Rajouri (69.84%) Even Ganderbal (62.63%) and Budgam (61.31%) in the Kashmir region did well. “The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi seat in Reasi district recorded the highest voter turnout of 79.95%,” informed J&K Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P K Pole. In Srinagar, which has remained a hot bed of separatist politics, people came out to vote for first Assembly polls without any poll boycott or militant threat. “It is first time that I am casting a vote. There are no jobs, power bills are very high and youth are falling to drugs. We hope that the elected government will provide some relief to the population,” said Javed Ahmed, a resident of Nowhatta area of Srinagar. Nowhatta was once a stronghold of militants and separatists where stone pelting used to take place every Friday . RECIPE FOR SUCCESS FINAL ESTIMATES OF MAJOR AGRICULTURE CROPS DURING 2023-24 IN TELANGANA Area cultivated 6.04 0.27 4.9 3.04 3.3 2.56 1.14 46.85 30.34 24.33 27.79 5.27 3.61 168.74 (lakh hectares) 158.77 (Lakh metric tonnes) @ Hyderabad 46.62 Nutri/Coarse cereals Sugarcane Maize Oilseeds Pulses Shree Anna/ Nutri cereals Production M A N DA RAV I N D E R R E D DY (in lakh hectares) 124.1 Crop Bumper rice yield in 2023-24 vaults TG to No. 1 spot RICE PRODUCTION TREND IN TELANGANA Rice Production (In LMT) Area of cultivation 36.55 A day after BJP MP Kangana Ranaut’s statement that the three controversial farm laws repealed in 2021 should be reinstated, made her party squirm and the Opposition go ballistic, the actor and newbie neta was forced to to eat her words. “I withdraw my remarks. I have to keep in mind that I am not just an artist, but a party worker of the BJP My opinion . should not be personal and my actions should align with the party’s stand. I regret and take my words back,” she said. Kangana emphasised the importance of respecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to repeal the laws that were intended to benefit farmers but faced intense opposition. Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi sought to put the government on the mat, demanding Modi explain whether he was opposed to the comments or is he “up to some mischief ”. “BJP people keep testing ideas. They ask someone to voice an idea among the people and wait for the reaction... Modi ji you must clarify, whether you are against this or you are again up to some mischief,” he asked. Rahul said the Opposition INDIA bloc will oppose any move to bring back the black farm laws. THE Supreme Court on Wednesday warned courts across India against making remarks that could be construed as “misogynistic” or directed towards a certain “gender or community”. “Courts, therefore, have to be careful not to make comments in the course of judicial proceedings which may be construed as being misogynistic or for that matter prejudicial to any segment of our society a ,” five-judge bench of the court said while closing the suo motu proceedings over Karnataka High Court judge Justice V Srishananda’s alleged objectionable comments during his one of his court hearings. The bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandarchud advised judges to conduct proceedings conscious of the wider impact of casual observations on the community at large. In video clips that went viral on social media, Justice Srishananda was seen making some objectionable comments against a woman lawyer when she intervened in an ongoing hearing. The bench said it refrained from any further proceedings against Justice Srishananda considering that he had apologised, and to maintain the dignity of the judicial system. Regarding Justice Srishananda’s remarks calling an area in Bengaluru as ‘Pakistan’, the bench said, “No one can call any part of India as Pakistan. It is fundamentally against the territorial integrity of the nation.” The bench also rejected demands by various sections of the Bar to halt the live streaming of Karnataka High Court proceedings. The demands were raised citing misuse of court videos on social media. “The answer to sunlight is more sunlight, not to suppress what happens,” the CJI said. 102.17 HARPREET BAJWA & PREETHA N A I R @ Chandigarh/ New Delhi @ New Delhi 31.86 Kangana eats her words on farm laws S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y 74.28 Rahul Gandhi 20.11 Kangana Ranaut WELFARE AGENDA 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 (BOTH RABI & KHARIF) TELANGANA registered a record in rice production during 2023-24, vaulting to the No. 1 spot in the country . According to the Ministry of Agriculture’s final estimates of major agriculture crops during 2023-24, Telangana became the largest rice producing state in India with 168.75 lakh metric tonnes (LMT). The total rice production in India was 1378.25 LMT of which Telangana’s share was 168.75 LMT, a whopping 12.5% of total rice produced in India. Telangana is followed by Uttar Pradesh with 159.9 LMT, West Bengal with 156.87 LMT, Punjab 143.56 LMT and Chhattisgarh 97.03 LMT. In 2022-23, Telangana produced 158.77 LMT of rice and stood in second place. Of the total rice produced in Telangana during 2023-24, 93.44 LMT was produced in the kharif season and 75.3 LMT in the rabi season. During 2023-24, farmers cultivated rice in 46.85 lakh hectares in both seasons. The yield was calculated at 36.02 quintal per hectare. Similarly, the state also performed well in cotton production. Telangana produced 50.8 lakh bales of cotton during 2023-24 and stood at No. 3 on the list. Statistics reveal that the production of cotton and area of cultivation in the state reduced significantly compared to 2022-23. During 2022-23, Telangana produced 57.45 lakh bales of cotton with 19.73 lakh hectares of cultivation while it was 50.8 lakh bales from 18.8 lakh hectares during 2023-24. During 2023-24, the state produced 202.76 LMT of total food grains, against 193.75 LMT during 2022-23, taking it to the No. 6 spot.
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