tirupati l saturday l october 05, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION Apple says it will manufacture entire iPhone 16 lineup in India Weeks after launching its iPhone 16 series, Apple said that it will manufacture its entire iPhone 16 lineup, including premium devices, in India Premium devices to roll out this month This marks the first instance of Apple producing its premium devices outside China. The company said Indian-made iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models will be rolled out this month. These will be available for local customers and will also be exported. “Apple is now manufacturing the entire iPhone 16 lineup, including iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, in India,” it said ■ 2017 Four more Apple stores coming up ■ The iconic phone maker also said that it will open four more stores in India, to be located in Pune, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai Apple’s manufacturing partners in India include Taiwanese giants Foxconn and Pegatron, as well as the Tata-owned Wistron. The Tata Group is Apple’s only Indian manufacturing partner | P10 When the u.s.-based tech giant began manufacturing the iPhone in India 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 Tirumala Laddu Tirumala Brahmotsavams begin with Dwajarohanam row: SC sets up independent SIT E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Tirumala Panel to comprise 2 officers of CBI, two from State Police and one FSSAI official 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 Friday constituted a fresh and independent five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the allegations that animal fat was used in the preparation of the famous Tirumala Laddu. The fresh SIT will replace the one that was constituted by the Andhra Pradesh government on September 26. While hearing a batch of petitions seeking investigation into the allegation of use of adulterated ghee in making the Tirumala Prasadam, a two-judge bench, comprising Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan, asserted that they will not allow the Supreme Court to be used as ‘political battleground’. INSIDE In its order, the court said, “The fresh SIT will consist two officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who will be nominated by the CBI director, two officers of the Andhra Pradesh State Police to be nominated by the State government and a senior official of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The CBI director will supervise the SIT probe.” The court clarified that it was constituting the independent SIT as sentiments of crores of devotees from across the world were involved. YSRC Rajya Sabha MP and former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) chairman YV Subba Reddy and senior BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy were among the petiP4 tioners. jagan misinterpreted SC order, says tdp leader P4 Heralding the commencement of the nine-day celestial ritual of Navahnika Salakatla Brahmotsavams of Sri Venkateswara Swamy in Tirumala, Dwajarohanam ritual was performed following Vaikhanasa Agama on Friday . The sacred yellow cloth embossed with the imprint of Lord Garuda — the celestial carrier of Lord Vishnu — was ceremoniously hoisted atop the Dwajasthambham (flag post) inside the hill shrine amidst chanting of Vedic hymns. The Garuda Dwajapatam was hoisted in the auspicious Meena Lagnam between 5.47 and 5.59 pm to the pulsating beat of the temple drums. Dhwajarohanam marks extending an invitation to all the chiefs of different worlds in the cosmos to participate in the Brahmotsavams of Sri Venkateswara Swamy . Both the Pontiffs of Tirumala, Sri Pedda Jeeyar Swamy, Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamy, all Principal Priests, chief priests, Agama advisors, TTD EO J Shyamala Rao and other officials participated in the ritual. Lord Ma- CM N Chandrababu Naidu and wife N Bhuvaneswari offer Pattu Vastrams to Lord Venkateswara Swamy; Priests perform Dwajarohanam at the Srivari temple in Tirumala on Friday | Express layappa, flanked by His Consorts, Sridevi and Bhudevi, in a golden Tiruchi (palanquin), was then taken out in a procession along with Parivara devathas such as Anantha, Chakra, Garuda and Viswaksena, while the Dwajapatham preceded the divine cavalcade. Lord Malyappa Swamy rides Pedda Sesha Vahana Processional deity of Lord Malayappa Swamy rode the sevenhooded serpent Pedda Sesha Vahanam on the first day of the Brahmotsavams on Friday. Accompanied by His Consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi, Lord Venkateswara in the form of Vaikunta Narayana, sat majestically on the Pedda Sesha Vahanam 28 Maoists killed in fierce gun fight south Bastar E J A Z K AI S E R @ Raipur At least 28 Maoists were killed in a fierce gun battle with the security forces close to the forested NendurThulthuli area along the inter-district border of Dantewada and Narayanpur in south Bastar on Friday . Bastar range inspector general of police Sunderraj P said the troopers Team led by Jaishankar to attend SCO meet in Pak Yes h i S e l i @ New Delhi External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation for the upcoming SCO Summit in Islamabad, making him the first Indian foreign minister to visit Pakistan in nine years. “Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation for the SCO Summit for Islamabad on October 15-16,” said Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday . The last time an Indian external affairs minister went to Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj’s visit in 2015. There was no clarity on whether India will have any bilateral talks with other Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members as Jaiswal said Jaishankar is travelling to Pakistan only to attend the summit. During the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa in 2023, Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto had travelled to India along with 11 journalists from his country . Significantly, Indian fugitive and radical Islamist Zakir Naik is in Pakistan since the past few days. He also met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday. “We are not surprised that a fugitive from Indian justice has received a highlevel welcome in Pakistan. It is disappointing and condemnable, but it is not surprising,” said Jaiswal. have recovered 28 bodies so far. The count could go up further. “Based on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of Maoists in the region, a joint team comprising District Reserve Guards and Special Task Force launched parallel search operations. While the encounter began around 1 pm, intermittent exchange of firing continued till late in Later, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his wife N Bhuvaneswari offered s a c re d cl o t h e s t o L o rd Venkateswara on behalf of the State Government. Clad in traditional attire, Naidu was received by temple priests, TTD EO and other officials at the Bedi Anjaneya the evening. Search operations in the region are underway,” Prabhat Kumar, Narayanpur district police chief told this newspaper. A large cache of assault weapons, including AK-47, self-loading rifles, explosives, besides other items of Maoists were recovered from the site, the police said. There was no report of any injury sustained by the forces. S w a my t e m p l e. Te m p l e priests tied Parrivattam to the Chief Minister’s head and handed him the Pattu Vastralu (silk clothes), which he carried on his head and proceeded to the sanctum sanctorum of the Tirumala temple. Amidst Vedic hymns and divine music with elephants leading from the front, he walked from Bedi Anjaneya Swamy temple to Mahadwaram of Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple, where he was received by priests in a traditional manner and led into P4 the temple. Modi convenes urgent Cabinet meet to discuss West Asia crisis RA J E S H K U M AR THA K UR @ New Delhi aMID rising global tensions over the prospects of an IsraelIran war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has convened a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to discuss the evolving situation and its potential impact on India. According to sources, a significant portion of the discussion focused on fuel and crude oil supplies, with Finance Minister Nir mala Sitharaman putting the status on trade with other countries. The committee deliberated on whether the rising international fuel prices, influenced by the situation involving Iran, could affect India’s oil sector. A source said the Ministry of Finance ruled out any immediate adverse implications for India. The CCS meeting, held late on Thursday evening, lasted over 20 minutes, during which various aspects of the unfolding situation were discussed. Apart from ministers, officials from Home Affairs, External Affairs, Finance, and Defence were also present.