U.N. award for Gadgil The United Nations on Tuesday tapped ecologist Madhav Gadgil for the Champions of the Earth award, its highest environmental honour. Gadgil chaired the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel to study the impact of population pressure, climate change, and development in the ecologically fragile region. The panel recommended in 2011 that the entire hill range be declared an ecologically sensitive area tadepalligudem l wednesday l december 11, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION 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 No-trust notice against V-P has 60 signatures First such notice against RS chairman so far P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi The strained ties between the Opposition and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar came to a head on Tuesday as the INDIA bloc submitted a notice for a motion in the House to remove him from the post, accusing him of partisanship. Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Naseer Hussain submitted the notice signed by 60 MPs — including from the Congress, RJD, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, JMM, AAP DMK, Sama, jwadi Party — to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody . The motion said, “Unfortunately, Dhankhar’s brief term has been rife with instances where he has acted in a manner that is explicitly partisan and unfair towards members belonging to the Opposition.” This is the first time that such a notice has been moved in the Rajya Sabha. While the Opposition conceded that the scales are tilted in favour of the ruling NDA, they said it was a “strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy”. Elaborating the reasons to move the motion, the parties pointed out that Dhankhar’s conduct of the House on Monday was particularly one-sided and totally unfair. “He was en- NDA has the numbers to defeat motion The NDA has 119, two more than the current halfway mark of 117 in the RS, while the Opposition has 85. Among the fence-sitters are the YSR Congress Party with nine and the BJD with seven members couraging and provoking the Treasury Benches to make outrageous remarks.” He has repeatedly acted in a manner that reduces the prestige of the position he holds, they charged. The Opposition enclosed a list of articles and videos covering various instances where the chairman has unjustly been critical of Opposition members or their actions. Later, Jairam Ramesh said that they were pained to move such a notice, but were “forced” to do so after he “crossed all limits” on Monday by allowing several members of the treasury benches to speak against the top Congress leadership in the House. Controversial speech SC asks Allahabad HC to file details of judge’s comments S U CHITRA K A LYA N M O HA N T Y @ New Delhi AMID criticism over the controversial speech of Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court, delivered at a VHP function on December 8, the Supreme Court on Tuesday called for details from the High Court. “The Supreme Court has taken note of reports of a speech given by Mr Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, a sitting judge of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. The details and particulars have been called from the High Court and the matter is under consideration,” an official statement said. At the VHP event, Justice Yadav reportedly said: “This is Hindustan, and this country will function according to the wishes of the majority. This is the law. That’s how Retract and apologise: Bar Association The Bar Association of India issued a strong statement condemning the HC judge’s speech. It said the judge should retract his statements and tender an apology for his remarks. It also urged the Chief Justice of India and companion judges of the Supreme Court “to deal with this issue in a stern and emphatic manner” any society works.” The judge also reportedly said that the main aim of the Uniform Civil Code is to promote social harmony, gender equality, and secularism. According to reports, the judge highlighted the cultural values of children brought up with Hindu values of non-violence, tolerance etc, contrasting them with those of other communities that practice animal sacrifice. The SC’s administrative action came after videos of the speech were circulated on social media, triggering strong S M a visionary reformer Krishna hailed as The former Karnataka chief minister and external affairs minister was a visionary reformer with empathy and a trailblazer who redefined leadership, writes Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw | P7 1 May 1932-10 Dec 2024 5-year delay to develop Amaravati caused 45% rise in construction cost, says Narayana E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Delay in taking up works for the Amaravati capital city has resulted in 45% rise in construction costs, said Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Minister P Narayana on Tuesday He was speaking to . mediapersons following the 42nd CRDA (Capital Region Development Authority) meeting, chaired by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the Secretariat. The CRDA approved the release of `8,821.44 crore for laying trunk roads and layouts roads. Narayana explained that of the total, `3,807 crore will be used for land pooling layout roads, `4,521 crore for trunk roads, and `492 crore for bungalows of judges and ministers bungalows. Combined with approvals from the 41st CRDA meeting, the total sanctioned works amount to `20,292.46 crore. Holding the YSRCP regime responsible for the rise in construction costs, the MAUD Minister pointed out that farmers had voluntarily pooled 33,000 acres for the capital in just 58 days, but the YSRCP government halted progress by pro- posing three capitals for the State. Between 2014 and 2019, tenders worth `41,000 crore were issued, with works worth `5,000 crore being completed, he said. Stating that continuing the works as per plan would have prevented losses to the State government, Narayana said while cost to construct roads has increased by 25-28%, it has surged by 35-55% for buildings. “The price of gravel is expected to escalate by 6%. Schedule of rates has increased by 29%, GST has increased by 6%, and other damages have resulted in 1.6% surge in costs,” he exP4 plained. candidates file papers for RS polls TDP candidates Beeda Masthan Rao and Sana Satish, and BJP’s R Krishnaiah filed their nomination to contest the bypolls for the three vacant seats in Rajya Sabha. Later, they met Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu According to the Returning officer, besides Sana Satish from TDP, Sana Naga Jyothi and K Padmarajan have filed the nominations as independent candidates for the seat Satish is contesting for | P4 solid waste management Dump yard-free urban areas by Oct 2025 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Guntur The State government, under the leadership of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, is striving to free urban areas in Andhra Pradesh from dump yards by October 2025, said Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) P Narayana. He visited the solid waste management plant at Kondaveddu in Chilakaluripet constituency Palnadu district on Tuesday , . The plant, operated by Jindal Group, converts municipal solid waste into electricity and produces bricks from the ash. The Minister, along with local MLA Prathipati Pulla Rao, Swachha Andhra Corporation Chairman K Pattabhi Ram, and Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC) Commissioner P Srinivasulu, reviewed the plant’s operations. The plant handles 1,200 tonnes of waste daily from three municipal corporations -- including Vijayawada, Guntur, and Mangalagiri-Tadepalli -- and six municipalities: Tenali, Sattena- palle, Narasaraopet, Chilakaluripet, Bapatla, and Ponnur. Highlighting the plant’s efficiency , Narayana emphasised that sustainable waste management can significantly contribute to clean energy production. He also announced that plans to set up new plants in NelloreGudur and Kakinada-Rajahmundry corridors, and between Kadapa, Kurnool, and Anantapur are underway . These projects aim to manage 6,890 tonnes of municipal waste generated daily across the State. Further, he explained that the cost of treating one tonne of garbage is currently between `500 to `750, emphasising the importance of efficient waste transportation and treatment to reduce P4 expenses.  reactions from several quarters, including opposition leaders who termed it hate speech against minorities. Echoing serious concern, senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday called for the impeachment of Justice Yadav. Lawyer Prashant Bhushan wrote to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna seeking an ‘in-house enquiry’ into the conduct of the HC judge. CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat also wrote to the CJI, flagging the HC judge’s speech. Restoring the inflation-growth balance is the most important task ahead for the central bank Shaktikanta Das, outgoing RBI governor RBI-govt ties were the best in my tenure: Das B E N N K O CH U V E E D A N @ Mumbai Outgoing RBI gover nor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday said the relationship between the central bank and the government was “at its best during the past six years”. Das, who demitted office on Tuesday, underlined the need for restoring the inflationgrowth balance as the key task for his successor Sanjay Malhotra, to whom he will pass the baton on Wednesday . Addressing his last press meet as RBI governor at the RBI headquarters in Mumbai, the civil-servant-turned-central banker said: “The perspectives of the finance ministry and RBI can differ at times. But during the past six years, all such issues were resolved through internal discussions and coordination.” Listing out the challenges for his successor, Das said the new governor will also have to navigate the changing world order ,deal with cyber threats, and focus on harnessing new technologies. He said the governor will have to keep in mind the needs of the wider economy, adding that it is a judgement call that every governor takes. RBI-government ties were not that cordial during the governorships of his predecessors Urjit Patel and Raghuram Rajan. Das, a seasoned bureaucrat, was brought in to correct the deep imbalances. express read Rain alert sounded for South Coastal AP & Rayalaseema Naidu directs officials to extensively use technology 2nd conference of IAS & IPS officers from today Vijayawada: Heavy rains are likely to lash isolated parts of south coastal Andhra & Rayalseema for the next two days under the influence of a lowpressure area in the Bay of Bengal | P3 Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed the heads of all departments in the State to use technology extensively for efficient administration | P4 Vijayawada: The second conference of IAS & IPS officers under the NDA government will be held on December 11 and 12, where the Chief Minister will review governance issues | P4