visakhapatnam l saturday l january 04, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION China plays down reports of flu outbreak, says it’s safe to visit China’s foreign ministry said there is no massive flu outbreak in the country and that its hospitals are not overwhelmed by the influx of flu patients ‘Respiratory infections less this year’ India alert, Closely monitoring situation “Respiratory infections tend to peak during the winter season in the northern hemisphere,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing in response to a question on the spread of Human Metapneumovirus and influenza A. “The diseases appear to be less severe and spread with a smaller scale compared to the previous year,” she said ■ ■ The National Centre for Disease Control under the Union health ministry said it is closely monitoring influenza cases in the country, and is in touch with international agencies in the wake of reports of an outbreak of the Human Metapneumovirus in China Officials said there is no substantial increase in flu infections in India HMPV is like any other respiratory virus which causes common cold 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 SBI research Rural poverty fell to record low of 4.86% in FY24: Report E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Mumbai higher consumption in the lowest 0-5% decile and government support programmes have significantly brought down poverty in India — both rural and urban — an SBI research report released on Friday said. Rural poverty crashed to 4.86% in FY24 from a high level of 25.7% in 2011-12, while urban poverty dropped to 4.09% from 13.7% in the same period, the report noted. In FY23, rural and urban poverty rates were 7.2% and 4.6%, respectively . “The sharp decline in rural poverty ratio is on account of higher consumption growth in lowest 0-5 per cent decile with significant government support and such support is important as we also find that change in food prices has a significant impact on not just food expenditures, but overall expenditure in general,” the report said extrapolating the latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation. The survey showed that consumption inequality in both rural and urban areas declined during the August 2023-July 2024 period compared to a year ago. According to Soumyakanti Ghosh, group chief economic advisor at SBI, urban poverty could decline further. “At an aggregate level, we believe poverty rates in India could now be in the range of 4-4.5% with almost minimal existence of extreme poverty,” the report said. Govt notifies draft rules for digital privacy Children under 18 years will require parental consent to create social media accounts R a k e s h K u m a r @ New Delhi No mention of Penalty clause The draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules don’t mention penalties that were approved under the 2023 Act, which had a provision to impose a penalty of up to `250 crore on data fiduciaries in case of personal data breach Data of inactive users to be deleted If a company collects your data for a specific purpose but you don’t use it for a certain period, then it must delete your data. However, before deleting the data, the company must notify you 48 hours in advance CHILDREN under 18 will require parental consent to create social media accounts, according to the new draft regulations for the Digital Personal Data Protection Act. If data fiduciaries—entities that process data— transfer Indians’ personal data abroad, they will have to strictly comply with some additional rules set by the Central government. The draft, titled Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2025 and released by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) on Friday, provides for the government and its agencies to process Indians’ personal data in order to give subsidies, benefits, services, certificates, licences, or permits. The draft, which outlines how companies and government agencies should handle digital personal data, is open for consultation till February 18. As per the draft rules, any company or organisation using personal data must seek the individual’s consent. They must clearly inform the individuals (data principals) about the purpose of data processing. Also, they need to provide a detailed description of the goods or services that will be offered. The draft norms say data fiduciaries must implement reasonable security measures to protect personal data, such as encryption, access control, monitoring for unauthorised access, and data backups. In the event of a data breach, the data processing entity must promptly notify all affected individuals. Under the new regulation, children below 18 years will need their parents’ consent to create social media accounts on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. When collecting a child’s personal data, the data fiduciary must obtain verifiable consent from the parent. To ensure this, the company must verify the parent’s identity and age using reliable sources, such as government-issued IDs or digital locker services. Creating counties in Ladakh unacceptable: India to China J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi New Delhi has lodged a “solemn protest” with Beijing against its creation of two new counties last month in Hotan prefecture, as parts of these regions fall within the Union territory of Ladakh. New Delhi also conveyed its concerns to Beijing about China’s plan to build a massive hydropower dam in Tibet on the Yarlung Zangbo river, which flows into India. The Yarlung Zangbo becomes the Brahmaputra as it exits Tibet and flows south into Arunachal Pradesh and Assam before entering Bangladesh. In a strong response, Exter- nal Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the creation of new counties will not affect India’s long-standing and consistent position on its sovereignty over the region, nor will it legitimise China’s “illegal and forcible” occupation of the area. “We have seen the announcement pertaining to the establishment of two new counties in Hotan Prefecture of China. Parts of jurisdiction of these so-called counties fall in India’s Union Territory of Ladakh,” he said, adding: “We have never accepted the illegal Chinese occupation of Indian territory in this area.” China’s state-owned media Xinhua reported on December 27 that the government of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region announced the establishment of two new counties in the region — He’an County and Hekang County. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the State Council approved them, it said. As for the dam, “The Chinese side has been urged to ensure that the interests of downstream states are not harmed,” Jaiswal said. “We will continue to monitor and take necessary measures to protect our interests,” he added. Govt nod to launch `25L health cover for each family E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada The State government will launch a health insurance scheme offering up to `25 lakh per family annually, Minister for Health, Family Welfare, and Medical Education Satya Kumar Yadav announced on Friday . Speaking to the media at the Secretariat, he recalled that the NDA had promised this scheme during the election campaign. Stating that the health scheme is a cashless initiative, Yadav emphasised that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had, in principle, approved the proposal to involve insurance companies in delivering the health insurance scheme, fulfilling another key election promise. He explained that the Health Ministry had held multiple discussions with experts and submitted the proposals to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). Yadav said, “The objective of adopting a ‘hybrid model’ for providing health insurance is not to reduce the financial burden on the government, but to ensure the professional implementation of the P4 scheme.”  Govt awaits family’s word on memorial site Pa r v e z S u lta n @ New Delhi Two adjoining sites measuring about 2,000 sq ft each within the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal in the Capital await approval from former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s family to house his memorial. They are yet to pick one. After the visit of senior officials of the ministry of housing and urban affairs, the staff on Wednesday cleaned up the spots and pruned the grass there. According to the officials, an estimate of construction has been prepared and the allotment formalities will be initiated once they get word from Singh’s family . Spread over about 45 acres, the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal complex is sandwiched between Ring Road and Salimgarh bypass along the Yamuna bank. The two sites are next to the memorial of P V Narasimha Rao. They are surrounded by paved pathways and flanked by the memorials of former presidents and prime ministers Zail One of the sites suggested to former PM Manmohan Singh’s family for his memorial | Parvez Sultan Singh, Shankar Dayal Sharma, R Venkataraman, K R Narayanan, Chandra Shekhar and I K Gujral. The Sthal also has Sadaiv Atal, a memorial park where former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was cremated. The staff posted at the Sthal was expecting a visit by Singh’s family on Friday However, no . information was available about Ban on 22A lands will be lifted: Min E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada Revenue Minister Anagani Satya Prasad announced that the government will lift the ban on lands listed under Section 22A and directed District Collectors to submit a report within three days detailing the area of lands in this category . During a review meeting with officials at the CCLA office in Mangalagiri on Friday , he accused the previous government of troubling landowners by listing lands under Section 22A, which prohibits the registration of government lands, assigned lands, and lands belonging to religious institutions. He claimed this was done to intimidate them. However, he confirmed that a decision would be made to lift the ban. The Revenue Minister conducted a detailed review of 11 districts in Zone 2 and Zone 3 with the Collectors, Joint Collectors, P4 and public representatives.  TDP cadre unhappy with allies over induction of turncoats from YSRCP S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Fiery Bhopal toxic waste sparks stir A leaderless protest in Pithampur town against the transport of Union Carbide’s toxic waste from Bhopal, became fiery as 2 protesters sustained burn injuries | P8 TDP leaders have expressed growing dissatisfaction with their alliance partners — the BJP and the JSP — for inducting controversial leaders from the YSRCP. Reports suggest that during a meeting with TDP General Secretary and Minister for HRD and IT Nara Lokesh, several Ministers conveyed the displeasure of the party’s grassroots members. The induction of Visakha Dairy Chairman Adari Anand Kumar from the YSRCP into the BJP raised concerns, particularly as the Assembly’s House Committee, headed by Speaker Ch Ayyanna Patrudu, began an inquiry into alleged ir re gularities at Visakha Dairy . The Ministers also informed Lokesh about the joining of for mer APCOB (Andhra Pradesh Co-operative Bank) Chairman Ganji Chiranjeevi in the JSP Chiranjeevi, who be. longs to Mangalagiri Assembly Constituency which is represented by Lokesh, had quit the TDP in August 2022 and joined the YSRCP . Ahead of the elections, the YSRCP leadership had considered fielding him against Lokesh, but they ultimately chose another candidate. Dis- appointed with the YSRCP, Chiranjeevi recently joined the JSP much to the frustration of , TDP workers. Another contentious figure, Jayamangala Venkataramana, who had aspired for a ticket to contest the Nuzvid Assembly seat from the TDP, joined the YSRCP after his prospects in the yellow party dimmed. Later appointed as an MLC, he switched to the JSP following the YSRCP’s defeat. TDP leaders recalled that these turncoat leaders had previously levelled charges against party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and harassed party activists during YSRCP’s tenure. P4 Given the excesses these leaders inflicted on oppn parties during YSRCP’s term, TDP, JSP & BJP workers expected these turncoats would face action TDP leader the visit till late evening. This newspaper had on Thursday reported that the government had decided to allocate land to a trust to be set up for the construction and maintenance of Singh’s memorial after receiving approval from his family . “The trust to be set up in Manmohan Singh’s name will build the memorial. The response of the family is awaited. The allot- ment formalities can only be initiated after the constitution of the trust. It may take about a week. This has been the practice. In the case of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a trust in his name had already existed. A senior official of the ministry was on Thursday entrusted with the task to inform the family about the possible location of Singh memorial,” said officials.