4 7 The New Indian Express wishes its readers a She is the 4th oldest first-time champ (29) tirupati l sunday l january 26, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION Madison unlocks Sabalenka puzzle, wins maiden Major US’ Madison Keys, who began the Australian Open final as the underdog, triumphed over the World No. 1 in a show filled with courage winner many years in making When the 29-year-old won her maiden WTA tour level match as a 14-year-old, she was earmarked as a potential Major winner. But it didn’t transpire that way as she had a couple of near misses, including the final of the US Open in 2017 | More on P11 Winning big moments enroute title When Keys, the fourth oldest first time winner of a Major, will look back on the Major, she will reflect on how she saved a match point against Iga Swiatek in the semifinals. In the final, when Sabalenka, usually a reliable server, had the opportunity to force a final set breaker, Keys fought to win the Championship I have wanted this for so long and I have been in one other Grand Slam final and it did not go my way. I’m mostly just really proud of myself to get back to this position, to be able to play the way that I played and finish on such a strong note Keys’ new world ranking Madison Keys 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 Unified Pension Padma Vibhushan for MT, Suzuki czar Scheme to kick in from April 1 Five from AP get Padma awards D i pa k M o nd a l @ New Delhi The Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for Central government employees — an improvement over the existing National Pension System (NPS) — will come into force from April 1. A government notification issued on Saturday said those who opt for UPS can’t go back to the NPS. State governments, too, can implement the UPS. As on March 31, 2024, 26 lakh Central government and 66 lakh state government employees were making contributions to NPS. Of the `11.7 lakh crore corpus under NPS, state and Central government employees accounted for `9 lakh crore. The UPS guarantees a monthly payout of 50% of the 12 monthly average basic pay im, mediately prior to the retirement of an employee who completed at least 25 years of service. It also guarantees a minimum monthly pension of `10,000 for those who have less India to step up ties with Indonesia J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India and Indonesia agreed to instill a new momentum into their ties, with particular focus on collaborating in defence manufacturing, maritime security and supply chains as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held extensive talks with President P r a b owo S u b i a n t o o n Saturday . The Indonesian President, who is on a three-day visit to India, will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on Sunday . “To strengthen our cooperation in the defence sector, we have decided to work together in the areas of defence manufacturing and supply chain,” Modi said. Describing the visit of the President as the chief guest for the Republic Day as a “matter of immense pride”, Modi said: “We have also highlighted the importance of cooperation in maritime security cyber security coun, , ter-terrorism, and de-radicalisation. The agreement signed today on maritime safety and security will enhance our collaboration in areas such as crime prevention, search and rescue, and capacity building.” Indonesia, an ASEAN partner and an archipelagic nation comprising over 17,000 islands located between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean holds immense strategic significance to India. express read PMAY beneficiaries to get house keys on Feb 1 Vijayawada: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu will officially hand over the keys to beneficiaries of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) at Tetali village in Tanuku Assembly constituency on February 1, said Housing and Information and Public Relations Minister Kolusu Parthasarathy | P4 than 25 years of service but served 10 years or more. In the case of voluntary retirement after at least 25 years in service, the assured payout will start from the date on which the employee would have retired, had he continued in service. In the event of the pensioner’s death, his family will receive 60% of the pension amount that was being disbursed at the time of demise. The pension will be adjusted for inflation. This means that the payments will include dearness relief. The UPS will have two funds — an individual corpus with employe e c o n t r i bu t i o n a n d matching Central government contribution; and a pool corpus with additional Central government contribution. The contribution of employees will be 10% of basic pay plus DA. The government will match it and provide an additional sumat an estimated 8.5% of basic pay plus DA to all those who chose the individual corpus. WITH THIS ISSUE The Shape of Now PLUS 12 PAGES Telugu film actor and Hindpur MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna has been awarded Padma Bhushan for his contribution to the field of art. KL Krishna (literature and education), Madugula Nagaphani Sarma (poet and Avadhani), Miriyala Apparao (Burrakatha exponent, posthumously), and Vadiraj Raghawendracharya Panchamukhi (economist and Sanskrit scholar) from Andhra Pradesh have been awarded Padma Shri on the eve of Republic Day E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Osamu Suzuki, the former CEO of Suzuki Motors, who gave India its people’s car, and veteran Malayalam writer M T Vasudevan Nair were on Saturday among the eminent personalities who have been conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the nation’s second highest civilian award. Others who have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan include Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy for medicine from Telangana, Justice (Retd) Jagdish Singh YSRCP general secretary and Rajya Sabha member V Vijayasai Reddy quit politics as announced on Friday . The MP submitted his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday, and it Celebrated filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, ace hockey goalkeeper P R Sreejesh, noted economist and former chairman of PM’s economic advisory council Bibek Debroy late , Ghazal maestro Pankaj Udhas and former chairman of Prasar Bharti A Surya Prakash are the other recipients of the Padma Bhushan. Sadhvi Ritambhara, who was associated with the Ram Janam Bhumi movement in the 1990s, has also been awarded Padma Bhushan. Purpose of our visit to Davos Rana loses last appeal against is networking, asserts Naidu M um b a i t e r r o r extradition M UK E SH RA N J A N @ New Delhi DECKS have been cleared for the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin and a convict in the Mumbai terror attack case, to India after the US Supreme Court recently dismissed his review petition. India has been seeking Rana’s extradition since 2019. Rana’s petition in the US Supreme Court was his last legal option to avoid his extradition to India. Incidentally, the US Supreme Court’s order came on January 21, a day after Donald Trump took charge as the 47th President of the US. Rana, 64, is currently lodged at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Los Angeles. According to Indian agencies, Rana is an associate of Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley a key conspirator of , the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. At least 166 people were killed in the attacks orchestrated by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba. Ajmal Kasab was the only convict executed in the case. Another accused, Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, an Indian operative working for LeT, was arrested in 2012. Vijayasai’s RS resignation accepted S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada Khehar for public affairs from Chandigarh, Kaumudini Rajnikant Lakhia for Art from Gujarat, Lakshminarayana Subramaniam for Art from Karnataka and folk singer Sharda Sinha. The Padma Bhushan was awarded to 19 people, prominent among them being late BJP leader and former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi and Shiv Sena leader from Maharashtra Manohar Joshi. was accepted. He will submit his resignation to the YSRCP primary membership soon after returning to Andhra Pradesh. Speaking to the media in Delhi after submitting his resignation, he asserted that his decision to quit politics was for personal reasons and there was no coercion or any undue influence.  P4 ‘AP will be investors haven’ “Several globally renowned companies are going to invest in the State soon. We are going to transform AP into a haven for investments,” said the Chief Minister E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Brushing aside the criticism of the YSRCP and other opposition parties that the State government did not sign any MoU at the World Economic Forum, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the purpose of Davos visit was not for exchanging agreements, but for networking with influential people from across the globe. Describing Davos as a place for networking, Naidu said heads of various nations, industry giants and prominent persons in different sectors congregate there. By interacting with such people and explaining the strengths and opportunities in the State, we can enhance the brand image of Andhra Pradesh, he asserted. Generally, people only consider the number of MoUs signed at Davos, and the value of industrial investments, but not other benefits, he said.  P4 1 DAY TO GO PRESENTS THINKEDU CONCLAVE