vijayawada l tuesday l april 08, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION LPG cylinder to be costlier by `50, CNG price up `1 per kg from today Hike comes amid crash in crude prices The price hike comes amid a drop in crude prices—from $70 to about $60 per barrel. Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said oil firms are incurring losses and prices could be cut only if international rates stay at low levels. LPG will now cost `553 per cylinder in Delhi for Ujjawala users and `853 for general users. The rates vary from state to state depending on local taxes The increase in cooking gas price, effective April 8, will be for the Ujjawala—poor beneficiaries who got LPG connection free of cost—and general users Excise duty hiked on petrol, diesel ■ ■ The government also hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel by `2 per litre each to raise about `32,000 crore additional tax revenue However, there will be no change in retail prices of either petrol or diesel as the increases will be adjusted against the price cut that was warranted because of falling international oil prices Mar 2024 LPG prices were last revised a year ago, when prices were cut by `100 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 ASIAN MARKETS CRUMBLE -13.22% -9.7% -7.83% -7.34% -3.24% Hang Seng Taiwan Weighted Nikkei 225 Shanghai Composite ■ 75,364.69 ■ sENSEX Previous close BLOODBATH ON D-STREET NIFTY (22,161.60) BSE marketcap shrinks to `390 L cr Realty and Metal Indices fall 6-7% ■ Trent shares down 15%, highest in Nifty50 pack How Don spooked global investors 0% -5% 73,137.90 S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y 73,325 -10% 3:30 PM 9:33 AM 72,794 10:52 AM 72,830 72,760 11:37 AM 2:33 PM Dow -13% -15% 72,378 12:48 PM -20% 72,124 9:20 AM SC rap: Complete breakdown of the rule of law in UP @ New Delhi mONDAY’S close 73,105 Turning Civil cases into criminal S&P U.S. STOCKS on a free fall in Trump era Feb 1 Mar 1 Panic Monday -16.1% Nasdaq -21.1% APR 1 Sensex, Nifty crash 3% each; investors lose `14 lakh crore ARSHAD KHA N @ New Delhi Indian stock markets on Monday witnessed one of the worst trading sessions in recent times as fears of an escalating trade war and a global economic slowdown—sparked by recent US tariff hikes— rattled investors. The crash is attributed to the reciprocal tax imposed by US President Donald Trump last week. The market tremors are likely to escalate as Trump late on Monday threatened to slap an additional 50% tariff on China and halt trade 4 more injured Special deputy collector dies in road accident E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kadapa Special Deputy Collector for Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS) Pileru Unit-2 Sugali Rama, 50, died in a head-on collision near Yerraguntla in Sambepalli mandal of Annamayya district, on Monday. Four others sustained injuries. The accident occurred while the officer was travelling from Pileru to Rayachoti to attend a public grievances meeting. Her car collided with another vehicle en route, killing her on the spot. The injured were taken to the Government Hospital in Rayachoti. Sambepalli police, with the help of locals, retrieved Rama from the vehicle. Doctors at the hospital declared her dead upon arrival. Police have registered a case and launched an investigation. Annamayya District Collector Sridhar Chamakuri visited the injured and directed doctors to provide the best possible care. Rama, a native of Kalyandurg in Anantapur district, was appointed as Special Officer for the PGRS meeting. Following news of her death, officials suspended the scheduled programme. Attendees observed two minutes of silence in her memory . Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu expressed his condolences over her death. He described Rama’s death as unfortunate and conveyed his sympathy to her family members. negotiations if Beijing does not withdraw its 34% retaliatory tariff by Tuesday . Investors’ panic was palpable during early trading hours on Monday as the BSE Sensex plunged 4,000 points to 71,725 while the Nifty 50 tumbled 1,150 points to 21,744. At closing, the Sensex and NSE Nifty50 were down by about 3% each. Investors lost a whopping `14 lakh crore as the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms fell from `404 lakh crore on Friday to `390 lakh crore on Monday . The sell-off echoed across Asian markets. Taiwan’s exchange operators halted trading to pause panic selling. Abhishek Jaiswal, fund manager at Finavenue, said the crash in India is due to global concerns. “The real worry lies in how such policy moves could fuel inflation, disrupt supply chains, and trigger a slowdown or even recession over the coming years,” Jaiswal added. Trivesh, COO of Tradejini, said that the steep correction was sparked by China’s announcement of a 34% import tax on all US goods. Capital construction back on track as Centre releases `4,285 crore E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada In a significant push to revive the construction of Amaravati, the Centre has released Rs 4,285 crore for the capital city’s development. This includes Rs 750 crore as the Centre’s counterpart funding, with the rest from international funding partners, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB). The funds were sanctioned after the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) sought an advance to kickstart long-pending development wo rk s i n t h e g re e n f i e l d capital. The release of funds gained significance in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expected visit to Amaravati in the third week of April to relaunch the construction of the capital city, as recently announced by Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand. The relaunch is anticipated to trigger infrastructure development worth nearly Rs 1 lakh crore, reviving the original vision of a world-class capital for the state. Speaking to TNIE, APCRDA commissioner K Kanna Babu, the World Bank and ADB have jointly committed $ 1,600 million (approximately Rs 13,600 crore) for Phase-I of Amaravati’s construction, $ 800 million each, while the Centre will chip in Rs 1,500 crore to complete the Rs 15,000 crore first-phase package. The project officially came into effect on January 22, and a program advance of $ 205 million was disbursed last month. The recent Rs 4,285 crore allocation to the state was released under the ‘Advance’ head, with 25 % of the total funding offered upfront to enable the restart of capital P4 works.  Anand K Rathi, co-founder of MIRA Money said it is chal, lenging to predict how each country would respond to tariffs. The market is declining, assuming a global recession, but circumstances can change quickly depending on how and when the tariffs are implemented, added Rathi. Investors are now keenly waiting for the RBI’s monetary policy action. A rate cut may provide short-term support to equities, particularly in rate-sensitive sectors such as banking, NBFCs, real estate, and auto. 26/11 accused Rana’s appeal rejected The US Supreme Court has rejected 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana’s appeal seeking a stay on his extradition to India, moving him closer to being handed over to Indian authorities to face justice. A notice on the SC website Monday said that ‘Application denied by the Court.’ The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh police for converting multiple civil disputes into criminal cases, calling it a “complete breakdown of rule of law in Uttar Pradesh”. “Converting a civil matter into a criminal case is not acceptable. There is a complete breakdown of the rule of law in Uttar Pradesh. It’s strange that it’s happening day in and day out in UP. Lawyers have forgotten there is some civil jurisdiction also,” a threejudge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan said. The remarks came after hearing a plea filed by accused Debu Singh, who said that his civil case — of cheque dishonour and allegedly failure to return money to the complainants — was illegally converted into a criminal one by the UP police. The appalled bench said, “This is wrong. What is happening in UP? Everyday civil suits are being converted to criminal cases.” The court directed the DGP and the station house officer of a Gautam Budh Nagar police station to file affidavits on the case details in two weeks. It warned that it could initiate c o n t e m p t p ro c e e d i n g s against the probe officer. In an earlier Sharif Ahmad vs State of UP case, the Supreme Court had held that the investigating officer must complete entries of all columns in the chargesheet so that it is clear which crime has been committed by which accused and what is the material evidence available in the case. “This is missing in this case,” the bench pointed out. The court directed the compliance of the Sharif Ahmad case order in the present one. It asked the DGP to explain what steps had been taken towards compliance of the Sharif Ahmad order, and fixed the matter for further hearing in May . SC declines urgent hearing of petitions on Waqf Act S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna on Monday declined urgent hearing in a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the recent Waqf (Amendment) Act, saying it will be listed for hearing in due course. “There’s a robust system of listing in place. The matter will come up in due course,” the CJI told senior lawyers Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and others appearing for various petitioners. These senior advocates had mentioned the matter and sought early hearing. At least 10 petitions have been filed so far challenging the Act. When Sibal, appearing for Maulana Arshad Madani, the president of Jamiat Ulemai-Hind, sought early hearing, the CJI asked why he was making an oral mention when there is a robust system in place to seek urgent listing through email. Sibal said the email has already been sent. The CJI then assured Sibal that he would do the needful after examining the plea in the afternoon. Boost to infra in tribal areas as Pawan Kalyan launches ‘Adavi Thalli Baata’ E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Visakhapatnam Reaffirming his commitment to the welfare of tribal communities, Deputy Chief M i n i s t e r P aw a n K a l ya n launched the “Adavi Thalli Baata” programme at Dumbriguda in Alluri Sitarama Raju district on Monday . The Deputy Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for the construction of a BT road, to be taken up at an estimated cost of `2.12 crore, at Pedapadu village of Dumbriguda mandal. Addressing a gathering of tribals, he stated that the goal of the alliance government is not seats or votes but the overall development and upliftment of forest-dwelling communities. “When I visited this area in 2018, the condition of the roads dee ply moved me. T hree Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan launched the ‘Adavi Thalli Bata’ programme on Monday, aimed at developing tribal villages in the state | Express months ago, I promised to return with a plan for development and today, I’m here with over `1,000 crore sanctioned for road connectivity in tribal areas,” he said. The previous YS- RCP government, he noted, had spent only `92 crore over five years on tribal development, whereas the alliance government had sanctioned `1,005 P4 crore within a year.  New rules to make builders pay for debris disposal J IT E N DRA CHOUB E Y @ New Delhi in a bid to mitigate construction dust, a byproduct of building activities and a major air pollutant, the Union environment ministry has notified the Environment (Construction and Demolition) Waste Management Rules, 2025. The new rules, which will become effective on April 1, 2026, will replace the extant regulations and put the onus of col- lecting, storing, and transporting debris on the bulk waste generators including builders. The rules provide detailed guidelines for the management, utilisation, and monitoring of processed waste, as well as procedures for the storage of processed construction and demolition waste. Notified on April 4, the new norms aim to bring environmentally sound manage- ment of construction and demolition waste throughout the country through proper segregation, collection, recycling, treatment, and disposal practices. In a first, the notification also introduces a financial mechanism to support extended producer responsibility. T his means, waste generators will now be accountable for paying recyclers to provide tradable credits as set by the Central Pollution Control Board. Under the guidelines, credits gained from in-situ (on site) disposal will carry more weight than those from ex-situ (off site) management. The existing rules were found ineffective as they promoted ad-hoc waste management and failed to create a robust market for recycled products among construction agencies. express read CM unveils Global Medicity Project Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu addressing the media on Monday | Express Prawn panel formed to counter US tariffs 54 district judges shifted by AP HC Spl advisory council to improve govt services Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has positioned the ambitious Mega Global Medicity Project in Amaravati as the flagship of a sweeping health transformation across the state, unveiling an extensive health strategy during a detailed media presentation at the Secretariat on Monday Vijayawada: To counter the 26% reciprocal tariff imposed by Donald Trump’s administration on AP’s aquaculture exports to the U.S., Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Kinjarapu Atchannaidu announced the formation of the National Prawns Coordination Committee (NPCC) during a Aquaculture meet in Vijayawada Vijayawada: The AP High Court on Monday transferred as many as 54 district judges as they finished their tenure of three years. Vijayawada ACB court judge BSV Hima Bindu was transferred as State Legal Service Authority, while the current SLSA secretary M Babitha was posted as Vizianagaram district judge (PDJ) Vijayawada: All possible government services must be brought under the ambit of Mana Mitra-WhatsApp Governance framework by June 12, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu directed the officials. He mandated them to expedite the integration of information from all departments with the data lake for the same | P4