tirupati l wednesday l april 16, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Expect above-normal rainfall this Southwest monsoon: IMD Tamil nadu may see below-normal rains India will experience above-normal cumulative rainfall in the upcoming southwest monsoon, the India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday EL nino conditions unlikely to develop The cumulative rainfall is estimated at 105% of the long-period average of 87 cm, IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said. However, large parts of Tamil Nadu and the northeastern region are likely to get below-normal rainfall, while the rain-deficient parts of Marathwada and adjoining Telangana are expected to witness above-normal showers ■ ■ Mohapatra said El Nino conditions, which results in weaker monsoon in the Indian subcontinent, are unlikely to develop this time As per the IMD, the sea surface temperatures in western and eastern sides of the Indian Ocean are roughly the same, and the snow cover in Northern Hemisphere is low—both of which point to normal monsoon 26% chance of excess precipitation, IMD director general Mohapatra said 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 Retail inflation at 67-mth low Declines to lower-than-expected 3.34% due to fooD price correction 8 Raises hopes of further repo rate cut by 50 bps in this calendar year 7.79 Retail Inflation (%) 7 6 5 4 Feb-25 Nov-24 Feb-24 May-24 Nov-23 Aug-23 Feb-23 May-23 Nov-22 Aug-22 May-22 Nov-21 Feb-22 Aug-21 Feb-21 May-21 Nov-20 Aug-20 May-20 Nov-19 Feb-20 Aug-19 3 Aug-24 3.34 3.28 D i pa k M o nd a l @ New Delhi Retail inflation in March fell to lower-than-expected 3.34%, the lowest since August 2019, vindicating the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to effect a 25basis points repo rate cut in the April monetary policy . The sharp decline in consumer inflation during the month also raised hopes of at least another 50-basis points interest rate cut in the calendar year. The March inflation nu m b e r p e g g e d at 3.34% was lower than February’s 3.61%, and 4.85% in the same month last year. The sharp fall in overall retail inflation was driven largely by a huge correction in food price inflation. Food inflation crashed to 2.7% in March compared to 8.5% in the same month last year. A large part of the drop in food inflation was, therefore, due to high base effect. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementa- tion, which tracks the consumer price inflation, attributed the significant decline in headline inflation and food inflation during the month of March to the drop in inflation of vegetables, eggs, pulses & products, meat & fish, cereals & products and milk & products. According to D K Joshi, chief economist, Crisil Ltd, the Indian Meteorological Department’s forecast of an above-normal monsoon for the year — and Skymet’s of a normal one — adds to the happy tidings on the food inflation front. However, weather disruptions such as heat waves, could play spoilsport. Joshi said a sharperthan-expected fall in crude oil prices will help keep non-food inflation comfortable as well. The RBI has pegged the FY26 inflation at 4%. If inflation remains at these levels, the chances of more rate cuts brighten. It has already reduced the repo rate by 50 bps; experts believe further 50 bps cut is possible. AP climbs to 2nd in India Justice Report rankings, Karna tops list BSN Malleswara Rao AP’s Justice @ Vijayawada AP’s Sanad gift for TCS, 21.16 acres land for 99 paisa! S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada The State Cabinet that met under the leadership of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday allotted 21.16 acres of land in Visakhapatnam for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) at a symbolic lease price of just 99 paisa. The land is located at IT Hill No.3 in the Port City . Minister for IT, Electronics and Communications Nara Lokesh was instrumental behind the move. Lokesh visited Tata House in October last year and made a strong pitch for TCS to set up a large development centre in Andhra Pradesh. The company will invest Rs 1370 crore in this unit to create 12,000 jobs. It is a bold decision to signal to the industry that Andhra Pradesh is serious about attracting IT investments. In the past, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken Tata Motors to Sanand in Gujarat by allotting land to them for 99 paisa. This marked a landmark moment for the auto industry in Gujarat. Apart from land allotment to TCS, the Cabinet has also approved an ordinance to implement sub-categorization of Scheduled Castes (SCs) into three groups for fair reservation based on population and social status. The Cabinet approved the lowest bids (L1) for two key Amaravati projects including Assembly Building (Rs 617.33 crore) and High Court Building (Rs 786.05 crore) The Cabinet also cleared AP Minor Mineral Policy 2025 to revive the mining sector and easing burdens on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Mining, which once contributed 3.53% to the state’s GDP in 2018-19, has seen a deP4 cline to 2.71% in 2023-24. Andhra Pradesh has climbed to 2nd place in the 2025 India Justice Report (IJR) rankings. Initiated by Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, the report evaluates performance of various departments involved in justice delivery including police, judiciary and prisons. It highlights areas where states are making headway or falling behind in the process of fighting crime and in justice delivery . Andhra Pradesh scored 6.32 out of 10, and to move up from 5th ranking in 2022 to 2nd ranking this year. Karnataka topped the list with a score of 6.78. With regards to various departments, Andhra Pradesh ranked 4th in prisons and 5th in legal aid, showcasing progress in its justice delivery systems. This is the fourth edition of the report, which is being published since 2019. Andhra Pradesh has shown  AP scored scored 6.32 out of 10, to move up from No.5 in 2022 to No 2 ranking in 2025  Karnataka tops the list with a score of 6.78.  With regard to various departments, AP ranked 2nd in police, 4th in prisons, 5th in judiciary, 5th in providing legal aid significant improvement with regard to justice delivery system. The state ranked 13th in 2019, 12th in 2020, and jumped to 5th in 2022, and now 2nd in 2025. Breaking it down, Andhra Pradesh ranked 2nd in police, (moving up from 3rd in 2022), 4th in prisons (maintained its 2022 standing), 5th in judiciary , (moving up from 11th in 2022), and 5th in legal aid (improving from 13th in 2022). With regard to police department, the state boasts a 22% share of women, the highest in the country. Projections indicate Andhra Pradesh and Bihar will reach 33% women representation in roughly three years. In terms of diversity Andhra , Pradesh has 21.5% women among total police staff and 5.2% among police officers, while women comprise 8.4% in total prison staff. Notably, Andhra Pradesh leads the nation in prison expenditure, spending Rs. 2.6 lakh annually per inmate, or Rs. 733 daily significantly high, er than the national average of Rs. 44,110 per prisoner in 202223. Andhra Pradesh has also made progress with regard to providing healthcare within prisons, reporting only a 5% shortfall among doctors in 2022, the lowest in the country. In contrast, Telangana had a 59% P4 shortfall. express read Iran-US talks going well, says Khamenei Four digital arrest kingpins held Tehran: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday he was satisfied with talks with arch-foe the United States but warned they could ultimately prove fruitless.Tehran and Washington are due to meet again in Muscat on Saturday, a week after top officials held the highest-level talks since the landmark 2015 nuclear accord I P9 New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday said that it has arrested four kingpins in ‘digital arrests’ case, leading to defrauding of money to the tune of `7.67 crores. The action was initiated as part of the CBI’s Operation Chakra-V and the four accused include two each from Mumbai and Moradabad, officials said | P7 WB town on edge after waqf violence Kolkata: A day after violence hit Bhangar in South Bengal, which erupted during protests demanding the withdrawal of the Waqf Amendment Act, Kolkata Police on Tuesday arrested nine people in the incident. In violence-hit Murshidabad, life is getting back to normal though the situation is still tense with central forces keeping vigil I P8 Heat on gandhi family ED chargesheets Sonia, Rahul in $400 Natl Herald case million S h e k h a r S i n g h @ New Delhi The Enforcement Director at e ( ED ) h a s f i l e d a chargesheet against Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in a Delhi court in the National Herald money laundering case. Also named in the chargesheet are Sam Pitroda, the party’s Overseas Department Chief, veteran journalist Suman Dubey, and several others. The case revolves around financial transactions linked to the now-defunct National Herald newspaper and its parent company As, sociated Journals Limited. Justice Vishal Gogne of the Rouse Avenue Court examined the chargesheet filed on April 9. He said the court will consider on April 25 whether to take cognisance of the complaint. The court said a fresh prosecution complaint under sections 44 and 45 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 for commission of offence of money laundering as defined under Section 3 read with Section 70 and punishable under Section 4 of PMLA, 2002 filed by the ED, has been received by way of assignment. “Let the complaint be checked and registered. The ED is directed to file a soft copy of the complaint and documents in readable/OCR Johnson & Johnson said it expects $400 million in tariffrelated costs Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi | PTI file Majority shareholders in Young Indian China orders its airlines not to take any further deliveries of Boeing US commerce dept probing how import of computer chips and products that contain them affect national security Trump hints at easing of 25% auto tariff Sonia and Rahul are majority shareholders of Young Indian with 38% shares held by each one of them. They were questioned by the ED in this case a few years back. Young Indian owns AJL, which is the publisher of the National Herald platform. format by the next date,” the court said. For its part, the Congress slammed the Centre over the chargesheets against Sonia and Rahul, saying it was playing vendetta politics. “Filing charg esheets against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and some others is nothing but politics of vendetta and intimidation by the prime minister and the home minister gone completely berserk,” Congress general secretary incharge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X. Vadra quizzed for 8 hours in money laundering case M u k e s h R a n j a n @ New Delhi The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday questioned businessman Robert Vadra, the husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, for over eight hours in connection with its probe into money laundering linked to a Gurugram land deal. His statements were recorded under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, sources said. Vadra walked from his residence at Sujan Singh Park in central Delhi to the ED headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road, a stretch of about 2 km. Before entering the agency’s premises, he said, “This is nothing but political vendetta. Whenever I speak for minorities, they try to stop me, crush us... they tried to stop Rahul (Gandhi) in Parliament too. This is misuse of agencies and this is political vendetta.” He said he will not be intimidated and will continue to cooperate with the agency . The probe pertains to a land deal in February 2008 where a company linked to Vadra—Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd— purchased a piece of 3.5 acre land in Shikohpur village in Gurugram from Onkareshwar Properties for a price of `7.5 crore. It is alleged that the mutation of this land was done within hours. Land acquisition for airport in Amaravati yet to take wings E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada Even as the construction of the Amaravati capital resumes with renewed vigour, a crucial decision regarding additional land acquisition for a proposed international airport remains pending. Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development P Narayana, during his visit to Ananthavaram village in the capital city area on Saturday, confirmed that no final decision has been made on whether land for the airport would be acquired through land pooling or land acquisition. The Minister said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is keen on developing Amaravati into a mega city by integrating Mangalagiri, Tadepalli, Guntur, and Vijayawada. As part of this plan, a world-class international airport is proposed to be built over 5,000 acres. However, the total land required for the project, including infrastructure like roads and drainage systems, would amount to 30,000 acres. Narayana pointed out that local MLAs have expressed concern over potential losses to farmers if the land is acquired through the traditional land acP4 quisition method. Hospital must immediately lose licence if newborn is trafficked, says SC Guidelines, contempt of court warning Bail granted to accused cancelled. Cases go back to trial courts, which shall frame charges against the accused within a week thereafter If the accused are absconding, trial courts shall issue NBWs to secure them After charges are framed, the trial court shall record evidence preferably on day-to-day basis; complete trial within six months State govt must appoint three special public prosecutors for the trials State govt must provide police protection to victims Police have two months’ time to trace all the accused persons State govt must admit trafficked children in schools At the end of the trial, the trial court shall pass appropriate orders on compensation to the victims All HCs shall direct trial courts handling child trafficking cases to complete trials within six months and file compliance report Non-compliance of directions or any laxity can attract contempt 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 Tuesday laid down strict guidelines for all states to prevent child trafficking and the offences arising out of it, warning that any laxity in implementing them could be treated as contempt of court. A two-judge bench comprising justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan ordered lower courts to complete trials in such cases within six months. It added that if any newborn infant is trafficked from any hospital, its licence should be suspended immediately over and above other actions in accordance with law. When any woman comes to deliver her baby in a hospital, it is the responsibility of its administration to protect the newborn in all respects, the bench said. The court issued the directions after hearing petitions against anticipatory bail grant- ed by the Allahabad High Court to 13 accused in trafficking cases in Uttar Pradesh. It cancelled the bails, saying the “cry of the collective for justice, its desire for peace and har mony” couldn’t be trivialised. The bench advised parents to remain extremely vigilant and careful with their children. The pain and agony a parent may have to face when a child dies is different from that when Whiplash for remark against rape victim Taking strong exception to a recent Allahabad HC remark against a rape victim that she had “invited trouble”, the SC cautioned judges against making such inappropriate observations | P7 they lose their children to such gangs engaged in trafficking, the court observed. The court directed all state governments to go study a 2023 report by the Bharatiya Institute of Research and Development on human trafficking and implement it at the earliest. The court slammed both the Allahabad High Court and the UP government for the manner in which they dealt with the matter. “The HC dealt with bail applications callously It led to . many accused to abscond.” It chided the UP government for not filing any appeal against the HC verdicts.