vijayawada l sunday l may 18, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION CBSE asks schools to set up ‘sugar boards’ to check intake The CBSE has directed affiliated schools to establish “sugar boards” to monitor and reduce sugar intake of children, according to officials move follows rise in type 2 diabetes in kids The move follows a significant increase in Type 2 diabetes among kids, a condition once primarily seen in adults, over the past decade. Several studies indicate that sugar constitutes 13 per cent of daily calorie intake for children aged four to 10 years, and 15 per cent for those aged 11 to 18 years, substantially exceeding the recommended limit of 5 per cent 13% sugary snacks, processed foods culprits ■ “The proliferation of sugary snacks, beverages, and processed foods, often readily available in school environments, contributes significantly to this excessive intake,” CBSE said in a circular ■ The direction was issued after a nudge by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to ensure kids are safe from diabetes of daily calorie intake among children comes from sugar 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 Tharoor on govt’s global India turns the outreach team, Cong sore screws on imports tit-for-tat diplomacy Wasn’t recommended by party; govt names 7 heads of delegations Will not be found wanting: Cong MP P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi 2 AP veterans embark on sailing voyage U s h a Pe r i @ Visakhapatnam In a tribute to Andhra Pradesh’s rich maritime legacy, two retired defence officers and alumni of Sainik School Korukonda have embarked on a trans-oceanic sailing expedition from New Zealand to India. Colonel K Srinivas (Retd), formerly of the Corps of EME, and Captain CDNV Prasad (Retd), Indian Navy, both belonging to the 63rd course of the National Defence Academy (1980), set sail from Opua Bay, New Zealand at 10.00 am (local time, GMT -12) on May 14, 2025 aboard their 34-feet-long sailboat Tystie. The journey began with the first leg to Savusavu, Fiji, and they anticipate reaching their destination in 12 to 13 days, depending on weather and wind conditions. Their voyage, which spans across the IndoPacific, includes planned stops at Savusavu (Fiji), Port Vila (Vanuatu), Solomon Islands, Kupang and Bali (Indonesia), Penang and Langkawi (Malaysia), Phuket (Thailand), and Sri Vijaya Puram, before culminating in India. Vice Admiral MS Pawar (Retd), also an alumnus of Sainik School Korukonda, said, “Both are proud sons of Telugu soil, and represent the enduring spirit and values of Sainik P4 School Korukonda.”  WITH THIS ISSUE Sultan of Subversion PLUS 12 PAGES The rift between the Congress leadership and Shashi Tharoor deepened on Saturday after the Centre picked him to lead one of the seven multi-party delegations for its diplomatic outreach against Pakistan’s crossborder terror despite the party not recommending his name. Apart from Tharoor, BJP MPs Ravi Shankar Prasad and Baijayant Panda, JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha, DMK’s Kanimozhi, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, and Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde will head the other delegations. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the party had submitted four names for the mission and was surprised to see ‘a different name’, Shashi Tharoor, in the official list. The party had suggested the names of Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring for the delegations. Significantly, the party distanced itself from Tharoor’s comments endorsing the Modi government’s handling of the India-Pak conflict and US President Trump’s intervention in announcing the ceasefire. “I am honoured by the invitation to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals, to present our nation’s point of view on recent events... When national interest is involved, and my services are required, I will not be found wanting. Jai Hind!” Tharoor said “We were asked for names. We expected that the names we had given would be included. But when we saw the press release of PIB, we were surprised. I cannot say what will happen now. Asking four names, giving four names, and announcing another name is dishonest on t h e g ove r n m e n t ’s p a r t , ” Ramesh told the media. “The government cannot include names of MPs in delegations without consulting the party he said. ,” This paper reported on Saturday that the PMO had prepared the list of names and conveyed them to the respective political parties. When asked about Tharoor’s inclusion as a representative of the Congress in the list, Ramesh said that ‘there is a difference between being in the Congress and being of the Congress’. “In a democratic system, when individual MPs are sent as part of an official delegation, MPs must seek the concurrence of the party. If the government wants to send him as part of a delegation, the MP should be asking the party, he said. “The ball is in the government’s court now,” he added. Accusing the government of being ‘dishonest’ in its approach, the leader asserted that the party would not change the four proposed names for the delegation. Ramesh added that Rahul Gandhi has written to Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju on this. P7 from Bangladesh d i pa k m o n d a l @ New Delhi IN what seems like another ‘retaliatory’ move, the Indian government has imposed restrictions on imports of certain goods from its eastern neighbour Bangladesh. In a directive issued on Saturday by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the import of all kinds of readymade gar ments from Bangladesh through land ports has been prohibited. These goods will only be allowed to be imported through the seaports of Nhava Sheva and Kolkata. A wider range of goods— including fruit and fruit-flavoured carbonated drinks, processed food items, cotton and cotton yarn waste, plastic and PVC finished goods (excluding essential industrial inputs such as pigments, dyes, plasticisers, and granules), and wooden furniture — will face more Govt to implement free RTC bus travel for women from August 15 Anna Canteens, we are feeding the poor. Under Deepam 2.0, we are giving three LPG cylinders The TDP-led NDA government free per annum. Teacher posts has decided to implement the will be filled through Mega free travel scheme for women DSC. A sum of `15,000 will be in RTC buses, one of its Super credited into the bank accounts Six promises, from August 15. of women with schoolgoing Addressing a public meeting children before the commencein Panyam Assembly constitu- ment of new academic year unency of Kurnool district on Sat- d e r T h a l l i k i Va n d a n a m urday Chief Minister , scheme.” N Chandrababu During his visit to Naidu announced C-Camp Rythu Bathat the free RTC bus zaar, Naidu interacttravel scheme for ed with farmers and Cleanliness is women will be implesanitation workers. essential for mented from August Highlighting the everyone. We must 15, marking the Inde- keep our houses and Swachh Andhra and pendence Day . Swarna Andhra inisurroundings clean. “Ours is a people’s Clean space fosters tiative on third Saturclean thoughts. government. We are day of every month, Everyone must ensuring the welfare he said, “Cleanliness practise yoga daily of poor and downis essential for everytrodden, while atone. We must keep Chandrababu Naidu, CM tracting major investour houses and surments to the State. We ro u n d i n g s cl e a n . have already brought 76 Clean space fosters clean projects worth `4.96 lakh crore, thoughts. Many people suffer which will generate employ- from health issues in the modment for 4.51 lakh people,” he ern world. Everyone must pracsaid. tise yoga daily On the occasion . On NDA welfare schemes, of International Yoga Day on Naidu said, “We are providing June 21, Prime Minister Narensocial security pensions rang- dra Modi will visit Visakhapating from `4,000 to `15,000 to the nam. We will hold yoga proeligible people, something un- grammes statewide from May P4 paralleled in the country With 21 to June 21,” he said. . @ Kurnool IT had been brewing since Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Tests last Monday. What started as a social media campaign on Tuesday hours af, ter Kohli’s social media post, became a reality on Saturday as thousands of fans came dressed wearing Kohli’s replica Test jersey . “Virat,” the back of the white jersey read “18”. There were some pockets with a lot of Red and Gold, something very com- memorable moments HRD Minister N Lokesh, along with his wife Brahmani and son Devansh, called on PM Modi in New Delhi on Saturday | express A `71-crore scam under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has been unearthed in Gujarat, implicating the family of state panchayat and agriculture minister Bachu Khabad. His elder son, Balwant Khabad, has been arrested, while his younger son, K i r a n K h ab a d , i s u n d e r scrutiny . The scam surfaced after B M Patel, director of DRDA, flagged irregularities in project execution in Devgadh Baria and Dhanpur taluks. The scam involved fake infrastructure projects, with funds meant for tribal employment siphoned off to agencies linked to the minister’s sons Gujarat minister through fabri- Bachu Khabad cated invoices. An audit revealed that Raj Construction and Raj Traders, run by Balwant and Kiran Khabad, were involved in the fraud. Between 2021 and 2025, villages like Kuva, Redhana, and Simamoi were falsely marked as beneficiaries of completed MGNREGA projects. On the ground, there was little to no work—only forged completion reports and a trail of diverted payments. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed. The minister did not respond to questions from this newspaper. Jyoti Malhotra, who runs a YouTube channel ‘Travel with JO’ was allegedly in contact with a Pakistani staffer working at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi | P8 Dhanunjaya, Krishna Mohan sent to 3-day remand E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The ACB special court on Saturday sent Kalva Dhanunjaya Reddy (A-31), and Pellakuru Krishna Mohan Reddy (A-32) to three days judicial remand in the liquor scam case. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to probe the alleged irregularities in the liquor policy during the previous YSRCP regime, arrested the two accused on Friday night. After being remanded, Dhanunjaya Reddy and Krishna Mohan Reddy were shifted to Vijayawada district jail. In its remand report, the SIT stated that it has established the role of Dhanunjaya Reddy and Krishna Mohan Reddy in planning and execution of the plan, and they were the key members of the syndicate that committed the crime. “Dhanunjaya Reddy and Krishna Mohan Reddy participated in several meetings along with other accused, including Kesireddy Rajasekhar Reddy alias Raj Kesireddy (A-1), Vasudeva Reddy (A-2), Satya Prasad (A-3), Mithun Reddy (A-4) and Vijayasai Reddy (A-5). They used to oversee the implementation of their scheme by frequently visiting the A-1’s office, and collecting money given by the A-1 out of kickbacks from liquor. It is revealed that they were core members of the conspiracy, and there exists a prima facie case against the accused,” read the SIT remand P4 report.  K Dhanunjaya Reddy and P Krishna Mohan, accused in the liquor scam case, being produced in ACB court | express express read Photo: Vinod kumar T stan. For the fans, however, it was about giving their cricketing hero a fitting on-field trib- @ Ahmedabad held for spying Men in Whites dwarf Red and Gold at Chinnaswamy mon at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. But a lot of the ticketholders had turned a Red wall into a lot of White as they paid tribute to the man who has called this ground home for more than two months every year since 2008. In many ways, Saturday was significant even before Kohli’s sudden announcement. For starters, it marked the resumption of the Indian Premier League after an eight-day break following the escalation of hostilities between India and Paki- D i l i p S i n g h k s h at r i ya vlogger from haryana E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e k o h l i t r i b ut e G o m e s h S @ Bengaluru stringent port restrictions. These items will not be allowed entry through northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. The restriction also extends to Changrabandha and Fulbari in West Bengal. However, the DGFT clarified that these restrictions do not apply to essential imports such as fish, LPG, edible oil, and crushed stone. The DGFT notification clarified that these port restrictions would not be applicable to Bangladeshi goods transiting through India but destined for Nepal and Bhutan. Though the government has not disclosed the reasons for the move, it is likely that it came in the wake of Bangladesh restricting land imports of cotton yarn from India to protect local industries from cheaper imports. India’s total annual trade with Bangladesh is around $13 billion. Guj minister’s son held for `71-cr scam ute. It did not matter that this wasn’t even an international game. Kohli, as many fans out- side the stadium put it, was, is and will be an emotion to them. They wanted to give a fitting salute to their beloved star. Some fans, when they realised they would not be getting the tickets, decided to shell out money from their own pockets to print white replica jerseys in the name of Kohli and sell them outside the ground. Talamika, an IT professional, said: “We wanted to give a tribute to Kohli. We couldn’t get tickets that is why we are selling the jerseys.” 13 tahsildars get show-cause notices Kadapa: The revenue department has issued show-cause notices to 13 tahsildars in Kadapa district for allegedly violating norms while converting assigned lands into freehold ownership. The action follows a departmental probe into irregularities. The inquiry has identified serious breaches in Mylavaram, Lingala, B Matham and Jammalamadugu mandals. Several ineligible persons have received freehold rights in violation of guidelines, the officials revealed | P4 ‘Putin-Zelenskyy meet only after deal’ Kyiv: The Kremlin on Saturday said a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be possible only after both sides reach a deal, a day after Moscow and Kyiv held their first direct talks, which did not result in a truce. Kremlin said both sides need to present their visions for a ceasefire before the next round of talks