vijayawada l sunday l july 27, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l late city EDITION mandatory safety audits of schools, mental health help The Ministry of Education on Saturday issued a fiat to all states and UTs to take urgent steps to ensure the safety and well-being of students ‘report any threat to kids within a day’ Mandatory safety audits of schools and child-related facilities as per national safety codes, providing psychosocial support through counselling and reporting any dangerous incident involving children within 24 hours to designated authorities are among measures proposed. Structural integrity, along with fire safety and emergency exits must be assessed | P9 ■ 7 coordination from parents sought ■ The order also mandated training for staff and students to tackle emergencies, including evacuation drills, first aid and safety protocol The order called upon education departments, school boards and affiliated authorities to act without any delay in implementing the measures, through the help of parents, guardians and local bodies students were killed at a school in rajasthan , leading to the fiat 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 Two Intel DSPs of AP killed in road mishap in T’gana E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Nalgonda/ Vijayawada I n st e p Defence minister Rajnath Singh with Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Army Vice Chief Lt General N S Raja Subramani, Navy Chief Adm Dinesh K Tripathi and Air Chief A P Singh as they march to pay tribute to the Kargil War martyrs at the National War Memorial (R) on the Kargil Vijay Diwas anniversary, in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI Liquor case: SIT searches Hyd Bharathi Cements office E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada In a major development, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged multicrore liquor scam during the previous YSRCP government, conducted searches at the houses and offices of the main acc u s e d i n H yd e r a b a d o n Saturday . Divided into three teams, the SIT officials visited the offices and restaurants belonging to Kesireddy Rajasekhar Reddy alias Raj Kesireddy, Balaji Govindappa and Buneti Chanikya, the main accused in the liquor case, and seized several incriminating documents. According to sources close to SIT, a team of officials thoroughly searched the chamber of Govindappa in the Bharathi Cements office. Another team inspected Resource One IT Solutions Pvt Ltd owned by Raj Kesireddy T . Grill restaurant owned by Chanikya was also searched as part of the probe into the liquor scam. “The searches in places belonging to the other accused will also continue to collect evidence pertaining to the multicrore liquor scam,” said a senior police official on condition of anonymity . No timeline for completion of negotiations on bilateral trade deal Trade talks with Major pushback US making fast against Trump’s progress: Goyal GM playbook E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi Talks on the India-US trade deal is progressing India is firm on its stance against importing fast, Minister of Commerce and Industries Piy- genetically modified (GM) crops from the US, ush Goyal said on Saturday Negotiations are at sources in the government said. It has been our . an advanced stage with Oman as well, while with stated position for long and it remains so, said a the European Union and US, they are making top government source. Import of GM crops has fast progress, he said. been a bone of contention between the two counGoyal, however, refused to tries during the trade negotiagive any timeline for the comtions. With the government pletion of the US deal even as now making its stance clear, the extended deadline (August the Trump playbook will find 1) for imposition of the reciprofull resistance on GM crops. cal tariff is less than a week The US is pressing India to away. According to commerce allow imports of GM crops ministry sources, a delegation such as soybean meal and disof US negotiators is likely to tillers dried grains with solucome to India in the second bles (DDGS) for animal feed. In future, when Kolhapuri sandals are half of August for talks on the Initially, the India did not exported, India will get Bilateral Trade Agreement strongly oppose the idea of credit. It will be exported (BTA). India faces a 26% recipsome tariff cuts on farm goods as India’s GI product rocal tariff if there is no trade or even selective GM imports. deal by August 1. However, after facing strong do—Piyush Goyal, minister Goyal said that the India-UK mestic resistance, India seems trade agreement serves as a to have hardened its position as doorway for India to engage with the developed far as GM imports are concerned. world. He said that unlike past FTAs under the A Niti Aayog report had suggested a “strategic UPA government, which were often signed with opening for US imports” for broader export gains. direct competitors like ASEAN nations, the Modi It proposed importing GM soybean seeds, crushgovernment has focused on FTAs with comple- ing them at coastal facilities, selling oil domestimentary economies like Mauritius, Australia, cally and exporting soymeal (with GM traits) to UAE, and the EFTA bloc (Switzerland, Norway, avoid domestic contamination. But experts Liechtenstein, Iceland). panned it citing weak regulatory oversight. “The business opportunities, the quality and Another major area of difference between the cost competitiveness of Indian goods and serv- two countries is imports of animals fed on aniices, the demographic dividend of our young and mal-derived feed — for example, butter from aspirational population, the rule of law, and the cows fed meat — due to deep religious sensitivistrength of our democracy all make India a pre- ties. India prohibits such animals and it considferred global partner,” he said. ers this policy non-negotiable. Bihar horror: Chirag raps The CM on ambulance rape Anteaters WITH THIS I SS U E PLUS 12 P AGES r a m a s h a n k a r @ Patna A 26-year-old woman with a dream to don the khaki appeared at a physical test for recruitment of Home Guards in Bihar’s Gaya but was allegedly gangraped in an ambulance after she fainted during the test on Thursday . The horrific incident drew widespread outrage as cracks appeared in the ruling NDA in Bihar when Union minister Chirag Paswan expressed “regret” over having to support the Nitish government, which he said had “surrendered” before criminals. The young woman, a resident of Imamganj in Gaya, narrated her ordeal to hospital authorities after regaining consciousness. Hospital authorities, in turn, informed police, following which an FIR was regis- tered. Gaya SSP Anand Kumar said two accused, Vinay Kumar (driver) and Ajit Kumar (technician), have already been arrested and produced in court, which remanded them in 14day judicial custody . The victim, in her statement, said she was gangraped by three-four individuals travelling in the ambulance arranged to transport her from the BMP-3 ground to the Magadh Medical College and Hospital. “Though I was in semiconscious state, I felt the pain in my ... abdomen,” she said. Chirag’s remarks came two days after he heaped praise on Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor for playing an ‘honest’ role in Bihar politics. Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav asked voters to vote the NDA out. “Bihar is under the rule of demons,” Yadav said. Two DSP rank officers of the Andhra Pradesh Intelligence Department were killed and two others injured in a road accident at Khaitapuram in Choutuppal mandal of Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district in Telangana on Saturday morning. The deceased were identified as DSPs Chakradhar Rao and Santha Rao. According to the police, the accident occurred while the cops were travelling from Vijayawada to Hyderabad on official duty Near Khaitapuram, . their vehicle reportedly swerved when the driver applied sudden brake to avoid hitting a vehicle ahead. In the process, the car hit the road divider, and flipped onto the opposite side, where it was hit by an oncoming vehicle. Upon noticing the accident, locals rushed to the spot, and pulled the injured cops from the mangled car, who were shifted to Kamineni Hospital in Hyderabad. Choutuppal police de- ployed a crane, removed the wreckage, and restored the vehicular traffic. Rachakonda Commissioner of Police G Sudheer Babu visited the accident spot. A case has been registered. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu condoled the death of the two DSPs in the mishap. “It is unfortunate that two DSPs, Chakradhar Rao and Santha Rao, working in the intelligence and security wing died in an accident at Baithapuram village of Choutuppal mandal in Yadadri district. My deepest condolences to their family members, and I pray to God for the peace of their souls,” said Naidu in a post on X. Mourning the death of the two police officials, Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha said the government would take steps to provide advanced medical care to those injured in the mishap. Former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also condoled the death of the two police officials. express read Naidu begins Singapore tour to woo investors Vijayawada: In a bid to attract large-scale investments and promote ‘Brand Andhra Pradesh’, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has embarked on a five-day visit to Singapore. Accompanied by Ministers N Lokesh, TG Bharath and P Narayana, and senior bureaucrats, Naidu will engage with Singaporean industrialists, investors, and top government officials to get investments | P4 Asia Cup: India to play Pakistan on Sept 14 Rachakonda CP G Sudheer Babu inspects the accident spot at Khaitapuram in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district of Telangana on Saturday I express CHENNAI: The much-anticipated men’s Asia Cup schedule was announced on Saturday with India and Pakistan slotted in same group. They will play each other on September 14 in the tournament that is being held in the United Arab Emirates from September 9-28. The BCCI are the hosts but the tournament will be held in a neutral venue | P13 ADR rejoinder rebuts EC’s claim that it has right to verify citizenship in Bihar s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi RESPONDING to the Election Commission’s counter affidavit filed on July 21, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Saturday told the Supreme Court that the EC’s electoral roll verification goes against the SC’s past judgments, and was a “grave fraud” on voters. The ADR’s rejoinder came after the ECI had on July 21 submitted its reply defending the Bihar SIR (Special Intensive Revision) exercise and said it was done to restore public confidence and integrity of electoral rolls. The court will hear pleas challenging SIR on Monday . Odisha prepares to undertake SIR Amid the row over the special intensive revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Bihar, the Odisha government is gearing up to undertake the exercise soon. It will be conducted after a gap of over two decades. The ADR also questioned the refusal by the Election Commission to accept Aadhaar, Voter ID and ration card as valid “standalone” proof for inclusion in the electoral roll during the SIR, ad described it as “patently absurd”. It submitted that the ECI has given no valid reason for its decision. On July 10, a bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi, while refusing to stay SIR, asked the EC to consider Aadhaar, Voter ID, and ra- tion card for the exercise. But the EC argued that Aadhaar, voter cards and ration cards could easily be faked. The ADR said any of the 11 documents for SIR were equally prone to fraud. “SIR is being conducted in a manner that constitutes a grave fraud on the voters of Bihar,” the ADR said. It also alleged glaring discrepancies in SIR. “Media reports suggest how enumeration forms are being filled in the absence of voters,” the ADR said. ‘Disillusioned’ Maoist couple joins mainstream E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Citing ideological disillusionment, lack of public support, and internal discontent, a Maoist couple has joined the mainstream. Jorige Nagaraju alias Kamalesh, State Zonal Committee Member, and incharge of East Bastar Divisional Committee, and his wife Medaka Jyoteeswari alias Aruna, Divisional Committee Member and incharge of Mobile Academic Political Organisation School, East Bastar, surrendered before Director General of Police Harish Kumar Gupta on Saturday . The couple handed over a cache Director General of Police Harish Kumar Gupta hands over an immediate relief of `20,000 each to the surrendered Maoist couple on Saturday I express of arms to police. Speaking on the occasion, the DGP said the surrender of Maoist couple marks a major operational gain for security forces, who are combating Left Wing Extremism in the State. Both Kamalesh and his wife Aruna hail from Krishna district, and served in the banned CPI (Maoist) for over 30 years. While Kamalesh held the posts of Special Zonal Committee Member in the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, and incharge of the East Bastar Divisional Committee, his wife Aruna, originally from Kappaladoddi village, had been active in the movement for three decades, and served as a Divisional Committee Member. Police announced a reward of `25 lakh on Kamalesh in Chhattisgarh, and `20 lakh in Andhra Pradesh, while Aruna carried a bounty of `5 lakh on P4 her head.  Ashok takes oath as goa governor Senior TDP leader and former Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju was sworn in as the Governor of Goa on Saturday, succeeding PS Sreedharan Pillai. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and several dignitaries were present on the occasion page 4