tirupati l sunday l september 28, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 28 l anantapur EDITION Blockbuster India-Pak Final at t20 Asia cup tourney today Men in Blue take on arch rivals in the T20 Asia Cup final in Dubai today. This will be their firstever meeting at this stage of the competition... Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav Pakistan skipper Salman Agha Time for cricket to take centre stage The controversies, largely non-cricketing, between India and Pakistan have been the biggest talking point of the tournament. India refused to shake hands with the Pakistan team. The reactions from either side since has only added to the prevailing tensions. Under pressure, both teams will look to hold their nerves and focus on playing good cricket ■ Eight Emotions running high on both sides ■ India have maintained that they are there to play cricket, but the Super 4s match showed how much it matters to them On the eve of the final, Pakistan captain Salman Agha said that every individual has the right to express emotions. “I won’t stop anyone as More on P11 long as it is not disrespectful,” he said.  The number of Asia Cup titles India have won 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 Cm exhorts NDA MLAs to strive for state’s growth ‘Set aside personal agendas’ E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has urged MLAs to set aside their personal agendas, and strive collectively for the development of the State. Speaking during a discussion on the implementation of the Super Six, and other NDA poll promises in the State Assembly on Saturday, Naidu emphasised the importance of unity under the ‘double-engine government’ to achieve rapid economic growth. “The double-engine government, with the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has enabled us to implement numerous development programmes in just 15 months. This is a team effort, and any misstep by an individual could harm the State. Hence, MLAs must avoid per- Mocks Pak’s victory pitch despite Op Sindoor destroying its runways J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi ‘Auto Drivers Sevalo’ launch on October 4 Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced the launch of the Auto Drivers Sevalo scheme on October 4. Under the scheme, `15,000 per annum will be provided to each auto and cab driver. As many as 2,90,234 drivers are eligible for the scheme, and it is expected to cost `435 crore per annum sonal agendas as they hinder our goal of developing the State on all fronts,” Naidu said, during a PowerPoint presentation. Highlighting welfare initiatives, he announced the launch of the Auto Drivers Sevalo scheme on October 4. Under the scheme, `15,000 per annum will be provided to each auto and cab driver with own vehicle. As many as 2,90,234 drivers are eligible for the scheme, and it is ex- Sharif’s absurd theatrics at UN glorify terror: India pected to cost `435 crore per annum, he said. Naidu detailed the NTR Bharosa pension scheme, under which `2,745 crore is being distributed to 63.50 lakh beneficiaries per month, with 59% being women. The State spends `32,143 crore per annum on social security pensions, surpassing Telangana (`8,179 crore) and Kerala (`7,295 crore). He criticised the previous regime for delaying pensions before polls, noting that the current dispensation ensures 97% distribution of pensions on the first day itself. The Stree Shakti scheme has facilitated 8.86 crore free bus trips for women so far, boosting RTC occupancy raP4 tio, he said.  In a sharp rebuttal at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), India strongly rejected Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ’s remarks on the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and subsequent the Indian military response, Operation Sindoor, calling them “absurd theatrics” and accusing Islamabad of glorifying terrorism on a global platform. Exercising India’s Right of Reply Petal Gahlot, First Secre, tary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, delivered a scathing response following Sharif ’s speech earlier on Friday during the General Debate of the UNGA’s 80th session. “This Assembly witnessed absurd theatrics in the morning from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who once again glorified terrorism that is so central to their foreign policy Gahlot ,” said, underscoring Pakistan’s continued attempts to shield terrorist entities and distort regional realities. Sharif, during his address, referred to the Pahalgam inci- Petal Gahlot exercising the Right of Reply to Pak PM’s address at UN GA | PTI dent and ensuing conflict, claiming credit for preventing escalation through diplomatic channels, notably praising US President Donald Trump for allegedly averting a war between the two nuclear-armed nations. He also called for a “comprehensive and result-oriented dialogue” with India on Kashmir and other issues. India, however, dismissed the remarks as revisionist and misleading. “The Prime Minister of Pakistan also advanced a bizarre account of the recent conflict with India,” Gahlot countered. “Till 9 May Pakistan was , Power bills to decline by 13 paise per unit from Nov In big push to fisheries sector, India eyes global certification for seafood S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada Here is a good news for the people of the State as there will be a 13 paise per unit decline in their power bills for one year from November. For the first time since its establishment in 1999, the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has directed Distribution Companies (Discoms) to refund the true-down amount to consumers in 12 equal monthly instalments from November 2025. The refund rates are `0.1328 per unit for APSPDCL, `0.1343 for APCPDCL, and `0.1312 for APEPDCL, applicable to power consumption from April 2024 to March 2025, and refund will reflect in power bills from November 2025 to October 2026. The APERC on Saturday released its Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment (FPPCA) True-Up Order for the financial year 2024-25 after a thorough review of public objections and suggestions. It has approved a trueup amount of `1,863.64 crore, significantly lower than the `2,758.76 crore claimed by Discoms resulting in a reduction of `895.12 crore. In 2024-25, Discoms collected `2,787 crore at a rate of 40 paise per unit monthly. After accounting for this, it has been determined that a net refund of `923.55 crore is due to consumers. The order also details variations in sales, energy dispatch, and transmission and distribution (T&D) losses for the three Discoms — APSPDCL, APCPDCL and APEPDCL. Total sales approved stood at 69,680 million units (MU), with energy dispatch at 77,261 MU, and T&D losses at 9.87%, compared to the claimed 10.17%. On power purchase costs, the APERC approved `44,624 crore against Discoms’ claim of `45,476 crore, down from `34,517 crore approved in the Retail Supply Tariff (RST) Order for FY 2024-25. The per unit power purchase cost was adjusted to `5.74/kWh for APSPDCL, `5.78/kWh for APCPDCL, and `5.75/kWh for APEPDCL, compared to RSTapproved rate of `5.27/kWh. The approved cost variations, including carrying costs, amount to `1,863.64 crore, with specific refunds of `207.95 crore for APSPDCL, `304.39 crore for APCPDCL, and a surplus of `1,435.89 crore for APEPDCL, leading to the overall refund. Police now looking at possible Pakistan links of Wangchuk, says DGP ment, as he referred to the Arab Spring and the recent unClimate activist and Mag- rest in Nepal, Bangladesh, and saysay awardee Sonam Wang- Sri Lanka,” Jamwal said. The chuk, who was arrested on Fri- DG also referred to Sonam’s day in connection with the Leh recent visits to Pakistan and violence, is being investigated Bangladesh. for alleged links to Pakistan “He attended an event orand violation of foreign ganised by The Dawn funding rules, Ladakh in Pakistan and also Director General of Povisited Bangladesh,” lice S D Singh Jamwal Jamwal said. said on Saturday . The police are also Wangchuk is accused probing Wangchuk’s of being a key instigaforeign funding. “There tor in the Leh violence, is an investigation into Sonam in which four persons foreign funding and viWangchuk were killed and 80 otholation of FCRA reguers injured. “We recentlations against him,” ly arrested a Pakistani intelli- Jamwal said. gence operative who sent Curfew in violence-hit Leh videos of Wangchuk’s speech- was relaxed in the afternoon es across the border,” Jamwal in a phased manner for a few said, adding that the operative hours. Wangchuk’s arrest and was also in contact with the way the the situation was Wangchuk. handled drew criticism from “His speech acted as incite- all Opposition parties. WITH THIS I SS U E F ay w a z w a n i @ Srinagar Small Town, Big Deal PLUS 12 PAGES standing strong Musi river floods an area of Hyderabad after heavy rains on Saturday | L VELMURUGAN J i t en d r a C h o u be y @ New Delhi IN order to countervail the impact of unilateral tariffs imposed by the US, India is planning to seek global certification for its seafood. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, an international sustainability standard, could fetch premium prices — up to 30% higher than earlier for Indian seafood. The US, previously India’s largest seafood market, valued at $7.38 billion (35% of exports), implemented a crushing 59.73% tariff on Indian seafood sector, which eventually destroy the seafood industry . In response, the Union government intends to allocate special funds through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMSSY) 2.0 scheme to support MSC certification of 10 key Indian fisheries. National institutes, such as the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute(CMFRI), are providing technical assistance for this initiative. The 10 priority fisheries cat- Kerala’s short neck clam already there Currently, India has only one fishery—the Ashtamudi short-neck clam fishery from Kerala—certified under the MSC. With this new push for MSC certification, India expects to regain its market share in Europe egory — some of which are dee p-sea and coastal shrimps, squid, cuttlefish, Karikadi shrimp, threadfin breams, blue swimming crab, and octopus — are in the final stages of addressing technical gaps before certification. India is expected to receive full MSC certification for these 10 categories in 2026. “It was a tedious five-year process, and now we are going to apply for MSC certification in 2026,” said Dr Sunil Mohammad, a former principal scientist at CMFRI. The certification process incurs a cost of around `20 lakh per category, and the government will bear half of the total expenses. Assam’s heart still misses a beat called Zubeen WHENEVER Zubeen Garg’s name is uttered, Susmita still sheds tears. Arup Barua has not watched him perform but every 5-10 minutes he can hear his voice inside him. In Mangaldoi town, some 65km away from Guwahati, a bunch of people took out a procession with a banner of Zubeen Garg, humming his songs with tears in eyes and love in their hearts. The air was heavy and the mood sombre as the dusk settled in. They were not alone. Every street corner and every place, small or big, has its own poster and its own way of remembering Zubeen. No one has touched a chord with the entire population of a state as Zubeen. In fact, his fame goes beyond it. He is here, there and everywhere with his songs playing in the background. He is on everyone’s lips at every gathering. Zubeen’s body of work rose above politics, religion, caste, creed and brought the state together like no other. Even after one week since he passed away in Singapore on September 19, the state remains in mourning. People light candles near a portrait of the music icon in Guwahati | PTI House panel Hike in former MLAs’ pension to `50k mooted E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e remembrance i n d r a nee l d a s @ Mangaldai threatening more attacks. But on 10 May its military pleaded , with us directly for a cessation to the fighting.” She stated that Pakistan’s retreat came only after Indian forces launched precision strikes on multiple Pakistani airbases. “If destroyed runways and burnt-out hangars look like victory, as the Prime Minister claimed, Pakistan is welcome to enjoy it,” she added. Gahlot said Pakistan’s track record of harbouring terrorists, citing the country’s decade-long sheltering of Osama bin Laden and recent admissions by Pakistani officials of running militant camps. She accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorists killed during Operation Sindoor. “We saw many pictures of terrorists slain in Bahawalpur and Muridke terror complexes… When senior Pakistani military and civilian officials publicly pay homage to such notorious terrorists, can there be any doubt about the proclivities of this regime?” Gahlot also accused Islamabad of trying to derail accountability within the UN. No one asked businesses to shut shops, they did it on their own. His passing has touched Assam so much that even the euphoria of Durga Puja, which begins from Sunday with Shasti, may not be enough to lift the gloomy mood of the state. The collective grief that descended upon the state on September 19 will take a long time to heal. Zubeen’s words —“Mur kunu jaati nai, mur kuno dhormo nai, moi okol manuh (I don’t belong to any caste, I don’t have any religion, I am just a human being)” will remain immortal. Forever. @ Vijayawada The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Committee on Amenities has proposed an increase of the minimum pension of former legislators to `50,000 per month from the existing `30,000, to a maximum of `70,000. It has also mooted extension of medical facilities to former legislators on par with All India Service Officers. The House Committee, while noting that the salary and allowances of the members were last revised in 2016, has recommended that the government rationalise the salaries and allowances of the legislators keeping in view the general rise in price level. The report of the committee was tabled in the AP Legislative Assembly on Saturday . The committee met on September 25 under the chairmanship of Assembly Speaker Ch Ayyanna Patrudu, and discussed the amenities being provided to the legislators and former members. The Speaker opined that keeping in view the financial condition of the State, it is better to recommend to the government only on the essential amenities for now. The committee noted that the minimum monthly pension of former legislators is `70,000 in Manipur, `60,000 in Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh, and `50,000 in Haryana and Telangana. I TIRUPATI | SUNDAY | 28.09.2025 A SPACE MARKETING INITIATIVE This edition includes a 4-Page pullout on Tirumala Brahmotsavams