vijayawada l tuesday l june 30, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION India’s Index of Industrial Production expands 5.1% in May Industrial output, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), accelerated to 5.1% in May, official data released on Monday showed strong Push from power, manufacturing Easing w asia tensions to support growth The numbers were boosted by strong performance in manufacturing and electricity & gas supply sectors, which recorded 5.5 per cent and 9.9 per cent growth, respectively. Within manufacturing, 16 out of 23 industry groups recorded a positive growth in May. The overall IIP stood at 122.7, up from 116.7 in the corresponding month last year, data showed ■ ■ The latest figures are based on the newly introduced Output Producer Price Index, which the National Statistics Office said provides a more granular price structure than the earlier used Wholesale Price Index Analysts are cautious given the below-normal monsoon forecast. However, a fall in crude prices could help generate growth, they said 4.9 per cent was the Index of Industrial Production figure for april 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 amaravati proj Ensure zero delay in capital works: Naidu E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed major infrastructure and contracting firms to accelerate construction works in the capital region, declaring that Amaravati is being built as an architectural marvel that will make the entire nation proud. Stressing that the city should be developed as a “HyderabadPlus” economic and residential ecosystem, Naidu announced that he will review the progress of the projects every two months to ensure zero delay . On Monday the Chief Minis, ter chaired a high-level review meeting at the State Secretariat with representatives of top contracting firms, including L&T, Shapoorji Pallonji, Megha Engineering (MEIL), NCC, BSR, and KMV alongside Mu, nicipal Administration and Urban Development Minister P Narayana and CRDA officials. The officials briefed the Chief Minister that infrastructure contracts worth `50,999 crore have already been assigned to various agencies. The projects are currently moving at an accelerated pace across multiple verticals, including mass housing, trunk infrastructure, Land Pooling Scheme infrastructure, and iconic government structures such as the Legislative Assembly, High Court, and Secretariat Towers. To preempt bottlenecking, Naidu instructed the firms to mobilise human resources, heavy machinery and construc, tion materials well in advance. Briefing the Chief Minister on current ground-level deployments, the MAUD Minister said 26,924 workers and over 5,140 pieces of heavy machinery are actively engaged across conP4 struction zones.  WB okays law on Ayodhya Police question Rai for 2 hrs arrest without trial for a year N a m i ta B a j pa i @ Lucknow Draconian bill aims to curb anti-socials; passed in House amid TMC walkout s u b h en d u m a i t i @ Kolkata IN a significant move to crack down on organised crime and public disorder, the newly formed BJP government in West Bengal led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday introduced the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill, 2026, in the Assembly . The legislation empowers authorities to detain individuals suspected of anti-social activities for up to 12 months without trial. Under the bill, a DM, Police Commissioner, or an officer not below the DIG rank can restrict a “goonda” from entering specified areas, districts for a maximum of one year if they suspect involvement in criminal acts. Tabled by Minister of State for Home Bishal Lama, the bill was passed by a vote of 176 in favour and 41 against, with 20 MLAs from the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress abstaining. The House witnessed noisy protests by opposition members during the introduction of the bill. Defending the bill, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari launched a sharp attack on the previous TMC regime, accusing it of patronising violence. Adhikari recounted specific cases, including the burning of the Beldanga and Rejinagar railway stations, looting of shops, and torching of public buses near Nabanna. “Criminals will be jailed and their assets seized under this new law,” he said, adding that the existing laws were inadequate to tackle organised anti-social elements involved in extortion, land grabbing, illegal mining, and smuggling. The new bill grants police extensive powers of search, seizure and arrest, with offences made cognisable and non-bailable. A second bill, West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which holds individuals financially accountable for damage to public and private property during riots, unlawful assemblies, and violent protests, was passed by a voice vote. It amends the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Act, 1972. The former CM had provoked the fire of violence. Since then, WB is burning... existing laws were inadequate Suvendu Adhikari, West Bengal CM ‘Goonda’ in WB The bill defines ‘goondas’ to include habitual offenders and those involved in criminal activities like extortion, land grabbing, illegal mining, smuggling, and offences under arms, narcotics, and explosives laws last minute euphoria When Japan’s Kaishu Sano made the first strike it came as a vital blow for Brazil. And it seemed like they could be on their way out at half-time. But Casemiro rose to the occasion, heading Brazil’s equaliser. When it looked like the match was going into extra time, Gabriel Martinelli put Brazil at ease with a crucial goal in injury time, taking the scoreline to 2-1 and his team into Round of 16. Today’s matches Norway vs Ivory Coast 10.30 PM, France vs Sweden 2.30 AM*, Mexico vs Ecuador 6.30 AM* (* IST Wednesday) As part of the probe being carried out by the three-member Special Investigation Team into the embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple, the Ayodhya Police have recorded the statement of former general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Champat Rai, sources said on Monday . A police team, led by a Deputy Superintendent of Policerank officer, questioned Rai for more than two hours, sources said. Investigators reportedly sought detailed information on the entire donation management process—from the receipt of cash and valuables offered by devotees, the counting process, their safekeeping, to their eventual deposit in designated bank accounts. Sources said the interrogation was aimed at understand- ‘Heavens won’t fall’: SC on urgent plea A Supreme Court bench refused to hold an urgent hearing on a plea seeking a time-bound investigation by a CBI-led multi-disciplinary team into the allegations. It said the matter will be listed for hearing when the court reopens after summer break on July 13. “Heavens are not going to fall. What is the urgency?” the bench observed orally CHAMPAT RAI ing the institutional mechanism gover ning temple donations, identifying the responsibilities of various officials at different stages of the process, and examining if any procedural lapses might have created opportunities for the alleged embezzlement. ‘One Nation, One Election’ bill JPC may miss monsoon session deadline p r ee t h a n a i r @ New Delhi THE Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining bills seeking to introduce simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies is unlikely to submit its report during the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, according to sources. Though the Lok Sabha had extended the tenure of the panel until the last day of the monsoon session, the committee is yet to complete its nationwide consultations and is expected to seek more time before finalising its recommendations, sources privy to the developments said. The delay is significant amid speculation that the Centre is keen to push crucial constitutional amendment bills such as delimitation exercise and the ‘One Nation, One Election’ bill during the monsoon session, expected to begin in the third week of July . The 39-member JPC led by BJP MP P P Chaudhary is cur, rently reviewing the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Union Territories ‘Simultaneous polls unlikely before 2034’ The JPC, which will visit the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday to interact with stakeholders, has so far visited 10 states. Consultations with several other states are pending. The panel chairman has hinted that even if the legislative process is completed, simultaneous elections are unlikely before 2034 Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 to hold simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2024, was sent to the Joint Committee of both Hous- express read Suspended IPS officer Sunil Kumar retires today Vijayawada: The State government has ordered that PV Sunil Kumar, IPS (RR:1993), who is presently under suspension, will stand relieved from service on attaining the age of superannuation on June 30, 2026. The government clarified that disciplinary proceedings initiated against the officer before his retirement will continue | P4 N EE T - U G RE T ES T Students test NTA with 10K challenges; results by July 20 S L A L ITHA @ New Delhi AS the National Testing Agency gears up to declare NEET-UG 2026 retest results by July 20, it may have to race against time with students sending over 10,000 challenges to the answer keys released last week. “NTA is confident of releasing the results before July 20. But the immediate priority for us is to respond to the 10,000-odd challenges we have received from the aspirants to the provisional answer keys which we made public on June 25,” sources told this newspaper. Over 20 lakh candidates have ap- Paper leak: Judicial custody extended A Delhi court extended the judicial custody of 10 accused arrested in connection with the NEET-UG 2026 examination leak till July 11. Special Judge Vijeta Singh Rawat allowed the CBI’s plea to extend their custody for further investigation peared for the re-test held on June 21 across 5,440 centres in India and 14 abroad. The re-exam had to be held due to the cancellation of the May 3 medical entrance test. Many students have put out multiple challenges to the answer Investigators are corroborating Rai’s statement with financial records, bank documents, CCTV footage, electronic evidence and other materials. Meanwhile, a special court in Ayodhya remanded all eight accused to 14 days of judicial custody after the police did not keys. “It will be a humongous task. We need to scan all the challenges one by one, read them thoroughly , examine the supporting evidence and respond to each one of them,” said an official. The NTA had released the provi- sional answer keys on June 25 and candidates were given time till June 28 (11.50 pm) to challenge them. A fee of `200 is to be paid per question which would be refunded if the challenge by the student proves to be correct. When asked about the examiners who will be checking the answer sheets, an official said: “A confidential team has been set up to do the job. Nothing more can be revealed. The security apparatus during the process will be as stringent as the one we had put in place for the exam with CCTVs and a centralised monitoring system. The examiners will be working almost 24x7 to meet the deadline.” es for further examination. The Centre has maintained that holding simultaneous elections would reduce the financial burden of frequent polls, minimise disruptions caused by the Model Code of Conduct and enable governments to focus on governance. However, Opposition parties have raised concerns over its impact the on federal structure and the constitutional rights of states. According to sources, the government is actively exploring the possibility of coupling the delimitation bill with the simultaneous elections proposal to maximise political support and legislative momentum for its ambitious projects. In the previous Budget session, the constitutional amendment linking delimitation to the women’s reservation bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha by a united Opposition. The government, however, is keen to pass the delimitation bill to implement women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha ahead of the 2029 general election.The NDA will need 360 to get a two-thirds majority in a House of 540 members. seek extension of their custody . The accused were produced before Special Judge Rajat Verma of Special Court No. 1 (Prevention of Corruption Act) through video conferencing. In another development, the Faizabad Bar Association, in its general body meeting held on Monday, resolved not to defend any of the accused in the case. A resolution was passed that any member who would try to plead on behalf of any of the accused would be slapped with a penalty of `5 lakh. Lawyers demanded that Rai, Anil Mishra, and Gopal Rao leave Ayodhya. They warned that if the trio did not leave within three days, the entire city would be brought to a standstill, a siege would be laid, and no one would be allowed to enter. The Association president Kalika Prasad said that it will also move the high court seeking a CBI probe. SpaceFields to set up rocket fuel unit in AP E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada SpaceFields Pvt Ltd, one of India’s emerging deep-tech aerospace and defence startups, will establish an advanced Solid Propellant (Rocket Fuel) Processing Facility in Andhra Pradesh, strengthening the country’s indigenous capabilities in strategic propulsion technologies. The IISc Bangalore-incubated company has received approval for the allotment of 120.76 acres at the Industrial Park in Thimmasamudram, Anantapur district. The facility is expected to generate around 300 direct high-skilled jobs, with commercial production targeted by July 2028. Founded in 2021 by Apurwa Masook, Rounak Agrawal and Sudarshan Samal, SpaceFields develops next-generation rocket propulsion systems and solid propellants for defence and P4 space applications.