source: x tirupati l tuesday l march 19, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Tensions high as Pak airstrikes in Afghan territory kills eight The Pakistan Army said eight terrorists were killed in ‘anti-terror operations’ in the border regions inside Afghanistan on Monday a response to attack on army outpost: Pak The airstrikes come amid heightened tensions between the two neighbours over a series of terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, which Islamabad has blamed on groups based in Afghanistan. Pakistan said Monday’s airstrikes, which were in response to a recent attack on one of its army outposts, targeted a group allied with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan ■ 6,000 strike killed civilians, says Taliban ■ Afghan Taliban said Pakistan targeted civilian homes and claimed five women and three children were killed in the pre-dawn strike Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan rose after the Taliban took power in Kabul in 2021. Pakistan said it had repeatedly urged the group to act against terror outfits operating in Afghanistan Pak Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, says Pakistan official 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 SC directs SBI to Jagan to kick off 21-day bus yatra next week share all data on electoral bonds E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ Vijayawada TDP set to hold more ‘Praja Galam’ meetings E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ Vijayawada The TDP has decided to conduct more number of public meetings in the name of ‘Praja Galam’. Besides TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, top leaders from the BJP and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan will attend the public meetings, TDP sources said. During an interaction with some of the TDP senior leaders at his Undavalli residence on Monday Naidu reviewed the re, sponse from the people to the first ‘Praja Galam’ attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Chilakaluripet on Sunday . As the schedule for the elections for the Lok Sabha and State Assembly has been released, the TDP chief discussed the future course of action with the senior leaders and decided to organise more ‘Praja Galam’ public meetings across the State. The party is of the view that organising meetings would bring leaders of the three parties on one platform. This will ensure more coordination among the alliance partners. The party leaders informed Naidu that the police, at the behest of the ruling YSRC, created several hurdles for the meeting attended by Modi. However, people in large numbers turned up overcoming the hurdles and making the meeting a success, the TDP leaders told Naidu. Meanwhile, Naidu reportedly also discussed finalising the remaining MLA and MP candidates. The TDP is yet to announce candidates for 16 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha seats which the party is contesting of the total 25 in the state. P4 Details including bond numbers that can link donors to political parties must be disclosed 2019. The top court on Monday rejected a plea urging it to order SBI to disclose details reThe Supreme Court on Monday lated to electoral bonds purdirected the State Bank of India chased and redeemed prior to (SBI) to disclose all details re- this date. lated to the electoral bonds in its In a landmark verdict on Febpossession by March 21, includ- ruary 15, the Supreme Court ing the unique alphanumeric struck down the Centre’s elecnumbers that can map donors to toral bonds scheme introduced political parties. in 2018 that allowed anonymous Rapping the public-sector political funding. lender over selective discloThe court had asked the SBI sure, the Supreme Court said it to stop issuing electoral bonds had in its February 15 with immediate effect verdict sought a comand submit all the dePlea against plete disclosure of all tails to the EC by disclosure data related to elecMarch 6. “Lack of toral bonds in the The Supreme Court privacy of political on Monday refused affiliation would be bank’s possession. “We had asked all to entertain pleas catastrophic. It can by Associated details to be disclosed be used to disenfranChambers of by the SBI which inchise voters. Right to Commerce & cludes electoral bond informational privaIndustry of India numbers as well. Let cy extends to finanand Confederation cial contributions to SBI not be selective in disclosure,” the five- of Indian Industry political parties,” the seeking to delay judge Constitution court had said. the disclosure of Bench, of the SuThe Election Comelectoral bonds preme Court headed mission on March 14 numbers by Chief Justice D Y released data shared Chandrachud said. by the SBI. However, The bank’s chairperson has did not contain electoral bond been directed to file an affidavit numbers. Last week, the top by 5 pm on March 21 stating court issued a notice to the that all details have been dis- country’s largest bank to exclosed to the Election Commis- plain the reasons for the nonsion (EC). The court also direct- disclosure of unique alphanue d t h e C h i e f E l e c t i o n meric numbers in compliance Commissioner to file a detailed with its directions. compliance affidavit by March The electoral bond scheme 21 to ensure no further compli- was challenged by the Associacations arise over the matters. tion for Democratic Reforms, The details sought are relat- the CPI (M) and Congress leaded to electoral bonds purchased ers Jaya Thakur and Spandan and redeemed after April 12, Biswal. S u c h i tra K alyan M ohanty @ New Delhi express read YS Sharmila likely to contest Kadapa MP seat Vijayawada: APCC president YS Sharmila Reddy is likely to contest the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat in the coming elections. It has been learnt that the party high command wants Sharmila to contest the MP seat in the YSRC’s bastion. Currently, Sharmila’s cousin brother YS Avinash Reddy is the sitting Kadapa MP | P4 PMK joins BJP team, shuns AIADMK’s call Chennai: Ending days of speculation about whether the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) will join hands with the AIADMK or BJP, the party on Monday announced that it has decided to go with the saffron party in the Lok Sabha election. A formal announcement will be made by the PMK founder soon | P5 9 dead, 15 injured after building collapse Kolkata: At least nine persons died and 15 other were seriously injured after an under construction building collapsed here on Monday. Police arrested building promoter Mohammad Waser on charges of murder. The BJP demanded the arrest of local TMC councillor Shams Iqbal for his involvement in the project | P8 strategic exercise The IAF successfully carried out an exercise over the 4.1-km Emergency Landing Runway (ELR) at Pichikalagudipadu village in Baptla district on Monday | Express YSRC president and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will undertake a bus yatra on March 26 or 27 covering 21 Parliamentary constituencies in the State. The party has decided on having yatras instead of roadshows as planned earlier with the elections set to happen in May. Jagan will address one public meeting every day after meeting with the farmers, and other sections of people during the day He will be interact. ing with the masses for almost 30 days. His campaign would be for 21 days and there will be a break in electioneering on Ugadi and Ramzan. A detailed route map for the yatra will be released on Tuesday . YSRC MLC and coordinator Talasila Raghuram said the bus yatra was named ‘Memanta Siddham’. During a meeting with the regional coordinators on Monday evening, the Chief Minis- Jain back in jail after SC cancels bail S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain on Monday returned to Tihar jail after the Supreme Court cancelled his regular bail plea and asked him to surrender immediately. He was out on interim bail on health grounds in the Delhi excise policy scam case since May 26 last year. The bail was extended multiple times on various grounds, primarily citing his health. Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal declined Jain’s plea to grant him at least a week to surrender, though he claimed that he continued to be unwell. “Jain arrived at Tihar jail in the evening. He was taken to jail number 7 after the formalities of lodging him in the prison were completed,” a jail official said. On December 14, 2023, the court had extended his interim bail till January 8. On January 17, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Jain, had requested regular bail claiming that the health of his client was deteriorating. ARMY FORMS ELITE UNIT TO RESEARCh future tech Take advantage of time, CM tells candidates During a meeting with the regional coordinators on Monday evening, the Chief Minister discussed the roadmap of the yatra, manifesto, and other issues. He directed the candidates to take advantage of the time they have to campaign for the elections, scheduled in May. He instructed them to visit every village/ward secretariat ter discussed the roadmap of the yatra, manifesto, and other issues. He directed the candidates to take advantage of the time they have to campaign for the elections, which are scheduled in May. He instructed them to visit every village/ ward secretariat and seek the NDA finalises alliance deal in Bihar, emerges as undisputable big brother RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi The BJP on Monday ironed out its seat-sharing deal with National Democratic Alliance partners in Bihar, pocketing 17 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state. It emerged as the undisputed big brother in the alliance, as the JD(U) will contest from 16, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) 5 and the Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) one each. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP, JD(U) and the undivided LJP were part of the NDA, which won 39 of the 40 seats. Both the BJP and JD(U) had contested from 17 seats each at that point in time. The big headline maker this time was Chirag Paswan, son of LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan. His faction, LJP (RV), got five constituencies, including the prestigious Hajipur, the seat held by his late dad. Chirag later said he will vacate his Jamui seat and contest from Hajipur. Chirag’s gain was Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras’s loss. Paras, the brother of Ram Vilas, is the sitting The unit will do research on artificial intelligence, machine learning, 5G, 6G, quantum computing for military uses and its applications | P7 Ad-hoc panel dissolved, WFI requests nat’l camp F i ro z M i r z a @ Chennai The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday dissolved the ad-hoc committee formed on December 27, 2023 to manage the day-to-day affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The decision paved the way for the federation led by Sanjay Kumar Singh, considered a close associate of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, to take administrative control of the sport. “The decision to dissolve the Ad-hoc Committee comes in light of the lifting of the ban on the Wrestling Federation of In- dia (WFI) by the United World Wrestling (UWW) and the successful completion of Selection Trials by the Ad-hoc Committee appointed by the IOA as per the directives of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi,” said the IOA order. Interestingly, the spor ts ministry — which on December 24, 2023 directed the IOA to form the ad-hoc committee three days after the Sanjay Singh-led panel won 13 out of 15 posts in the election — has not issued any order this time. The IOA also instructed WFI to appoint a “Safeguarding Com- mittee” to address concerns of sexual harassment apart from conducting elections of the Athletes’ Commission. Soon after the order, Sanjay Singh wrote to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) requesting it to facilitate the hosting of national camps for the Asian Championships and Asian Olympic Games Qualifier scheduled next month. “The top-four (gold, silver and two bronze medallists) of the trials are eligible for the camp,” Sanjay Singh told this daily . This means Vinesh, who par- blessings of the people. Stating that changes were made in 81 Assembly and 18 Lok Sabha constituencies while finalising the candidates, the YSRC chief directed the regional coordinators to take steps to establish good coordination between the party leaders and cadre in every constituency . Reiterating that the party’s aim is to win all 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats, he told the coordinators, “You should stand by the candidates and the cadre in all constituencies, assess the situation periodically and guide them.” Further, he asked the coordinators to ensure that the bus yatra is as successful as the Siddham meetings. As the party had organised Siddham meetings in four Parliamentary constituencies in the State, the bus yatra will not cover these segments. “The unprecedented crowds at the Siddham meetings is a sign that people have pledged their allegiance to Jagan,” Raghuram remarked. Taking the campaign forward, the party is currently organising ‘Memu Siddham, Maa Booth Siddham’ to mobilise party members and leaders at the grassroots level across every village in the P4 State. ticipated in two weight categories — 50kg and 53kg winning the first and finishing with bronze in the second — will be named as a camper. Bajrang Punia, who lost the 65kg semifinal before skipping the bronze medal bout, may miss out. Sources, however, believe he can still make it if SAI wants. “If the SAI wants to add names including of Bajrang, it can do that,” said a WFI source. Notably Bajrang and Vinesh, , along with Sakshi Malik, spearheaded the protest against Brij Bhushan last year accusing the UP strongman of sexual harassment. Who got what 1 BJP JD(U) LJP (RV) HAM RLM 2 4 3 17 18 16 19 20 32 33 34 35 37 5 31 36 38 15 21 23 22 30 29 39 7 6 14 24 25 9 13 12 40 10 11 26 28 JD(U) MP from Hajipur. His breakaway faction of the LJP has five seats in the outgoing Lok Sabha. Paras is expected to tap the RJD-led grand alliance in Bihar in a day or two. BJP sources said they were trying to mollify Paras with possibly a governor’s berth while accommodating his son and others from his faction in the assembly elections. However, his party could go it alone or forge a tie-up with the opposition. The NDA deal was announced by Vinod Tawde, BJP in-charge of Bihar unit of the party For the full . break-up of NDA seats, see the accompanying graphic. 8 27 Valmikinagar (1), Sitamarhi (5), Jhanjharpur (7), Supaul (8), Kishanganj (10), Katihar (11), Purnia (12), Madhepura (13), Gopalganj (17), Siwan (18), Bhagalpur (26), Banka (27), Munger (28), Nalanda (29), Jehanabad (36) and Sheohar (4) BJP Paschim Champaran (2), Purvi Champaran (3), Aurangabad (37), Madhubani (6), Araria (9), Darbhanga (14), Muzaffarpur (15), Maharajganj (19), Saran (20), Ujiyarpur (22), Begusarai (24), Nawada (39), Patna Sahib (30), Patliputra (31), Arrah (32), Buxar (33) and Sasaram (34) LJP (Ram Vilas) Vaishali (16), Hajipur (21), Sama-stipur (23), Khagaria (25) & Jamui (40) HAM Gaya (38) RLM Karakat (35) IMD forecasts rainfall for three days in State E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ Guntur The State is set to experience a refreshing bout of summer rains and thunderstorms as western disturbances influence we at h e r p at t e r n s i n t h e region. According to the India Meteorolo gical De par tment (IMD), a significant spell of rainfall is forecast from March 19 to 21, bringing relief from the intense heat. Scattered rains are expected in a few regions in North Coastal Andhra, Yanam and heavy rainfall and hot humid weather likely at isolated places over the Rayalaseema region. On March 20, moderate rainfall with thunderstorms are expected in Alluri Sitharamaraju, Ambedkar Konaseema, East Godavari, Eluru, Krishna, Gun- tur, Bapatla, Palnadu, and Prakasam districts and light to moderate rainfall along with thunderstor ms in Srikak u l a m , Vi z i a n a g a r a m , Parvathipuram Manyam, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Kakinada, West Godavari, NTR, Nellore and Tirupati districts. The IMD predicts a thunderstor m spell sweeping across the State, with its peak impact expected on March 19 and 20. Explaining the weather dynamics, the IMD stated that the trough runs from Jharkhand to north Coastal Andhra Pradesh across Odisha at 0.9 km above mean sea level. Speaking to TNIE, Dr Karuna Sagar, sea scientist at IMD said that rains might bring relief from the increasing temP4 peratures.
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