The New Indian Express Wishes its readers a HYDERABAD l thursday l october 31, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE CITY EDITION Buckingham Palace confirms TNIE report on Charles’ secret India visit The Buckingham Palace confirmed King Charles and Queen Camilla visited Bengaluru for wellness treatment before returning to the UK from Samoa Charles and Camilla during one of their previous visits for treatment | Source: SIHHC B’luru Stop was to break long trip to U.K. not connected to cancer treatment A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said the stopover was to help break the long journey to the United Kingdom from Samoa. “Their Majesties had a short private stopover in India to help break the long journey back from Samoa,” the spokesperson said. They arrived on October 27 and stayed at Soukya International Holistic Health Centre located in Whitefield, Bengaluru ■ ■ ■ Charles is under treatment for cancer after being diagnosed with the disease earlier this year. Sources said the visit was not connected to the cancer treatment, which he will resume upon return to the UK He planted a Jacaranda sapling in the Soukya campus, an official said Charles and Camilla were on a 10-day official trip to Australia and Samoa Our offices and press will remain closed today and there will be no issue of the paper on Friday 75-yr-old King Charles had stayed at soukya retreat nine times earlier 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 New rules to analyse bomb threat to flights M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued new rules to deal with the recent avalanche of bomb threats to flights across the country. They include figuring out the pseudonymous or anonymous nature of the social media handle from where the threat emerges, geopolitical analysis and the presence of VIPs on board before determining the nature of the threat, officials said on Wednesday . If the threat is categorised as specific, it would trigger the whole range of established security protocols of diverting an aircraft, sending it to an isolation bay, and conducting fresh anti-sabotage checks of passengers and their belongings. But if it is determined a hoax, the flight will be allowed to proceed normally Hundreds . of hoax calls were categorised as non-specific ever since the new rules kicked in on October 19, avoiding all the hassle. Before the rules were revamped, all flights that received bomb threats had to be immediately grounded for security check. Over the past few weeks, over 510 flights received hoax bomb threats. Recently the NIA posi, tioned its cyber wing personnel with the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) and stationed them at the major airports. The BTAC is tasked with analysing the threat and deciding whether it is specific or serious or non-specific or hoax. Disengagement Canada minister named complete, troops Amit Shah in Nijjar case to swap sweets Y e shi S e l i @ New Delhi India, China wrap up troop pullback from Demchok & Depsang; joint verification is on cation process is progressing and talks are currently on Patrolling will soon begin about the routes, schedule, and at Demchok and Depsang the patrolling size. Each patrolPlains in eastern Ladakh, as ling unit will have a maximum Indian and Chinese troops have of 20 personnel, who will be completed disengagement at carrying their weapons. these friction points along the “The withdrawals are mutuLine of Actual Control (LAC), al and will proceed in phases. sources said on Wednesday To Patrolling may take time, de. mark the de-escalation of ten- pending on the removal of sions and improvestructures set up ment in the overall since the April 2020 mood, the military clashes. Physical personnel will celeverification and surbrate Diwali by exveillance are being changing sweets at conducted in these the traditional areas,” sources points along the said. 3,488-km long LAC. The current disSweet spots engagement is only “The disengagement is complete Troops will exchange for Depsang and and modalities for sweets at traditional D e m ch o k . A r my points — the five patrolling are being sources said that Border Personnel firmed up between talks regarding paground command- Meeting (BPM) huts trolling in other on each side of the ers,” said an Army stand-off points in source. Troops from Line of Actual Control Eastern Ladakh will both sides have dis- spread out in Eastern continue. Troops engaged and shuf- and Western Sectors from both sides have fled back to their already disengaged designated points as per the de- from five other friction points, cision firmed up between the which came up in May 2020 afCorps Commanders of India ter the People’s Liberation and China. Army moved in its personnel The disengagement process in these areas after the clashes involves joint verification on at the Finger Four on the North the ground regarding the troop bank of the Pangong Tso. The and equipment pullback to a patrolling limits and buffer mutually agreed distance from zones in areas found no menthe face-off sites. Sources told tion in the agreement for Demthis newspaper that the verifi- chok and Depsang Plains. M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi A Canadian minister admitted before a parliamentary panel that he outed Union home minister Amit Shah’s name to a US newspaper as having allegedly ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation, and intelligence-gathering targeting Sikh separatists inside Canada. Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison told members of the national security committee that he had confirmed Shah’s name to The Washington Post, which first reported the allegations in connection with the murder of Khalistani radical Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June last year. But Morrison did not share any proof of Shah’s alleged involvement in the case. D S u r e nd r a K u ma r @ Tirupati The AP government on Wednesday announced the new governing board of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), with TV5 owner Bollineni Rajagopal Naidu, popularly known as B R Naidu, as the chairman. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Nov 30 DEADLINE TO COMPLETE caste Census P4 E N S @ Hyderabad Let there be light Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra general secretary Champat Rai offer prayers at the Ram Mandir on the eve of the Diwali festival, in Ayodhya on Wednesday. This is the first Diwali after the Ram Lalla idol was consecrated in the temple | PTI express read TGSPF to provide security to Secretariat Mayonnaise made from raw eggs ‘suspect’, banned in Telangana Hyderabad: The state government has decided to entrust the security of the Secretariat to the Telangana Special Protection Force (TGSPF) with immediate effect. Currently, Telangana Special Police personnel had been providing security to the Secretariat | P6 Hyderabad: The Commissioner of Food Safety (CFS) has imposed a year-long ban on the production, storage and sale across the state of mayonnaise made with raw eggs. In a notification on Wednesday, the CFS stated that the ban, effective from October 30, was in place to protect public health. The ban specifically targets mayonnaise prepared by FBOs with unpasteurised raw eggs for commercial purposes | P6 HC orders dedicated panel to collect data on BCs T G N aid u @ Hyderabad Justice Surepalli Nanda of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to establish a dedicated commission within two weeks to conduct a thorough empirical data survey to facilitate reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in the upcoming local body elections and submit a compliance report. The court found the state’s existing approach of tasking the BC Commission with data collection contrary to the Supreme Court’s judgment in ‘Vikas Kumar Gavali vs. State of Maharashtra’. In its ruling, the Supreme Court had mandated that a distinct commission must be constituted specifically for empirical data collection related to reservations for backward classes. Justice Nanda was hearing a writ petition filed by former Rajya Sabha member and BC leader R Krishniah who urged the court to order a dedicated commission, separate from the BC Commission, for this purpose. Representing the petitioner, senior counsel and former advocate-general BS Prasad underscored the importance of the court’s intervention, given that the BC Commission had already begun the process of data collection across Telangana as local body elections approach. Diwali fest at Parliament Hill off The annual Diwali celebration for the Indo-Canadian community at Parliament Hill was abruptly cancelled by Leader of the Opposition Pierre Poilievre. According to the organisers, the Overseas Friends of India Canada, this was communicated to them abruptly without any explanation. The festival had been celebrated there for the past 23 years TV 5 owner B R Naidu is the new TTD chairman TG employees get 3.64% DA Deepavali celebrations for state government employees became more joyous with the announcement of a 3.64% Dearness Allowance (DA). Special Chief Secretary Finance, K Ra, makrishna Rao issued orders to this effect on Wednesday . The announced DA will be applicable from July 1, 2022 and will be paid along with the November salary . The government also sanctioned an ad-hoc increase of `100 per month to the part-time assistants and VRAs from July 1, 2022 to the date of their absorption into service. The DA arrears for the period of July 1, 2022 to October 31, 2024 will be credited into the GPF account of the employees. The order said that 10% of the DA arrears of the employees who were appointed after September 2004 and are governed by the contributory pension scheme will be credited to PRAN accounts of the employees while the remaining 90% will be paid in 17 equal monthly instalments from January 2025. “The journalist called me and asked if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison told the committee. Bilateral relations went into deeper freeze after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently alleged that the Indian government had a role in the killing Nijjar. Both sides expelled six diplomats each. While India accuses Canada of not even sharing a shread of evidence to support its theory, the latter claims it has ample proof. Nathalie Drouin, Trudeau’s national security adviser, told the committee that Canada has evidence to prove India gathered information on Indian nationals and Canadians in Canada through diplomatic channels and proxies. The information was then passed on to a gangster, Lawrence Bishnoi. Supreme direction The Supreme Court had mandated that a distinct commission must be constituted specifically for empirical data collection related to reservations for BCs Naidu’s selection, while widely anticipated, ends weeks of speculation surrounding the composition of the TTD board. With three MLAs from Andhra Pradesh, five from Telangana, three from Karnataka, two from Tamil Nadu, and one each from Gujarat and Maharashtra, the Board includes a diverse group of people. Another member is likely to be appointed soon, with the nomination anticipated to come from the BJP an alliance , partner. Former Union minister Panabaka Lakshmi, former Chief Justice of India H L Dattu and Bharat Biotech Co-founder Suchitra Ella found seats on the TTD board. B R Naidu