visakhapatnam l friday l november 15, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Developed nations told to honour climate finance pledges at Cop29 $1 tn needed per year to cope with warming A group of developing countries including India told developed nations to honour commitments to provide climate finance during COP talks in Baku Brazil, South Africa, India and China (BASIC) said developed nations must not dilute their obligations to provide climate finance under the Paris accords. It comes as a new report by the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance said $1 trillion will be needed every year by 2030 to help developing countries cope with the effects of global warming ■ 1.3 Earth remains on track to get 2.7°C hotter ■ ■ An analysis showed for the third straight year, efforts to fight climate change haven’t lowered projections for how hot the world will get The Earth remains on a path to be 2.7° Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times by 2100, Climate Action Tracker said The UN climate talks in Baku entered its fourth day on Thursday Degrees celsius is how much the world has warmed since pre-industrial times 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 Second edition of the RNG Sahithya Samman today Pa r a m i ta G h o s h @ New Delhi I deally, works of literature should never have to compete, but what would literary prizes be without such competition? The second edition of the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman instituted by The New Indian Express group will on Friday unveil the names of winners across three categories from among some of India’s most exciting voices in fiction and non-fiction. At the ceremony to be held at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi, a citation, a trophy and a cash prize will be award, ed to each of the three winners. The selection process kicked off in July with a long list of prospective winners based on suggestions and submissions from senior editors from each of TNIE’s 30-plus centres across the country — in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, and The Morning Standard and Sunday Standard in Delhi — as well as from publishers. The list was finally whittled down to a shortlist by an internal jury . In the non-fiction category four books were , in the fray — The Day I Became A Runner by Sohini Chattopadhyay The Yellow Sparrow by , Santa Khurai, H-Pop: The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars by Kunal Purohit, and Neerja Chowdhury’s How Prime Ministers Decide. The fiction section had three contenders — Acts of God by Kanan Gill, The Scent of Fallen Stars by Aishwarya Jha and Western Lane by Chetna Maroo. Decisions on these two segments apart, the jury had also the task of zeroing in on one among a shortlist of literary luminaries for a Lifetime Achievement Award, the top honour instituted in the name of the group’s iconic founder Ramnath Goenka by TNIE Chairman and Managing Director Manoj Kumar Sonthalia. Chaired by Pavan K Varma, former Ambassador and author, the external jury consisted of former foreign secretary and writer Vikas Swarup and the popular writer on history Manu S Pillai. They were joined by an internal jury comprising Editor Santwana Bhattacharya and Consulting Editor Ravi Shankar for extensive deliberations. The non-fiction prize, in particular, was most keenly contested and led to a nail-biting finish. Await the names to be unveiled at the award ceremony today! AFSPA back in 6 areas of Manipur Relief for vizianagaram Situation continues to be volatile with intermittent firing in parts of the troubled state, says Centre the release of the six captives. Till now, most of Manipur was in the disturbed areas category except for 19 police stations in the Meitei-dominated Imphal valley . The geography of the disturbed areas has now been extended to the jurisdictions of Sekmai and Lamsang police stations in Imphal West, Lamlai in Imphal East, Moirang in Bishnupur, Leimakhong in Kangpokpi, and Jiribam police station in five districts. The imposition of AFPSA is warranted to carry out well-coordinated operations to maintain the security situation and contain the activities of insurgent groups there, the ministry said in its notification. M U K E S H RAN J AN @ New Delhi With the situation in Manipur continuing to be grim, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday re-imposed the tough Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in six police station areas in the Imphal valley after declaring them as disturbed areas. The announcement came on a day when there was no trace of six Meiteis — three women and three children — missing after Monday’s gunfight in Jiribam district that left 10 ‘militants’ dead. The police said search operations were continuing even as political parties joined various organisations in demanding A truck damaged after militants set it on fire, in Jiribam district | PTI The ministry said Manipur continues to be volatile with intermittent firing in violence prone areas in the fringe areas of Bishnupur-Churachandpur, Imphal East-Kangpokpi-Imphal West and Jiribam districts. There was active participation of insurgent groups in heinous acts of violence. AFSPA empowers officers of the armed forces to “fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death” after giving due warning against “any person who is acting in contravention of any law or order for the time being in force in the disturbed area” if they are of the opinion that it is necessary to maintain public order. The law protects officers from prosecution. “No prosecution, suit or other legal proceeding shall be instituted, except with the previous sanction of the Central Government, against any person in respect of anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act.” Autopsy report The autopsy report of a 31-year-old tribal woman killed in Jiribam district on November 7, revealed that she was subjected to thirddegree torture and suffered 99% burns House panel not to summon Buch for its next meeting P REETHA NAIR @ New Delhi Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan and other Ministers with newly-elected Deputy Speaker Raghu Ramakrishna Raju in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday | Express Leader of Opposition status must be earned, CM tells Jagan S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Criticising YSRC president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for boycotting the Assembly session for not being given the Leader of Opposition (LoP) status, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday asserted that dictating terms and demanding positions will not work in a democracy . Speaking in the House on Thursday, Naidu said, “I have never seen a leader like Jagan who is demanding the status of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly to attend the proceedings.” He added the LoP status is not granted, but it has to be earned through people’s votes. While congratulating Undi MLA K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju on being unanimously elected as the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly the , Chief Minister quipped, “As MP Raghu Rama Krishna Raju , was not allowed into the State by the previous YSRC administration. Now, Jagan is not in a position to come to the House as he can’t see him as Deputy Speaker. This is God’s script.” Comparing the former Chief Minister to Columbian drug As MP, Raghu Rama Krishna Raju was not allowed into the State by the previous YSRC regime. Now, Jagan is not in a position to come to the House as he can’t see him as Dy Speaker. This is God’s script N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister lord Pablo Escobar, Naidu recalled the alleged torture meted out to Raghu Ramakrishna Raju during the previous government and said it was the first time he had heard of an MP being subjected to custodial torture. Following the unanimous election of the Undi MLA as the Deputy Speaker, Chief Minister and Leader of the House N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav and other leaders escorted him to the Speaker’s podium, where he occupied the chair. Several leaders, including Naidu, Pawan and IT Minister Nara Lokesh, hoped that Speaker Ayyanna Patrudu and Deputy Speaker Raghu Ramakrishna Raju will conduct the proceedings of the House in a dignified manner. The leaders opined that usage of filthy language in the House was the order of the day during the past five years. Describing RRR as a straightforward person who does not mince any words, the leaders suggested him to maintain restraint now that he is the Deputy Speaker. THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, headed by senior Congress leader K C Venugopal, has decided not to summon Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch for its next meeting on November 19. Buch, who is in the eye of a storm over allegations of conflict of interest raised by US-based short-seller Hindenburg, was asked to appear before the House panel on October 24, but she skipped the meeting at the last hour citing personal reasons. The meeting was postponed after officials informed the PAC about Buch’s inability to attend the meet. Venugopal later said the Sebi chairperson had sought exemption but he denied the request. Although her no-show could be considered as contempt of the Parliamentary panel, Venugopal said the committee took a lenient view on grounds of her being a lady . According to the schedule published on Lok Sabha website, the PAC has decided to call representatives of the Ministry of Coal on the financial scam involving Dewan Housing Finance Corporation for its next meeting on Tuesday . It has no mention of summoning Buch and Sebi officials, though it was widely expected. While PAC members did not cite any reason for the omission, sources said the upcoming polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand on November 20 may be a factor. Venugopal’s move to call Buch last time had sparked a political row after BJP members accused him of taking unilateral decisions. The BJP MPs also complained to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against the Congress MP’s “politically motivated actions”. Indukuri as EC cancels MLC bypoll S r e e n u B a b u Pat i v a d a @ Vizianagaram The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday cancelled the MLC by-election notification issued for the Vizianagaram Local Authorities’ Constituency. The State Election Commission (SEC) had issued the notification for the MLC by-election on November 4 as the seat fell vacant due to the disqualification of sitting MLC Indukuri Raghu Raju by Legislative Council Chairman Koyye Moshenu Raju under the anti-defection law. Raghu Raju challenged his disqualification in the High Court. The cancellation of the bypoll comes in wake of High Court setting aside the disqualification order on November 6. Subsequently, the Chief Electoral Officer forwarded the court order to the ECI, which decided to rescind its notification. Three nominations were filed for the MLC by-election, including one from a YSRC candidate and another from Raghu Raju’s wife Subba Lakshmi. Thursday was the last day for withdrawal of nominations as per the ECI schedule. Speaking to TNIE, MLC Raghu Raju said justice prevailed. “It may be the first of its kind case in the country, and this should be an eye opener to the YSRC leadership,” added Raghu Raju. Dalla be extradition to sought by India India said it will seek the extradition of Arsh Dalla, the de-facto chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force, after his arrest in Canada. He was designated a terrorist by India in 2023 | P7 Karnataka SIT to probe Covid scam against BSY EX P RE S S NEW S ER V ICE @ Bengaluru ball in Siddu’s court Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will soon take the steps to form the SIT, law minister Patil said THE Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government on Thursday decided to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged irregularities in the Covid-19 management and misappropriation of funds by the previous BJP gov ernment. Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting here on Thursday the state’s law minister H K , Patil said that the decision to set up the SIT is based on the interim report submitted by Justice John Michael D’Cunha Commission. Constituting the SIT suggests the Congress government intends to prosecute BJP leaders, including former chief minister B S Yediyurappa and exhealth minister B Sriramulu for their purported role in the alleged Covid scam in 2020. The SIT will have three police officers headed by an IGP. The team will peruse the charges in the D’Cunha Commission’s report, including import of 3 lakh PPE kits at inflated prices from China. Recently, re por ts citing leaked portions of the D’Cunha report said it recommended prosecution of Yediyurappa and Sriramulu. But both the BJP leaders rejected the charges claiming they only tried to save lives. The state government had formed the commission to probe the alleged irregularities in Covid-19 procurements. It submitted the interim report on September 1. Subsequently, a cabinet sub-committee headed by deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar examined the commission’s report and presented its views before the cabinet on Thursday Based on the recom. mendation of the sub-committee, the Cabinet decided to form the SIT, Patil told reporters. He claimed the Public Accounts Committee headed by him had discovered the nexus between the politicians and officials, resulting in corruption. He said when PPE kits were available for `330-400 per unit domestically, three lakh of them were bought for `2,117 per unit from China. The report has a mention of payment of `6.93 crore to private labs by flouting norms, `4.48 crore to eight labs that were not accredited by ICMR, he said. Madhav K express read assembly proceedings legislative council viral fever suspected Land Grabbing Bill tabled Lokesh hits out at YSRC 56 students fall ill in Satyavedu Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Bill 2024 was introduced in the Assembly on Thursday. It is likely to be passed after discussions in the coming days. Explaining the objectives, Revenue Minister Anagani Satya Prasad stressed that Land grabbing remains a pressing issue in the State | P4 Vijayawada: Taking serious exception to comments of YSRC members in the Legislative Council on CM N Chandrababu Naidu that he boycotted the Assembly during the previous regime, HRD Minister Nara Lokesh said his father attended the proceedings regularly till YSRC members insulted his mother | P4 Tirupati: Nearly 56 students of Gurukul School at Satyavedu in Tirupati district fell ill on Thursday reportedly due to viral fever. Currently, 36 students are undergoing treatment at the CHC in Satyavedu, while 20 have been discharged. Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav reviewed the situation | P3 Rain alert in South Coastal Andhra In the 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Thursday, heavy rainfall was recorded in Nellore district, while light to moderate rain was reported in parts of South Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema. Kavali logged highest rainfall of 7 cm The India Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rainfall in isolated places over South Coastal Andhra Pradesh till Friday morning. Thunderstorms and lightning are likely at isolated places in South Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema