The New Indian Express Wishes its readers tirupati l wednesday l december 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Champions Trophy: India and Pakistan clubbed in same group The ICC finally announces the schedule for the global 50-over competition that begins from February 19 in Karachi rival neighbours play in dubai on feb 23 Boxing day test: India hope for MCG heist India are clubbed with Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh in Group A. Group B comprises South Africa, Australia, Afghanistan and England. India vs Pakistan is on February 23. If India progress to semis, they will play in Dubai on March 4. If Pak advance, they play in 2nd semis in Lahore next day. If India enter final, it will be in Dubai or else in Lahore on March 9 ■ ■ The Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch is expected to be seamer-friendly when India take on Australia in fourth Test on Thursday morning India are yet to decide on the final XI, but the Aussies have said they will hand 19-year-old Sam Konstas his debut. The visitors need a win to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Match live: 5 am | P11 1-1 The five-Test series is level at one a piece 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 Allu Arjun grilled for three hours, seeks bail Ch i tha l u r i Re v anth @ Hyderabad Actor Allu Arjun, accused in the Sandhya Theatre stampede case, was on Tuesday grilled for more than three hours by the police. Parallelly a bail petition , was filed on his behalf in the Nampally court here. Arjun faces charges of culpable homicide as a woman was crushed to death in the stampede. And her son continues to be in a critical state in a hospital. Advocates appearing for the actor filed a bail petition in the Nampally court, which is expected to be heard in the next few days. The Nampally court has already granted bail to six persons in the case. Arjun reached the Chikkadpally police station at 11 am where a team of officials, led by Central Zone DCP Akshansh Yadav, questioned him. According to sources, the police posed over 20 questions regarding his visit to the theatre and the Dec 4 stampede. Some of the questions reportedly posed to Arjun were: Did the theatre management inform him about the denial of police permission? If they did, did they inform him or his team? “Did you, or your team, inform the theatre management about your arrival? Why did you come in a rally? While you were on the way to the theatre, why did you open the sunroof of your car and wave to the crowd? Were you made aware when you were inside the theatre that a person died due to that rally? Did the police inform you on that day about the death of a woman?” were reportedly among the questions the police asked Arjun. Sources said the police showed videos of the stampede. “Why did you hold a press meet? Do you stick by what you said at the press meet since the videos indicate otherwise?” were some of the other questions. Arif Mohd Khan R V Arlekar A K Bhalla Gen V K Singh H B Kambhampati Naidu leaves for Delhi to take part in NDA meet E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e / R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R Guv Appointments, shuffles Arif transferred to Bihar, Bhalla goes to Manipur Kerala governor shifted to NDA-ruled Bihar; former home secy gets to manage Manipur Raje s h K uma r T haku r @ New Delhi Strife-torn Manipur on Tuesday got a seasoned hand in former Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla as its new governor. The state is yet to emerge from the ethnic conflict between Meiteis and KukiZo groups that led to violence since May last year. Bhalla, the longest-serving Union Home Secretary, completed his five-year tenure on August 22 this year. He is known to be a tough administrator and a strategist. Bhalla is a retired 1984-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre. If he manages to help bring some stability to Manipur, it would be a job well done. Till now, Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, who was holding additional charge of Manipur. Bhalla was among the five gubernatorial appointments/ transfers announced on Tuesday. The other big announcement was a swap between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and his Bihar counterpart Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. This newspaper had reported earlier that Arif would figure in the gubernatorial reshuffle this year. Khan’s appointment in Bihar is being seen as a strategic move ahead of assembly elections in the state in 2025 in which the BJP as a major ally of the Bihar NDA nurtures dreams of coming to power at its own. Khan is a liberal Muslim scholar who articulates the Centre’s policies upfront. He was forever on a collision course with Kerala LDF government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Retired General V K Singh was appointed governor of Mizoram. The BJP had denied him a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls this year. Gen Singh replaces Dr Hari Babu Kambhampati, who has been transferred as governor of Odisha after incumbent Raghubar Das put in his papers citing personal reasons. Gen Singh’s name was doing the rounds for a gubernatorial assignment for long time and his appointment was expected to be either in J&K or Manipur but it went to Mizoram. Sources said many more gubernatorial appointments are on the cards for states like UP , J&K, Bengal and some UTs. @ Vijayawada/New Delhi The agenda will focus on addressing the controversy over Amit Shah’s remarks and exposing the opposition’s fabricated narrative against the NDA BJP leader UCC, Waqf Sources hinted that discussions on key issues, such as Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Waqf Bill and ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal, have emerged as crucial Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu left for New Delhi on Tuesday evening to attend a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders, scheduled for Wednesday .   During the meeting, he is expected to raise issues related to Andhra Pradesh. The meeting, to be held at BJP President JP Nadda’s residence, comes amid the controversy surrounding Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent remarks on Dr BR Ambedkar. NDA leaders will address this issue and strategise for the upcoming elections in key States. The primary objective of the meeting is to strengthen coordination among alliance partners and counter the opposition’s narrative. Senior leaders will join BJP stalwarts like Nadda and Shah in this critical gathering. Prominent NDA allies, including Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party, Hindustani Awam Morcha, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), and the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction), are expected to attend. The meeting coincides with the 100th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, symbolising unity within the alliance. Naidu will also take part in the celebrations. Leaders aim to ensure smooth coordination and present a unified response to the opposition’s criticism, reinforcing the National Democratic Alliance’s position P4 ahead of the elections.  K S SR E E J I T H @ T’Puram A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the Christmas celebration hosted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) in Delhi, a senior Orthodox Church Bishop in Kerala on Tuesday openly questioned the saffron party’s outreach to the Christian community . “There (in Delhi), they honour the bishops and revere cribs. Here (in Kerala), they destroy the cribs,” the metropolitan of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church’s Thrissur Diocese, Yuhanon Mar Meletius, said in a Facebook post. The bishop’s sharp remarks come in the backdrop of the ar- The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday registered an FIR against N Sanjay former , Additional Director General of APCID (Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department) and former Director General of AP State Disaster Response and Fire Services, who was recently suspended on charges of misconduct, misuse of power and misutilisation of government funds to the tune of `1.36 crore. Sauthrika Technologies and rest of three VHP workers in Palakkad for trying to disrupt Christmas celebrations at a school and the destruction of a crib made by students of another school by unidentified persons. The two incidents sparked widespread protests in Kerala, where the state unit of the BJP had started its outreach programme in which leaders will visit church heads as well as 10 lakh Christian homes till December 30. According to sources, the central leadership of the BJP asked Union minister George Kurian and state BJP president K Surendran to openly condemn the act of the three VHP workers. However, the powerful Syro Malabar Church is also not convinced by the outreach bid. “This is part of a strategy to display dominance over the minority community,” said Fr Joby Kachappilly . Political analysts view the developments as an emerging paradox within the Sangh Parivar with re gard to ideology and political correctness. There (in Delhi), they honour the bishops and revere cribs. Here (in Kerala), they destroy the cribs Yuhanon Mar Meletius bpcl to launch works for petchem complex S V i s w anath @ Vijayawada Adieu, Shyam Babu The mortal remains of filmmaker Shyam Benegal being taken for the last rites, at a crematorium in Mumbai on Tuesday | ANI ACB registers FIR against ex-CID chief for misconduct & misuse of govt funds @ Vijayawada Olympics double medallist Manu Bhaker said “there has been a lapse” from her side while filing nominations for awards but says she is motivated to win medals | P11 `6,100 cr outlay kadapa leaders E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e lapse yes but motivated BJP X’mas outreach hits Kerala wall jagan holds talks with The YSRCP chief directed leaders to ensure no further defections, and called for collective action to preserve the party’s strength in Kadapa. The attendees raised concerns over TDP’s aggressive tactics | P4 manuspeak Infra Private Limited and Kritvyap Technologies Private Limited were also named in the FIR. The accused were booked under Sections 13(1)(a) read with 13(2) and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, and IPC Sections 409, 420,477A read 120B. According to the FIR, Sanjay , while serving as DG of the Fire Services Department, allegedly manipulated tender processes to award a contract for development and maintenance of AGNI-NOC portal, mobile application and supply of hardware to Vijayawada-based Sauthrika Technologies and Infra. The FIR stated that a payment of `59,93,000 was fraudulently facilitated to the company on February 22, 2023, within one week after the agreement, albeit slow progress in the development of AGNI-NOC portal. Further, the IPS officer has been accused of purchasing 10 laptops from Sauthrika Technologies and Infra at an exorbitant price of P4 `17,89,784.  express read APSFL begins revamp by sacking 410 employees Vijayawada: In its efforts to revamp the Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Limited (APSFL), 410 employees, employed during the previous YSRCP regime without following due procedures, and who exhibited gross dereliction of duties, were terminated | P4 TTD reviews demos for facial recognition tech Tirupati: The TTD is reviewing demonstrations to implement AI-based facial recognition technology to expedite darshan at the Srivari temple, TTD Board Chairman BR Naidu said. The system will be initiated in three months, he added | P3 In a communication sent to SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) informed that its board, during a meeting held on Tuesday (December 24), has approved the initiation of pre-project activities with an investment of `6,100 crore for the establishment of a greenfield refinery-cum-petrochemical complex on the East Coast of Andhra Pradesh. As part of the pre-project activities, various studies will be conducted, including steps to identify and acquire land, preparation of a detailed feasibility report, conducting environmental impact assessments, and the development of a basic design engineering package and front-end engineering design. It is worth noting that a BPCL delegation, led by Chairman and Managing Director Krishna Kumar, had met with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in July 2024. During the meeting, they discussed plans to set up a petrochemical complex and an oil refinery in Andhra Pradesh. According to the proposal, pre-project activities  Initial studies  Land identification and acquisition  Preparation of Detailed Feasibility report  Environment Impact Assessment  Basic Design Engineering package  Front End Engineering Design BPCL plans to invest `60,000 crore in the State, for which 4,000 to 5,000 acres of land will be required. Naidu had assured the BPCL delegation that the necessary land would be allotted to the company within 90 days after they submit a detailed proposal for the project. Expressing his enthusiasm over the development, Vizianagaram TDP MP Kalisetti Appalanaidu told TNIE, “This has been made possible due to the confidence and trust that industrialists have in Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. He is the brand ambassador of Andhra Pradesh. I am confident that more investments will flow into the State in the days to come.” “Lately, RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat has been asking various Sangh Parivar outfits to put a stop to their claims over mosques,” said political analyst Ajith Sreenivasan. However, the call was challenged by several Sangh Parivar organisations with seer bodies like Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti even criticising Bhagwat, Sreenivasan pointed out. “The RSS now realises that there will be a huge law and order problem if courts agree to Hindu groups’ demand that mosques be inspected to check if they had been built over temples. They realise that the government might not survive if such a situation arises,” Sreenivasan said. Lokpal calls Sebi chief for oral hearing P r eetha N a i r @ New Delhi TAKING cognizance of complaints of impropriety and conflict of interest filed by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and two others, anticorruption body Lokpal on Tuesday called Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch and the complainants for ‘oral hearing’ on January 28. The complaints were made on the basis of a report by USbased short-seller Hindenburg Research, according to an official order. In its report, Hindenbu r g a l l e g e d that Buch and her husband had stakes in obscure of fshore funds used in the alleged money siphoning scandal involving the Adani Group. The Lokpal had on November 8 sought Buch’s ‘explanation’ on the complaints filed by Moitra, a Lok Sabha member and two others. In its order, the Lokpal asked the Registry to issue notices to the RPS (respondent public s e r v a n t ) a s we l l a s t h e complainant(s) to avail of the opportunity of oral hearing on January 28. “It will be open to the RPS (respondent public servant) as well as the complainant to authorise an advocate to espouse their cause, if they so desire at the time of oral hearing,” the order said.