vijayawada l tuesday l march 18, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Cheetah Gamini can now be spotted by tourists in safari South African cheetah Gamini and her 4 cubs were released into the wild in the Khajuri forest area at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on Monday 17 big cats now released into the wild Project going strong for over 2 years Their release raised the number of cheetahs in the wild to 17. Nine others are still in the enclosures. On February 21, cheetah Jwala and her four cubs were released into the wild in KNP. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav hailed the development as an important day in the cheetah project and wildlife conservation ■ ■ PM Modi initiated the translocation project with eight cheetahs brought from Namibia released into KNP in September 2022. This marked the first-ever intercontinental translocation of the big cats Gamini gave birth to six cubs in her first litter on March 10, 2024, officials said. Two of the cubs, however, died in subsequent months 26 Cheetahs in KNP now, including 14 cubs born on Indian soil 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 Govt turns the screws on Khalistani radicals unrest Manipur tense as Kuki-Zo leader mugged, ban orders out P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon in New Delhi | Shekhar Yadav Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during a meeting with USA’s Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard | PTI ‘Rein in anti-India Gabbard urged to elements in NZ’ ban Pannun’s SFJ JAYA N TH JACOB @ New Delhi M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday raised the issue of pro-Khalistan elements freely carrying out anti-India activities in New Zealand during his bilateral meeting with the Pacific island nation’s PM Christopher Luxon. Modi called for strict action against those guilty of terrorist attacks. “We will continue to cooperate together against terrorist, separatist and radical elements,” he said. Separately, the Ministry of External Affairs said the issue of Khalistan supporters getting space in New Zealand was discussed between the two leaders. “This was an issue that came up. We do alert our friends to the activities of anti-India elements in their countries and their abuse of freedom of speech and other democratic freedoms to glorify terrorism, and to threaten attacks against our diplomats or our parliament or our events in India. So these were also conWe have shared veyed,” said Jaideep Mazumour concerns about anti-India dar, secretary (east) in the activities by Ministry of External Affairs, certain illegal adding New Zealand was reelements in New ceptive to India’s concerns. Zealand. We’re India has been flagging varconfident we will ious pro-Khalistan activities, receive the full including the so-called ‘refer- cooperation of the endum’ for an independent New Zealand govt Sikh homeland organised by Narendra Modi the pro-Khalistan group, Sikhs for Justice, permitted by New Zealand authorities under the guise of ‘freedom of speech’. Modi and Luxon held wide-ranging talks with a focus on ramping up overall bilateral ties. The two sides also inked six pacts to firm up defence and security ties, and cooperation in education, sports, agriculture and climate change. India and New Zealand have also decided to start negotiations for a free trade pact. “This shall increase the potential for bilateral trade and investment. Mutual cooperation and investment shall be encouraged in fields such as dairy , food processing, and pharma,” Modi said. New Zealand is keen to have greater access to India’s lucrative dairy market, which has been traditionally protected to support farmers. Luxon arrived in Delhi on Sunday on a fiveday visit to explore ways to deepen ties. DEFENCE Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday conveyed to US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, India’s concerns over activities of Khalistani separatist group, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), on American soil and urged her to declare it as a designated terrorist entity sources said. , In an over 30-minute meeting at his office in the Raisina Hills, Singh apprised Gabbard about SFJ’s alleged links with Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as well as its “collaboration” with the Babbar Khalsa terrorist group, and pressed for action against it, sources said. Singh flagged concerns over the SFJ, headed by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, vandalising various Hindu religious structures in the US and said such radicalism must be stopped, the sources added. The SFJ is a banned organisation in India. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is wanted by Drawing from the Indian probe agencies on varjoint statement issued after the ious terror charges. recent ModiDuring the discussion, both Trump meeting, countries also explored avethe discussions nues for collaboration in cutreaffirmed the ting-edge defence innovation growing strength and niche technologies. of the India-US In a statement, the Ministry bilateral defence of Defence said, “Drawing partnership from the joint statement issued Ministry of Defence after the recent meeting of PM Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump, the discussions reaffirmed the growing strength of the India-US bilateral defence partnership.” Both leaders emphasised that strategic security remains a vital pillar of the comprehensive global strategic cooperation between the two nations. “Rajnath and Gabbard reviewed the significant strides made in the areas of military exercises, strategic cooperation, integration of defence industrial supply chains and information-sharing cooperation, especially in the maritime domain, between India and the US,” MoD added. The two leaders addressed key areas such as enhancing interoperability and fostering greater integration of defence industrial supply chains to bolster resilience and innovation. e x p r e ss r e a d Telugu varsity renamed after Suravaram Hyderabad: The Telangana State Legislative Assembly on Monday passed the Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University (Amendment) Bill, 2025, renaming the varsity after Suravaram Pratapa Reddy, a prominent freedom fighter of the Telangana region during the Nizam’s rule in the Princely State of Hyderabad | P5 11 celebrities booked for promoting betting apps Hyderabad: Police have registered cases against 11 celebrities, including TV actors, anchors and YouTubers, for allegedly promoting betting apps on social media platforms. They included Imran Khan Jetx, Vishnu Priya, Harsha Sai, Shyamala, Tasty Teja, Rithu Chowdhary, B Sheshayani Supritha, Kiran Goud, Ajay, Sunny Target and Sudheer | P5 anxious wait SSC students and their parents anxiously wait for the opening of the gate at an examination centre in Visakhapatnam on Monday | G Satyanarayana PROHIBITORY orders under Section 163 of BNSS were clamped in Manipur’s Kukidominated Churachandpur district following a senior Kuki-Zo leader’s assault. Richard Hmar, general secretary of Hmar Inpui and a member of Indigenous Tribal Leade r s ’ Fo r u m ( I T L F ) , w a s assaulted by unknown miscreants late on Sunday inside the campus of V K Montessori School in Zenhang. Hmar is currently undergoing medical treatment. Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) empowers district magistrates to issue preventive orders in urgent cases of public nuisance or apprehended danger to prevent harm to individuals or public safety . Authorities clamped prohibitory orders following reports from the Churachandpur SP. Unauthorised processions or unlawful ass e m bl i e s o f five or more persons were banned, as well as carrying of arms or objects which can be used as life-threatening weapons. District magistrate Dharun Kumar S said, “…Our attention has been drawn to incidents where disputes are escalating in some areas, leading to unrest that threatens the peaceful coexistence of our citizens.” Throughout the day protesters , attempted to enforce a shutdown, urging shops to close immediately. Groups of men patrolled the streets with sticks, while clashes between the Hmar and Zomi communities led to stone pelting in multiple areas of the district headquarters. Personnel of the Central security forces intervened, firing gunshots in the air to disperse mobs, officials said. The Hmar Inpui said the victim was caught by a group of men on his way home, blindfolded and beaten up. Swarna Andhra Vision 2047: Pilot projects in 4 constituencies E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said the State government is evolving development plans at the Assembly constituency level as part of Swarna Andhra Vision 2047, and MLAs should take the responsibility for executing the plans. Informing that vision documents have already been prepared for four constituencies, including Kuppam, Pithapuram, Mangalagiri and Uravakonda on a pilot basis, he said the plans for the remaining segments will be formulated soon. During a short discussion on Vision 2047 in the AP Legislative Assembly on Monday, the Chief Minister explained how the government will support MLAs in implementing the constituency development plans. District, municipal and village-level action plans will also be evolved. District vision documents will be released at the Collectors’ conference. Reiterating the NDA government’s commitment to fulfilling the public aspirations, Naidu urged the people to understand the current challenges. He emphasised the importance of attracting investments to the State as the previous dispensation drove away industries. MLAs should strive to attract investments, besides State to implement SC sub-classification S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada The State Cabinet has given its nod to the recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the report submitted by One Man Commission headed by Rajiv Ranjan Mishra on subclassification of Scheduled Castes. It is learnt that the Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the Secretariat on Monday, app r o ve d t h e G o M ’s recommendations to implement the SC sub-classification by taking State as a unit. Though there was a proposal from the public representatives that it would be better to take the district as a unit for the purpose, the Cabinet had decided to consider the State as a unit for implementation of the SC categorisation, based on the Col, son assaulted by Punjab cops, 12 suspended h a r p r ee t b a j w a @ Chandigarh A serving army Colonel and his son were allegedly assaulted by Punjab Police personnel in Patiala in the wee hours of March 14 over a parking dispute. The incident, caught on CCTV left the Colonel with a fractured , arm and his son with severe head injuries. Following an outrage over the incident, Punjab Police on Monday suspended 12 policemen, including three inspectors, and ordered a departmental probe against them. Sources said Colonel Pushpinder Bath, currently posted at the army headquarters in New Delhi, said he and his son were assaulted in the wee hours of March 14 by policemen posted in Patiala. The incident took place outside a roadside eatery near the hospital where Bath and his son had stopped for refreshments. It is alleged that the three police personnel, who were in plain clothes, asked the army officer to remove his car so that they could park their vehicle. When the officer objected to their tone, the cops allegedly assaulted him as well as his son with baseball bats and some sharp-edged weapons. One of the policemen claimed that it was the Colonel and his son who attacked them first. “They were inebriated and attacked us,” he claimed. Jaswinder Bath, Col Bath’s wife, claimed that the family is being asked to compromise or face dire consequences. 2011 census, and district as a unit after the completion of the 2026 census. A resolution approving the report of the One Man Commission will be passed in the Assembly, and sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. As promised during the NDA election campaign, the Cabinet approved the proposal to provide up to 200 units of power per month to the houses of handloom weavers, and to supply up to 500 units of power to powerloom units free of cost. This will benefit 93,000 weavers and 10,534 powerloom units. The draft bill to enact The Andhra Pradesh State Teachers Transfer Regulation Act, 2025 for teachers working in Government, Zilla Parishad, Mandal Parishad, and Municipal Schools across the State got P4 the Cabinet clearance.  laying emphasis on developing agriculture, industries, and the service sector to boost revenue, he said. In alignment with Viksit Bharat 2047, a 15% annual growth target has been set to transform the State into a `308 lakh crore economy by 2047 with a per capita income of `55 lakh. Specific plans are in place to develop Rayalaseema as a hub of horticulture, solar, wind and pumped energ y projects. Anantapur, once a drought-prone district, is now among the top five districts in development, and poised to achieve the number one spot soon, he said. Reiterating that the government is committed to providing house sites to all the eligible poor families (3 cents in rural areas and 2 cents in urban areas), he said if beneficiaries already got one cent site, they will get an additional two cents. By 2029, every family will have P4 a house, he assured. Diarrhoea under control, says Collector E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Rajamahendravaram The number of diarrhoea cases is declining, and the district administration has taken effective steps to curb the spread of disease, said East Godavari Collector P Prasanthi. About 25 diarrhoea cases were reported in Gopalapuram mandal during the past two days, and the situation has come under control, she said. Four more cases were reported on Monday, and they were admitted to hospital, while 20 patients were discharged after providing medical treatment at the community health centre. Nine patients are still undergoing treatment at the centre. “There is no need to panic as the medical and health department is taking all precautionary measures. Ten special teams are inspecting the villages, and studying diarrhoea P4 cases,” she said.