vijayawada l sunday l march 23, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION rumble in the jungle silent forever: Foreman no more Former heavyweight champion George Foreman, who lost to Muhammad Ali in boxing’s iconic 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle”, died on Friday. He was 76 School dropout to a world champion Born in Texas on January 10, 1949, George Foreman grew up in Houston. The man who raised him was frequently absent and often drunk. Fondly known as Big George, he dropped out of school and despite facing adversities went on to become an Olympic gold medallist, two-time world champion and a legend of boxing Muhammad Ali (left) squares up against George Foreman in 1974 | AP Big figures including Trump pay respects ■ US President Donald Trump said “GREAT FIGHTER” whom he “knew well”. Legendary promoter Bob Arum saluted Foreman as “one of the biggest punchers and personalities the sport has ever seen.” ■ “His contribution to boxing and beyond will never be forgotten,” former champion Mike Tyson wrote on X 81 He fought 81 times as a professional, winning 76, 68 of those by knockout 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 Delimitation meet proposes broad fight, freezing LS seats for 25 years First JAC meet resolves to submit representation to PM; State Assemblies to pass resolution Alleged dirty money CJI forms 3-member panel to probe charges against Delhi HC judge s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi Centre planning delimitation without consultation as it is driven by “narrow political interests” and not by Constitutional principles or democratic imperatives Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan We won’t accept population-based delimitation as states like UP, Rajasthan, Bihar, and MP will then dominate rest of the country. We cannot accept it any cost Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy Though the number of seats in Punjab may go up, the state’s percentage of seats in LS may drop from 2.39% to 2.11%, if the total LS seats is increased to 850 Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann Karnataka, TN, and every progressive state in this room face a stark choice: submit to domination or rise in resistance. We have chosen resistance K’taka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar Delimitation based only on population will be unfair to the states that have worked hard to reduce their population growth rates in line with national priorities BJD president Naveen Patnaik States should insist that their current proportionate representation in the LS is maintained, regardless of whether the number of seats go up or not Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin (From right) Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy, Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, CM M K Stalin, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, and BRS working president K T Rama Rao, along with other JAC members in Chennai | PTI K E z h i l a r a s a n @ Chennai The first Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting on delimitation convened by DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution demanding that the freeze on the parliamentary constituencies based on the 1971 Census population be extended by another 25 years as it was done in 2001. The meeting in which Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, his Telangana and Punjab counterparts, Revanth Reddy and Bhagwant Mann, Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, and around 20 other leaders of different parties from six states took part, also laid a road map for taking forward the fight legally and politically . The resolution pointed out that the 42nd, 84th, and 87th constitutional amendments, which delayed populationbased delimitation at various points in the past, were to protect/incentivise states that had implemented population control measures effectively . It said there is a need to extend the freeze by another 25 years since the goal of national population stabilisation has not been achieved yet. Saying that the states whose population share came down due to the population control SC team visits Manipur, asks people to hold on to hope P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati A delegation of Supreme Court judges led by Justice B R Gavai visited Manipur on Saturday and expressed hope that peace will return to the state roiled by ethnic violence sooner rather than later. “We know that all of you are going through a difficult phase. But with the assistance of everyone — the executive, the legislature and the judiciary — this phase will be over within a short period,” Justice Gavai told a gathering in Churachandpur. “It is our Constitution that has kept us united and strong. Have faith in our Constitution. The Constitution will ensure that peace returns to Manipur one day he said. Justice Gavai, ,” who is the executive chairman of the National Legal Services Authority added, “Our Consti, tution aims at justice — social, economic and political. The Constitution aims for all citizens in the country to have access to justice in a speedy manner and at an affordable rate.” YSRCP chief skips meet, writes to PM DMK raises emotional issues eyeing polls: FM Vijayawada: YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who skipped the first Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting, shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging that the upcoming delimitation exercise be conducted without reducing any State’s representation in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha | P4 Chennai: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday charged the DMK with raising “emotional” issues like alleged Hindi imposition and delimitation as the Dravidian party has nothing to showcase as its achievements before the voters during the next year’s Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu programme should not be penalised, the resolution also urged the union government to enact necessary constitutional amendments for this purpose. The JAC expressed concern on the alleged lack of transparency and clarity in the impending delimitation exercise from the union government and the absence of consultation with various stakeholders. It appreciated CM Stalin for taking up this initiative to “safeguard the political and economic future of the performing states in India,” a release from the state government later said. “Any delimitation exercise carried out by the union government to improve the content and character of democracy should be carried out transparently, enabling political parties of all the states, state governments and other stakeholders to deliberate, discuss and contribute to it,” the resolution said. It said a core committee consisting of MPs from the represented states will coordinate parliamentary strategies to counter any attempts by the union government to undertake a delimitation exercise contrary to the principles articulated by the JAC. The committee will submit a joint representation to the PM during the ongoing parliamentary session. It was also decided that the parties taking part in the meeting would initiate efforts to bring appropriate resolutions in their respective Legislative Assemblies in this regard. Telangana CM Revanth Reddy proposed that the next meeting of the JAC be conducted in P5 Hyderabad. express read Rioters could face bulldozer action: CM Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis warned of bulldozer action against the Nagpur rioters if they fail to pay the damages incurred during the recent communal riots. It flew in the face of a Supreme Court ruling in November last year that demolishing properties solely because occupants are accused, without due process, is unconstitutional. Rushikonda Beach regains Blue Flag Visakhapatnam: Rushikonda Beach, one of Visakhapatnam’s prominent tourist destinations, has regained its Blue Flag certification following the lifting of a temporary suspension. The Blue Flag certification, known for its stringent environmental, safety, and cleanliness standards, was officially reinstated by Blue Flag India on Saturday | P4 Sensitisation Mind your language on jumbos, media urged E J AZ K AIS E R @ Raipur In their race for sensational news to grab viewed eyeballs, certain media organisations tend to go overboard, using inappropriate adjectives for human-animal conflicts. Take elephants. Some media persons in the Hindi heartland dramatise reportage on their conflict with humans by describing the gentle giants as aatanki (terrorist), utpaati (oppressor), hatyaara (murderer), hinsak (violent), pagal (mad), bigdail (spoilt), gussail (irascible) and ziddi (stubborn). It disturbed the Chhattisgarh Forest Department enough to issue an advisory expressing their dismay over the frequent use of such inappropriate words. Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Prem Kumar said such metaphors strike fear among the people and create a ne gative perception about the pachyderms. Chhattisgarh is the first state to voice concerns about the use of such negative language for elephants in news reports about animals wreaking havoc on agricultural fields and rampaging through areas populated by humans. The forest department’s plea for toning down the rhetoric against elephants comes at a time when concerns about human-animal conflict remain high. Elephants are described as a “keystone species” and “ecosystem engineers”, thanks to the key role they play in maintaining the ecological balance in forests. CHIEF Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Saturday constituted a three-member committee to probe into the allegations of illegal cash stash in the house of Justice Yashwant Varma, a Delhi High Court judge. The CJI constituted the committee after receiving a report from Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, in the matter. The CJI had on Friday directed Justice Upadhyaya to initiate an in-house enquiry into the allegations. Besides, the CJI is exploring the possibility of Justice Varma’s transfer. Later in the day the Supreme , Court released 25 pages of documents, including the response of Justice Varma, the Delhi HC Chief Justice Upadhyaya’s recommendation for a probe to the CJI, photos and the fire depart- ment’s video purportedly showing what appeared to be partially burnt currency notes. Justice Upadhyaya’s letter says since the room that caught fire on March 15 was cleaned up the next day, “I am of the prima facie opinion that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe” because no outsider had access to it. For his part, Justice Varma claimed he had no access to the room that was unlocked and outside his dwelling. The panel constituted by the CJI comprises Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana, Justice G S Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Justice Anu Sivaraman, judge of the Karnataka High Court. The Delhi CJ has been asked not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma, as per a Supreme Court release. WITH THIS ISSUE The Ugly Indian Tourist PLUS 12 PAGES Ambedkar statue desecrated, CM directs DGP to nab culprits E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Rajamahendravaram\Vijayawada Unidentified miscreants desecrated the statue of BR Ambedkar at Dubacherla village in Nallajerla mandal of Gopalapuram Assembly constituency late Friday night. Condemning the desecration of the statue, various Dalit organisations staged a protest on Saturday and demanded strin, gent action against the culprits. They disrupted the vehicular traffic on the national highway for sometime. Having learnt about the incident, Gopalapuram TDP MLA M Venkata Raju and former minister Taneti Vanitha rushed to the village, and registered their protest. Kovvur DSP Deva Kumar A protest being staged at Ambedkar statue in Dubacherla | Express reached the spot, and pacified the leaders of Dalit organisations, assuring that the culprits would be arrested soon. Tension prevailed in the village for some time. Kula Vimochana Porata Samithi also demanded the arrest of the desecrators. A police picket was set up at the Ambedkar statue to thwart any protests. East Godavari district SP D Narasimha Kishore warned that stern action will be taken against mischief mongers if they spread hatred on social media platforms. Condemning the desecration of Ambedkar statue, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed Director General of Police Harish Kumar Gupta to take stringent action against the culprits. The Chief Minister spoke to the DGP and other higher police officials, and asked them to thwart the evil designs of mischief mongers to disturb peace in the State. He instructed the police officials to ensure that desecration of statues of national leaders do not recur in the future. P4