HYDERABAD  THURSDAY  FEBRUARY 01, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION CORE SECTOR GROWTH SLOWS TO 14-MONTH LOW IN DECEMBER 2023 Growth of eight key infrastructure industries slipped to 3.8% due to poor performance of crude oil, electricity, steel and cement sectors LAST REPORTED LOW WAS 0.9% IN OCTOBER ’22 INDUSTRIAL GROWTH RATE MAY SLOW DOWN For December 2022, the growth of the eight core sectors was 7.4%. The last time the growth was so bad was in October 2022, at 0.9%. The eight core sectors are cement, coal, crude oil, electricity, fertilisers, natural gas, refinery products and steel. The cumulative growth of the key sectors during April-December 2023 was flat at 8.1% versus 8% a year ago ■ ■ Crude oil production in December 2023 witnessed a decline of 1% compared to December 2022. The other seven sectors grew but at a slow pace. The eight core industries’ numbers are significant as they carry a 40.27% weight in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) Slow core sector growth means industrial growth may power down 1-3% ICRA PROJECTION ON INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION EXPANSION IN DEC 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 Soren held, new Soren to be CM Veteran JMM leader and state transport minister Champai Soren set to become the new Jharkhand chief minister M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren in connection with a money laundering case, after questioning him for over seven hours at his Ranchi residence. Before the arrest, Soren tendered his resignation to Governor C P Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan, from where he was taken to the ED office for further questioning. He is likely to be produced in court on Thursday . ED sources said Soren was arrested after the sleuths felt he was not cooperating with the investigation and was evasive in his replies. After Soren’s resignation, veteran JMM leader and Jharkhand transport minister Champai Soren met the gover- PS purge: 85 Punjagutta personnel transferred Hemant Soren gestures as he leaves for Raj Bhavan; Champai Soren | PTI High Court to hear Soren’s plea against ED today Hemant Soren has moved the Jharkhand HC challenging ED summons, alleging that the agency is misusing its powers. Citing an SC order, the plea also says ED cannot arrest anyone on the basis of ‘not cooperating in the investigation’. The case will be heard at 10:30 am on Thursday nor and staked claim to form the new government in the state. He also handed over the letters of support signed by 47 MLAs to the governor. Significantly the MLAs who , had accompanied Champai Soren were not allowed inside Raj Bhawan. With Champai Soren set to CM calls for future-ready fixes to manage city traffic P R I YA R AT H N A M @ Hyderabad IN an unprecedented move, Hyderabad Commissioner of Police (CP) Kothakota Sreenivasa Reddy ordered the transfer of 85 of the 130 police personnel, ranging from subinspectors to constables, from the Punjagutta police station on Wednesday . The transfers follow a string of incidents, including the leak of sensitive information and the escape of Raheel, the son of for mer BRS MLA Aamir Shakil, from custody. Ironically, the police station had previously received an award for the prompt disposal of cases and the provision of efficient public services. While KS Reddy was reportedly frustrated with the handling of several cases by the police personnel at Punjagutta station, sources said the incident that alarmed him the most was that of inspector B Durga Rao allegedly aiding Raheel’s escape after the accident and framing another person as the culprit. DCP (West Zone) SM Vijay Kumar said, “Inspector Shoban, formerly with the CP office, has been appointed as the new station house officer. The decision to transfer the officers was based on reports highlighting administrative concerns and their involvement in activities disrupting efficient operations. This move aims to restore order, address security concerns and enhance policing for improved public CONTINUED ON P5 service.” become the next chief minister, this would be for the first time that power will shift out of the Shibu Soren family . Till evening, the expectation among party circles was that Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana would be picked as the next CM. Party sources said rebellion by some JMM members including MLA Sita Soren, the elder daughter-in-law of party chief Shibu Soren, forced the party to choose another name. Another reason cited is that there could be legal complications because the state is headed for Assembly polls in just about one year and by-elections can’t be conducted if an assembly seat falls vacant in that period. Therefore, Kalpana Soren may not be able to contest from the Gandey Assembly seat which fell vacant on December 31 due to legal hurdles. The Hitec City to JNTU road chock-a-block with vehicles on Wednesday | VINAY MADAPU E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad IN a bid to address frequent traffic snarls in the city, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday directed officials to prepare a comprehensive plan for traffic regulation, taking into consideration the future needs of Hyderabad. He also told them to hire consultancies and conduct a study on city traffic during a review meeting with police and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials. Directing the police to accord top priority to resolving traffic problems in GHMC limits, the chief minister instructed them to recruit adequate number of home guards within three months to regulate traffic. Deadline extension The government extended the deadline for availing discounts on pending traffic challans until Feb 15. Initially set to expire on January 31, the cut-off date was extended as only 40% of challans were cleared Revanth also suggested that home guards, currently working in various police wings, be shifted back to the traffic wing and their services utilised for traffic regulation. He recommended utilising law-and-order police during peak hours for traffic management. Existing traffic police stations would be upgraded and the required number of staff would be posted by reorganising the traffic police stations in Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda commissionerates, the chief minister said. He discouraged excessive reliance on automatic signal systems and directed the deployment of sub-inspectors and constables on two-wheelers to monitor traffic during peak hours. CONTINUED ON P4 3 hurt in another hit-and-run case in J Hills E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad IN another hit-and-run case, one person sustained grievous injuries while two others were hurt after a speeding car rammed two motorcycles on Road No. 36 in front of Centro Grande in Jubilee Hills on Wednesday evening. The injured persons — siblings Uday and Sweety and an unidentified person , — were taken to a nearby hospital. A case has been registered against the car driver. The mishap took place just a few metres away from Peddamma temple where a bouncer, who was riding a twowheeler, was killed after being knocked down while his friend sustained injuries in a drunk-driving incident on January 24. Brakes or stoning? Rahul Gandhi’s car damaged P R A N A B M O N D A L @ Kolkata THE rear windshield of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s car was shattered on Wednesday near the Bihar-Bengal border during the second phase of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. While the party attributed it to the application of sudden brakes, Congress’ West Bengal unit president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury blamed it on stone pelting. He was in the car when the incident happened. No one was injured. The yatra entered West Bengal’s Malda district on the same day when the state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was addressing a gathering and blaming the CPI(M) for bitter The broken rear windshield of Rahul’s car in Malda | PTI The car entered West Bengal with the glass already broken. I condemn the attack Mamata Banerjee, WB CM relations between her party and the Congress. Rahul’s yatra arrived at Harishchandrapur in Malda af- ter a road show in Katihar, Bihar. After travelling for 38 kms in the car with a broken windscreen, Rahul got down at the designated spot and inspected the car. The West Bengal police claimed the car’s windscreen was smashed in Bihar’s Katihar. “Rahul was travelling in a bus. As part of the party’s protocol, the state heads of the party exchanged party flag on the rooftop of the bus because of hundreds of supporters assembled there. After reaching Bengal, Rahul boarded the car as the road was narrow and the damaged rear windscreen was noticed,” said an officer of Malda district police. Different strokes from Didi, Cong While Mamata claimed the incident occured in Bihar, the Congress, in a post on its official X handle, said it happened in Malda but because brakes had to be applied as a woman had come in front of the car Champai Soren is a senior JMM leader, popularly known as Jharkhand Tiger. He is also the party vice-president. Champai Soren has been an associate of JMM patriarch Shibu Soren and has also supported him in the Jharkhand movement. Champai enjoys a high stature in the party and Hemant Soren has been seen touching his feet and taking blessings even on public platforms. Born on 15 September 1978, Champai Soren spent his childhood in Dumka and completed his schooling from a government school. He started his political career after being elected as an Independent MLA in the by-election from Seraikela Assembly seat. Champai was also a Cabinet minister in the Arjun Munda-led BJP-JMM-AJSU government from September 2010 to January 2013. PREZ HAILS BIG-TICKET REFORMS President Murmu lauds major reforms by the govt in the last 10 years, hails building of Ram temple in Ayodhya | P7 Court allows worship of deities in southern cellar of the Gyanvapi N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow THE Gyanvapi case took a dramatic turn on Wednesday with a Varanasi court allowing worship of deities inside the southern cellar of the mosque by priests named by the Shree Kashi Vishwanath temple trust (SKVTT) board. District Judge Ajay Krishna Vishvesha passed the order while disposing a plea by Shailendra Kumar Pathak Vyas, the head priest of the Acharya Ved Vyas Peeth temple, seeking the right to worship Goddess Shringar Gauri and other visible and invisible deities in the cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque. The judge directed the administration to make adequate arrangements for starting the puja within seven days. The court posted the matter for next hearing on February 8 and asked the parties concerned to file their objections to the order by then. On January 17, the Varanasi District Magistrate was appointed receiver of the cellar by the district court. He took possession on January 23. Supreme Court lawyer Vish- The Gyanvapi Mosque complex as seen from the Kashi Vishwanath Temple | PTI nu Shankar Jain, who represented Vyas in the case, said: “The court has ordered district magistrate/receiver to ensure regular worship of idols inside the southern cellar of the property in dispute (settlement plot 9130) by plaintiff and priest assigned by SKVTT board. The order further stated that necessary arrangements in steel fencing around the cellar should be made within seven days.” Akhlaque Ahmed, the lawyer representing the mosque management committee, said the court issued the order overlooking their plea challenging the maintainability of the application by Vyas. “We will challenge the order in the Allahabad High Court,” he said.