HYDERABAD l Thursday l December 25, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late cITY EDITION Bharti, Warburg Pincus buy 49% stake in Haier India for $2 bn Bharti Enterprises and Warburg Pincus said in a statement on Wednesday that they are making a strategic investment in Haier India Management control in Chinese hands Reliance, jsw group were in the fray The management control will continue to remain with China-based Haier Group, which will retain 49% stake in Haier India after the deal, down from 100%. The deal may provide reprieve from Press Note 3. Through PN3, the Centre had made its prior approval mandatory for investments from countries that share a land border with India, which includes China ■ ■ The announcement puts a curtain on a hotly contested race in which JSW group and Reliance Industries were participating | p10 The new capital infusion is expected to enhance Haier India’s competitiveness at a time when the company is aiming to be the number two player in the Indian electronics and appliances market `17,955 cr the size of the deal as per industry sources 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 Two new airlines get wings from govt S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi AIR travellers are set to have more options as three new domestic airlines prepare to launch operations. Two carriers—Al Hind Air and FlyExpress—received their No Objection Certificates from the civil aviation ministry this week, while Uttar Pradesh-based Shankh Air, which already has an NOC, is likely to begin flights in 2026. The development gains significance following IndiGo’s operational meltdown in early December, which drew sharp criticism over the appar- Isro launches heaviest satellite B o s k y K h a n n a @ Bengaluru The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday launched the 6.1-tonne BlueBird Block-2 communications satellite, the heaviest it has launched to date. Isro’s Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3)-M6 rocket, nicknamed ‘Bahubali’, lifted off with the satellite belonging to US-based AST SpaceMobile (AST and Science, LLC) and released it accurately into the 518.50 km altitude circular Low Earth Orbit. The launch took place at 8.55 am and the satellite was released into its orbit at 9.11 am in what ISRO scientists described as a case of “textbook launch”. Till now, the heaviest satellite that ISRO had launched was the 4.40-tonne Communication Satellite 03, also known as GSAT-7R on November 2. The LVM3M6/BlueBird Block-2 Mission was executed from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. The launch was the result of a commercial deal between ISRO’s business arm NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) and US-based AST SpaceMobile. ent duopoly in India’s domestic aviation market. The aviation ministry is keen to have more airline operators in the country, which is one of the world’s fastest growing domestic civil aviation markets. “Over the last one week, pleased to have met teams from new airlines aspiring to take wings in Indian skies — Shankh Air, Al Hind Air and F lyExpress. While Shankh Air has already got the NOC from the Ministry Al Hind , Air and FlyExpress have received their NOCs this week,” Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on X. The ministry wants to encourage more airlines in the Indian aviation sector, which is amongst the fastest growing international aviation markets. Over the last one week, pleased to have met teams from new airlines aspiring to take wings in Indian skies — Shankh Air, Al Hind Air and FlyExpress —Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on X To challenge Sengar’s bail Meets Rahul, gets promise of top lawyer Unnao survivor to approach SC seeking justice safe? For us, this decision is no less than kaal,” she said. A day after the Delhi High In its order on Tuesday, the Court suspended the life sen- HC granted bail to Sengar with tence awarded by a trial court conditions. It directed him not to former BJP MLA Kuldeep to come within a 5-km radius Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao of the survivor’s residence. rape case, the survivor on Sengar, who is currently in jail, Wednesday said she would will not be immediately remove the Supreme Court. leased as he is also serving a 10On Wednesday, she and her year term in the custodial mother staged a protest death case of the survinear Mandi House vor’s father. He is yet to against the HC verdict. get bail in that case. Earlier in the day, the The survivor was a miWe will go to duo met Congress lead- the Supreme nor when she was kiders Rahul Gandhi and napped and raped by Court and Sonia Gandhi after alleg- have sought Sengar in 2017. ing ill-treatment by Delhi Rahulji’s help Deploring the alleged Police. On Tuesday night, ill treatment meted out Unnao rape the survivor and her to the survivor during survivor mother were reportedly her protest in Delhi, Raforcefully removed by pohul Gandhi said she is lice from a protest site near In- being punished for seeking jusdia Gate. tice. “Is such treatment of a Speaking to the media, she gang-rape survivor approprisaid no one from the govern- ate? The fact that her perpetrament came forward to help her tor has been granted bail is exwhile Rahul Gandhi promised tremely disappointing and to get a top lawyer to fight the shameful—especially when the case in the Supreme Court. survivor is being repeatedly The survivor said the HC’s harassed and is living under decision to suspend Sengar’s the shadow of fear,” he said in jail term is kaal (death) for her a social media post. “Bail for family “If the convict gets bail rapists and treating survivors . in a case like this, how will the like criminals—what kind of country’s daughters remain justice is this?” he asked. @ Hyderabad The Miyapur police, along with the Special Operations Team (SOT), Shamshabad, arrested 11 members of an interstate human trafficking gang and rescued two newborns, both aged 10 days. Police said the accused allegedly purchased babies for amounts ranging between `3 lakh and `4 lakh and sold them for `6 lakh to `7 lakh, depending on demand. The arrested accused were identified as Vemula Babu Reddy (49), Venkipally Gangadhar Reddy (39), Daram Laxmi (28), Ram Hari Roy (37), Kummari Harsha Roy (31), Sangeeta Debi (33), Gudepu Sujatha (40), Suraboina Anuradha (55), Esarapu Jyothi (35), V Madhavi (28) and Pothula Sobha (44). Madhapur DCP Ritiraj said that Harsha Roy was also accused in the Srushti surrogacy and baby-selling racket — in which about 50 couples were cheated — and had resumed his activities after securing bail. One of the rescued infants If I start using similar language, KCR will hang himself at Ranganayakasagar or jump into Mallannasagar @ Hyderabad P REETHA NAIR @ New Delhi was from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, while the other was from Siddipet district. Police said the gang targeted vulnerable families, identified pregnant women, and entered into illegal agreements for the sale of newborns. According to the DCP the ac, cused operated as an organised network. They allegedly identified poor families across different parts of the country who were unable to meet basic needs and induced them to sell their infants by offering money. The babies were then sold to affluent childless couples through a chain of middlemen. Vemula Babu Reddy, a resident of Dammaiguda in Kapra, works as an IVF agent. He was previously arrested in cases registered by the Alwal police and the Devarakonda police in Suryapet district. Gangadhar Reddy a resident , of Mettugadda and native of East Godavari district, is reportedly involved in 18 cases across the Cyberabad, Rachakonda and Hyderabad commissionerates.  continued on p5 Won’t allow Kalvakuntla family to return to power, vows Revanth Express News Service File photo of Kuldeep Singh Sengar being taken away from the CBI court in Lucknow on April 14, 2018 | pti Survivor seeks relocation to a Congress-ruled state Sources said the Unnao rape survivor told Rahul and Sonia Gandhi that she, along with her family, would like to relocate to a Congress-ruled state as they fear persecution in Uttar Pradesh. The Gandhis assured her family that they will do everything in their capacity to ensure that they get justice and security, sources said We may be turning into a dead society, says Rahul Deploring the ill-treatment meted out to the rape survivor during her protest in Delhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said she deserves respect, safety and justice. “We are not just becoming a dead economy—with such inhuman incidents, we are also turning into a dead society,” he said Baby trafficking gang held; 10-day-old infants rescued C h i t h a lu r i R eva n t h Al Hind Air is being promoted by Kerala-based Alhind Group, which was founded in the 1990s. Schemes like UDAN have enabled smaller carriers Star Air, IndiaOne Air and Fly91 to play an important role in the regional connectivity within the country and there is scope for further growth, he added. Currently there are nine oper, ational domestic carriers in the country: Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Alliance Air, Akasa Air, SpiceJet, Star Air, Fly91 and IndiaOne Air, as per data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Vowing to never allow the Kalvakuntla family to return to power in the state as long as he remained in politics, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday launched a blistering counter to BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao’s remarks against him. Responding to KCR’s remark, “toolu teesta” (I will flay you alive), the chief minister said that if he started using similar language, the BRS chief would take the extreme step of hanging himself at Ranganayakasagar or jumping into Mallannasagar. Asserting that he would ensure the Congress retains power in the next election with about 80% of the seats, Revanth thundered: “This is our challenge. As long as I am in politics, I will A Revanth Reddy, chief minister not allow the Kalvakuntla family to come to power again. This is my vow. There is no future for the BRS.” “In the next elections, if the seats are 119, Congress will win about 80 seats. If the seats increase to 153, then Congress will come to power again with about 100 seats,” the chief minister promised. Addressing the gathering after felicitating newly elected sarpanches from Kodangal constituency at Kosgi in Narayanapet mandal, Revanth thundered: “KCR said that he will remove my skin. Newly elected sarpanches are here. Come... ‘with Congress’, proclaims Danam E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad Barely days after Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar dismissed disqualification petitions in five of the 10 alleged defection cases, one of the MLAs facing such proceedings, Danam Nagender, on Wednesday said that he was with the Congress. Nagender’s position is strikingly different from that taken by the other MLAs who maintain that they continue to belong to the BRS. In response to a question by the media during a visit to his Khairatabad Assembly constituency, Nagender said: “I affirmed that I am in Congress.” Replying to a question on the prospects of political parties in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, he said it was his practice to lead whichever party he aligned with to victory . The Speaker, acting as a tribunal under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, recently delivered orders on disqualification petitions linked to the alleged defections, dismissing five of them. Nagender’s case is pending before the Speaker. It may be mentioned here that Nagender had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket, despite having been elected to the Assembly on a BRS ticket. E x p r ess Re a d Gig workers flash strike on Christmas, New Year brothers in arms Ending a 20-year political feud, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS president Raj Thackeray forged an alliance on Wednesday for BMC polls | pti | P8 Hyderabad: Delivery workers affiliated with major e-commerce and food delivery platforms will go on a nationwide flash strike — with employees of each platform like Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, Blinkit, Amazon and Flipkart not working for two hours — on Christmas (Dec 25) and New Year’s Eve (Dec 31) to protest “declining working conditions” | p2 No fresh leases allowed for mining in the Aravallis J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi THE Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has directed states to completely ban new mining leases in the Aravalli Range, stretching from Delhi to Gujarat, to save them from unbridled mining activities. The move follows reports that the Central Empowered Committee — established by the Supreme Court in 2002 and reconstituted in December 2023 — had contradicted a government-headed committee’s recommendations on definition of the Aravallis. The controversy centers around the Supreme Court accepting an Environment Ministry committee’s not only will they remove your skin, they will tie you up and beat you at Chintamadaka. Come… will you come to Kodangal or should I send the sarpanches to Chintamadaka?” Targeting BRS working president KT Rama Rao, Revanth pointed out that the BRS leader returned from the USA, where he cleaned utensils, and became a minister by using his father’s name. “I come from a farming community and a small village. I did not do passport broker business like them. I never cheated anyone by saying I would send them to Dubai,” he added.  continued on P4 p ro p o s a l t h at l a n d fo r m s over 100 metres constitute “Aravalli hills”. Critics argue this new defin i t i o n i n c re a s e s t h e range’s vulnerability to mining. It is also believed the Forest Survey of India and the SC’s amicus curiae had opposed this definition. Despite this, the Supreme Court accepted the ministry’s 100-metre proposal on November 20. The Ministry has now asked the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education to identify additional no-mining zones and preparing a management plan for “sustainable mining. Senior Cong ress leader Jairam Ramesh said the Centre “is misleading the public.” Vijay Hazare trophy For the record, this is big On any other day former India captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli scoring hundreds in Vijay Hazare ties would have been the talking points. But not on Wednesday as three of the four fastest List A tons were scored 22 centuries As many as 22 centuries were scored on Day 1, the most in VH history. Previously, 19 tons were scored on Dec 12, 2021 and Jan 3, 2025 38 Total sixes Hit by Bihar is by far the most in a men’s List A innings as they posted 574/6, the highest ever List A total fastest hundreds Ishan Kishan followed his T20 World Cup callup with a 33ball 100 against Karnataka as Jharkhand post 412. Karnataka raced to a five-wicket win. Sensational Vaibhav Suryawanshi hit a 36-ball 100 against Arunachal Pradesh. But his teammate Sakibul Gani eclipsed all with a 32-ball 100 to help Bihar post 574 for 6 14 yr, 272 days Suryawanshi became the youngest to score a List A hundred