HYDERABAD l Thursday l February 12, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE CITY EDITION SC asks Centre to file report on Air India plane crash probe The Supreme Court asked the Centre on Wednesday to file a brief report on the procedural protocol followed so far in the investigation probe by AAIB nearing its end, Govt tells SC Court gives three-week deadline Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that a fact-finding inquiry by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) is currently underway in accordance with international commitments and is likely to be completed in three weeks. The bench was hearing three petitions seeking an independent, court-monitored investigation into the crash ■ ■ Mehta urged a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that the three pleas be listed after three weeks “Let us see the result of the AAIB probe and then we will see whether a court of inquiry will be needed or not,” the CJI said and fixed the pleas for hearing after three weeks | P7 June 12, 2025 when Air India flight to London crashed in Ahmedabad 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 press Intake Govt taking steps to stop caste-based discrimination in edu: Minister | P7 All 6 stanzas of Vande Mataram must be sung before National Anthem, says MHA | P7 IAF to recreate Op Sindoor-style precision targeting near Pakistan border | P7 Sunetra Pawar meets Amit Shah amid NCP merger talks | P8 Mamata only chief minister to move SC against govt staff: Bhupendra | P8 superB two super overs decide afghan-sa tie The first tied match of T20 WC needed two overs after stunning display of pulsating comebacks by both teams. In the end, SA won by 4 runs I P11 Today’s matches 11am: Sri Lanka vs Oman (Pallekele), 3pm: Italy vs Nepal (Mumbai), 7pm: India vs Namibia (New Delhi) U nion B udg e t d e bat e States to get Bharat Mata over `25 lakh has been cr in FY27: FM sold: Rahul P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi Pr e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday rejected allegations levelled by several Opposition-ruled states that the Centre was not transferring states’ share from the divisible pool of taxes. The Union finance minister, in her reply to the Budget discussion in the Lok Sabha, said that the Centre has transferred the full 41% share of divisible taxes to the states as mandated by the Finance Commission. “The states should check if the entire net proceeds, which form the divisible pool, i.e., removing cess and surcharge from gross tax revenue, are received by them. There is no need to discuss the gross tax revenue,” the minister said. The finance minister said the Centre has allocated `25.44 lakh crore to states in FY27. “This much money will go to the states. This entails an increase of `2.70 lakh crore from FY26,” Sitharaman said. Commenting on the transfer of cess and surcharges, she clarified that these are collected for a purpose and if states can come up with proposals on health, education and roadways, they will get the funds. “Cess and surcharge collected by the Centre are given to the states for development work in various sectors. This is separate from the 41% of funds allocated to the states.” Debunking allegations that the government was not approving credits to the states, the finance minister stated the total credit has grown 13.8% in the current financial year. She pointed out that headline capital expenditure stands at `12.2 lakh crore while the effective capital expenditure, including grants to states, totals `17.1 lakh crore, amounting to 4.4% of the GDP . The FM said the government has envisaged a total expenditure of `53.47 lakh crore for the next financial year, up 7.7% from the current fiscal ending March 31. According to the revised estimate, the budget size for FY26 is `49.64 lakh crore. After being repeatedly blocked from quoting ex-Army Chief General M M Naravane’s unpublished memoir in the Lok Sabha last week, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday mounted a sharp attack on the government over the India-US trade deal framework, accusing the Modi administration of having “sold off the nation” and terming it as a “wholesale surrender”. Participating in the debate on the Union Budget, Rahul said he does not believe that any Indian PM, including Narendra Modi, would agree to such a deal unless there is a “chokehold” on him. “Why has he sold India? Because the US are choking him. They have a grip on his neck.” Rahul asserted that the The govt has trade agreement had un- given up control dermined farmers’ inter- over digital trade ests, destroyed the textile rules, removed sector, and handed India’s data localisation, energy security to the US. allowed free flow Calling it a surrender of of data to the US, limited digital the future of 1.5 billion tax, waived Indians, he said it was source code driven by the need to prodisclosure, and tect the BJP’s financial offered 20-yr tax architecture, which he holidays to big tech firms said is facing scrutiny in the US. “The US will deRahul Gandhi cide who we buy oil from. They will monitor.” He accused the Centre of opening the door to mechanised American farms, thereby crushing India’s small farmers, and called the move disgraceful, saying that no PM before him had done such a thing, nor would any after him. “How can you come to this House and defend this? Are you not ashamed of what you are giving away? Are you not ashamed of selling India? You have sold our mother — Bharat Mata?” he said. The House saw heated exchanges after Rahul referred to Union minister Hardeep Puri and industrialist Anil Ambani in connection with mentions in the Epstein files. HARD TALK 1 Lighting into LoP Rahul Gandhi, the FM said it was the UPA govt that “sold” the interests of farmers to the WTO 2 The FM also raised the 2009 Sharm el-Sheikh jt statement that diluted India’s position on sovereignty and security while dealing with Pakistan 3 Dismissing concerns over AI and data expressed by Rahul, the FM said the govt is incentivising setting up of cloud and data centres in India 4 On concerns expressed by Oppn over food security, the FM said `2.27 lakh cr has been allocated for food subsidy charges baseless: Puri Dismissing Rahul’s allegations as baseless, Union minister Hardeep Puri said, “He has a habit of making baseless allegations and lying.” Puri said he had met Epstein only a few times as part of an official delegation and had exchanged just one email with him. He added that he had limited interactions with Epstein and had no connection whatsoever to the crimes later associated with him | P7 Hopes, apprehensions as B’desh goes to polls B angladesh heads to the polls on Thursday under an unprecedented political landscape, following the exit of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina after a mass upsurge in 2024. The election is set to be a unique experience for voters. Alongside electing members of parliament, citizens will also vote in a referendum on constitutional reforms. The main contest is between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. The new National Citizen Party (NCP), which emerged from With the Awami League the mass movement against out, many believed BNP Hasina, joined the race as would secure a comfortable part of an 11-party alliance majority. But Jamaat’s rewith Jamaat. The BNP a sea, newed presence has altered soned force with past stints the electoral arithmetic, raisin power, was expected to ing the prospect of a close dominate in the absence of Bayezid Milky fight. The NCP despite lead, the Awami League. Senior journalist based ing the anti-Hasina drive, in Dhaka However, Jamaat claims it has struggled to maintain its has built a strong base and is momentum. It is contesting now a formidable challenger. In pre- just 30 out of 300 parliamentary seats vious polls, Jamaat’s support hovered under its alliance with Jamaat. In all, below 10% and BNP over 30%. around 50 parties are in the contest. Over 73% vote in civic body polls E x p r e ss N e w s S e rv i c e @ Hyderabad Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy casts his vote at a polling station in Kodangal on Wednesday Polling for elections to 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations across Telangana concluded largely peacefully on Wednesday bar, ring sporadic minor incidents in a few urban local bodies, amid tight security arrangements. A total of 10,719 candidates contested for ward posts in 116 municipalities, while 2,225 candidates were in the fray for wards in seven municipal corporations. Of the 52,17,413 registered voters, 38,09,406 exercised their franchise, recording an overall turnout of 73.01%. The voters included 18,51,829 men, 19,57,226 women and 351 others. Polling began at 7 am and gathered momentum through the day. Voter turnout stood at 11.6% by 9 am, rising to 28.48% by 11 am, 48.54% by 1 pm, 62.09% by 3 pm and 73.01% by 5 pm, according to the State Election Commission (SEC). Voters who were in queues at 5 pm were allowed to cast their votes, in line with election guidelines.  continued on P4 Hyderabad Zones: 6 | Circles: 30 | Wards: 150 Malkajgiri n  Shamshabad: 17 wards n  Rajendranagar: 29 wards Zones: 3 n  Charminar: 25 wards n  Golconda: 26 wards Circles: 14 n  Khairatabad: 25 wards n  Secunderabad: 28 wards Wards: 74 n Malkajgiri: Cyberabad 26 wards Zones: 3 | Circles: 16 | Wards: 76 n Uppal: n  Serilingampally: 26 wards 24 wards n  Kukatpally: 23 wards n Nagar: LB n  Quthbullapur: 27 wards 24 wards Govt trifurcates GHMC, says it’s a CURE for all of city’s ills cession and a common seal. The move follows the recent expanA day after the five-year term of the sion of GHMC’s jurisdiction from GHMC Council ended on Tuesday the about 650 sq km to 2,053 sq km after the , state government formally remerger of 27 peripheral Urban organised the Core Urban ReLocal Bodies, including 20 muWater Board gion (CURE) by trifurcating too reorganised nicipalities and seven municithe expanded Greater Hyderapal corporations, located withThe state govt bad Municipal Corporation in and beyond the Outer Ring has extended into three separate municipal Road (ORR). Alongside this exthe jurisdiction corporations, saying that it pansion, the number of wards of the HMWSSB would help deliver services to to cover the Core was doubled from 150 to 300. citizens more efficiently . With the expiry of the Urban Region and Through a series of GOs is- reorganised it into GHMC Council’s term, the sued on Wednesday morning, three regional units special officer rule came into the government announced force on Wednesday. Special to manage the the creation of three inde- expanded city | P3 Chief Secretary to the Municpendent civic bodies — the ipal Administration and UrGreater Hyderabad Municipal Corpo- ban Development Department, Jayesh ration (GHMC), Cyberabad Municipal Ranjan, was appointed special officer Corporation (CMC) and Malkajgiri for all three municipal corporations, Municipal Corporation (MMC). as per a separate GO signed by Chief Each will function as a separate Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao. Jayesh body under the provisions of the Ranjan assumed charge on Wednesday Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corpo- by visiting the GHMC, CMC and MMC ration Act, 1955, with perpetual suc- offices.  Continued on p3 S B a c h a n J e e t S i n g h @ Hyderabad CM discusses Cabinet rejig with Kharge M AN D A R A V IN D E R R E D D Y @ Hyderabad Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday discussed a possible Cabinet reshuffle, including changes in portfolios, with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge when he called on the latter in Delhi on Wednesday . Sources said the chief minister is keen to fill the two vacant Cabinet berths. According to sources, the induction of another member into the state Cabinet, taking social equations into account, was part of the discussions. Sources said Kharge sought details about reported differences among ministers and complaints received against some of them from state party leaders. Revanth reportedly explained the situation regarding these differences. During the CM’s visit to Davos, the AICC leadership had also discussed these issues with TPCC chief B Mahesh Kumar Goud in Delhi. Revanth also briefed Kharge on the results of the recently concluded panchayat polls and trends in the municipal polls. He is likely to meet Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and other Congress leaders.