tirupati l saturday l may 23, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION NCERT book row: SC Modifies ORDER blacklisting 3 ACADEMIC experts The March 11 order had directed the Centre and states to disassociate from the academicians over a controversial chapter on corruption in judiciary Michel Danino Suparna Diwakar Alok Prasanna Deletes Adverse remarks in March 11 order Observation not on individuals: Court A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi deleted the adverse remarks against Professor Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar that the academicians had deliberately misrepresented facts. It recalled its direction to blacklist the authors, saying the authorities can take an independent decision | ■ ■ The bench passed the order while hearing an application filed by the academicians, who explained that no individual had the sole say in the drafting of the content and it was a collective process The court said its observations were on the contents and not on the individuals, adding that the contents were “wholly undesirable” Centre Will not associate with the 3 experts, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told sc 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 @ New Delhi Bumper payout to help govt surmount the financial distress due to West Asia conflict B ENN KO C HUVEEDAN @ Mumbai THE Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced a bumper payout of `2.87 lakh crore to the Central government for the year ended March 2026 (FY26). The surplus for FY26, which will be transferred in FY27, is nearly 7% higher than `2.68 lakh crore for FY25 and will help the government tide over the revenue constraints due to geopolitical tensions. The latest transfer was possible due to a 21% expansion in the central bank’s balance sheet, driven by large open market operations and dollar sales during the year. “Taking into consideration the current macroeconomic factors, financial performance of the Bank and maintenance of appropriate risk buffers, the Central Board decided to transfer `1,09,379.64 crore towards the contingent risk buffer (CRB) for FY26 as against `44,861.70 crore in the previous year, and maintain the CRB at 6.5% of the balance sheet. Accordingly , it decided to transfer `2,86,588.46 crore as surplus to the government for the accounting year 2025-26,” RBI said in a statement after its board meeting chaired by Gover nor Sanjay Malhotra. This is third year in a row that RBI has transferred over `2 lakh crore to the Central government. It transferred `2.1 lakh crore in FY25. The central bank said its gross income rose 26.42% year-on-year, while expenditure before risk provisions increased 27.6%. Net income before risk provisions and transfer to statutory funds stood at `3.96 lakh crore in FY26 against `3.13 lakh crore in FY25. RBI’s balance sheet expanded 20.61% yearon-year to `91.97 lakh crore. Under the revised Economic Capital Framework adopted in 2019, RBI can maintain the CRB between 4.5% and 7.5% of the balance sheet. The central bank retained the CRB at 6.5% for the second consecutive year. The balance sheet of the bank expanded by 20.61% to `91,97,121.08 crore (`91.98 crore) as on March 31, 2026 Reserve Bank of India Surplus transfer (`crore) 2,10,874 2,68,590 2,86,588 Singapore-based low-cost carrier Scoot has announced that all its flight operations in Visakhapatnam will shift to the upcoming Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram from July 8, 2026, marking the first formal airline announcement ahead of the airport’s commercial operations. According to an advisory issued by the airline, all Scoot flights currently operating from the existing Visakhapatnam Airport (VTZ) will thereafter operate from the new greenfield airport located at Bhogapuram in Vi z i a n a g a r a m d i s t r i c t , around 50 km from Visakhapatnam city . The airline stated that its check-in counters would function from Terminal-1 of the new airport and open two-and-a-half hours prior to flight departure. Passengers have been advised to arrive at least 120 minutes before scheduled departure time to complete check-in and security procedures. The announcement assumes significance as the Bhogapuram airport project moves closer to operational readiness. In January this year, an Air India aircraft from New Delhi successfully completed the maiden trial landing at the airport. Being developed as the Alluri Sitarama Raju Greenfield International Airport, the project is expected to become the primary aviation hub for North Coastal AndP4 hra Pradesh.  S U C HITRA KALYAN M OHANT Y 57,128 99,122 30,307 87,416 Us h a P e r i @ Visakhapatnam `2.87 lakh crore Umar Khalid case sent to larger bench RBI ‘gift’ amid economic stress 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 2026-27 Bhogapuram: Commercial flight ops from July 8 express read Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government is planning sweeping reforms in the supply of medicines in hospitals to ensure transparency and efficiency | P3 The Jabalpur police took his custody and will handed him over to its Bhopal counterpart Twisha’s MP govt requests husband held 3 court to cancel high anticipatory amid high drama to Twisha’s ex-judge bail given motherin-law Giribala Singh; court issues notice Twisha’s father Navnidhi Sharma, too, moves HC seeking cancellation of Giribala’s anticipatory bail Giribala tried to tamper with evidence and obstruct police investigations, govt tells court. Says she leaked select small clips of CCTV footage on social media to tamper with evidence | Full coverage: P8 Energy projects reflect AP Brand strength: Lokesh S N a g a r a j a R a o @ Kadapa Andhra Pradesh has achieved a major milestone in its clean energy journey with the commissioning of SAEL Industries’ 600 MW AC solar power projects in Rayalaseema, one of the first large-scale renewable energy ventures completed under the State’s Integrated Clean Energy Policy 2024. The solar projects were inaugurated by HRD and IT Minister Nara Lokesh at Koduru village in Kondapuram mandal of Kadapa district on Friday . Built with an investment of nearly `3,000 crore, the twin facilities – SAEL Solar MHP1 Private Limited and SAEL Solar MHP2 Private Limited – together span over 2,400 acres and were completed in a record 11 IT Minister Nara Lokesh inaugurates the SAEL solar power projects at Koduru village in Kondapuram mandal of Kadapa district on Friday | Express months, reinforcing Andhra Pradesh’s reputation for speeddriven industrial execution and investor-friendly govern- ance. The plants house more than 12 lakh advanced TOPCon bifacial solar modules manufactured at SAEL’s facilities in “A coordinate bench cannot make strong observations and effectively unsettle the ratio of an earlier bench while sitting in equal strength. The law has often grown through reasoned differences,” the court said, adding a coordinate bench may, however, express doubt The Indian Air Force, the world’s last operator of the Jaguar strike aircraft, is facing a fresh sustainment challenge after Martin-Baker informed it that more than 250 Mk9 seats categories of critical spares Manufacturer Martin-Baker says it can for the fleet’s ejection seats no longer supply over 250 categories of can no longer be supplied. spares for the Jaguar’s ejection seats Sources in said the Mk 9 ejection seats fitted across the Jaguar fleet, including trainer parts must meet the exact devariants, are facing growing sign, material and performance obsolescence as the original specifications of the original equipment manuc o m p o n e n t s, ” a facturer (OEM) is source said. press clusive unable to meet a Mk 9’s seat lacks substantial portion automatic ejection o f t h e I A F ’ s s p a r e s capability and requires the pirequirement. lot to manually initiate escape “Repairs are being undertak- by pulling the ejection handle. en in-house using available re- That poses challenges. Bird sources but addressing the is- strikes, engine failures at low sue is critical if the ejection altitude or pilot incapacitation seats are to remain viable in can leave little margin for a sucthe long run. Any substitute cessful escape. 2 HC allows second autopsy of Twisha, as sought by her family ‘Law grew through reasoned differences’ J a v a r i a R a n a @ New Delhi On the run for 10 days, Samarth Singh, lawyer-husband of model-actor Twisha Sharma, main accused in her dowry death case, sought to surrender before a Jabalpur court on Friday Vijayawada: As the State continues to reel under intense summer heat, beer consumption has surged sharply. The total sales rose to 29.88 lakh cases in April 2026 | P4 Kumar-led bench observed that Najeeb was not a mathematical command to mechanically grant bail if there was a delay in trial. It pointed out that bail was granted to five accused on January 5 and denied to Khalid and Imam following an individualised assessment of their roles. IAF grapples with spares supply crunch for Jaguar’s ejection seat 1 Heatwave triggers rise in beer sales AP plans reforms in med supply Joining issue with a coordinate bench that criticised the denial of bail to Delhi riots accused Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, arrested under the harsh Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a bench of justices Aravind Kumar and P B Varale referred the matter to a larger bench to resolve the perceived conflict in the higher judiciary . A three-judge bench had in the Union of India v KA Najeeb case, held that long incarceration can be a ground to grant bail in cases under the UAPA. Citing this verdict, a bench of Justices Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had said, “Judicial discipline and certainty demands that Benches of smaller strength are mindful of the decisions rendered by larger Benches and are bound to follow the same.” In its rebuttal, the Aravind Punjab and Rajasthan. Lokesh remarked that while some leaders relied on emotional rhetoric, the “brand” represented by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu stood for job creation, credibility and , development. He said the SAEL project reflected the strength of the Andhra Pradesh “brand,” which symbolises vision, trust, and speed, attracting investors to partner with the State’s growth story . He credited the cooperation of local farmers, youth, and officials for the speedy completion of the project, which he said had already generated direct and indirect employment for over 1,000 people, with nearly 80 per cent of the workforce P4 drawn locally  . The seat lacks automatic ejection capability The IAF is simultaneously pursuing foreign sourcing options and working with domestic industry on a long-term indigenous solution. “The industry has been tasked with developing an advanced ejection seat that can ensure safe pilot ejection at all speeds and altitudes. We are looking at a seat that can be integrated across multiple fighter platforms with little or no modification,” the source added. The IAF has around 120 Jaguars. HC tears into WFI for blaming Phogat over Olympic disqualification UDAYAN KI S HORE @ New Delhi The Delhi High Court on Friday pulled up the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for blaming celebrated grappler Vinesh Phogat, who “suffered a heartbreak in the Olympics”, instead of fixing the responsibility on the sports managers. The court also said that Phogat, seeking return from a maternity break, should not be “denounced for becoming a mother”. A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia described her as “a wrestler of international repute” and reprimanded the federation for its decision to declare Phogat “ineligible” to participate in domestic events. It said it would pass an order on whether she can join the upcoming Asian Games selection trials. Ther bench was appalled by the WFI’s show-cause notice to Phogat, which blamed her for causing “national embarrassment” by being disqualified from the Paris Olympics for be- ing overweight ahead of her gold medal match. “Was it a national shame? She was in the finals. How did the people of the country look at the event? Would you describe it as a national shame? Is that how you are serving the cause of wrestling in the country? What was the mood of the country at that time,” the bench said. It also questioned why the 2024 Olympic episode was brought up in the notice issued to her earlier this month. The bench wondered why it should not be presumed that the WFI changed the selection criteria for her. It denounced the WFI’s selection policy as “absolutely retrograde”. “She became a mother in July 2025. We are in May Why can’t . it be presumed that you changed it (selection criteria) for her... Whatever may be the feud or dispute, why should the cause of sports suffer? Motherhood is celebrated in the country, should it come to the detriment of a person,” the court said. The order dictated in the open court said the issue concerns the proper constitutional approach to be adopted, where the prolonged incarceration and delay in conclusion of the trial are pressed as the grounds for bail, notwithstanding the statutory constraint contained in Section 43D(5) of UAPA. The bench was considering arguments made by the Delhi Police in the petitions filed by two other accused Tasleem Ahmed and Khalid Saifi seeking bail. It granted them interim bail for six months. Kotia: Removal of solar panels triggers tension in AP village S r e e n u B a b u Pat i v a d a @ Parvathipuram Unease has gripped the disputed Kotia region once again after Odisha officials forcibly removed solar panels installed under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana at Eguva Simbi village in Salur mandal. The incident has reignited tensions between Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, coming close on the heels of the controversial arrest of two tribesmen from the same village earlier this month. According to sources, the Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL) had sanctioned rooftop solar units for several tribal families in Eguva Simbi as part of the SC/ST Solarisation Utsav. A private agency installed 2 kW solar units on the rooftops of six beneficiaries. However, Odisha officials led by the Pottangi tehsildar entered the village on Thursday evening, dismantled the panels from the houses of Marri Sukuli, Tadangi Singuru, Chodipalli Sonnayi, and Tadangi Sonnayi, and shifted them to Kotia police station. The move has triggered mild tension in the Kotia group of villages with tribals alleging harassment and intimidation despite the Supreme Court’s directives on the disputed border region. Residents expressed fear of continued physical and psychological pressure from Odisha authorities. It may be recalled that two tribesmen from Eguva Simbi were arrested by Odisha police a couple of weeks ago for allegedly refusing to cooperate with the Census 2027 enumeration. They were later released on bail following intervention by Andhra Pradesh’s Women and Child Welfare and Tribal Welfare Minister, and Salur MLA Gummadi Sandhya Rani, who assured legal assistance and arranged their release. Local leaders have condemned the removal of solar units, calling it an attempt to undermine welfare schemes extended by AP in the disputed border villages. With tensions simmering, tribals in the region are demanding protection, while officials from AP are expected to raise the issue at higher levels to prevent further confrontations. CMunder severein as AP steps heatwave reels Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed officials to stay on alert as temperatures touch 48°C amid worsening El Niño conditions statewide. Officials should take steps to protect people from the impact of extreme heat, he said| P4