tirupati l wednesday l june 03, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION internet loves army pilot’s proposal to partner post p.o.p A newly qualified Army pilot proposed to his girlfriend right after his graduation ceremony in Nashik — with a helicopter as the backdrop NASHIK to new beginnings after tough training The video spread quickly online, with people responding to how genuine and unscripted the whole thing felt. Captain Bharat Bhardwaj called it a “love ka salute” — and joked that while officers give and receive salutes at work, back home, the wife is in charge. For the Captain, the day marked the end of a tough professional journey, and the start of a new one is where the Army trains its combat helicopter pilots 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 Finally, CBSE heads roll Board Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta shifted, replaced with Lokhande Prashant Sitaram and Varun Bharadwa respectively; OSM system probe ordered Out Rahul Singh IN Himanshu Gupta Lokhande Prashant Sitaram Varun Bharadwa S L A L ITHA @ New Delhi In a major administrative shake-up following controversy over the CBSE’s new digital evaluation system for Class XII board examinations, the Centre on Tuesday removed CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta with immediate effect and ordered a high-level inquiry into the procurement of the OnScreen Marking (OSM) system used for evaluating answer sheets. The government also announced the constitution of a one-member committee headed by S Radha Chauhan, Chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission, to investigate the award and procurement of services related to the OSM platform. It directed the committee to submit its report to the Department of Personnel and Training within a month. According to the official order, Chauhan has been authorised to seek assistance from officials of other departments during the inquiry while the Capacity Build, ing Commission will provide secretarial support. The action came hours after the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education held a meeting with senior officials of the CBSE and the Ministry of Education to review complaints surrounding the implementation of the digital marking system. Later, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed Lokhande Prashant Sitaram, a 2001 batch IAS officer as the new CBSE Chairperson. Varun Bharadwa, Indian Information Service officer of 2008 batch was appointed the Board’s secretary . While Rahul Singh was transferred as Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Gupta was sent back to parent cadre with the ‘extended period of cooling off ’. Controversy erupted after the declaration of Class XII results on May 13, with students and parents alleging widespread discrepancies in evaluation, technical glitches, delays in verification and re-evaluation processes, and lack of transparency in the OSM system. While student Sidhant Sartak alleged that three tenders were rigged to favour Hyderabad-based Coempt EduTeck Pvt Ltd in the award of the OSM contract, the CBSE in its pushback submitted a report to the committee, defending the implementation of the system. It also said that portal-related glitches had been rectified. The controversy deepened after another student, Vedant Shrivastava, claimed that CBSE had uploaded and evaluated another candidate’s answer sheet under his name. A denial of service attack attempt caused 1.5 mn hits on the CBSE re-evaluation portal within 2 mins and over 1 lakh bids of unauthorised file access CBSE statement ‘OSM tenders rigged to favour firm’ Sidhant Sartak, 17, made a detailed presentation before a Parliamentary Standing Committee, alleging that at least 15 changes were made across three tenders to favour Hyderabad-based Coempt EduTeck Pvt Ltd over Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in the award of the OSM contract. His presentation was made in the presence of senior CBSE officials | P7 Major cyber attack as revaluation portal for Class XII opens S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi Malicious actors attempted to disrupt services on the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) Class XII re-evaluation portal through a barrage of cyber attacks on Tuesday the day it became operational. , The Board shared the information after complaints from thousands of students since early morning that they were unable to login to the portal. An official statement from the Board said that the portal currently supports usage by 8,000 concurrent users and a total of 16,000 had successfully completed their submissions for reevaluation of marks by 3 pm. “While thousands of students accessed the CBSE re-evaluation portal today, malicious actors attempted to disrupt services through a barrage of cyberattacks. Most recent being a denial of service attack attempt causing 1.5 million hits on the portal within a matter of 2 minutes and more than 1 lakh attempts of unauthorised file access.” The platform has been further refined by the CBSE based on student Screengrab of students failing feedback, it said. Session to login to the portal time limits have been extended to make the process more convenient and seamless, it added. There was enormous criticism from students over the need for Aadhaar verification. In another statement, the CBSE said, “Aadhaar Verification has been included for security reasons.” It also clarified that in the case of children who do not have this document, the parent’s, relative’s or guardian’s Aadhaar details may be used. “In this case, the Aadhaar Name, Date of birth and Gender must be of the person whose Aadhaar number is used,” it added. The portal was finally opened to begin the revaluation process early in the day with the Board announcing it at 4.42 am on its social media handles. R A J E S H K U M A R THA K U R a n d S u b a s h i n i V i j aya kum a r @ New Delhi/Chennai After aggrieved for mer Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai met Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, the BJP leadership summoned state BJP president Nainar Nagendran to Delhi, fuelling speculation of a possible mutual reconciliation. With the party leadership requesting him to reconsider his decision, sources said Annamalai hasn’t formally submitted his resignation yet. As for Nagendran, he arrived in the Capital and was scheduled to meet Shah to find an amicable solution. During his meeting with Shah, Annamalai spoke about his prolonged differences with the state unit leadership after being removed as president of the TN unit in 2025 to patch up with the AIADMK. Union home minister Amit Shah with TN BJP leader K Annamalai in Delhi | PTI Sources said Annamalai had made up his mind to quit and return to Chennai immediately after his resignation is accepted. He intended to part ways without burning his bridges with the top leadership. But since he was asked to reconsider his decision, he may return to Chennai on June 4, sources said. Though he was offered a Rajya Sabha Take SIR seriously: Naidu to TDP cadre S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Chief Minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday called upon the party rank and file to treat the upcoming Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls with utmost seriousness. Addressing a Statelevel workshop on SIR at the TDP headquarters, Naidu said the revision process should be closely monitored. Stating that the SIR exercise, conducted once every two to three decades, is being undertaken based on the 2002 electoral rolls, he said voter mapping is scheduled to be carried out twice before July 14, and party workers should ensure that all eligible voters are enrolled. “There should be no negligence in the SIR process. Registering as a voter is the responsibility of every citizen, and creating an awareness about voter enrolment is the responsibility of political parties. Electoral rolls form the foundation of election strategy and planning,” Naidu said. He instructed TDP cadre to verify voter records through repeated field visits and coordinate with Booth Level Officers to ensure accurate voter P4 mapping.  No role for third-party mediation in border dispute with Nepal, says India E x p r ess Re a d CM unveils plans for Godavari Pushkarams Vijayawada: Chairing a review meeting at the Secretariat, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed officials to ensure that the Godavari Pushkarams2027 are organised on a grand scale, showcasing Andhra Pradesh’s rice cultural, historical, and spiritual heritage | P4 J aya n t h J a c o b @New Delhi Ten lorries carrying 300 cattle intercepted Tirupati: Villagers intercepted 10 container lorries near Peddamandyam ZP High School in Tamballapalle constituency of Annamayya district on Tuesday while 300 cattle was being illegally transported. The rescued cattle was shifted to a goshala. Police registered a case | P3 Annamalai yet to resign as Shah summons Nagendran pipe down fiat Following Karnataka High Court’s order, workers remove posters of D Shivakumar in front of the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on Tuesday, a day before his swearing-in ceremony. The banners had come up after his selection as CM | Shashidhar Byrappa INDIA on Tuesday firmly rejected any role for third parties in resolving its boundary dispute with Nepal, responding to remarks by Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah in Parliament on Sunday in which he called for involvement of the UK and China in efforts to resolve the border issue. The Indian response came amid a deepening political controversy in Nepal, where Shah’s comments have triggered protests and repeated disruptions in Parliament. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India had External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Nepal’s Rastriya Swatantra Party president Rabi Lamichhane in New Delhi Tuesday | PTI taken note of both Shah’s statement and a subsequent clarification issued by Nepal’s Foreign Ministry . Reiterating New Delhi’s long- standing position that boundary issues must be addressed bilaterally, he pointed out that most of the India-Nepal border has already been settled. “While close to 98% of the India-Nepal boundary has been demarcated, there are some unresolved segments. The shifting of the course of Gandak river has resulted in this situation. There are cases of crossborder occupation and encroachment of the boundary which are currently being mapped jointly he said. ,” The fallout from Shah’s comments paralysed Nepal’s Parliament for a second consecutive day on Tuesday . ticket and a ministerial berth, he declined, preferring to work in TN, sources said. Annamalai first met BJP national general secretary B L Santhosh before proceeding to meet party president Nitin Nabin. In Tamil Nadu, several district-level functionaries loyal to Annamalai are said to have resigned following reports of his impending exit. political plan Pawan: JSP will contest TG Assembly polls E x press Ne w s S erv i c e @ Hyderabad Asserting Jana Sena Party’s commitment to Telangana, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan on Tuesday declared that the party would remain active in the State, and contest the Telang ana Assembly and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections.  A day after Gachibowli police denied permission for a proposed public meeting of the JSP, Pawan addressed a press conference at his Hyderabad residence, where he criticised what he described as “growing regionalism in political discourse”. He cautioned that excessive regional sentiment could undermine national unity and stability . Responding to criticism over his presence in Telangana politics, he asserted that Telangana belongs to every Indian citizen. “Telangana is not anyone’s Ayya Jagir (private estate). No one can dictate where an Indian citizen can travel, live or engage in political activity within the country he remarked. ,” “If Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi can contest elections in southern India in Wayanad, if Indira Gandhi could contest from Medak, and if PV Narasimha Rao could be elected with the support of Andhra voters, then how can anyone argue that leaders belong only to one region? What hypocrisy is this? Do Indians now need passports to move from one State to another? Is that where we are P4 headed?” he asked.  Qatar team Malabar’s football aspirations manifest in the flesh at 2026 FIFA WC R o n n i e K ur i a k o se @ Kochi KERALA’S love affair with football has found a moment of history. Tahsin Mohammed Jamshid, who has roots in Kannur, has earned a place in Qatar’s 26-member squad for the FIFA World Cup. He has also become the first Malayali to make a World Cup team. The 19-year-old, however, won’t be the only player with Indian heritage at the football gala. Nishan Velupillay whose , roots trace back to Tamil Nadu, will be representing Australia. Born and raised in Qatar to parents from Malabar region, Tahsin was named in the final squad after figuring in the country’s probable list. He is also the first player of Indian origin to feature in the Qatar Stars League. He plays for AlDuhail SC, the country’s oldest football team. “Tahsin may be playing for Tharoor hails selection In an X post, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor described Tahsin’s selection as “a moment of quiet history” for Kerala. “He wears Qatar’s colours...but his story belongs to Thalassery and Valapattanam.” Qatar, but Malabar’s aspirations run through his veins. His parents moved to Qatar in 1996. It was during an inter- school football tournament that he was first scouted,” said D Ravi Kumar, a veteran journalist who has covered the football scene in Qatar extensively . Tahsin trained at Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence, which is globally renowned for its state-of-the-art facilities, and went on to represent Qatar at the Under-16, Under-17 and Un- der-19 levels. “It is not common that players of different origin feature in a national side, but because of Tahsin’s exceptional talent, he was considered,” Ravi said. Tahsin’s international debut came during the World Cup qualification campaign against Afghanistan. Though included in the squad against India, he did not feature in the match but later played in Qatar’s decisive final two qualification fixtures. “The boy plays as winger. But under Julen Lopetegui, the head coach of Qatar, we may see him move into a more defined position in midfield,” Ravi said. Tahsin is the second son of Hibasil Jamshid, a Thalassery (Kozhikode) native working as a chief accountant in Qatar, and Shyma. TMC supremo mamata protests attacks Former CM addresses a sit-in protest against the attacks on party leaders and workers in Kolkata on Tuesday | P8