HYDERABAD l sunday l july 05, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late cITY EDITION Incessant Heavy rains paralyse mumbai; schools, colleges shut Incessant rainfall lashed Mumbai on Saturday, disrupting road and rail traffic and prompting the authorities to close schools and colleges Red alert in mumbai, thane and palghar people urged to avoid unnecessary travel Heavy rains continued throughout the day, virtually paralysing the financial capital with roads and railway tracks submerged in flood water. Heavy water-logging was reported from several low-lying areas, including Andheri, Kurla, Sakinaka, Chembur, Santacruz, Goregaon and Powai. The weather office has issued a red alert for Mumbai, Thane and Palghar ■ ■ At least three people were injured in Mumbai’s Byculla area when a two-storey structure collapsed. Heavy rains lashed Thane and Palghar, too. In Thane, a falling tree injured two motorists Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis urged people to avoid travel to prevent accidents caused by heavy rain and storms 100 mm of rainfall in parts of mumbai since Friday morning 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 Khalid, Sharjeel fail to get bail, again No option but to follow Jan 5 SC order, says trial court u d aya n k ish o r e @ New Delhi A Delhi trial court on Saturday rejected the bail applications of activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, saying the Supreme Court had already junked their pleas moved on similar grounds. Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai said the court had “no option but to follow” the Supreme Court’s January 5 order and, therefore, “could neither entertain the pleas nor grant them the relief.” The judge added that the bail pleas were not even maintainable in the trial court. “Although the applicants had argued that there was a change in circumstances following a division bench judgment of the top court in the case of Syed Iftikhar Andrabi, the issue concerning the divergence of opinion between that verdict and the Supreme Court’s judgment in Gulfisha Fatima versus State has already been referred to a larger bench. Unless the issue is settled, the court cannot con- WITH THIS ISSUE Bheja Fry PLUS 12 P AGES Morocco in last 8 T h e g r e at e s c a p e Blockbuster in Miami Own goal decides thriller Cape Verde rocked Lionel Messi’s Argentina with two stunning equalisers to raise the prospect of pulling off the greatest upset in WC history. But a Diney Borges own goal, under pressure from Cristian Romero, in the 111th minute broke the resistance Salah vs Messi next Egypt posted their first victory in a knockout round of the World Cup. They made history by beating Australia 4-2 on spot-kicks to reach the last 16. Egypt will face Argentina on July 7. Colombia, meanwhile, ended Ghana’s run with a 1-0 victory Azzedine Ounahi scored a double as Morocco became the first side to book a quarterfinal spot. The African side beat co-hosts Canada 3-0 at Houston Stadium on Saturday. The 26-year-old midfielder netted the opening two goals before Soufiane Rahimi’s strike in injury time Today’s matches: Brazil vs Norway | 1:30 AM*; Mexico vs England | 5:30 AM* (*IST Monday) ECI asks Kavitha to change name of her party E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad Having received over 1,000 objections over its acronym, the Election Commission of India has asked Kalvakuntla Kavitha to change the name of her political party Telangana Raksha, na Sena (TRS). The poll panel has suggested that she submit alternative names for her party following the objections. On April 25, during a public m e e t i n g at M u n e e r ab a d , Kavitha had announced the name, Telangana Rashtra Sena, for her party. However, Telangana Rashtra Sena was not among the alternative names she had originally submitted in her application to the ECI. She had instead proposed Telangana Rakshana Sena (TRS), for which the Election Commission granted provisional approval for registration as a political par ty and invited objections from the public. Following this, several political parties, including the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), formerly known as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), objected to the proposed name.  continued on p4 inside kishan directs Singareni to draw 15-year roadmap for energy security I P4 Umar Khalid Sharjeel Imam Lens on Jan 5 order Umar Khalid’s lawyer, Trideep Pias, questioned the SC reasoning in the case of Gulfisha Fatima, who was granted bail in the same case on Jan 5 along with Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad sider the present applications,” the judge said. The court further said it cannot even examine whether there is any change in circumstances, as it is bound by the Supreme Court’s January 5 order dismissing the bail pleas of both the applicants. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria had on January 5 observed that there was a primafacie case against Khalid and Imam under the UAPA and held that all accused could not be treated equally in view of the “hierarchy of participation”. On May 18, a division bench of justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had expressed reservations about the January 5 verdict, saying it did not follow the judgment given by a three-judge bench in 2021 in Union of India versus KA Najeeb, which said long delay in trials is a valid ground for bail even in cases under the stringent UAPA. Subsequently a di, vision bench led by Justice Arvind Kumar, while accepting there was “perceived conflict” among benches, referred the matter to a larger bench. Monsoon session from July 20 r a j e sh k u m a r t h a k u r @ New Delhi UNION Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Saturday that the Monsoon Session of Parliament will be held from July 20 to August 13. The upcoming session, expected to be stormy , could see the government introduce several key bills, including the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, which seeks to sack the PM or CM or ministers if they fail to secure bail within 30 days of imprisonment. Opposition parties are most likely to raise the issue of donation theft at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, among other matters. The government, however, is expected to make another push for a Constitutional amendment bill providing 33% reservation for women in Parliament and Assemblies, along with the contentious Delimitation Bill. On the Opposition side, the issue of privilege proceedings against Defence Minister Rajnath Singh may get raised during the session. Both Houses are expected to witness a changed political arithmetic following defections from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Shiv Sena (UBT). A closely-watched development will be Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s decision on the proposed merger of the 20 rebel Trinamool MPs with the lesser-known NCPI. hist o r i c d e b ut The youngest: Sooryavanshi arrives at international stage g o m e sh s @ Chennai 15 years, 99 days. T20I cap No 122. These two numbers will remain in cricketing folklore and part of trivia for decades to come. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is now the youngest male cricketer to represent India, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar who made his debut at 16 years, 205 days against Pakistan in 1989. It could have happened sooner, in Belfast against Ireland last week or in Durham against England in the first T20I. But it is better late than never. Sooryavanshi’s childhood coach Manish Ojha felt that it could have happened in Belfast. “It came as a surprise for us today. Very proud moment,” he said. The cricketing world was waiting for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his debut in Manchester | ap this moment. Such is the manner in which the teenager from Bihar had stirred the imagination of the nation. This is not his first youngest. There are quite a few more written against his name — Ranji Trophy, IPL debut, IPL century, etc. This could also be the first time the BCCI sent parents with a player where he had to use separate change rooms. Now, the focus shifts to international arena where more records are under threat. However, his approach on the field has remained the same as he got on his knee to scoop Jofra Archer for a six before falling for a 10-ball 14. But these are the first pages. For Sooryavanshi is not a footmark, but a new chapter in Indian cricket history . Ultimatum to Telegram app to curb film piracy Pa r v e z S u lta n @ New Delhi The Centre has issued an ultimatum to Telegram, directing it to curb the widespread circulation of pirated films, over-the-top (OTT) content, and other copyrighted audiovisual material on the messaging platform. According to official sources, the I&B ministry directed the company to submit an Action Taken Report within 15 days, detailing the measures it has initiated to comply with the directive. “Telegram has been asked to strengthen systems for detection, reporting, disabling access to and removal of pirated films and infringing audio-visual content. The ministry has sought details of Telegram’s grievance redressal system for producers,” sources said. KCR desperate for power as he wants to loot state: Revanth E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad How did KCR acquire a 1,000-acre farmhouse at Erravalli? How did BRS working president KT Rama Rao acquire a 100-acre farmhouse at Janwada? A Revanth Reddy, chief minister Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has alleged that BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao is desperate to return to power only to loot the state again, asserting that the opposition party has no future and has been confined to history . “The Congress will remain in power in Telangana till 2034. If the BRS returns to power, it will bring dark days to the state, as its leaders are preparing to loot Telangana once again,” he alleged. On Saturday the chief minis, ter addressed a thanksgiving meeting (Kruthagnatha Sabha) at Midjil in Mahbubnagar district to mark his political journey, which began 20 years ago when he was elected a ZPTC member in 2006. Apart from laying foundation stones for various development works worth `47.08 crore, he interacted with local leaders who had worked with him during his early political days. Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister vowed to work towards making Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi the prime minister.  continued on p4