HYDERABAD l tuesday l july 21, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE CITY EDITION Core sector output growth at five-month high of 5% in june Core sector output grew 5% year-on-year in June, driven by robust growth in iron ore, power and cement production, official data showed iron ore sector reports 44% growth ■ 3.2% 9 sectors now in index of Core Industries Among the nine sectors, iron ore recorded the sharpest growth of 43.9% in June, followed by electricity and cement at 9.8% each. Steel output rose 4.6%, while coal production increased 1.4%. On the other hand, natural gas (-7.4%), refinery products (-4.7%), crude oil (-4.2%) and fertilisers (-3.3%) contracted during the month, the data showed ■ The June data marks the first release of the revised Index of Core Industries with the base year updated to 2022-23 Also, under the revised series, iron ore has been included as a separate core industry owing to its extensive use in industrial production, increasing the number of core sectors to nine | P10 was the year-on-year core sector growth in May 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 DGP found hanging at police HQ P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati Tripura Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Dhankar was found hanging in the washroom of his official chamber at the Police Headquarters in Agartala on Monday and was declared , dead minutes later at a hospital in the city . “I am deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic demise of Anurag, who was found hanging in the washroom of his official chamber today Tripura Chief Minis,” ter Manik Saha said. Saha added that Dhankar was immediately rushed to Ag ar tala Gover nment Medical College & Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital, Anurag Dhankar where doctors The 1994 batch declared him brought dead. IPS officer Dr Pradip was 60, and is Bhowmik, survived by his wife and son. Head of the Dhankar was De par tment due to retire in of Medicine at 11 months. He the hospital, served in Tripura t o l d m e d i a for around 18 that the DGP years in various was brought positions around 12 pm. “We could not detect a pulse or blood pressure. We immediately began administering CPR. A team of doctors did everything possible, but as he could not be revived, we declared him dead at 12.48 pm,” Bhowmik said. “The cause of death will be known after post-mortem,” he said. Opposition parties demanded an impartial probe into the circumstances leading to the death. CPI(M) leader and the Leader of Opposition in the Tripura Assembly , Jitendra Chaudhury said an , officer like Dhankar, who had faced many challenges in his career and successfully navigated them, would not take his own life without major reasons. Govt’s emissary JP Nadda meets CJP leaders as protest march to Parliament turns violent; several injured Centre blinks as CJP protest turns violent n i t i n r a w at @ New Delhi Security personnel use batons and tear gas on agitators during a protest march at Sansad Marg in New Delhi| PTI Union minister JP Nadda meets CJP’s Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka | Express Oppn stalls Parl over 1 NEET-UG paper leak Delhi High Court sought a comprehensive medical report from Safdarjung Hospital on Sonam Wangchuk’s health after his wife moved court alleging he was forcibly kept there P r e e t h a Na i r @ New Delhi THE Monsoon Session of Parliament got off to a tumultuous start on Monday as protests over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak rocked both Houses and spilled onto the streets, setting the stage for a combative session. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments as Opposition MPs demanded discussion on the baton charge on protesting students and action against those responsible for the alleged leak of the medical entrance test paper. They also targeted the government over the alleged Ram temple donation row. In the Lok Sabha, proceedings were adjourned four times amid slogan shouting and placard displays by Opposition members. The protests began soon after the House assembled at 11 am for Question Hour, forcing Speaker Om Birla to adjourn proceedings until noon. The protests followed a morning meeting of INDIA bloc floor leaders, where the Opposition decided to jointly raise issues concerning students. The DMK and AAP did not attend the meeting. The Rajya Sabha, too saw multiple adjournments after the Opposition members protested against the police action against protesters. 2 Key metro stations, such as Central Secretariat, Rajiv Chowk, Mandi House and Patel Chowk were shut. There was commotion and sloganeering at these stations 3 Education Minister Pradhan met Home Minister Amit Shah at the latter’s office in the Parliament House. However, it was not immediately known what transpired in the meeting 4 Amid the uproar in the Lok Sabha, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced a Bill to replace an ordinance that increased the strength of the Supreme Court from 34 judges to 38 5 The bill to make insult to Vande Mataram a punishable offence could not be introduced in the Rajya Sabha due to the protests IN one of the biggest mobilisations against the Union government in the last 12 years, the streets of Lutyens’ Delhi came to a halt on Monday when a massive crowd of protesters marched towards Parliament from Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged question paper leaks. The scenes inside Parliament were equally tumultuous, but it was on the streets of New Delhi that the youth’s angst met the belligerence of police. The protest venue, Jantar Mantar, was cleared by evening, but the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) said that its founder Abhijeet Dipke and three others — Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali Angmo — are still continuing the sit-in protest in front of Kerala House. Wangchuk, whose hunger strike entered the 23rd day, wrote an open letter in the evening, saying he will continue his fast over police actions against the protesters. Police resorted to lathicharge and burst teargas shells to disperse protesters—who drew from across the country and all strata of life—on most roads leading to the Parliament complex. Paramilitary personnel, in riot gear, joined cops to prevent protesters from reaching Parliament. The government snapped internet services. A video surfaced in the morning, showing workers erecting metal barricades to restrict the agitators. However, when the crowd swelled and tried to move ahead, police used force and fired teargas shells. Many protesters said they were brutally assaulted by police. According to the RML Hospital, 65 medico-legal cases were in till 7 pm. The scale of the protest prompted the government to approach the protesters for talks it had resisted since the protest started at Jantar Mantar on June 20. Union minister J P Nadda and CJP members Das and Ranka held a meeting, during which CJP members raised three demands: immediate release of Wangchuk, resignation of Pradhan and `1 crore compensation for all NEET aspirants who had committed suicide. Nadda assured them he will put across their message to the party’s top leadership. HC terms HYDRAA Trainee IPS officer attempts ‘suicide’ chief a habitual offender C h i t h a l u r i R e v a n t h @ Hyderabad T G Na i d u @ Hyderabad The Telangana High Court on Monday censured HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath for allegedly violating its repeated orders by allowing officials to enter a private property in Lothukunta village of Medchal-Malkajgiri district, observing that such conduct undermines the authority of the judiciary and the rule of law. Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti, while hearing a contempt petition filed by M/s. Shanta Sriram Constructions Pvt Ltd., remarked that the HYDRAA chief had become a “habitual offender” in violating court orders, noting that this was the third contempt petition arising from the same writ proceedings. The petitioner alleged that despite a clear undertaking submitted by HYDRAA’s Standing Counsel to the court that its officials would not interfere with his possession of the 40-acre land in Survey Nos 1 and 2 of Lothukunta village, nearly 200 personnel, accompanied by over 50 vehicles, bulldozers and excavators, entered the property on July 18, demolished compound walls, tin sheds, CCTV cameras, gates and electrical installations, and attempted to take possession of the land by claiming it to be a government property . The petitioner further alleged that he and his counsel were detained at a police station during the HYDRAA operation.  CONTINUED ON P5 4 INDIANS KILLED in attack on ship leaving Ukraine poRT Four Indian nationals on board a merchant vessel were killed in an attack on the ship when it was leaving Ukraine’s Odesa port, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday. Another Indian has been hospitalised in a critical condition | P7 After police registered a case against trainee IPS officer M Uday Krishna Reddy for allegedly sexually harassing a fellow trainee at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), the case took an unexpected turn on Monday amid reports that the accused had attempted suicide. However, police did not confirm the reports. Uday was admitted to a private hospital where doctors treating him told the media that no abnormal substance was detected in his stomach. They said he was drowsy but stable and expected to recover within 24 hours. “Everything is normal, but he is a bit drowsy It will take about . 24 hours for him to recover,” the doctors said. A friend of Uday, citing medical reports, told reporters outside the hospital that his condit i o n w a s d u e t o h e av y consumption of alcohol. Police also said he was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol. Meanwhile, a doctor treating the trainee told the media that Uday’s brother informed him that bottles of sanitiser and liquor were found in the room where he was found unconscious. According to Uday’s brother Pranaya Krishna Reddy the trainee , had been depressed after the allegations of sexual harassment surfaced on social media on Sunday  . CONTINUED ON P5 BJP rolls up its sleeves for another bypoll as MLA mulls switch I r e d d y S r i n i v a s R e d d y @ Hyderabad Is Telangana headed for another politically charged Assembly byelection? If the political grapevine is to be believed, Telangana could be inching towards another high-stakes electoral battle, with one sitting MLA holding the key While specu. lation over his switch to the BJP has gathered pace, the legislator appears to be keeping everyone guessing, delaying what party sources describe as an almost-final political realignment. According to BJP sources, the induction of the MLA, along with two former legislators, is virtually final. However, the party’s long-standing position that any sitting legislator joining its ranks must first resign and seek a fresh mandate has emerged as the principal hurdle. The uncertainty over whether the MLA is willing to face a byelection has set tongues wagging across political circles, even as leaders in his present party make a last-ditch effort to persuade him to stay . For the BJP, a byelection ahead of the expected Greater Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri municipal corporation elections would provide an opportunity to showcase its strength in the urban belt and build momentum before the next Assembly elections. Senior leaders, including Telangana BJP in-charge Abhay Patil, are understood to be overseeing a strategy to induct leaders from rival parties in phases and convert those defections into electoral gains. Party leaders point to the victories in the Dubbak and Huzurabad byelections as the template they hope to replicate. For the BJP, those victories remain proof that a well-fought byelection can alter the political narrative far beyond a single constituency . The calculations extend well beyond a single Assembly seat. Alongside preparations for the municipal corporation elections expected later this year, the party is also keeping a close watch on the proposed delimitation exercise, which leaders believe could reshape the electoral landscape in and around Hyderabad.  CONTINUED ON P4 E x p r e s s Re a d Iran says it is in ‘full-scale war’ as US bombs nuclear and military sites Tehran: Iran is fighting a “full-scale war” with the United States, its president said on Monday, as Washington expanded its strikes across the Islamic republic including a city hosting a nuclear power plant. Iran kept up its own attacks across the region in response, with its Revolutionary Guards announcing they had hit targets in Bahrain, Jordan and Syria, while Bahrain said Tehran had targeted its air navigation systems. “The reality is that today Iran is engaged in a full-scale war,” said President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to a presidency statement. He added that “we must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance.” P9 football wins Messi ends World Cup in tears as La Roja say two cheers express news service There was no fairytale ending. There was no surreal comeback. Sunday evening stood still in time as the tears rolled down his face. On one end of the New York/New Jersey Stadium, Lionel Messi stood transfixed, wondering if this was the end of his Argentina journey after a mostly angelic month at the World Cup where he bent time and space like only he could. Next to him, amid a crestfallen bunch of colleagues, the Spanish were just getting started with the celebrations. A second star on the jersey The victorious Spanish team with the FIFA World Cup trophy on Sunday. (Right) Lionel Messi sheds tears after the match | AP was a just reward for the side that had most played like a team throughout the 40 days in US, Mexico and Canada. There is a certain irony because in the land where stars are venerated and deified — it was no surprise that Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Michael Olise, Vini Jr, Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland routinely made head- lines in the country of Hollywood — the nation with an ethos for the collective burnt the brightest when the competition got serious. The final itself went on predicted lines as the Europeans, whose only previous win came in 2010, suffocated Argentina before killing them slowly and softly In extra-time, they fi. nally put Argentina out of their misery Ferran Torres crashing , the ball into the roof of the net in the second-half of extra-time. In the end, it was no surprise that the South Americans had as many red cards as shots on goal after 120 minutes.  P11