HYDERABAD l wednesday l august 26, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE CITY EDITION Supreme cOURT directs Tejpal to surrender within THREE weeks SC directed journalist Tarun Tejpal to undergo his 10-year rigorous imprisonment in a 2013 rape case in which he was convicted by the Bombay High Court Appeal against hc order to be heard in sept Hearing subject to Surrender certificate A bench of Justice Alok Aradhe dismissed Tejpal’s plea seeking exemption from surrendering. “The application seeking exemption from surrendering is rejected. However, the appellant is granted three weeks’ time to surrender and file surrender certificate before this court,” the bench said in its order. SC posted his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence on Sept 22 ■ ■ “In case the surrender certificate is filed on or before September 21, 2026, the registry shall list the criminal appeal for hearing on September 22, 2026 before the regular court,” the bench said The former editor of Tehelka magazine was convicted of raping a junior colleague inside a hotel elevator in 2013 in Goa | P9 August 6 When Bombay hc convicted Tejpal to 10 years rigorous imprisonment 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 Missile tech transfer to Scrap Census questionnaire on caste: Kharge, Rahul pvt sector gets approval P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Covers air-defence, air-to-air missiles & battlefield-strike weapons 1 Several DcPP programmes have moved forward. At a salvo launch of NASM-SR from Sea King helicopter in April, two missiles were fired in quick succession 2 The DRDO conducted first flight trial of TARA from a Jaguar, converting a 500-kg bomb into a guided stand-off weapon. Gaurav has completed release trials from Su-30MKI 3 File photo of a Pralay test-fire, a quasi-ballistic missile | PTI Astra Mk-2, with a range of 200+ km, is also learnt to be among the first major systems to be offered to pvt firms. COMM, Adani, Bharat Forge, Tata and Mahindra are among contenders per applicable qualifications, certifications and regulatory The government on Tuesday requirements”, the ministry cleared the transfer of technol- said. The DRDO will retain reogy for all conventional missile sponsibility for design certifisystems developed by the De- cation and quality assurance. fence Research and DevelopIt marks a further shift away ment Organisation (DRDO) to from the traditional model unIndian industry for domestic der which a DRDO missile, afproduction, opening a wide ter completing development swathe of the country’s indig- and user trials, was assigned to enous guided-weapons portfo- a nominated production agenlio to private manufacturers. cy for series manufacture, a Defence minister Rajnath role state-run Bharat DynamSingh approved the transfer, in ics Ltd (BDL) has traditionally what his ministry described as held for much of the indigean “important milestone” in nous missile portfolio. expanding industry It also follows the participation in the government’s decision defence ecosystem. earlier this year to The ministry however, , open tactical missile did not specify the inproduction to the pridividual systems covvate industry under ered by the decision. the Development-cumOfficials in the deProduction Partner fence establishment (DcPP) model, which said the conventional brings companies into portfolio includes the The initiative aims a programme during to enhance Akash and Akash-NG development rather operational surface-to-air systems, than after it. DRDO VSHORADS, Astra capability, reduce has distributed around import dependence 10 to 12 tactical missile air-to-air missiles, the and increase Rudram anti-radiation programmes among domestic value family, anti-tank syspublic and private addition tems such as Nag, firms, with Adani DeDefence ministry SANT and the manfence and Aerospace, portable ATGM, the Bharat Forge, ICOMM NASM-SR anti-ship missile, in- Tele and Solar Defence and Aerdigenous land-attack cruise ospace as DcPPs. missiles and Pralay, the quasiAdani Defence is the DcPP ballistic weapon geared for con- for the Rudram anti-radiation ventional strikes. series, including the hyperson“Strategic missiles are a sepa- ic Rudram-II, which is to be rate category and will continue built at its Hyderabad facility, to be dealt with separately. and for NASM-SR. Bharat Hence, Agni and the K-series are Forge is a DcPP for the 1,000-kgnot part of this transfer. Simi- class Gaurav long-range glide larly BrahMos and MRSAM in- bomb and the TARA glide kit. , volve foreign partners and are It broke ground last month on governed by separate arrange- a `2,500-crore missile complex ments,” the official said. at Shivpuri in MP, with comCompanies will be able to posite-propellant and TNT promanufacture the systems “as duction planned at the site. J a v a r i a R a n a @ New Delhi Reiterating the party’s demand for a drop-down list of castes, Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding the scrapping of the existing questionnaire for it in the ongoing Census exercise and formulate a new one after consulting political parties, experts and the general public. Both leaders said they do not accept the caste census being conducted in the current manner and urged the government to take its cue from the caste surveys done in Telangana and Bihar. Patna in chaos as job aspirants clash with cops RAMA S HANKAR @ Patna Patna witnessed dramatic scenes on Tuesday as thousands of students and job aspirants clashed with police after they were stopped from marching towards the chief minister’s residence to press for their key demands, which included a single-stage exam for teacher recruitment instead of holding separate Prelims and Mains. The protesters were also seeking the cancellation of Combined Competitive Exams held by Bihar Public Service Commission earlier this year, alleging irregularities. The march, which started from the historic Gandhi Maidan that has witnessed many upheavals in the past, saw participation by a number of Left-wing activists affiliated with AISF and DYFI. Members of NSUI were also present. The protesters pulled down the metal barricades and tried to break the security cordon. Some protesters pelted stones at security personnel. Police first used water cannons to disperse the crowd but later resorted to baton charge as the protesters refused to relent. In the melee that followed, several protesters and security personnel were injured. HOURS after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced ‘Operation Economic Outcast’, the US on Tuesday sanctioned four India-based entities for importing petroleum and petrochemical products from Iran. Among those facing action is customs broker Portease Partners, along with its partners Indrismiya Ashrafmiya Sheikh and Harish Ramachandra Rangi. They facilitated the import of Iranian petrochemical products, according to the US State Department. The other India-based entities are Sadashiva Overseas, PP Softtech and Prakrutees Infra Impex. PP Softtech director Prashant Garg has also been sanctioned. Sheikh, Rangi and Garg are Indian nationals. Sadashiva Overseas imported Iranian-origin petroleum products worth $69 million from multiple companies, while PP Softtech and Prakrutees Infra each imported products worth $25 million, the US said. The companies were designated for “knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for The same caste is known by different names, sub-castes, and linguistic variations across regions. If members of the same caste are recorded under different names, the caste could be fragmented into thousands of distinct names Briefing reporters on the letter, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the government’s current efforts towards a caste census are just a “whitewash”. Ramesh said this is the third letter written by the Congress leadership to Modi over the issue but have not received any reply . “Your government has opted for an open-ended question format to record caste details in the census, which is misleading. Under this method, whatever name an individual provides for their caste will be recorded as it is,” the leaders said in their letter. In India, the same caste is known by different names across different regions, they pointed out. Recording them as is would result in a list of hundreds of AICC likely to back Telangana Congress’ disciplinary report I r e d dy S r i n i vas R e d dy @ Hyderabad panel FOR action against Surekha, Chinna Reddy The AICC has already given a preliminary green signal to the Telangana Congress disciplinary committee’s recommendations against Endowments Minister Konda Surekha and Planning Board Vice-Chairman G Chinna Reddy according to a , senior party leader, with the matter now awaiting the high command’s formal decision. The indication that the recommendations have received approval at the AICC level has shifted attention within the party from the state disciplinary mechanism to when, rather than whether, the high command will formally act on the report. A senior leader who had earlier served as an AICC secretary said such recommendations would generally not be made without the matter having been discussed at the AICC level. He said the report had already reached the party head- As expected, the Congress Disciplinary Committee has recommended the removal of Endowments Minister Konda Surekha from the Cabinet and G Chinna Reddy from the post of Planning Board vicechairman, according to sources. The report, submitted to TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud, has been forwarded to the AICC for further action. US sanctions 4 India-based entities over Iran imports e X PRE SS n EWS sERVICE @ New Delhi The conundrum the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran”. The sanctions are part of ‘Operation Economic Outcast’, announced by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday. The fresh measures are aimed at cutting off potential sources of revenue for Iran. The US has also warned countries to reduce economic ties with Tehran or face action. Bessent termed the move an unprecedented campaign to sever Iran’s financial lifelines. Entities that continue to do business with Tehran may attract secondary sanctions. quarters and that there was a preliminary green signal for the action proposed against the two leaders. The final decision, however, rests with the high command. The recommendations, if approved, are expected to send a message to other dissident leaders who have repeatedly made public remarks against their own government and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy . thousands of caste names, rendering the entire dataset useless. “An easy solution already exists: a drop-down list of castes should be created. This is the method adopted for the enumeration of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Such a list can be easily compiled based on existing government lists such as those for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes and the list from the Anthropological Survey of India,” they said. JH inspector suspended for negligence in Sumanth case E n s @ Hyderabad Minister Konda Surekha takes part in a Vanamahotsavam event on Tuesday What makes the recommendations politically interesting is that both leaders are considered to have close links with the state leadership. Chinna Reddy, in particular, is a longtime associate of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy . The chief minister has himself spoken publicly about having worked with Chinna Reddy in Wanaparthy since his childhood.  continued on P4 express read Man can’t tell wife to do house chores: HC Bengaluru: No one, including a husband, cannot command and demand any female, including his wife, to do household activities and to look after his parents, observed the Karnataka High Court, dismissing a petition. The court further said household activities have to be shared by men and women equally. If the parents have to be looked after, the primary duty vests upon the son or daughter as the case may be, but not the son-in-law or daughter-in-law | P5 Canada hits US with retaliatory tariff Toronto: Canada struck back at the United States on Tuesday with retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of American goods, including steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment, as the trade war between the once-friendly neighbours escalated sharply. The tension threatened one of the world’s largest trading relationships. The new tariffs extended to everyday purchases, with some facing duties as high as 50 per cent | P11 Jubilee Hills Station House Officer (SHO) M Muthu Yadav has been suspended for alleged negligence in handling a criminal case in which Minister Konda Surekha’s former OSD N Sumanth is an accused. Sumanth and several others are accused of assaulting a 36year-old realtor Gongidi Harikrishna with iron rods on July 30. Harikrishna had alleged that Sumanth called him for a meeting during which he instigated the other accused to kill him. He also alleged that they abused him, threatened him with dire consequences and demanded `10 crore. After receiving information about the incident, Inspector Muthu sent two constables to the scene. The victim was later brought to the police station. However, Harikrishna reportedly left the station without lodging a complaint. The alleged incident was also not entered in the station’s General Diary, and Muthu reportedly did not inform his immediate superiors. “Muthu took charge as Jubilee Hills SHO on July 30 and the alleged incident happened on the same day a source said. ,” Nearly 20 days later, Harikrishna lodged a complaint with Medipally police. The police registered a zero FIR and transferred it to Jubilee Hills police station for investigation. After the case was registered, Jubilee Hills police arrested three accused — Arun Kumar Reddy, Mahender Reddy and Karthik — and they were sent to judicial remand. Prime accused Sumanth is absconding. inside Sumanth, other accused ask HC to quash FIR I P3 Fertile land New plant species discovered in Telangana named after state S IDDHARDHA GAT T IMI @ Hyderabad Ammannia telanganensis A new flowering plant species has been discovered in Telangana, with researchers naming it Ammannia telanganensis. The freshwater plant was found in water bodies and wet areas in Rangareddy district and the Amrabad Tiger Reserve in Nagarkurnool district. The species, belonging to the Lythraceae family has been de, scribed in the latest issue of the international taxonomy journal Phytotaxa. The study was authored by Arikrishnan Parthiban and Ladan Rasingam of the Botanical Survey of India’s Deccan Regional Centre in Hyderabad, Siddharthan Surveswaran of the University of Hyderabad and Sandhya Deepika Devara of Andhra University . The discovery followed field surveys and comparisons with related species and herbarium specimens, which showed that the collections did not match any known Ammannia species. The type specimen was collected near Vatwarlapalle in Amrabad on January 4, 2025, while other specimens came from Narsingi and Gachibowli in Rangareddy district. The genus Ammannia comprises herbaceous plants associated with wet and aquatic habitats. The Telangana specimens resembled Ammannia cordata and Ammannia pros- trata with distinct characteristics, including stalked flower clusters, magenta petals, distinctive leaves and bracts, and an unusual seed-coat pattern. Unlike its close relatives, A. telanganensis has pedunculate cymes, or flower clusters borne on stalks, while its seeds have a distinctive cerebriform, or brain-like, surface pattern. Researchers examined published literature, specimens in several Indian herbaria and digital images from botanical databases before concluding that the Telangana collections represented a previously undescribed species. The plant grows in wet sandy soils along seasonal streams and on the fringes of water bodies, alongside wetland plants such as Ammannia multiflora and species of Rotala. It flowers and fruits between November and February . The discovery also revisits a long-standing taxonomic question surrounding A. cordata. Although its original 1834 descrip- tion referred to four petals, the researchers found petals consistently absent from authentic herbarium material and field collections they examined. They suggested that some petal-bearing specimens previously treated as A. cordata may belong to the newly recognised species. The species’ conservation status remains Data Deficient because population size, trends and threats have not been adequately studied. Its estimated extent of occurrence is 2,114.6 sq km and area of occupancy 16 sq km, figures that meet the Endangered threshold under one IUCN criterion. The researchers have called for further field surveys.  continued on P5