HYDERABAD TUESDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 16 LATE CITY EDITION IMRAN’S PARTY DECIDES AGAINST COALITION, TO SIT IN OPPOSITION Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf would sit in the opposition despite having a majority in the recently concluded Parliamentary elections PTI LEADS, BUT FALLS SHORT OF MAJORITY In the final results declared by Pakistan’s Election Commission, Imran’s PTI topped the table with 101 seats as independents, Nawaz’s PML-N 75, Bilawal’s Pakistan Peoples Party 54, MQM-P 17 and smaller parties 17. Imran’s party was not allowed to contest as a single party with a common symbol, making it ineligible to get reserved seats, thus falling short of majority ■ 24 KAUN BANEGA PAKISTAN KA PRADHAN MANTRI ■ Nawaz has called for a ‘participatory coalition government’ minus the PTI. Both PML-N and PPP are holding tough power-sharing talks The sticking point is who will head the government. PPP wants Bilawal as prime minister. PML-N could propose Shehbaz as the premier as Nawaz does not appear keen to lead a ragtag coalition CONSTITUENCIES’ MARGIN OF VICTORY WAS LESS THAN REJECTED BALLOTS 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 In diplomatic coup, all 8 naval veterans freed, 7 return to India Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi IN what was decidedly a diplomatic coup, India managed to get its eight naval veterans released from Qatar after 16 months of detention in Doha. It was this newspaper that broke the story of their arrest and kept reporting all its subsequent twists and turns. After their arrest by the Qatar’s Ministry of Interior on August 30, 2022, all eight veterans were awarded capital punishment last year before their sentences were commuted to multiple years in jail and now they have been set free. Seven of the veterans landed in Delhi in the wee hours of Monday on an Indigo flight. The one who is yet to return is Commander Purnendu Tiwari. He is out of captivity but continues to be in Doha due to a travel ban as he faces another case in which he and the CEO of Dhara Global, Khamis AlAjmi (retired Royal Oman Air Force squadron leader), are awaiting clearance. The veterans were working at Dhara when they were arrested. Foreign Secretary Kwatra mum on royal pardon Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra declined comment on whether the Qatar Emir granted a royal pardon to the veterans. “We can talk about different terminology etc... whether it is a release or pardon... but I think we should see the facts of what they are. Seven of the eight Indian nationals are back in India, back to their homes,” he said Ajmi was under detention too for some weeks in 2022 but was later released on bail. The Indian government is working on getting Commander Tiwari back to India at the earliest. “ C o m m a n d e r T i w a r i ’s 86-year-old mother is awaiting the return of her son to India. Videograb of the veterans arriving at the Delhi airport | PTI She has faith that this will happen soon,” said a source. “We have returned India safe and sound. We would like to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi as this was possible due to his personal intervention and also the Emir of Qatar,’’ said Captain Navtej Singh Gill upon his arrival in Delhi. In a related development, Prime Minister Modi will travel to Doha on February 14, after inaugurating the BAPS Temple in Abu Dhabi. Modi will hold bilateral talks with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. This is also being viewed as a goodwill visit by Modi after the Emir released the eight naval veterans. The families of the naval veterans lauded the Indian Ambassador in Doha, Vipul, for his unstinting support, updating them about the well being of the veterans all through. “Ambassador Vipul would talk to us, update us about the well being of our veterans and also instil confidence in the veterans whenever consular access was granted,” said one such family member. The seven veterans who are back home in India are Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vashisht, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal and Sailor Ragesh. Assembly resolves not to hand over common projects to KRMB Talks fail, farmers start their march to Delhi V V B A L A K R I S H N A @ Hyderabad Monday’s was the second round of talks between Union ministers and leaders of farmer organisations. The first meeting was held on February 8 Uttam says KCR-Jagan bonhomie led to AP getting bigger share of Krishna waters THE Telangana Legislative Assembly on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution declaring that the state government would not hand over common irrigation projects to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB). Moving the resolution, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that Andhra Pradesh got a bigger share of Krishna waters during the 10-year BRS rule, though inflows decreased considerably during the same period. Uttam also played a video clip of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy lauding the then Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in the AP Assembly “KCR and Jagan held . one-on-one meetings and had biryani, as a result, injustice was done to Telangana in river water sharing,” Uttam alleged. The minister also placed a detailed note on Irrigation in the Assembly on Monday Lat. er, making a PowerPoint presentation in the House, the Irrigation minister explained the ‘gross injustice’ done to Telangana in river water sharing during the BRS rule. He said that Andhra Pradesh got more water in rivers, especially in the Krishna, after the formation of Telangana, even as the inflows into the rivers reduced during the same period. “AP got 50% more water in the 10-year BRS rule than the previous years,” Uttam said. “The BRS claimed only 299 tmcft out of the 811 tmcft assured water in Krishna river and did injustice to Telangana,” the minister alleged while making the PowerPoint presCONTINUED ON P4 entation. Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy makes a point during the debate on a government resolution on common projects on River Krishna in the Assembly in Hyderabad on Monday KCR insulted Telangana society by not attending the Assembly session. He is hiding in his farmhouse instead of coming to the Assembly and sending a message to the people A Revanth Reddy, Chief Minister Congress government has tabled a book of lies in the name of ‘Facts on Krishna’. The government’s decision not to hand over the projects on River Krishna to the KRMB is a victory of the people of Telangana and the BRS T Harish Rao, BRS MLA and former Irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Irrigation Minister AP’s WATER DRAWAL INCREASED UNDER BRS RULE Project Srisailam Dam Rayalaseema LIS HNSS LIS (Malyala) HNSS LIS Muchumarri) KCC Lift (Muchumarri) Veligonda Total Before 2014 44,000 cusecs - Nil 3,850 cusecs 3,850 cusecs - Nil - Nil 4.1 tmcft blanket ban on hookah parlours across the state. Minister for Legislative Affairs, IT and Industries Dudilla Sridhar Babu introduced the Bill on behalf of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy . All political parties welcomed the Bill which Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar swiftly approved without CONTINUED ON P4 any debate. BIHAR Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday won the confidence motion in the assembly by 129-0 after an opposition walkout. The majority m a rk is 122 in the 243-member assembly . Depuy Speaker Maheshwar Hazari, who was on the chair, announced the NDA’s victory by voice vote but later allowed a head count on the request of parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary . Three RJD MLAs — Chetan Anand, Neelam Devi and Prahlad Yadav — defected and voted in favour of the ruling alliance despite the party whip mandating them to vote against the government. Speaking in the assembly before the trust vote, Nitish recalled that he had strived to bring all opposition parties on one platform, but the Congress had a problem with him. “Your father (Lalu) was hobnobbing with the Congress. I decided nothing will come out of the opposition’s INDIA bloc and left it for good to return to NDA forever,” he told leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav. He also accused the RJD of trying to indulge in horse-trading with hefty offers to MLAs to cross over. 2nd round of talks However, the farm unions stuck to their key demand of MSP . Meanwhile, the Haryana government has taken elaborate measures to keep off the protesters, by blocking the roads passing through the state and leading to the national capital. The Haryana-Punjab border has been sealed and paramilitary personnel have been deployed. Surveillance drones have been pressed into service to monitor the situation. Sources said the farmers are carrying dry rations and mattresses — indicating they are prepared for the long haul. Section 144 has been clamped in 15 districts in Haryana. The ruling Congress and the Opposition BRS will hold separate meetings on Irrigation in Medigadda and Nalgonda respectively on Tuesday | P4 AGE LIMIT FOR GOVT JOBS RAISED TO 46 Nitish arrives for the floor test at Bihar Legislative Assembly | PTI Blistering attack from Tejashwi Yadav Criticising Nitish’s claim that he was not feeling good about the mahagathbandhan, Tejashwi said, “Hum log koi naachne gaane ke liye thode hai” (we were not for there for entertainment). If the CM had shared his discomfort, the RJD could have offered outside support to the allaince, he said Tried. Tested. Trusted. 250,869+ Join 250,869+ participants of MedPlus Advantage. Cong team visit, BRS meeting today EXPRESS READ NITISH ATTACKS LALU, WINS TRUST VOTE EASILY R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna Between 2014-’23 92,600 cusecs 34,722 cusecs 6,300 cusecs 6,300 cusecs 1,000 cusecs 11,500 cusecs 9.6 tmcft Hookah parlours face ban THE Telangana Assembly unanimously passed the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce Production Supply and Distribution) (Amendment) Bill 2024 by voice vote without any discussion on Monday, paving the way for a FARMERS from Punjab have started moving towards the national capital in a bid to put pressure on the Centre to accept their demands, including a law to guarantee a minimum support price (MSP) for crops as talks between the Centre and union leaders fell through. Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Arjun Munda on Monday held closed-door deliberations with union leaders but no agreement could be reached on key demands such MSP and loan waiver with the two sides sticking to their positions. Jagjit Singh Dallewal, president of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) said the fivehour marathon meeting yielded no results as the government sought more time to consider the key demands. Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, alleged the government did not appear to be serious. Sources said the Union ministers agreed to withdraw the cases against farmers registered during the 2020-21 agitation and also offered to provide compensation to families of farmers who lost their lives during the previous protest. KCR and Jagan held one-onone meetings ... as a result injustice was done to Telangana in river waters. BRS govt sought postponement of Apex Council meeting to help tendering process for AP project ENC C Muralidhar’s resignation accepted with effect from Feb 8 E N S @ Hyderabad HARPREET BAJWA & UJWAL J A L A L I @ Chandigarh / New Delhi Hyderabad: The state government has raised the upper age limit for direct recruitment jobs, excluding uniformed service, by two years to 46 | P2 RACHAKONDA CP SUDHEER BABU TRANSFERRED The state govt on Monday transferred Rachakonda Police Commissioner G Sudheer Babu, replacing him with Dr Tarun Joshi | P3 Discount On Lab Tests & Scans with MedPlus Advantage* MRI Tests 3T Brain Plain 3T Lumbar Spine MedPlus Advantage Market `2100 `2100 `8400 `8400 `800 `1200 `3200 `4800 CT Tests CT Brain Plain CT Chest Plain Other Tests X Ray - PA View of Chest Ultrasound - Abdomen `95 `380 `509 `2036 `163 `650 `580 `680 Pathology Tests Thyroid Profile HbA1c Lipid Profile `145 `170 All Diagnostic Tests Available. This is a Sample List Only. 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