HYDERABAD THURSDAY FEBRUARY 29, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 16 LATE CITY EDITION BCCI SENDS MESSAGE: NO DOMESTIC CRICKET, NO CENTRAL CONTRACTS Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan dropped from central contracts for ignoring domestic despite repeated calls from board secretary Jay Shah A+ FOR ROHIT, VIRAT Captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who skipped the ongoing 5-match Test series against England, retained their place in Grade A-plus along with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja HARDIK FINDS PLACE IN GRADE A Hardik Pandya, who hasn’t played for India since 2023 ODI World Cup or his domestic side Baroda, however, retained his place in Grade A along with six cricketers. Senior players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shikhar Dhawan miss out 30 IYER, KISHAN FACE MUSIC OVER RANJI MISS Kishan pulled out of two-Test series against South Africa last year while Iyer was apparently dropped after second Test versus England earlier this month. Iyer had said he missed Mumbai quarters match due to injury, which the National Cricket Academy refuted saying he was fit | P11 Kishan has not played Ranji this season while Iyer is in Mumbai squad for semis CRICKETERS NAMED IN FOUR GRADES FOR THE YEAR 2023-24 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 TRACKING GRAFT CM to ask CBI to probe ORR toll tenders? EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad EXPRESSING his ire at HMDA officials for finalising tenders at a lower price without establishing a minimum rate, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday ordered a comprehensive probe into alleged irregularities in the Outer Ring Road (ORR) toll tenders that caused loss of crores. After the HMDA report, the case is likely be handed over to the CBI. The investigation will look into the role of individuals and organisations involved in the tender process. HMDA joint commissioner Amrapali Kata was instructed to furnish detailed information on irregularities, procedural lapses and file movements during the tender process. The CM directed officials to register cases against implicated personnel if any related files were found CONTINUED ON P5 missing. 90% REBATE ON PROPERTY TAX INTEREST | P2 Vigilance team seizes key files from HMDA office EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad SLEUTHS from the Vigilance and Enforcement department on Wednesday carried out inspections at the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) office here. A team of around 50 sleuths descended on the HMDA office at the Swarna Jayanthi Complex here and seized some crucial files from the seventh floor. The vigilance inquiry assumes importance in the wake of the recent arrest by the ACB of former HMDA director Shiva Balakrishna for possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. It is believed that the Vigilance officers looked at files regarding granting of various approvals. Medigadda: Cases against ENC recommended As part of their probe into the damages caused to the Medigadda barrage, Vigilance officials recommended the government register a case against former engineerin-chief Venkateswarlu and L&T, the construction firm. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said that the CID has already filed cases and investigation will be initiated soon. Officials revealed that the ENC had signed the “comple- Raids after warning Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had recently expressed displeasure over irregularities in building approvals and cautioned HMDA and GHMC officials of a Vigilance raid within a fortnight tion of work” certificate even before the works on the barrage were completed. He allegedly also recommended the release of bank guarantees to the agency even though the work was pending. In their preliminary report submitted earlier, officials said that there are serious allegations that Blocks 6, 7 and 8 were constructed by a sub-contracting agency and not by L&T. Sources said that the investigation into the Medigadda issue is ongoing. RIL, Disney to merge India media biz A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi BILLIONAIRE Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and US-based entertainment giant Walt Disney have signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture that will combine the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India and create a media behemoth valued at `70,352 crore. The transaction is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2024 or early next year. The JV will be controlled by the Reliance group, which will have a 63% stake. RIL will also pump in `11,500 crore into the JV to give it the financial muscle to fight rivals such as Japan’s Sony and Netflix. The development comes a month after Sony terminated its merger with India’s Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Nita Ambani will be the chairperson of the JV with ex, Disney executive Uday Shankar as the vice-chairperson. The JV will create the biggest firm in the country’s $28billion media & entertainment sector with 120 TV channels, two streaming platforms, and an estimated 750 million viewers across India. HP budget passed amid high drama 15 BJP MLAs suspended; Virbhadra’s son quits state cabinet, later softens stand H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh WAR clouds hovering over Himachal Pradesh dissipated a bit amid high drama on Wednesday as the Sukhu government passed the state budget after Speaker Kuldeep Pathania suspended 15 protesting BJP members. The assembly was later adjourned sine die. The government was in turmoil after six Congress members cross-voted for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections the previous day . There was further anxiety as PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh, son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, put in his papers in the morning saying he was humiliated by the state leadership. By the evening, he softened and said he will not press his resignation. The six rebels — Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Inder Dutt lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma, and Divender Kumar — appeared before the Speaker as part of the disqualification proceedings. They left for Panchkula from Shimla before central Congress o b s e r ve r s — B h u p e s h B a g h e l , Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and D K Shivakumar — reached the state capital. The rebels and three Independents, who supported the BJP in the RS polls, attended the House but abstained from voting on the budget on Wednesday . PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh SPEAKER RESERVES HIS ORDER Speaker Kuldeep Pathania reserved his orders after hearing the six rebel MLAs. Their advocate argued that they were given the showcause notice and the copy of the petition but not the annexures. He added that MLAs must be given seven days to file their replies. He claimed that party whip does not apply for RS polls JOINT OPERATION Record drug seizure off Gujarat coast D I L I P S I N G H K S H AT R I YA @ Ahmedabad IN a joint operation, the Indian Navy and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized a record 3,300 kg of narcotics from a fishing boat off Gujarat coast, making it the largest drug haul in recent years. Five foreign nationals onboard the boat have been arrested. The value of the contraband could be `1,300-2,000 crore on the international drugs market, the NCB said on Wednesday. The drugs seized include 3,089 kg of charas, 158 kg of methamphetamine and 25 kg of morphine. The unregistered fishing boat was intercepted on Tuesday morning on the Arabian Sea, around 60 nautical miles from the Indian coast. The packets bore the stamp of ‘Ras Awad Goods Co, produce of Pakistan’, the NCB added. The Navy deployed its P8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, marine commandos and helicopters. The drugs originated from Chabahar in Iran. The boat has been brought to Porbandar. Home minister Amit Shah described the operation as a “historic success”.
Express Network Private Limited publishes thirty three E-paper editions of The New Indian Express newspaper , thirty two E-paper editions of Dinamani, one E-paper edition of The Morning Standard, one E-paper edition of Malayalam Vaarika magazine and one E-paper edition of the Indulge - The Morning Standard, Kolkatta.