HYDERABAD  MONDAY  JULY 29, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION FEARS OF ISRAEL-LEBANON WAR AS 12 KILLED IN ISRAEL-HELD GOLAN Israel on Sunday vowed to ‘hit the enemy hard’ after rocket fire from Lebanon killed 12 youngsters in Israeli-annexed Golan Heights ‘HEZBOLLAH HAS CROSSED ALL RED LINES’ CALL FOR CALM AS ISRAEL STRIKES LEBANON A rocket strike Saturday at a football field killed at least 12 children and teens, Israeli authorities said. Israel blamed Hezbollah for the strike, but the Lebanese group said it has nothing to do with the attacks. “There is no doubt Hezbollah has crossed all the red lines here, and the response will reflect that,” Israel Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Israeli media | P9 ■ ■ Israel’s military said on Sunday it had hit Hezbollah targets “both deep inside Lebanese territory and in southern Lebanon” Iran warned Israel of “unforeseen consequences” if it attacks Lebanon. Western powers including France and Britain have called for calm. Those dead in Golan were aged between 10 and 16 22 ISRAELI SOLDIERS KILLED NEAR BORDER WITH LEBANON SINCE OCTOBER LAST 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 KARMA, BHAGAVAD GITA and the legend of Manu Bhaker I 5 NE Manu Bhaker is India’s first woman shooting medallist at the Games. It is also India’s first medal in the 10m air pistol event Overall, this is India’s fifth medal in shooting in the history of the Games and first since Gagan Narang in 2012. Others to have won include Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Abhinav Bindra and Vijay Kumar GREEN SIGNAL UltraTech board clears acquisition of India Cements A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi THE board of directors of India’s largest cement maker UltraTech Cement on Sunday approved the purchase of 32.72% equity stake held by the promoters and their associates in Chennai-based India Cements Limited (ICL). UltraTech, an Aditya Birla group firm, will pay `3,954 crore at `390 a share to buy the entire 28.42% stake of ICL promoters — Srinivasan N, Chitra Srinivasan, Rupa Gurunath, and S K Asokh Baalaje—and 4.3% stake from Sri Saradha Logistics. This share purchase will trigger a mandatory open offer at `390 a share. The open offer, which will allow UltraTech to add another 26% stake, will be done subsequently after obtaining regulatory approvals. UltraTech had made a financial investment in ICL to acquire 22.77% equity at `268 per share in June 2024. Billionaire investor Radhakishan Damani and his associates had offloaded shares worth `1,889 crore in the deal. “Post this financial investment, the promoter group approached us as they wanted to sell their holding in the company UtraTech said. ,” Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla Group, said: “Every investment in a core sector like cement accelerates economic activity and drives progress. These investments have also facilitated India’s nationwide infrastructure upgrade.” NEW GUVS FOR EIGHT STATES AND ONE UNION TERRITORY The President, following the recommendations from the Centre, on Saturday night appointed new governors for Telangana, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Punjab and Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry | P7 T is perhaps more than just providence that Manu Bhaker won a medal in the town of Chateauroux, where a river named Indre flows. After all, religion, spirituality and philosophy were all vital ingredients in this story It is difficult to not be . a touch philosophical when talking about the 22-year-old’s bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol final. She had secured a quota in the 25m pistol event and qualified for the 10m event only through trials. On Sunday, she won India’s first shooting Olympic medal since 2012 (London). Fittingly Manu kept speak, ing about inspiration after her feat. Much of that inspiration came from that profound book of 700 verses – The Gita. In the final, Manu was calm. There were also occasional glances at Jaspal Rana, her coach sitting among the audience. “One look at him and that gives me courage,” she said. Karma is what she believes in, NIKHAT IN PRE-QUARTERS and anecdotes. He doesn’t believe in an external psychologist. “My coach is my psychologist,” she had said earlier. Just before the final, the duo were talking about Abhimanyu — Arjuna’s son. How he knew how to enter the chakravyuh but did not know how to exit. “We talked about how he knew how to get in but not about getting out. Use your information. Just do it. Win or you die. So she won,” Rana said. The pre-Olmore so after the Tokyo ympic training rituals, Games where public critaccording to Manu, was icism caused her to hit TNIE @ OLYMPICS more challenging than the nadir. “I read a lot of the actual Olympics. Gita,” she said. “One of One such ritual inthe famous quotes is Arvolves Manu meeting juna’s ‘karma pe dhyan specific targets. “For exdo, aur phal ke chinta ample, he sometimes INDRANEEL DAS mat karo’ (focus on the sets a target, and if you PARIS work but don’t worry score that much, then about the reward). The fine. If not, for the deficit same was running through my in points (for example, if the tarmind from last night (Saturday). get is 582 and you score 478), you I told myself ‘whatever happens, have to give 40 euros or 400 euI’ll handle it’.” ros, depending on the situation.” Manu and her coach spoke They donate the proceeds or buy P11 about several motivating verses gifts and distribute it. Nikhat Zareen entered the prequarterfinals after a gritty victory on Sunday in the women’s boxing 50 kg category. The Telangana pugilist will next face top seed Wu Yu of China. India’s No.1 woman paddler Sreeja Akula entered the round of 32 with a 4-0 win over her Swedish opponent. The world no. 25, who hails from Hyderabad, will take on Singapore’s Zeng Jian on Monday | P11 Bangladesh braces for more youth protests Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi EVEN as the authorities in Bangladesh maintain that the law and order is under control, the country remains tense with the student groups warning that they are preparing to resume protests over the arrests of their leaders who spearheaded the quota agitation. Some analysts have gone as far as suggesting that what began as a student protest is turning into a revolution. Students Against Discrimination, the student group that has led the protests, said on Sunday they would end their week-long protest moratorium. The group is demanding that the police free all student leaders arrested MOBILE INTERNET RESTORED The mobile internet connection was restored in Bangladesh on Sunday, 10 days after it was restricted by the authorities across the country to stop the spread of fake news. The mobile internet connectivity was restored at around 3.00 pm local time over protests. However, sources say the police are pressing with covert action against protest leaders. Block raids are reportedly happening on a daily basis and youngsters are being rounded up and put in detention. “The situation is tense even now as on the pretext of ‘block raids’ young people are being rounded up and put under detention in cells,” Professor Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, a politi- cal commentator in Bangladesh, told this newspaper. Reports said fully armed police are knocking at the doors in random order to arrest those considered as troublemakers. “For the first time in the history of Bangladesh, there were helicopters used during the protests,’’ Kalimullah said. However, the protesters are staying firm with their demands, one of which is that “visible actions” be taken against government ministers and police officers responsible for the deaths of protesters. “From being a mere student protest, this is soon turning into a revolution against the government,” Pinaki Bhattacharya, exiled Bangladesh rights activist, told this newspaper. “Our statistics confirm 266 people have died. (The government) is maintaining power through brutal force,” he added. At least 9,000 people have been arrested nationwide since the unrest began, Bangaldesh daily Prothom Alo reported. Bangladesh home minister Asaduzzaman Kha on Sunday said 147 people had been killed in clashes. Bangladesh officials in Delhi did not immediately respond. EXPRESS READ Approve NTPC Thermal Power Project Stage 2, Kishan urges Revanth Hyderabad: While the state is reluctant to approve NTPC’s Thermal Power Project Stage 2, Union Coals & Mining Minister G Kishan Reddy stated that it will be a huge loss to Telangana if the government does not respond positively. On Sunday, he wrote a letter to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, urging him to consider the project positively and give consent to enter into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with NTPC | P4 BONALU FERVOUR Devotees on way to offer ‘bonam’ at Lal Darwaza Mahankali temple in Hyderabad on Sunday | VINAY MADAPU FOUNDATION FOR SKILL UNIVERSITY TO BE LAID ON AUGUST 1 | P4 Coaching centre owner held for student deaths, sent to judicial custody U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi A day after three young IAS aspirants were killed after they got trapped in a pool of water that entered the basement of a civil service coaching centre in central Delhi following heavy rains, the police on Sunday arrested the owner Abhishek Gupta and coordinator Deshpal Singh. The accused were produced before a local court, which sent them to 14 days of judicial custody . The three IAS aspirants who lost their lives in the tragedy are Shreya Yadav of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Navin Dalwin from Ernakulam in Kerala. Initial police investigation revealed that the coaching institute was illegally operating a library in the basement area. A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the BNS, including culpable homicide. Police said the owner was at the spot at the time of the incident. DCP (central) M Harsh Vardhan said they received information around 7 pm that the basement of a UPSC coaching institute in Rajender Nagar had been flooded with the possibility of some students trapped inside. “Immediately the local police reached the spot,” the DCP said. The entire road outside the Rau Coaching Centre was submerged in at least 2 feet deep water. The Fire Brigade was also alerted, which rushed 7 rescue vehicles and began pumping out the water. But as the street was already waterlogged, the basement was getting flooded fast. The NDRF was then intimated which dispatched its divers after which they retrieved the first body of a woman at 10.40 pm, the second at 11.10 pm, and the third around 1 am. Locals said the torrential rains had waterlogged the entire area and gushing waters broke down the airtight gate of the basement after which the water entered the basement at a very high speed. The tragedy left the student community in a state of shock. They staged protests against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the coaching institute’s management for their alleged negligence. Minor scuffles also broke out between police and students. Students protesting over the deaths of three IAS aspirants, in Delhi | PARVEEN NEGI City civils aspirant among Delhi flooding victims S W E T H A V I M A L A M @ Hyderabad TANIA Soni, a 25-year-old civil services aspirant from Secunderabad, was among the three victims who died after the basement of a coaching centre in New Delhi was flooded on Saturday evening after heavy rain. Her father, Vijay Kumar, is the deputy general manager at Singareni Collieries Company Limited in Tania Soni Mancherial. “Eldest of three children of Vijay Kumar, Tania was preparing for the civil service exam in New Delhi,” an SCCL official told TNIE. Vijay Kumar was travelling to Lucknow in a train when he received information about the incident. “He got down at Nagpur and flew down to Delhi,” the official said. Speaking to the media, Tania’s brother Prateek said, “The girl who was studying so that she could change the system has today become a victim of the very same system.” He said that the MCD and Rau’s Institute were responsible for the incident and wanted to know who permitted the institute to operate a CONTINUED ON P3 library in the basement. Dev Varma is new TG Guv Five inter students held for beating senior to death hoomi movement. He served as deputy CM of Tripura from FORMER deputy chief 2018 to 2023 and held the minister of Tripura portfolios of Power, RuJishnu Dev Varma has ral Development, Fibeen appointed Governance, Planning, Scinor of Telangana in ence, Technology and p l a c e o f C P R a d - Jishnu Dev Varma Environment. He also hakrishnan, who held served as president additional charge of the state of the Badminton Association for a brief period along with of India. Jharkhand. In the 2023 Tripura Assembly Born on August 15, 1957, Var- elections, he lost to the TIPRA ma, a senior BJP leader from Motha Party candidate in CharTripura, is a scion of the erst- ilam constituency Dev Varma . while Tripura royal family He is the first person from Tripura . joined the BJP in 1990 and par- to hold the post of Governor of ticipated in the Rama Janmab- any state. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad @ Khammam Old rivalry A clash broke out between a few intermediate and degree students during a farewell party in February on the college premises, police said. Since then, the relations between the two soured. PALVONCHA rural police have registered a case under Section 103 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitha (BNS) against five students of the government junior college here for assaulting a second-year degree student Kalluri Vishnu (21), who later died while undergoing treatment in hospital. The incident took place near the college premises late on Saturday . Palvoncha ACP R Sateesh Kumar said that the five students would be sent to a juvenile home after being produced in court. A clash broke out between a few intermediate and degree students during a farewell party in February on the college premises, according to the ACP. Since then the relations between the two groups had soured. Incidentally, both the degree and junior colleges are located side by side in the town. The students belonging to the two groups entered into a verbal argument when they came across each other on Sun- day evening and dispersed. Later in the night, about 10 intermediate students attacked Vishnu while he was going on his bike along with his friend near the college. They beat Vishnu up till he collapsed and then fled. Vishnu was rushed to the government hospital here where doctors declared him dead. The victim was the only son of his parents hailing from Yanambailu village in Palvoncha. SFI district secretary B Veerabhadram demanded that the government order a judicial inquiry into the death of Vishnu and punish the guilty .