HYDERABAD  FRIDAY  JANUARY 17, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 36  LATE CITY EDITION FRESH STRIKES KILL 70 IN GAZA HOURS AFTER CEASEFIRE DEAL ANNOUNCED Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy Israeli strikes that killed more than 70 people since a ceasefire agreement was announced on Wednesday night ‘NO CABINET APPROVAL TILL HAMAS BACKS DOWN’ TIGHTROPE WALK FOR BIBI AMID PRESSURE Fresh Israeli strikes on Gaza come as Netanyahu signalled there were issues with the deal just hours after US President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced it was complete. Netanyahu’s office said his Cabinet won’t meet to approve the deal until Hamas backs down, accusing it of reneging on parts of the agreement to gain concessions | P9 ■ ■ It is not clear if Netanyahu’s statements merely reflected jockeying to keep his fractious coalition together or if the deal was at risk While Netanyahu is under pressure from families of hostages to strike a deal, his far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he makes too many concessions 94 ISRAELIS ARE REPORTEDLY HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS IN GAZA 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 ED grills KTR on Formula-E case, seeks bank details 8 Central pay panel gets nod C H I T H A L U R I R E V A N T H @ Hyderabad 6th pay panel (October 2006 — March 2008) Introduced pay bands and grade pay. Minimum proposed salary: `7,000/month; maximum salary: `80,000/month THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday questioned BRS working president KT Rama Rao for seven hours in the Formula-E race case. Sources revealed that the ED asked the former Municipal Administration minister to furnish details of his bank accounts and assets, to which he agreed. Rama Rao was questioned by the ED for the first time in connection with the transfer of funds for the Formula-E race. It may be KTR leaves ED office in recalled that the former Hyderabad on Thursday | minister had been quesSRI LOGANATHAN VELMURUGAN tioned by the Anti-CorrupACB summons tion Bureau on January 9 in KTR again? the same case. According to sources, The ACB has ED’s questions centred reportedly around the transfer of monsummoned BRS ey to a foreign company working president without proper approvals, KT Rama Rao to the reason why it was transagain appear before ferred when the election it for questioning code was in force and whether officials informed him about procedural violations. They also questioned why Ace Nxt Gen, the initial sponsor, backed out of the tripartite agreement. During his questioning, Rama Rao submitted an independent report by Nielsen, which highlighted that the race generated $82 million in economic CONTINUED ON P4 benefits for Telangana. ROBBERS SHOOT, INJURE MAN IN CITY | P3 th Union Cabinet okays proposal; panel chairman, members to be appointed soon LOOK BACK 7th pay panel (Feb 2014 — Nov 2016) Minimum pay raised to `18,000/month; maximum pay `2,50,000/month M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi AIMING to enhance the purchasing power of its employees amid high inflation, the government on Thursday approved the constitution of the eighth Central Pay Commission. The new panel is expected to recommend the revision of salaries and allowances of over one crore employees and pensioners. The term of the seventh Pay Commission will end this year. Briefing the media after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Min- ister Narendra Modi, Union minister Ashwani Vaishnaw said: “Prime Minister has approved the 8th Central Pay Commission for Central government employees. Its chairman and two members will be appointed soon.” Over 50 lakh Central government employees and nearly 65 lakh pensioners are the expected beneficiaries of the eighth Pay Commission. Setting up of the new pay panel in 2025 will ensure that its recommendations are received well before the completion of the term of the 7th Pay Commission, Vaishnaw said. The new panel will hold consultations with Central and state governments and other stakeholders before submitting its recommendations, the minister added. The 7th Pay Commission was constituted in 2014 and its recommendations were implemented on January 1, 2016. It resulted in an expenditure increase of `1 lakh crore for fiscal 2016-17. As for the new pay panel, employee representatives and leaders of various trade unions have had numerous meetings with the government in the last one year about its formation. Space capsule docking: India in elite club EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru A STEPPING STONE: PM Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X to congratulate the ISRO team. “Congratulations to our scientists at @ISRO. This is a significant stepping stone...” he said IN a big push for India’s space ambitions, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully docked two spacecraft as part of its Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission early Thursday. This feat makes India the fourth country to achieve the milestone, after USA, Russia and China. The docking occurred at 1.04 am, but ISRO scientists took time to analyse data and confirm the achievement before making it public. ISRO announced the successful docking on ‘X’, stating, “Spacecraft docking successfully completed! A historic moment. Post docking, control of two satellites as a single object is successful. Although India’s docking capability is behind the other three countries, ISRO scientists said this was a “challenging mission”. The docking occurred at a lower earth orbit, making communication more difficult. Additionally docking smaller , spacecraft is more challenging than larger ones, an ISRO scientist said. The `370 crore SpaDeX mission was launched on December 30, 2024, from Sriharikota, on the PSLV- C-60 launcher. The achievement is crucial for future space missions, including ISRO’s planned space s t at i o n by 2 0 3 5 a n d i t s ambitious manned space and l u n a r m i s s i o n s by 2040. HOME INVASION TWO MINOR, TWO INTERMEDIATE AND TWO DEEP INJURIES One injury on the back close to the spine A major injury to his thoracic spine Two other deep wounds in his left hand and right neck TREATMENT Surgery performed to remove the knife and to repair the leaking spinal fluid Team of doctors: Neurosurgeon Dr Nitin Dange, cosmetic surgeon Dr Leena Jain and Dr Nisha Gandhi Saif Ali Khan is completely stable now. He is recovering well and is out of danger Dr Nitin Dange Lilavati Hospital Saif Ali Khan stabbed inside home, is ‘safe’ S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai BOLLYWOOD star Saif Ali Khan was stabbed multiple times inside his home in Mumbai’s Bandra early Thursday morning by an intruder armed with a knife. Mumbai police said the stabbing occurred around 2.30 am on Thursday The . Bollywood actor is admitted at Lilavati Hospital, where he is “safe” after a surgery Khan’s attacker, armed with a stick . and a knife, initially demanded `1 crore from his staff, Khan’s public relations team said while confirming the burglary attempt. The demand led to a scuffle with the actor leading to the attack. Some family members were present at the time. A preliminary probe found that the intruder did not break CCTV visuals of into the actor’s flat in the intruder ‘Satguru Sharan’ building, but sneaked in at some point earlier in the night through a fire escape staircase, a police official said. Khan’s house-help, who raised the initial alarm, also suffered a minor knife injury during the incident, police said. Under a barrage from opposition leaders and several actors on the deteriorating law and order situation in the city Chief , Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “...To say that Mumbai is unsafe is not right.”