HYDERABAD l sunday l march 09, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l LATE CITY EDITION Women trailblazers take over Prime minister’s social media a/c Women leaders from chess, science, rural entrepreneurship, empowerment and inclusive development posted their winning strategies titans from diverse fields join hands all-women security cover at pm event While Anjlee Agarwal, an advocate for universal accessibility, called for a stronger push towards a more inclusive India under the ‘Sugamya Bharat’ initiative, scientists Elina Mishra and Shilpi Soni highlighted the importance of women’s participation in science, urging more women to pursue careers in nuclear and space technology ■ ■ A security cover comprising only women police personnel was deployed at a mega event addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat’s Navsari on Women’s Day on March 8 The bandobast included 2,100 constables, 187 SIs, 61 inspectors, 16 DSPs, five SPs, one IGP and one Additional DGP rank officer 2,372 women police personnel deployed for modi’s security on march 8 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 unbeaten india’s one final push for desert glory G o me s h S @ Chennai In sports, more often than not, history is written by winners. No matter what a team does or how far a team progresses in a tournament, holding aloft the trophy defines it. No other team knows this better than India. In the last three ICC white ball tour naments, India have reached the final three times, lost one and won one. How the third final against New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy would end will be known on Sunday night. The win will also lay to rest the controversies surrounding the scheduling. One thing, however, is clear that the brand of cricket India are playing is something unique. One that head coach Gautam Gambhir spoke about from the moment he took over: winning brand of cricket, a philosophy they would want to follow. India, however, have not been able to live up to it, especially in the longest format. Home series loss after 12 years, Border-Gavaskar Trophy loss after ten years have added pressure on Gamb- hir as well as captain Rohit Sharma. A victory in Dubai is ever more important. The opponents on Sunday are New Zealand, the team India had beaten in the Group stages. The Black Caps have troubled India before and going by the records India should not slumber into complacency . Yet, for India the four-spinner theory has worked on the deviously slow wicket of Dubai International Stadium. Varun Chakravarthy is the mystery man, the guiley Ravindra Jadeja, crafty Kuldeep Yadav and ‘all-rounder’ Axar Patel will play their part again. When both teams set foot on the ground, a lot will be at stake. But for Rohit, a victory could propel him to a new height.  P11 Will make one crore women crorepatis: CM E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad A vehicle in flames after protesters clashed with security personnel in Kangpokpi district on Saturday | PTI Manipur erupts amid bid to restore free movement in state P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati Vaishnaw lays stone for four units at EMC E N S @ Hyderabad Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said that electric mobility remains a key focus area for the Union government. He was addressing the gathering after laying the foundation stone for four manufacturing units at the Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) in Divitipally of Mahbubnagar district. They are: Giga Factory-1 of the Amara Raja group, critical minerals refining and battery recycling unit of Lohum, cell casing manufacturing facility of Scell Energy and Altmin’s first LFP-CAM Giga Factory . He reiterated the Centre’s commitment to developing the necessary infrastructure and ecosystem to promote and accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). “We welcome Indian innovation and manufacturing initiatives and look forward to the success of this endeavour,” he said. Telangana IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu was among those who participated in the programme.  CONTINUED ON P2 express read Rahul warns of weeding out black sheep Ahmedabad: Taking Congress cadre to task in a state where the party has been out of power for decades, Rahul Gandhi has cautioned a gathering that up to 40 leaders could be weeded out to rebuild credibility in the state | P8 WITH THIS ISSUE the naked truth Maha Kumbh: The Secret Life of Naga Sadhus PLUS 12 PAGES Clashes broke out in Manipur’s Kuki-majority Kangpokpi district on Saturday as the Centre tried to restore free movement for people on all roads in the ethnic violence-hit state. Over a dozen protesters were injured, one of whom reportedly succumbed to injuries. The protesters attacked a state-run bus and torched at least one private vehicle. At a high-level Manipur security review meeting held in New Delhi on March 1, Union home minister Amit Shah had issued directions to restore free movement and take action against anyone attempting to create obstructions. Acting on that directive, the Manipur State Transport (MST) operated two buses, one on the Imphal-Kangpokpi-Senapati route and another on the ImphalBishnupur-Churachandpur route, with security cover by personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces. Similarly, the Federations of Civil Society (FOCS), a conglomerate of 20 Imphal Valley-based organisations, took out a peace expedition from Imphal to go to Senapati which is a Naga-majority district. The participants, who were travelling in some vehicles, were stopped at Sekmai in the Imphal West district by security forces and they returned to Imphal. Meanwhile, crowds were building in different parts of Kangpokpi district to thwart the march by FOCS and the movement of the MST bus. They erected barricades on a highway by putting boulders and burning tyres. When the MST bus entered Kangpokpi district, the protesters attempted to prevent its movement by pelting stones. This led to a confrontation and the security personnel used force to restore normalcy leading to clashes. The other MST bus travelled up to Kangvai, a small town in Kuki-majority Churachandpur district bordering Meiteimajority Bishnupur district, and returned. indefinite shutdown The Kuki-Zo Council condemned the decision to “impose” free movement despite being “fully aware” of potential violence, and announced an indefinite shutdown across all KukiZo areas from Saturday 16 protesters were reportedly injured and one protester succumbed to injury. Two vehicles of the security forces were also burnt by the protesters Manipur Police Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday reiterated that his government will not rest until it makes one crore women crorepatis and distributed cheques worth `22,794 crore as financial assistance to self-help groups (SHGs). Speaking at the Mahila Shakti public meeting organised on the occasion of International Women’s Day celebrations at Parade Grounds, he announced that the government will provide land in each mandal to SHGs to set up rice mills and godowns to store the paddy procured by the groups. He also said that women will be made owners of 1,000 electric buses. The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and ministers Konda Surekha, Seethakka and others. Accusing the previous BRS government of neglecting SHGs and discriminating against women, Revanth said that the present government is ensuring the self-respect of women and strengthening SHGs. He stated that a $1 trillion economy in the state is possible only when one crore women become crorepatis.  CONTINUED ON P4 Dealing with US push in agri market j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi AS India and the US begin trade talks, New Delhi has conveyed that it has been reducing applied tariffs in agreements with developed countries, while emphasising a “mutually beneficial” approach and “sensitive handling of sectors l i ke a g r i c u l t u re ” , a ke y focus of the Trump administration in seeking greater market access. A team of Indian officials, led by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visited Washington from March 3 to 6 and engaged the US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, US T rade Re presentative Jamieson Greer and their teams. President Donald Trump said India has agreed to cut its tariffs “way down now” because somebody is finally “exposing” them, evoking sharp reactions from opposition parties in the country . Reducing “average applied tariff significantly” has been a key aspect of India’s recently concluded mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreements with a slew of developed countries such as Australia, the Key objectives for India at U.S. talks Increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, deepening supply chain integration, ensuring India does not turn dumping ground for products, and increasing investments are key objectives UAE, Switzerland, Norway and the ongoing talks with the European Union and United Kingdom. But the “tone and substance of the talks” and “understanding each others’ concerns to get to an agreement” is the new focus. “The teams will now get into sector wise, issue-wise specifics,” said a source. Asked about various statements coming out of Washington on tariffs and trade negotiations, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at a press briefing: “We have in recent times entered into bilateral trade agreements based on tariff liberalisation with several partners.... The ongoing discussions should be seen in that context.” Trump’s tarif f against India rolls out April 2.