The New Indian Express Wishes its readers a HAPPY HYDERABAD l Friday l march 14, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 36 l late city EDITION Spadex Mission Achieves Maiden Undocking, next docking in april Indian Space Research Organisation recorded its first successful undocking as part of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission paves way for crucial future missions announcement After 3-Hour Assessment The two light weight satellites, SDX-01 (the chaser) and SDX-02 (target) successfully separated almost a month-and-a-half after it was scheduled to be achieved. With this success, ISRO is now bracing for its future missions — Chandrayaan-4, Bhartiya Antriksh Mission, manned space mission Gaganyaan, and Man on Moon mission ■ ■ Although the undocking happened around 9.20 am, ISRO announced on ‘X’ only at 12.21 pm, after assessing all parameters ISRO monitored operations from Bengaluru, Lucknow, and Mauritius. Satellites’ independent ops, sensors, and components are being analysed, said ISRO Chairman V Narayanan 460 km above Earth, the two mini satellites were successfully separated 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 Stalin takes the lead, emerges as anchor of Opposition unity Telangana & Karnataka governments, YSRCP, BJD to attend Chennai meet on delimitation P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Siddu to send DKS for event Delegations of DMK leaders met Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, former AP CM Jagan Mohan Reddy, and BJD’s Naveen Patnaik, who assured their support. Siddu deputed Deputy CM D K Shivakumar for the Chennai meeting Rupee symbol axed Intensifying the language showdown, the TN govt on Thursday replaced the Devanagari rupee symbol with a Tamil letter in its logo for Friday’s TN budget | P5 With several political parties extending support to the DMK government in Tamil Nadu in its fight over the proposed delimitation of parliamentary constituencies, Chief Minister M K Stalin appears to be emerging as the voice that binds the non-BJP parties on the issue. Congress-ruled Telangana and Karnataka governments, opposition BRS in Telangana, former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik’s BJD, and former Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP are some of the parties that have confirmed their participation in a meeting convened by Stalin on March 22. Spearheaded by Stalin, the coming together of political parties is widely seen as a show of Opposition unity against ‘delimitation’. On Thursday Telangana CM Revanth Red, dy said he would attend the Chennai meeting after taking permission from the Congress high command. “I welcome M K Stalin’s stand. I have to get permission from the Congress high command to attend the meeting. In principle, I have agreed to attend,” Reddy told reporters. Earlier this month, Stalin had written to the chief ministers of seven states, including Reddy, to form a joint action committee against the delimitation exercise. The Chennai meeting is seen as a first step towards ‘unified action’ against any move by the Centre to implement delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies in a manner that will cut down the representation of states that have successfully implemented population control. Though the BRS in Telangana keeps a distance from both the Congress and the BJP, BRS leader K T Rama Rao on Thursday confirmed it will attend the meeting. A DMK delegation also extended an invitation to Andhra Pradesh’s ruling TDP and a key ally of the NDA government. According to sources, the party said that it will discuss the matter with CM Chandrababu Naidu and take a call. panel to look into 3-language formula | p4 This is not delimitation, but an attempt to limit southern states and reduce the importance of the South A Revanth Reddy, Chief Minister Tamil Nadu Municipal Minister KN Nehru greets Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy as DMK MP Kanimozhi looks on, in New Delhi on Thursday. Delimitation is a plot to limit the South: Revanth E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Describing delimitation as an attempt to limit southern states and reduce the importance of the South, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday stated that an action plan was being prepared to counter the Union gover nm e n t ’s c o n s p i r a cy against southern states. “This is not delimitation of constituencies, but an attempt to limit southern states and reduce the importance of the South,” he stated. Revanth was speaking in Delhi after a delegation of DMK leaders, on behalf of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, invited him to attend a meeting to be convened by the DMK on March 22 in Chennai to discuss the adverse impact of the proposed delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies on southern states. Revanth revealed that he told the DMK delegation that he had “in principle” agreed to attend the meeting, but that he had to take the permission of the Congress high command. The chief minister told reporters later that delimitation based on population would result in injustice to not only Telangana but also all southern states.  continued on P4 BRS accepts stalin’s invitation for delimitation talks | p4 on the floor Jagadish ‘casts aspersions’ on Speaker, suspended E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Former minister G Jagadish Reddy was suspended from the Legislative Assembly for the remainder of the ongoing Budget Session after making comments deemed dispara ging and insulting towards Speaker G Prasad Kumar. The suspension followed a heated exchange between the MLA and the Speaker on Thursday . It all began when Prasad Kumar cautioned Jagadish Reddy to maintain decorum during the proceedings. To de-escalate the situation, the Speaker advised the senior BRS legislator and former minister not to lose his temper and to respect the traditions and conventions of the Assembly “Jagadish Reddy garu, . don’t get intolerant. Honour the traditions and conventions of the House. You are a senior member and have served as a minister previously,” the Speaker stated. In response, Jagadish Reddy challenged the Speaker’s remarks, asking, “I demand to know which conven- G Jagadish Reddy tions of the House I have violated?” The Speaker then explained that questioning the Speaker itself was a breach of parliamentary traditions. This explanation prompted a more forceful retort from Jagadish Reddy who insisted, “This House belongs to , everyone here. Everyone has equal rights. You are a representative of all of us. This is not something you own.” The comments sparked outrage among the treasury benches, with Congress legislators vehemently opposing what they considered an affront to the dignity of the House. Despite calls for him to retract his statement and issue an apology , Jagadish Reddy refused to back down. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, addressing the Assembly after it resumed, stated that the remarks were an attack on the integrity of the House.  continued on P4 Policy directive out to launch Pricey Starlink to target Nuclear Energy Mission niche customers in India Dr Singh said a task force has been set up to review these amendments. THE Centre has issued a policy “The task force is examining directive to launch the Nuclear aspects such as building, ownEnergy Mission (NEM) as part ing, and operating nuclear powof the country’s energy transi- er plants by private sector; nution efforts. The mission focus- clear safety security safeguards, , , es on research and development fuel procurement/fabrication, of new reactor designs and waste management, and spent t e c h n o l o g i e s. To fuel reprocessing,” the achieve this, the govminister added. ernment will allow priThe government also vate investors and secplans to partner with tors to participate in the private sector to set larg e-scale de ployup Bharat Small Reacments of existing tors (BSR), with NPCIL technologies. floating a Request-forIn response to a queProposal to private inJitendra Singh ry in the Lok Sabha, Dr dustries. These reacJitendra Singh, Minister of tors will be commissioned and State for Personnel, Public operated by NPCIL but set up Grievances, Pensions and the with private capital. “With ... PMO, said NEM necessitates ca- private investment, it is expectpacity building, and to facilitate ed that the strategy for scaling active partnerships with the up the nuclear sector will send private sector, amendments to a strong signal to participate the Atomic Energy Act and the and plan for capacity and infraCivil Liability for Nuclear Dam- structure expansion for nucleage Act are being pursued. ar-related projects...,” he said. RA J E SH K U M AR THA K U R @New Delhi RA K E SH K U M AR @ New Delhi ELON Musk-led Starlink may target niche customers in India due to its pricing, which is significantly higher than the services provided by Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio. According to a report by Bernstein, Starlink’s satellite technology offers advantages in remote areas but its high cost and potential speed variability make it less attractive to consumers in urban and semi-urban regions, where Airtel and Jio provide affordable and reliable broadband services. COSTLY AFFAIR Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel Starlink Bharti Airtel Reliance Jio have recently announced separate partnerships with Starlink to offer Speed (mbps) 50-200 100 200 100 200 broadband services in India. Both Initial upfront 52,242 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 companies have clarified that servfees (J) ices will commence only after StarPer month 10,469 799 999 699 999 link receives approval from the Defees (J) partment of Telecommunications Tax and (DoT). 30 18 18 18 18 levies (%) Industry insiders say the DoT is Total annual 2,15,600 12,314 15,146 10,898 15,146 likely to grant a licence to the Muskprice (J) led company soon. In fact, Union minister for Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, welcomed Starlink to India through , a social media post on Wednesday night. However, the minister later deleted the post. Meanwhile, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is yet to release its recommendations on the pricing and other modalities for satellite broadband. Reports suggest that the telecom regulator plans to recommend satellite broadband spectrum be allotted for five years instead of 20 years to assess initial market adoption. sole motive Footwear thieves clean out apartment complex C h i t h a l u r i Re v a n t h @ Hyderabad Screengrab of one of the thieves carrying a sackful of stolen footwear from an apartment in Moosarambagh In what can only be described as an unexpected tribute to Cinderella’s lost slipper, two thieves sneaked into an apartment complex in Moosarambagh in the early hours of Thursday and walked away with at least 26 pairs of shoes and 26 pairs of chappals from six different flats. The number could possibly be higher, given that some resi- dents were reluctant to brave the road simmering under the summer sun to reach the police station to complain. According to Malakpet Inspector P Naresh, the criminals executed their footwear heist with the efficiency of a well-rehearsed sales team—except instead of selling, they were stealing. Within an hour, they had packed up their loot into four bags, loaded them into an auto and made a clean getaway The auto . driver, possibly oblivious to the crime, waited as the deft duo ferried sacks of stolen sandals into the vehicle like it was just another day in the logistics business. The heist was caught on CCTV and only when the , footage went viral did the victims realise they had been literally left barefoot.  continued on P5 B’luru to host BJP nat’l executive council meet RA J E SH K U M AR THA K U R @ New Delhi the BJP is likely to hold its National Executive Council meeting in Bengaluru between April 18 and 20, sources said. According to party insiders, the decision to hold the meeting in Bengaluru carries significant symbolism for the BJP’s Mission South project. “This could indicate the party’s shift in electoral strategy towards South India, with a focused effort on solidifying its base in states like Karnataka, where the Congress is in power now,” a senior BJP leader told this newspaper. Also on the agenda is announcing a new party president, sources said, adding that the new chief may be from South India, adding that female leaders may have an edge, in line with the party’s policy of promoting women’s participation in politics — from organisational roles to governance. BJP’s Andhra unit chief Daggubati Purandeswari is among the women leaders being considered. The other names doing the rounds include Union ministers Manohar Lal Khattar, Bhupendra Yadav and Dharmendra Pradhan. Also in the race are Dr Sudha Yadav, Vinod Tawde, Tarun Chugh, and Arun Kumar. There is also speculation about Sarbananda Sonowal and Kiren Rijiju, along with Sanjay Joshi and Ram Madhav being considered for the top party post. WITH THIS ISSUE CITY’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 36 PAGES, INCLUDING 24 OF INDULGE (TABLOID)