HYDERABAD l Wednesday l march 19, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late cITY EDITION Hope and despair What’s happening in Ukraine is not good, but we’re going to see if we can work a peace agreement, a ceasefire and peace. And I think we’ll be able to do it US President Donald Trump Even if the other side makes a gesture of some sort... you can expect them to find another way or putting pressure or putting a spoke in our wheel Russian President Vladimir Putin Deal on Ukraine energy, infra targets truce done j aya nt h j a c o b @ New Delhi RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin on Monday agreed to stop striking energy targets in Ukraine for 30 days, Kremlin said. The commitment came during an extensive discussion over phone with US President Donald Trump. However, there was no agreement on a fullscale ceasefire as Putin set some conditions for the same. “President Trump and President Putin spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace. They also stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia. The blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people,” a White House statement read. It added that the two leaders agreed the movement to peace will begin with energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace. “These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East,” the statement read. Trump and Putin also agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the US and Russia has huge upside, the statement added. The talks lasted for over two hours, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. This is the second time Trump and Putin have spoken over the phone since the former took office in January . Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in New Delhi that Kyiv would not be an obstacle for a peace deal with Russia. Ukraine is waiting for clarity to emerge on the peace process after the conversation between Trump and Putin, he added. Earlier in the day, Trump said he expected to discuss with Putin ‘land and power plants’ that have been seized during the grinding three-year war. However, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s aide Andriy Yermak said Kyiv “will never recognise any occupied territory as Russian”. In preparation for the TrumpPutin call, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff met last week with Putin in Moscow, while Rubio persuaded Ukraine to agree to the ceasefire deal. Putin earlier said he agreed in principle with the US proposal, but sought guarantees on Ukraine’s actions. US President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (File photos) | AFP Medigadda HC rules plaint against KCR maintainable T G N a i d u @ Hyderabad In a setback to former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and former minister T Harish Rao, Justice K Lakshman of the Telangana High Court on Tuesday ruled that the revision petition filed by the late social activist Nagavelli Rajalingamurthy accusing them of large, scale misappropriation of gover nment funds during the construction of the Medigadda barrage, was maintainable. The revision petition was filed by Murthy with the principal sessions judge, Jayashankar Bhupalpally district before he was brutally murdered. Before filing the revision petition, Murthy had in October 2023 filed a private complaint with the police against KCR, Harish Rao, the then Irrigation Secretary Rajat Kumar, the then secretary in the CMO Smitha Sabharwal, engineersin-chief Sridhar and Krishna Reddy, along with Megha Constructions and L&T, alleging rampant corruption in the construction of the Medigadda barrage. When the police refused to entertain his complaint, the late social activist filed a complaint with the junior civil judge. continued on P5 An injured man being taken to the Al-Ahli hospital following overnight airstrikes by Israel across the Gaza Strip | AP Ceasefire in the bin as Israeli airstrikes kill over 400 in Gaza Agen c i e s @ Gaza Strip Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday killing at least 413 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and shattered a ceasefire in place since January with its deadliest bombardment in a 17-month asymmetrical war with Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after Hamas refused Israeli demands to change the ceasefire agreement. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza, including much of the northern town of Beit Hanoun and other communities further south, and head toward the centre of the Hamas calls territory, indicating that Israel out the US could soon renew ground operaHamas leader tions. “Israel will, from now on, Sami Abu Zuhri act against Hamas with increastold AFP the ing military strength,” it said. strikes were an The attack during Ramzan attempt to could signal the full resumption force the of a war that has already killed group’s tens of thousands across Gaza. “surrender”, It also raised concerns about the and called the fate of two dozen Israeli hostagUnited States es held by Hamas believed to “complicit” in still be alive. After two months the escalation of calm, stunned Palestinians found themselves once again digging loved ones out of rubble and holding funeral prayers at morgues. “Nobody wants to fight,” Palestinian Nidal Alzaanin said. Gaza war mediator Qatar denounced Israel’s onslaught. It warned that the attack will ignite the region. Hamas said the head of its government in Gaza, Essam al-Dalis, was among top officials killed in the strikes, along with interior ministry head Mahmud Abu Watfa and Bahjat Abu Sultan, Gaza’s internal security chief. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions. US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel. Assembly unanimous in backing SC sub-categorisation Bill E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad The Legislative Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed The Telangana Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservations) Bill, 2025. The Bill sub-categorises the constitutionally mandated 15% reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) by classifying the 59 subcastes into three groups — Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3 — allocating 1%, 9%, and 5% reservations, respectively . Addressing the House, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy assured SCs that it was the state government’s responsibility to restructure reservations based on the population data from the 2025 Census. He said the government could not do so in the current legislation due to the Supreme Cour t-mandated threshold. He pointed out that the Bill had 100% support of the House, whereas only 51% was needed. Revanth asserted that the Con- Bhatti to present Budget today p4 SC groups G-I: Most disadvantaged n  communities 15 n3.288% of the population (as per 2011 Census) n  recommended reservation 1% G-II: Moderately benefited n  communities 18 n62.748% of the population (as per 2011 Census) n recommended reservation 9% G-III: Significantly benefited n communities 26 n 33.963% of the population (as per 2011 Census) n recommended reservation 5% n castes n  reservation 59 15% gress has a history of empowering Dalits, stating that the party made Damodaram Sanjeevaiah the chief minister of undivided AP in the 1960s. He added that the Congress appointed Dalit chief ministers in Maharashtra, Punjab and Bihar.  continued on P4 Telangana has shown the way, this is what the whole country needs. Caste census will definitely happen in India. I have been continuously saying that only through X-ray — i.e. caste census — backward and deprived communities can get their due rights Rahul Gandhi on BC quota Bills express read Litigant fined `1 cr for misleading HC Hyderabad: Taking a very stern view of a litigant’s attempt to mislead the court by suppressing crucial facts, Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka of the Telangana High Court on Tuesday imposed a fine of `1 crore on the petitioner, Venkata Rami Reddy | P2 NASA’s two stuck astronauts are headed back to Earth on Tuesday to close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with a bungled Boeing test flight more than nine months ago the homecoming Butch Wilmore and Indian-origin Sunita Williams bid farewell to the International Space Station, their home since last spring departing aboard a SpaceX capsule alongside two other astronauts The mission took an unexpected turn in January when Trump asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk to accelerate their return The capsule undocked shortly after 10.30 am IST and aimed for a splashdown off the Florida coast five hours later | P9 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 ■ ■