HYDERABAD l saturday l april 26, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Russian general killed in car bomb as U.s. envoy meets Putin A Russian general was killed by a car bomb on Friday in the second such attack in four months; Russia pointed fingers at Ukraine for the hit signs of direct talks between kyiv, moscow local residents recount horror Friday’s bombing came just as US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss a US-brokered peace plan for the protracted Ukraine conflict. The meeting is their fourth encounter since February. Witkoff and Putin discussed the possibility of renewing direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv ■ ■ Footage from the Russian Investigative Committee showed the charred remains of a white car with its front section torn away Local residents in Balashikha, just outside Moscow, said they heard a loud blast at around 10:45 am (0745 GMT). “The explosion was very strong, it gave me heart pain,” Lyudmila, who lives nearby, said | P11 Dec 17 was when a similar bomb killed Lt General Igor Kirillov 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 Shah asks CMs to trace, send back Pakistanis in their states DGP asks Pakistanis living in TG to leave ‘Will not let a drop of water flow into Pak’ M UK E SH RA N J A N @ New Delhi Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday held a high-level meeting with Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil to chalk out the strategy to stop the flow of water from Indian rivers into Pakistani territory . Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Paatil said that the Centre has formulated a comprehensive plan to prevent the flow of water from Indian rivers into Pakistan. “A roadmap was prepared in the meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Three options were discussed in the meeting. The government is working on short-term, mediumterm, and long-term measures so that not even a drop of water goes to Pakistan. Soon, desilting of rivers will be done to stop the water and divert it,” Paatil said. It was also decided to inform the World Bank, the mediator of the Indus Water Treaty, of the suspension of the pact. Officials said the government also decided to raise the storage and operational capacity of dams on the rivers covered under the treaty, which governs water sharing of six rivers in the Indus basin between the two countries. On Thursday, India had formally communicated to Pakistan about its intent to suspend the Indus Water Treaty . Earlier in the day Shah called , up the chief ministers of all states and asked them to identify all Pakistani nationals in their respective jurisdictions and take immediate steps to ensure their prompt return to their country, sources said. Later, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan held a video conference with the chief secretaries of all states and directed them to ensure that all Pakistani nationals whose visas were revoked must leave India by the fixed deadline. The Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had on Wednesday decided to cancel all visas granted to Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were shot dead. enhancing water storage Officials said the government also decided to raise the storage and operational capacity of dams on the rivers covered under the treaty, which governs sharing water of six rivers in the Indus basin between the two countries. Flights cancelled IndiGo has cancelled flights to Almaty and Tashkent due to the closure of Pakistan’s airspace. About 50 international routes operated by IndiGo may be subject to schedule adjustments, the airline said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy leads a candlelight rally in solidarity with Pahalgam victims, at PV Marg in Hyderabad on Friday Take back PoK, we’re with you: CM to PM E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Pledging complete support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the Pahalgam terror attack, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy urged him to “launch an attack on Pakistan” and integrate Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) into the Indian Union. He stated that it was time for a “muh tod jawab” (strong reply) and not for compromise. “This is not the time for compromise; it is the time for a strong reply Move forward—we are with . you. One hundred and forty crore Indians stand with you. Split Pakistan and merge PoK with India,” the chief minister said. Asserting that this was not the time for poli- Houses of 2 Lashkar militants linked to terror plot razed f aya z w a n i @ Srinagar SENDING a loud and clear message that acts of terror will not be tolerated, the houses of two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, whose names figured during investigation into the Pahalgam terror attack, were demolished by security forces in Tral and Bijbehara area of south Kashmir. This is the first such instance in J&K in over three decades long militancy . The two militants were identified as Asif Sheikh from Monaghama area of Tral in Pulwama and Adil Hussain Thokar from Bijbehara area of Anantnag. Sources said the houses were blown up by security forces after planting IEDs. Their family members were evicted from the houses before they were demolished. Sources said both Asif and Adil’s name had cropped up during investigation in Tuesday’s terror attack at Baisaran, Pahalgam in which 25 tourists A Revanth Reddy, chief minister The house of Adil Thokar, linked to the attack, being demolished in Bijbhera, in Anantnag | PTI and a local resident were killed. While Adil was one of the three attackers involved in the attack, Sheikh is suspected to be involved in the conspiracy. Police released sketches of three attackers, including Adil, and announced a bounty of `20 lakh each. SC raps Rahul for remarks on Savarkar S u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y This is not the time for compromise; it is the time for a strong reply. Move forward— we are with you. One hundred and forty crore Indians stand with you, Modi ji “It is a loud and clear message to militants and their sympathisers that such attacks will not be tolerated. This will act as a deterrent to prevent such attacks in future,” a security official said. He said there are clear cut orders to crush all those involved in the terror attack. The attack is a cowardly act. I have served as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force. I understand the ground realities. This attack was carried out with the intention of creating a Hindu-Muslim divide, to hurt Kashmir’s economy and to create unrest and damage our country N Uttam Kumar Reddy, minister 2 4 O c to b e r 1 9 4 0 - 2 5 A p r i l 2 0 2 5 Visionary behind India’s space achievements @ New Delhi M y l s w a m y Ann a d u r a i The Supreme Court on Friday stayed an order of the Allahabad High Court refusing to quash summons against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case for his remarks against V D Savarkar. The court, however, censured Gandhi for his “irresponsible” remarks against Savarkar. “Issue notice. Stay on impugned order (of the Allahabad High Court),” the two-judge bench headed by Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan said while cautioning Gandhi to not repeat such “irresponsible” statements. “Let us not mock our freedom fighters,” the bench said. Gandhi had allegedly said that “VD Savarkar was a British servant who received a pension,” during his Bharat Jodo Yatra on November 17, 2022. rishnaswamy Kasturirang an, for mer chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is no more. Starting as an Xray astronomer while growing up in positions, his scholastic services and accomplishments in the fields of science, technology and education have left an , indelible mark. It was during his tenure (1994-2003) that the Indian space programme smoothly graduated from the experimental phase to the operational phase in the areas of earth observation satellites, communication satellites, and launch services. His visionary approach made ISRO boldly venture into commercial space, also leasing 10 transponders of INSAT-2E satellite to INTELSAT for $10 mil- K National space agency Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan lion as early as in 1999. It is through this service that Indians were able to watch cable TV in regional languages and Indian TV programmes reached 47 countries. It was Kasturirangan’s historic lecture on National Technology Day in 1998 ideating a technical possibility of India placing a satellite around the Moon (Chandrayaan-1) using the PSLV launcher that germinated into a full-fledged project report in 2003. (The author former director ISRO , , Satellite Centre, worked with Dr Kasturirangan from 1982 to 2003) It was during the tenure of Kasturirangan that ISRO’s launch vehicles PSLV and GSLV were made operational, making ISRO a complete national space agency on the lines of advanced space-faring countries. His visionary approach made ISRO boldly venture into commercial space tics, he assured “complete” support to the prime minister. Revanth was speaking during a candlelight vigil against the terror attack, which he attended along with some Cabinet colleagues, MLAs, MPs, MLCs and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. Foreign delegates in the city for the Bharat Summit also joined the protest march. Addressing the gathering, the chief minister said representatives from 100 countries had participated in the rally . He stated that he had merely requested the prime minister to ensure a strong and appropriate response against those responsible. “We assure the prime minister of our full support. Modi ji, when China attacked India in 1962, Indira ji gave a powerful reply Again, . when Pakistan attacked in 1971, she responded by dividing Pakistan and creating Bangladesh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee once called Indira ji ‘Durga Mata’. We know you are a devotee of Durga Mata—so invoke her if needed and act against Pakistan. Take whatever steps are necessary the chief minister said. ,” Offering condolences to the families of those killed in the Pahalgam attack, he said the Telangana government stands with them. He urged the Government of India to take strict measures to prevent such incidents in the future and stated that India should set an example for the world in countering terrorism. Hyderabad: DGP Dr Jitender on Friday said that Pakistani nationals staying in Telangana should follow the guidelines issued by the Centre regarding their visas to avoid any legal action. In a release, Dr Jitender said all existing valid visas issued by India to Pakistani nationals stand revoked with effect from April 27, while medical visas issued to citizens of the neighbouring country will be valid only till April 29. The revocation of visas does not apply to holders of LongTerm Visas (LTVs) and diplomatic and official visas. Total number of Pakistanis in Telangana nHyderabad Commissionerate: 199 nLong-term visas (LTVs): 157 nShort-term visas: 4 nMedical/business visas: 38 nRachakonda Commissionerate: 3 (All on LTVs) n(One Pakistani citizen has stay order from the High Court) nCyberabad Commissionerate: 11 (All on LTVs) nMedical visas valid until: April 29 nAttari border open for departures until April 30 VISA