hyderabad l friday l december 05, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 36 l late city EDITION Ex-DU prof Hany Babu, held in Elgar case, gets bail after 5 yrs A bench of Justices A S Gadkari and R R Bhonsale of the Bombay High Court granted him bail due to prolonged incarceration without proper trial Hany Babu, Ex DU prof all about NIA case against the professor ten other accused already out on bail The NIA had accused Hany Babu of being a co-conspirator for propagating Maoist activities and ideology for the banned CPI(Maoist). The case relates to “inciting people and giving provocative speeches during an Elgar Parishad event organised by Kabir Kala Manch at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which promoted enmity between caste groups” | P8 ■ ■ Ten other accused, including Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Shoma Sen, Gautam Navlakha, Sudhir Dhawale, and Rona Wilson, are out on bail Babu’s counsel argued for bail on the basis that charges are yet to be framed and a discharge application is still pending before a trial court 2018 was when Pune police had filed the case, which later went to nia 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 KTR ignored govt on E-Prix decision: ACB Day’s developments FM, RM meet delegation Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met a Russian delegation led by First Deputy PM Denis Manturov and discussed various issues, while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a delegation-level meeting with his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov RT India to go live today I r e d dy S r i n i vas R e d dy @ Hyderabad On Friday, Putin will launch RT India, the Indian arm of statefunded Russia Today. The TV channel will air English news programmes and it aims to “boost the traditional ties between India and Russia and the countries’ influence in a multipolar world” Charging points Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi sit inside a limousine at New Delhi’s Palam Air Base on Thursday | PTI Red-carpet welcome ACB believes that KTR decided that the state would organise the Formula E event on his own. It says that the HMDA was compelled to pay FEO though it was not liable to PRIME Minister Narendra Modi stood on the tarmac of Delhi’s Palam airport on Thursday evening greeting Russian President Vladimir Putin with a warm hug and a rare personal welcome in an unmistakable signal of the weight India attaches to its relationship with Russia. Traditional dancers swayed, cameras flashed and the red carpet stretched long as the two leaders slipped into the same car, echoing their drive together just three months ago after the SCO summit in Tianjin, China. Soon after Putin’s touchdown in Delhi, Modi hosted him for a private dinner mirroring the hospitality the Russian leader extended to him in Moscow last year. “Delighted to welcome my friend, President Putin to India. Looking forward to our interactions later this evening and tomorrow. India-Russia friendship is a time Deploy more staff for SIR, SC tells states S U CHITRA K A LYAN M OHANTY @ New Delhi TAKING note of a plea alleging extreme work pressure faced by booth level officers (BLOs) engaged in the special revision of poll rolls, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked states and Union Territories to consider roping in additional staff so that work pressure on BLOs is eased. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said, “In case they are facing hardships, including being overburdened, the state government can obviate such hardships.” The court was hearing an application by actor Vijay’s party TVK seeking a fiat to ECI to not take coercive actions against BLOs for failing to perform their duties. If any employee has a ‘specific reason’ for seeking exemption from SIR duty, a competent officer of the state government can consider it on a case-to-case basis and replace that employee with another, the bench said. express read Land Records AD has assets worth crores Hyderabad: ACB searches on Assistant Director (Survey Settlement & Land Records) Kotham Srinivasulu reportedly yielded assets worth crores | P2 tested one that has greatly benefitted our people,” Modi said in a post on X, shared in both English and Russian. Their conversation on Thursday would set the tone for the 23rd IndiaRussia annual summit on Friday, a meeting watched closely in Western capitals as both nations navigate a tense global climate amid efforts to bring a halt to the war in Ukraine. On Friday morning, Putin will receive a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan before laying a wreath at Rajghat and heading to Hyderabad House for formal talks over a working lunch. Defence cooperation will dominate the talks and both sides are expected to unravel a set of agreements and blueprint for economic cooperation. Hours before Putin landed, the two countries’ defence ministers held wide-ranging talks on India’s plans to procure additional S-400 missiles that proved decisive during Operation Sindoor and to explore further military hardware, including the Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jet. Agreements on logistics support and the movement of Indian workers to Russia are also expected to be sealed. Trade and energy will feature prominently as India seeks to address a ballooning deficit and navigate the impact of US tariffs and sanctions tied to Russian crude purchases. Moscow has offered additional discounts on oil after India’s intake dipped in recent weeks, and cooperation in fertilisers, small modular reactors and a proposed free trade pact with the Eurasian Economic Union will also be on the table. Putin is expected to brief Modi on the latest diplomatic developments around the Ukraine conflict, with India reiterating its stance that diplomacy alone can end the war. Putin is scheduled to depart Delhi around 9 pm on Friday . The agency has alleged that the arrangement involved electoral bonds valued at `44 crore, reportedly paid to the BRS in April and October 2022, ahead of the tripartite agreement. They state that Ace Nxt Gen was given the promoter role and later allowed to exit despite losses. The ACB alleges that Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority funds were diverted to support Sea- IndiGo to cut ops from Monday S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi In rare gesture, Modi receives Putin at airport J AYANTH J ACO B @ New Delhi The Anti-Corruption Bureau is preparing to file a chargesheet in the Formula E race case against former minister KT Rama Rao, IAS officer Arvind Kumar, former HMDA chief engineer BLN Reddy and others in the coming week. According to ACB sources, the event was proposed through private discussions among A4 Kiran Malleswara Rao, Dilbagh Gill of Mahindra Racing and KT Rama Rao, bypassing formal government channels. Investigators claim that the chief secretary, finance minister, chief minister and cabinet were not informed, which they say breached Business Rules and the Financial Code. son 9, despite HMDA not being a contracting party . Records show HMDA spent `20.99 crore on civic works and track preparation. Investigators further found that two instalments totalling about `46 crore were paid to Formula E Operations Limited in October 2023, although HMDA was not legally bound to do so, the sources said.  The agency has obtained prosecution sanction from the Governor to proceed against Rama Rao under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Officials say prosecution sanction is not required for private individuals while a request was sent to the DoPT over 90 days ago. Permission is deemed given if a request is pending for 90 days. CONTINUED ON P4 Planning gaps IndiGo said that the disruptions arose from planning gaps in implementing FDTL Phase 2 On a day when over 500 more flights were cancelled, IndiGo told the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that normal operations can be fully restored by it only by February 10. It said cancellations would continue for the next 2-3 days, adding it would start cutting down on flight operations from December 8 to minimise disruption. The airline urged the regulator to exempt its A320s from certain Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms, which mandate a maximum of two night landings as against the earlier six. The DGCA advised it to submit in detail the FDTL relaxations it required to normalise flight operations. IndiGo made its presentation on Thursday at a meeting with the Director General of the DGCA. More cancellations will continue over the next 2-3 days, the airlines said. Passengers crowd an IndiGo ticket counter in Mumbai on Thursday | PTI