vijayawada l saturday l february 22, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION blockbuster weekend as arch rivals face-off in CT Ryan Rickelton’s century helps South Africa beat Afghanistan in Karachi | AP One-sided contests fail to grab eyeballs If New Zealand beating Pakistan came as a spoiler for the local fans, on Friday, South Africa overpowered Afghanistan to establish their standing in Group B. In an event where one bad loss could ruin a team’s chances, both Black Caps and Proteas seem to have consolidated their net run rate. This weekend could well decide the semifinalists Heavyweights England and Australia play on Saturday in Pakistan before the marquee India-Pakistan clash in Dubai on Sunday Old foes look to reignite rivalry ■ ■ Both Australia and England are run down by injuries and the tournament needs the two teams to rise to the occasion and put on a show to stay in the reckoning for the knockout round The subcontinental contest hasn’t been the same but the hosts Pakistan need a win to keep their hopes alive | more on p11 2021 The last time Pakistan beat India at an ICC event 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 $21 mn for ‘voter turnout’ deeply troubling: India Trump labeling controversial USAID fund as kickback scheme sparks BJP-Cong sparring Musk posted on X a list of funds disbursed by USAID, which inIndian authorities are inves- cluded $21 million allocated for tigating “deeply troubling” re- voter turnout in India. ports raising “concerns about “Relevant authorities are US government interference in looking into, and hopefully we India’s internal affairs,” fol- can come up with an update lowing President Donald subsequently Jaiswal said. ,” Trump’s suggestion Trump, addressing a that a US agency spent gathering of state Govmoney to influence ernors from his Repubelections. lican Party, opined: “I On Thursday Trump , would say in many casreiterated his criticism es, many of these casof the $21 million US es, anytime you have government funding no idea what we’re p rov i d e d t o I n d i a talking about, that through USAID during means there’s a kickWe have seen the Biden administraback because nobody information on tion for ‘voter turnout’, has any idea what’s gocertain US calling it a “kickback ing on there.” He also activities and scheme” and adding: questioned grants of funding. These are “What the hell do I deeply troubling $ 2 9 m i l l i o n t o care about it? We got “strengthen the politiRandhir Jaiswal enough problems (of c a l l a n d s c ap e ” i n our own).” Bangladesh. “We have seen information Building on Trump’s “kickthat has been put out by the US back” remark, BJP’s Amit administration regarding cer- Malviya and Pradeep Bhandari tain USAID activities and fund- alleged that the $21 million had ing. These are obviously very been used to support “deep deeply troubling. This has led state assets” in India, accusing to concerns about foreign inter- Rahul Gandhi and the “Conference in India’s internal af- gress ecosystem” of benefiting fairs. Relevant departments from the funds. and agencies are looking into The Congress hit back, allegthis matter,” External Affairs ing the CIA had paid RSS to Ministry spokesperson Ran- destablise the Congress govdhir Jaiswal said on Friday . ernments in the past and deThe Department of Govern- manded a white paper on USment Efficiency headed by Elon AID funds in the past decade. J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Tomato at `3/kg As the prices of tomato have plummeted to `3 per kg, the State government has started purchasing the vegetable from farmers at `8 per kg to safeguard their interests | P4 Amid cross-border firing, Both sides agree to honour truce F aya z W a n i @ Srinagar INDIA and Pakistan held a Brigade Commander-level flag meeting along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Friday in an ef, fort to de-escalate tension after several recent incidents of crossborder firing and an IED attack. The flag meeting took place in the Chakkan-Da-Bagh crossing point area, with both sides highlighting the need to maintain peace along the border. At the 75-minute-long meeting that started around 11 am, the Indian army delegation lodged a strong protest over recent instances of unprovoked cross-border firing, apart from infiltration attempts by terrorists and smuggling of narcotics and weapons. The meeting took place in a congenial atmosphere and both sides agreed to honour the ceasefire agreement in the larger interest of peace along the border, sources said. “Pakistan army officials were warned of a befitting response in case of cross border firing,” sources said. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah welcomed the flag meeting, saying it’s a good thing as it aims to reduce tension without using force. Pradhan, Stalin indulge in language war over NEP Kavita Bajeli-DatT & Bagalavan Perier @ New Delhi / Cuddalore The language war between the BJP-led union government and the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu intensified on Friday While Un. ion Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accused the state government of turning ‘prog ressive refor ms into threats for politics’, Chief Minister MK Stalin dubbed the National Education Policy (NEP) as a tool to promote Hindi and not education.   “I urge the union government There is no question of imposing any language on any state or community What will they do if we refuse to pay the taxes collected from Tamil Nadu? - Dharmendra Pradhan - MK Stalin not to provoke Tamil people again. Do not throw stones at a beehive. You cannot enter as long as I and the DMK are here,” Stalin said. In his reply to a letter sent by the CM to the PM seeking the release of funds held back by the centre over the implementation of NEP, Pradhan slammed Stalin for his opposition to NEP ‘Erdogan’s Kashmir take unacceptable’ E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi INDIA has lodged a strong protest with Turkey over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent remarks on Kashmir during his visit to Pakistan last week. “We reject such objectionable comments on matters that are internal to India. We have lodged a strong protest with the Turkish ambassador. Such unwarranted statements on India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty are unacceptable. Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. Centre comes to rescue of chilli Refund in cyber frauds just 0.48% ryots with market intervention Dismal show P h a n i n d r a Pa pa s a n i @ Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh has recorded a dismal 0.48% refund of lost money in cyber frauds to victims in 2024.  Of the total `974.12 crore lost in cyber frauds that took place from January 1 to December 31, 2024, the cybercrime police stations in the 26 districts of the State have only recovered `4.75 crore, which amounts to a dismal 0.48% of the total sum. A total amount of `122.94 crore in t h e b a n k a c c o u n t s o f cy b e r fraudsters has been frozen last year, and the sum will be returned to victims soon after the end of case trial, P4 revealed police.  J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has given nod for the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) to bail out the red chilli farmers of Andhra Pradesh in the wake of slump in market prices. The Union Minister has given the go-ahead to procure and compensate the chilli farmers to prevent them from resorting to distress sale. During a meeting with representatives of the AP government on the plight of chilli farmers on Friday, Chouhan directed the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) to assess the production cost of chilli farmers, and submit a report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MAFW). Based on the report, the Centre will compensate the farmers up to 25% of the intervened price under the MIS. He also asked the officials to prepare a proposal to increase the 25% limit under the MIS. The chilli prices have crashed in the past few months, forcing the farmers to resort to distress sale. India’s largest chilli market, Guntur Mirchi Yard, also known as ‘Chilli Capital of India’, has witnessed prices in the range of `11,000 to `13,500 per quintal as against over P4 `20,000 in 2023-24.  great escape Kerala finds divine touch to enter Ranji final F i r o z M i r z a @ Chennai This seemed to have jumped straight out of Ripley’s Believe It or Not show. Call it providence, sheer luck or tenacity Kerala lived up to its moniker , God’s Own Country The team needed . divine intervention to make a match out of the semifinal against Gujarat in Ahmedabad, just like they did in the quarterfinal match against Jammu and Kashmir. Kerala started on the back foot on the last day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal at the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. Hosts Gujarat needed just two runs to reach Kerala’s first innings score of Ceasefire violations along the border of Jammu and Kashmir have been uncommon since February 2021 when the two countries decided to strictly adhere to the November 2003 border ceasefire agreement. On February 10, an IED blast along the LoC in Akhnoor triggered by militants killed an army captain and a jawan. Another soldier was injured in the explosion. The extent of damage on the Pakistani side in the retaliatory action was not known immediately but officials had said the enemy forces also suf fered “heavy casualties.” 457, when No 10 batter Arzan Nagwaswalla hit a ball to the leg side. Instead it flew to the short leg and hit Salman Nizar’s helmet — the Man of the Match in the quarterfinal against J&K where Kerala managed to take just one-run lead from a desperate situation. Nizar turned the saviour once again. The ball ricocheted off the helmet and flew over the head of the batter and wicketkeeper Mohammed Azharuddeen. Time almost stopped and so did their hearts. As the ball quietly lodged into the safe hands of skipper Sachin Baby, Kerala players could hardly believe what happened. Wild celebration ensued and lasted until the end of the day Kerala, who made . their debut in 1957, took the all important two-run lead and at the end of the day it made sure it made it to its maiden Ranji final against Vidarbha who beat Mumbai, from February 26. “There was a help from the Almighty I would say,” Kerala skipper P11 Baby told this daily  . 2020 and schemes linked to it, accusing him of having a “myopic vision”. There is no “question of imposing any language on any state or community,” Pradhan said in his three-page letter to Stalin. Speaking at an event in Cuddalore on Friday evening, the CM lambasted Pradhan for calling the state’s opposition to NEP as politics. “The union minister claims Tamil Nadu did not receive `5,000 crore because we did not implement NEP schemes. What will they do if we refuse to pay the taxes collected from Tamil Nadu? Federalism is based on mutual cooperation, which is the foundation of our constitution. Unfortunately, those who do not understand this philosophy are ruling the country today .” Stalin reiterated that NEP was introduced not to develop education but to promote Hindi. “As people would oppose direct implementation, they are trying to introduce it gradually. The union minister claims they are developing regional languages, but we know how to develop Tamil. Ask those who lost their mother tongues due to Hindi imposition. Tamil does not need their support for its growth,” he said.