visakhapatnam l saturday l march 15, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Women’s Premier League final: Delhi face Mumbai challenge The finalists from the inaugural season two years ago will face each other again at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai for the summit clash Two most consistent sides meet again top players expected to light up show Amongst the five WPL teams, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals have made it to the competition’s playoffs on all three occasions. Delhi topped table on all three occasions, while Mumbai, led by Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur, won the title once. Mumbai beat Guajarat Giants in the eliminator, while Delhi entered the final on points ■ ■ ■ Mumbai’s Natalie Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews have topped the most runs and most wickets charts, respectively Delhi’s Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma scored the most runs as an opening pair in the history of the competition Both teams are nearly even in sixes: MI with 30 and DC 28 2-0 Delhi won both fixtures against Mumbai in the league stage 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 300% premium on gold bond’s redemption at `8,624/gm for series IV B e n n K o c h u v e e d a n @ Mumbai On a wing and a prayer Passengers standing on the wing of an American Airlines plane as they are evacuated after it caught fire while at a gate at Denver International Airport in Colorado, US, early on Friday. While taxiing to the gate, an engine on the Boeing 737-800 caught fire. Flight 1006, headed from Colorado Springs Airport to Dallas Fort Worth, had 172 passengers and six crew members at the time of the mishap | AFP | P9 trump positive, as is putin Russian prez sends addl signals to his US counterpart about Ukraine truce; is “cautiously optimistic” about a deal Moscow: US President Donald Trump on Friday urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline, after what he called was a “very good and productive” c e a s e f i re d i s c u s s i o n s i n Moscow. Trump’s comments came after his special envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Putin in Moscow to discuss details of a plan for a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine after three years of war. “We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible war can finally come to an end,” Trump said on his Truth Social network. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that Trump himself had not spoken to Putin on Thursday night. She said no call was scheduled on Friday “but that could obviously change.” Moscow has in the past week been driving much of Ukraine’s forces out of Russia’s Kursk region, parts of which Kyiv occupied last year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that the US could help end the war by exerting sufficient pressure on Russia to end Modi likely to visit Amaravati after April 15 All eligible will get welfare benefits without any bias: CM Express News Service S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Andhra Pradesh between April 15 and 20 to lay the foundation stone for rebuilding Capital Amaravati. The State government has taken up the reconstruction of the capital city as a prestigious project, and it is learnt to have invited Modi for relaunching the construction works. Though the exact date of Modi’s visit to Amaravati has not been fixed yet, reports indicate that he will arrive on any of the days between April 15 and 20, and lay the foundation stone for one of the nine concept cities of Amaravati. The first phase of Amaravati is estimated to cost `64,721 crore. The State Cabinet is expected to give its nod to the launch of works at its meeting scheduled for March 17. Chief Minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has made it clear that the NDA government will implement the welfare schemes without any discrimination, and all the eligible people will get the benefits irrespective of their political affiliations. Holding a teleconference with TDP Ministers, MPs, MLAs and MLCs on Friday, Naidu said TDP activists should not develop any rapport with YSRCP leaders. “My intention is that all the eligible people should get the welfare schemes. But TDP activists should not develop any rapport with YSRCP leaders. I am clear on it. But YSRCP leaders have twisted the fact, and resorted to a false propaganda that I stated that not to extend welfare schemes to those who voted to the YSRCP,” the TDP INVESTORS who bought sovereign gold bonds series IV in 2017 have struck gold. With gold prices crossing the sensitive $3000/ounce first time-ever in early trade on Friday in international markets, the Reserve Bank of India fixed the final redemption price for sovereign gold bonds (SGBs) due on March 17, at `8,624/gm for the 2016-17 series IV SGB Se. ries IV was issued at a price of `2,943/gm. “The redemption price of the SGB shall be based on the simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity of the week (Monday-Friday), preceding the date of redemption, as published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association,” the RBI said in a statement. Since the inception of the SGB scheme in November 2015, under the gold monetisation scheme to offer an alternative investment to physical gold, as much as 146.96 tonnes of gold was issued/raised through 67 tranches, amounting to `72,274 crore. Since July 2024, the RBI has announced premature redemption for SGBs issued between 2017 and 2020. In FY24, investors bought gold bonds worth `27,031 crore @ Vijayawada Vladimir Putin Donald Trump its invasion of Ukraine. Strong pressure must be applied to the only one who wants to continue this war,” Zelensky said. Kursk was one of Kyiv’s few bargaining chips in swapping land with Russia, which has occupied around a fifth of Ukraine since it took Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale TDP leaders who failed to get the nominated posts now, will be given opportunities after the completion of two year tenure of those appointed N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister supremo explained. Mentioning that the exercise to fill nominated posts is going on, Naidu said some TDP leaders are delaying the process without submitting their rec- invasion in February 2022. Earlier in the day Russia said , Putin had sent “additional” signals to Trump about a ceasefire, adding it was “cautiously optimistic” about the prospect of a deal. US envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin late Thursday to lay out the details of the joint USUkrainian plan, which envisages a 30-day pause in hostilities between Moscow and Kyiv after three years of fighting. The Kremlin said both sides agreed that a telephonic “conversation is needed” between Trump and Putin but that the timing was yet to be determined.  AP & AFP ommendations. Only the names of committed and loyal TDP activists should be recommended for the nominated posts at the earliest, he said. Informing that chairpersons of 21 temple trusts across the State will be appointed, he said right persons will be given right posts. About 60,000 applications have been received for the nominated posts, and they are being scrutinised. Those who failed to get the nominated posts now, will be given opportunities after the completion of two year tenure of those appointed. The performance of all those who got nominated posts, is being closely monitored, he said. Suggesting that TDP activists maintain dignity, and should be cautious like when in opposition, Naidu is of the firm opinion that the governance should be acceptable to all the P4 people.  Man with rod attacks devotees at Golden Temple H a r p r e e t b a j w a @ Chandigarh A man armed with a rod attacked devotees inside the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar on Friday injuring five. , Sources said the attack took place inside Guru Ram Dass Inn near the community kitchen (langar) hall. The Punjab Police have arrested the accused and another person who had accompanied him to the Golden Temple. The police have not officially disclosed the identity of the attacker. But an official said the attacker was identified as Zul- An injured receives treatment at a hospital after a man attacked devotees at the Golden Temple complex | PTI fan from Haryana, who is working as a daily wage labourer. He allegedly had an argument with some people before he started hitting devotees with an iron rod. A probe is on to unearth the motive behind the attack, police said. One of the injured, a youth from Bathinda, is in serious condition and has been admitted at the emergency wing of Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Amritsar. Meanwhile, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has strongly condemned the incident. SGPC Secretary Partap Singh said three devotees from Mohali, Bathinda and Patiala and two sewadars were injured. The incident has raised con- cerns about the security of devotees on the Golden Temple premises. A man had opened fire at former Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal at the entrance of the Golden Temple in Amritsar in December last year, sending shock waves across the state. Sukhbir in blue ‘sewadar’ uniform, was at the entrance of the Golden Temple serving religious punishment when he was attacked. The assailant was taken into custody and was identified as former militant Narayan Singh Chaura. Putin thanks world leaders including PM Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their “noble mission” to end the war between Ukraine and Russia. “Many heads of state, the president of China, the Prime Minister of India ... are spending a lot of time dealing with this issue. We are thankful to all of them,” Putin said india slams Pakistan charges on terror sponsoring SGB 2016-17 issue and redemption price Series Issue price Redemption price I `3,119/gm `6,938/gram II `3,150/gm `7,517/gm III `3,007/gm `7,788/gm IV `2,943/gm `8,624/gm or 44.34 tonnne of gold. Since July 2024, the government has redeemed six tranches of SGBs, with 61 tranches remaining outstanding, and the final redemption scheduled for February 2032. SGB 2016-17 series I, issued at `3,119 on August 5, 2016, was redeemed in the first week of August 2024 at `6,938/gram. The series II, issued at `3,150/gram on September 30, 2016, was redeemed on September 30, 2024 at `7,517/gram. The third series, issued at `3,007/gram on November 17, 2016, was redeemed on November 16, 2024 at `7,788/gram. The July 2024 budget projected that government liabilities on gold bonds would hit `85,000 crore by the end of this fiscal, almost nine times the number in FY20. A duty cut led to a massive 6% plunge in domestic gold prices , yet the first redemption gave gold investors a premium of 122%. India trashed Pakistan’s accusation that New Delhi is sponsoring terrorism, following Balochistan train attack, and asked it not to blame others Another Israeli tourist visiting Hampi alleges sexual assault K i r a n B a l a n n a n a v a r @ Hampi Deputy Chief Minister and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan addresses the party plenary at Chitrada in Pithapuram constituency on Friday | Express Will groom 100 young changemakers to lead India: PK’s Vision 2047 K K a lya n K r i s h n a K u m a r @ Vijayawada/ Kakinada Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan ‘Viksit Bharat by 2047’, and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s vision of ‘Swarna Andhra by 2047’, Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan set his own goal. “I aim to nurture 100 youths from each village in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, ensuring that at least 100 capable leaders guide the country in the right direction by 2047,” said Pawan Kalyan during his powerful speech at the 12th JSP Foundation Day celebrations at Chitrada in Pithapuram Assembly constituency on Friday . Addressing the huge gathering of the grand event ‘Jaya Ketanam’, he asserted that the party had taken crucial steps toward success after electoral losses in the past. The meeting drew over five lakh Janasainiks and JSP supporters from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. “We stood firm. We stood by the party We stood by the . TDP When we lost in 2019, they grew arrogant. The previ. ous rulers insulted our women, harassed the people, and sentenced those who questioned them. Brave women who demanded justice were jailed. Even a leader with four decades of experience was imprisoned. Many conspiracies were hatched to suppress me. They tried to keep me away , even from the Assembly gates. But we did not back down. Today, we have entered the Assembly with 21 MLAs, and Parliament with 2 MPs, achieving a 100% strike rate beP4 cause we are fearless,” he declared. An Israeli tourist was allegedly molested in Hampi by a group of three youth during Hampi Utsav last week. This incident came to light due to the testimony of a witness. Seeing the youth allegedly molesting the woman, an autorickshaw driver rushed to her rescue. But the trio assaulted the auto driver and left him with a bloody nose. The Hampi police took the trio in and filed a case against them under Section 109 for assaulting the auto driver. They did not file any case for allegedly molesting the Israeli woman, although she was also taken to the station along with the auto driver. The police produced the youth before a local court, which let them go after they admitted to assaulting the auto driver and gave a written undertaking that they would not commit such offences henceforth, the witness said. He said the Israeli woman told the auto driver she would take up the matter with her embassy and seek legal action. But so far, the Hampi police have not received any complaint from any embassy A sen. ior officer of Vijayanagara, who confirmed the incident, said patrolling has been intensified and stern action will be taken against troublemakers. This incident comes close on the heels of the gruesome gangrape of two women, including an Israeli tourist in the Koppal district of Karnataka, and the gang-rape of a British woman in Delhi’s Mahipalpur.