vijayawada l wednesday l april 23, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Maharashtra rolls back its diktat on Hindi as 3rd language Maharashtra has stayed its order to make Hindi mandatory as a third language for Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English-medium schools decision comes after stiff opposition The decision taken last week met with stiff resistance from different quarters, including some opposition parties, and comes days after the Maharashtra government’s language consultation committee urged CM Devendra Fadnavis to revoke the decision. School Education Minister Dada Bhuse said the Centre did not pressure them to “impose” Hindi ■ 3 learning hindi will be made voluntary ■ A senior minister of Maharashtra government said a new order will be issued making it voluntary to learn Hindi in these classes Rahul Rekhawar, Director of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), said efforts will be taken to ensure students do not feel any pressure of learning a third language language formula is part of the new curriculum under NEP 43604/8 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 Illustration: Mandar Pardikar Lidder river Baisaran Valley Pahalgam Amarnath Yatra Base Camp Tourists enjoying a balmy afternoon at Baisaran meadow, a non-motorable spot about 5-10 km from Pahalgam Terrorists in combat uniform emerge from the dense forest around the site, ask tourists to identify themselves Terrorists selectively open fire on Hindus; 28 killed, including two foreigners and a couple of locals Video grab of security personnel taking scared tourists to safety at the massacre site in J&K’s Pahalgam 28 massacred in J&K J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi In one of the biggest attacks on tourists coinciding with the visit of US Vice President J D Vance to India, terrorists on Tuesday massacred 28 people, most of them tourists, in J&K’s Pahalgam area and injuring many others. Among the victims were two foreigners from UAE and Nepal and a couple of locals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia and returned home after the business part of his trip was over. Official sources said twothree terrorists emerged from the dense forest around the Baisaran meadow, a scenic but non-motorable spot about 5-10 km from Pahalgam around 2.30 pm. They were heavily armed and in combat Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday decided to cut short his state visit to Saudi Arabia and return to India in the wake of the J&K terror attack. He was originally scheduled to return on Wednesday night but will now arrive in New Delhi by early Wednesday morning. He also skipped the official dinner hosted in his honour by the Saudi government. The terror attack, which occurred during Modi’s historic visit to Jeddah — the first by an Indian prime minister in 40 years — cast a shadow over the otherwise high-level engagements. Sources said the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is expected to meet at the earliest to assess the situation. The move comes as world leaders continue to express their condolences and solidarity with India over the incident. Earlier in the day he asked Union home , minister Amit Shah to visit Srinigar to take charge of the situation. Shah then held a high-level meeting with senior officials through video conferencing soon after the attack and landed in Srinagar by 9 pm. F aya z W a n i @ Srinagar uniform. The terrorists separated the Hindu tourists from the rest after checking their identity and fired on them indiscriminately sources said. , Waseem Khan, a security guard, said he heard the firing but initially thought it was due to firecrackers. “The firing continued for 10 minutes. As there were cries, we rushed to the spot and saw bodies lying on the ground. Some of them were dead and some injured,” he said. Baisaran, which is known as mini Switzerland for its lush green meadows, can be reached only through foot or on horses. “You cannot go to the area in the vehicles because there is no motorable road,” he said. In a viral video, a woman tourist, whose husband was shot at by militants, said, “We were enjoying bhelpuri and my husband was sitting by my side, when an individual came and shot at him. He thought he is not a Muslim and fired. “Please save my husband,” she pleaded. One of the victims was Manjunath Rao, a businessman from Shivamogga district of Karnataka. The victims included Prasant Kumar Satpathy from Odisha, Manish Ranjan from Hyderabad and another from Kochi. A tourist from Maw Nagar, Gujarat, said he was travelling on horse back when the terrorists fired. “I was hit in the right arm,” he said. He is under treatment in Anantnag. The Resistance Front, a shadow group of Lashkar-eToiba, claimed responsibility for the attack. ‘No errant official will be spared’ Vijayawada: Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha has said law is taking its own course and officials are being booked strictly based on evidence for their alleged misconduct during the previous YSRCP regime. Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks at the fighter jets of Royal Saudi Air Force escorting his aircraft as it arrives in Jeddah on Tuesday | PTI PM’s Saudi trip to push trade ties j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi 3.5K% levy plan US wants to slap up to a whopping 3,500% tariff on solar panels from Southeast Asia to address dumping V-P J D Vance urges India to drop non-tariff barriers, give greater access to its markets, buy more US energy and military products | P8 “Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice... they will not be spared! Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger,” PM Modi said The perpetrators are animals, inhuman: CM “This attack on our visitors is an abomination. The perpetrators of this attack are animals — inhuman and worthy of contempt. No words of condemnation are enough,” CM Omar Abdullah said Those involved will not be spared, says Shah “Those involved in this dastardly act of terror will not be spared. We will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences.” Union home minister Amit Shah said place. The news of his murder sent shockwaves through the TDP ranks, In a horrific incident on Tuesday with party leaders and cadres rushnight, Muppavarapu Veeraiah Chow- ing to the hospital. dary, a prominent Telugu Desam Prominent TDP leaders, including Party (TDP) leader and former Nagu- Minister Dr Swamy Ongole MP Ma, luppalapadu MPP was brutally mur- gunta Srinivasulu Reddy, Ongole , dered in his office at PadMLA Damacharla Janardma Towers, Ongole. han Rao, SanthanuthalaThree masked assailpadu MLA BN Vijaya Kuants armed with knives mar, AP Maritime Board entered his office around Chairman Satya, and APT7:45 - 7:50 pm, stabbed him DC Chairman Dr Nukasani repeatedly, and fled the Balaji, visited the hospital to scene. Despite being inquire about the incident rushed to a nearby hospiand pay their respects. tal by locals, Veeraiah was M Veeraiah Chowdary District SP AR Damodar, declared dead on arrival. along with other police offiVeeraiah Chowdary, a close rela- cials, inspected the crime scene and tive of former MLA and ex-ZP Chair- gathered details about the attack. A man Edara Haribabu, was a key TDP case has been registered, and the infigure and the official representative vestigation is underway . of the Bapatla Parliament. He manChief Minister N Chandrababu aged his liquor business from his of- Naidu strongly condemned the murfice in Ongole, where the attack took der of Veeraiah Chowdary . E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Ongole TDP concedes RS seat to BJP IMF says economic outlooks for US and world have worsened significantly due to trade war Resolve to fight terror unshakable: Modi TDP’s ex-MPP Veeraiah stabbed to death in office express read Vijayawada: The vacant Rajya Sabha seat from AP is likely to be filled by a candidate from BJP. This was decided at a meeting between CM N Chandrababu Naidu and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. PM cuts short visit, returns INDIA and Saudi Arabia have agreed to deepen cooperation across multiple strategic sectors, including defence, investment, culture, and space after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The announcement came during the second meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) the two leaders. The leaders agreed to establish a new Ministerial Committee on Defence Cooperation to oversee joint military exercises, training, and industrial partnerships. The Council also announced creation of a Minis- terial Committee on Tourism and Cultural Cooperation. A key highlight was the progress made by the HighLevel Task Force on Investment. Saudi Arabia reaffirmed to invest $100 billion in India across energy petro, chemicals, infrastructure, technology, economy, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and healthcare. Both sides agreed to jointly establish two new oil refineries in India. Progress on taxation frameworks was also noted as a major breakthrough to further ease bilateral investment flow. MoUs were signed for space collaboration, public health cooperation, and anti-doping education. A pact was signed between Saudi Post and India Post. Shakti dubey bags top rank Impressive show by Telugu students in Civil Services exam E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Telugu students have put up an impressive performance in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024, with several securing top ranks in the final list released on Tuesday E Sai Shivani stood out with an All . India Rank (AIR) of 11, followed by Banna Venkatesh (AIR 15) and Abhishek Sharma (AIR 38). Other notable achievers from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana include Ravula Jayasimha Reddy (46), Shravan Kumar Reddy (62), Sai Chaitanya Jadhav (68), N Chetana Reddy (110), Chennamreddy Sivaganesh Reddy (119), Challa Pawan Kalyan (146), N Srikanth Reddy (151), Nellore Sai Teja (154), Kolipaka Srikrishna Sai (190), Pavan Kumar Reddy (375) and Dr Ravada Sai Mohini Manasa (975). The UPSC announced the results for the recruitment of 1,056 B Venkatesh posts in IAS, IPS, IFS, and Central Services. This year’s topper is Shakti Dubey from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Harshita Goyal (2), Archit Parag (3), Shah Margi Chirag (4), and Akash Garg (5), rounding out the top five. The recruitment notification was issued in February 2023. The preliminary exam took N Srikanth Reddy place on June 16, followed by mains from September 20 to 29. Personal interviews were conducted in phases between January 7 and April 17. Of the total candidates selected, 1,009 have been recommended for Group A services and 335 for Group B. The final list includes 109 candidates from EWS, 318 from OBC, 160 from SC, and 87 from ST categories. Additionally 230 candidates have been kept on the reserve , list. UPSC has set up a facilitation counter at its New Delhi office for any queries related to the results.  P4 back to 4.30—5.00am slot TTD to begin trial run for early VIP Break Darshan B M u r a l i @ Tirumala Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has announced a trial run to reinstate the Early Morning VIP Break Darshan, shifting from the current VIP Break Darshan schedule that begins at 8 am or 10 am on peak days like Fridays, and concludes by 1:30 pm. The decision, made by TTD officials and temple authorities, aims to revert to the earlier 4:30 am or 5:00 am start time. Earlier during the previous YSRCP government, the then Executive Officer AV Dharma Reddy introduced changes allowing VIP Break Darshan to start at 8 am or 10 am based on VIP demand and refer ral letters. Initially the VIP Break Dar, shan ticket numbers were capped below 1,000, even on peak days, but later surged to 2,300. Government orders during that period mandated the temple board to accept at least one referral letter per MLA/ MP daily . Later, it was increased to two, extending the same policy to Telangana MLAs and MPs. This change led to a significant rise in VIP tickets, reaching 4,000 to 5,000 per day . Following the election code, TTD temporarily halted the discretionary quota but resumed it post-gover nment change, recently reinstating Telangana representatives’ reP4 ferral privileges.