tirupati l sunday l june 15, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION J&K to reopen Destinations closed after Pahalgam attack in phases Jammu & Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday said closed parks at tourist places will be reopened in a phased manner starting June 17 8 parks in jammu to reopen in first phase Sinha said the tourist spots that would be reopened include Beetab Valley and the parks near Pahalgam market. In Srinagar, Badamwari Park, Duck Park and Taqdeer Park will be reopened. Sarthal and Dhaggar in Kathua, Devipindi, Siyad Baba, and Sula Park in Reasi, Guldanda and Jai valley in Doda, and Pancheri in Udhampur—all in Jammu—will also be reopened reports from districts and then some more places will be reopened in consultation with the tourism department, the L-G said ■ Security has been beefed up for the Amarnath Yatra starting July 3, the L-G said, adding that he expects a large number of pilgrims 48 Tight security for Amarnath yatra ■ The committee comprising divisional commissioners and IGPs will take out of 87 tourist spots in Kashmir closed after April 22 Pahalgam attack 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 Dangerous escalation Iran threatens to hit US, UK bases in West Asia; Israel vows to destroy Tehran’s nuclear infra AGENCIE S @ Jerusalem / Dubai Cranes clearing the debris of the crashed plane in Ahmedabad on Saturday | PTI Toll 270, probe panel formed D i l i p S i n g h Ks h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad The death toll in the Air India flight tragedy here went up to 270, even as a body was extracted from the tail of the crashed aircraft on Saturday The Lon. don-bound flight had rammed into the BJ Medical College hostel moments after takeoff on Thursday . As of now, DNA matches of 11 victims with their families have been established — three more than on Friday. Since many bodies were charred beyond recognition, authorities are depending almost entirely on DNA testing for accurate identification. “This isn’t something we can afford to rush. Every case must be verified with clinical precision,” said Dr Rajnish Patel, surgery professor at B J Medical College. Gujarat Revenue Secretary Alok Pandey said many of the victims hailed from 18 of the state’s 33 districts. He said said 230 teams have been formed to coordinate with families of the victims. “A grief counsellor `25L interim relief Air India will make interim payment of `25 lakh to the families of the deceased and survivors of the plane crash — in addition to its `1 crore compensation has been assigned to every family to deal with mental trauma,” Pandey added. Gandhinagar Forensic Science Lab (FSL) Director H P Sanghvi said, “We’ve begun profile matching. Tests are ongoing in batches, each taking 36–48 hours. A team of 36 experts is working round-the-clock with the National Forensic Lab to expedite the process.” In a related development, the Centre constituted a multi-disciplinary panel headed by the Union home secretary to probe the cause of the air crash. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge urged the government to fix accountability “Let . the black box reveal the truth. The government must then fix accountability,” he said after visiting the crash site. IRAN and Israel on Saturday carried out waves of deadly attacks at each other, ignoring pleas from various countries including India for an immediate de-escalation of hostilities. Israel’s attacks on Iran’s military and nuclear targets on Friday and Saturday killed 78 people, according to Iranian authorities. The Israeli military said its air strikes killed 20 Iranian army and Revolutionary Guard commanders. According to local media, Iran’s retaliatory strikes in the wee hours on Saturday killed three persons and injured 80 others in Israel. The development comes amid the ongoing talks between Iran and the US seeking to reach a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme. A sixth round of negotiations is scheduled in Oman on Sunday, but it’s not clear if the talks will take place. Iran on Saturday said it would be meaningless to hold talks while it is under attack. Israel said it has destroyed bases of Israel’s allies including the US, UK, and France if they helped Tel Aviv. The warning came after reports said US air defence systems shot down Iranian missiles. With both Israel and Iran hardening their positions, it could become a protracted, fullfledged war that could disrupt global economy by making the P9 Red Sea more unsafe. India distances itself from sco statement India on Saturday sought to distance itself from the statement of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization criticising Israel’s strikes, saying the conflict can be sorted out only through dialogue and diplomacy | P7 Iran’s air defence systems claiming its jets flew for nearly two hours over Iranian airspace, hitting targets. “Tehran is no longer immune; the capital is exposed to strikes,” an IDF spokesperson said, adding that Israel plans to dismantle Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities. As for Iran, it threatened to attack the regional military WITH THIS ISSUE Shaken & Stirred PLUS 12 P AGES Karthik Ram Kireeti emerges State topper in NEET k k a lya n k r i s h n a k u m a r @ Vijayawada Six students from Andhra Pradesh have figured in the top 100 list of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) UG-2025. Among them, Darbha Karthik Ram Kireeti has emerged as the State topper with an All India Rank (AIR) of 19, and a percentile score of 99.9991400. The National Testing Agency Zero tolerance to corruption, asserts CM conducted NEET UG-2025 at NTA, AP student Podavati Mo5,468 centres located in 552 Cit- hith Sriram secured AIR 56 ies throughout the with a percentile of country, and 14 cities 99.9974653, Desina Surya outside India on May 4. Charan from VisakhapMore than 22 lakh canatnam got AIR 59 with didates appeared for 99.9972390. the test. Po d i l ap u Av i n a s h Mahesh Kumar from bagged AIR 64 scoring Rajasthan secured AIR Darbha Karthik 99.9968316. Yerra Sameer 1, while Avika AggarKumar of VisakhapatRam Kireeti wal got AIR 5, and nam stood 70th with emerged as the female topper. 99.9968316, while Tummuri According to official data of Siva Manideep ranked 92nd with 99.9954737. No student from Andhra Pradesh secured top rank in any category except Karuman, chi Vikrant, who got ninth rank in SC category with 99.9878243 percentile. Kireeti hails from Rajamahendravaram. He completed his schooling from LKG to Class 8 in Trips International School, and from Class 8 to Intermediate at Tirumala Junior College. Wants to be cardiologist or skull base surgeon Speaking to TNIE, Kireeti said he is keen to pursue MBBS at AIIMS, New Delhi, and aspires to become either a cardiologist or a skull base surgeon. His father Dr DS Arun Kumar is an ENT surgeon, and his mother, D Sreelatha is a homemaker. Expressing their happiness, they said their expectations that Kireeti would emerge top in the State came true express read Be ready to face legal action, Lokesh issues ultimatum to Jagan Vijayawada: In a post on X on Saturday, HRD and IT Minister Nara Lokesh said in response to the YSRCP allegations that funds of Talliki Vandanam scheme were going into his pocket, he challenged them to prove the charges within 24 hours. “The deadline is over. They have neither proved the charges against me nor tendered an apology. This is why you are being called as ‘fake’ Jagan. Be ready to face legal action,” Lokesh said. S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Making it clear that corruption at any level, in any department, and by anyone will not be tolerated, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed officials to build an administ r a t i o n fo c u s e d o n z e ro corruption. He underscored the need to identify areas where corruption is taking place, conduct inquiries, and take immediate action if allegations are proved. Holding a meeting with the officials at his camp office in Undavalli on Saturday, the Chief Minister reviewed the feedback received from the public over the past year regarding welfare schemes and development programmes. The officials informed him that the IVRS and CSDS surveys indicated high level of satisfaction among the people with the quality performance of the coalition government. He instructed that a technical audit be conducted on the survey process, and steps be taken to improve satisfaction in areas with low feedback. He underlined the need for prioritising 10 major public issues such as welfare, employment generation and road infra. He sought the details of how many people secured jobs through initiatives like workfrom-home, investment inflow, and skill development. Besides directing the officials to hold job melas in all 175 Assembly segments, he said all government services should be made available via WhatsApp Governance through the ‘Mana Mitra’ platform by August 15. P4 Destroyed residential buildings in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, Israel, hit by a missile fired from Iran on Saturday | ap/pti Yoga Day: Mega DSC exam on June 20 & 21 deferred to July 1 & 2 united by cricket South Africa captain Temba Bavuma with the World Test Championship mace after beating Australia in the final. This is SA’s first ICC trophy in 27 years | AP | P11 TAKE YOUR FIRST STEP TOWARDS TRANSFORMATION Vijayawada: In view of International Yoga Day celebrations on June 21, the State government has revised the dates of Mega DSC exam scheduled to be held on June 20 and 21. Mega DSC-2025 Convenor MV Krishna Reddy said the exam will be held on July 1 and 2. The updated hall tickets containing the new exam dates and centres will be made available on the AP MEGA DSC-2025 official website https://apdsc.apcfss.in from June 25 GITAM ADMISSION TEST (GAT) LAST DATE TO REGISTER 19 June th 2025 sunday special EXAM DATE 22 June nd A peek into where Gill’s journey began G o m e s h S @ Chennai Chak Khere Wala in Punjab, close to the Pakistan border, is not even a speck on the map. It would have remained a nondescript village of India’s vast hinterland if not for one man — Shubman Gill. When the newlyanointed India captain walks in the India blazer to toss the coin against England in the first Test at Leeds on Friday (June 20), the village would enter into the folklore of Indian cricket. This is where Gill’s cricketing journey began as a threeyear-old with a wooden bat carved out of a tree trunk. Gill’s grandparents — Sardar Didar Singh Gill and Gurmail — still live in the house surrounded by acres of farm land. The small stretch of concrete built to make Gill bat and the kitchen walls still stand as a testimony to his early toil as a batter. Didar, who is nearing 90, showed the house where Gill’s mementos and plaques hold pride of place. Gill and his father may have shifted to Mohali when he was seven but the cricketer has not forgotten the village. A small distance away from the Gills’ is the Jaimal Wala Academy. Coach Gurpreet Singh says Gill’s father trains kids whenever he is in village. Gill donat- 2025 Architecture ed `3.5L, which was used to set up the nets and buy equipment. The construction got over on Friday The district authorities . are building a new stadium to honour him. “Since Shubman, a lot of academies have come up in the area,” says Surinder Chindi, Fazilka Cricket AssoP11 ciation Secretary  . The patch of concrete where Shubman Gill used to practice as a child. 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