HYDERABAD l tuesday l june 24, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late cITY EDITION Kirsty Coventry: First female IOC president takes charge Out-going International Olympic president International hands over key of Olympic House to Coventry Olympic Committee in Lausanne during Handover Ceremony breaking glass ceiling, ushering in new era troubled times but promise in horizon Coventry has quite a few first on Monday after taking charge of the IOC. Besides being the first female, she is the first African, youngest at the age of 41 and first from a developing nation (Zimbabwe). The multiple Olympic medallist is supposed to bring in freshness and usher in a new progressive era in IOC. She also served in Zimbabwe govt as sports minister ■ ■ She will walk into a world that’s politically charged with war and conflict raging in quite a few regions. Hosting 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles in Trump era will be a challenge as well She said she would collaborate and govern. “I believe you get more collective if everyone feels that they’ve at least had a say...” Eight the number of years she will be in office 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 visa, First Iranian strike on U.S. base in Qatar For USmediaset social to Identity verification a G E N CIES IRAN fired multiple missiles against a US military base in Qatar on Monday, a day after the US hit its nuclear sites. This is the first time that Iran has launched a direct attack against US assets. However, US media reports said Iran had informed Qatar in advance to minimise casualties, suggesting that the retaliatory attacks were a symbolic move. Reports said multiple explosions were heard in Doha as missiles flew and interceptors fired, lighting up the sky. Qatar’s airspace was closed amid fears of an Iranian attack. The US air base in Iraq was also reportedly targeted. Qatar is home to a large Israel Syria Iraq Iran Saudi Arabia Qatar US military bases in the Middle East number of expatriates, many of them Indians. “In view of the ongoing situation, the Indian community in Qatar is urged to be cautious and remain indoors,” an advisory by the Indian embassy in Qatar read. The Al Udeid Air Base, located near Doha, is the largest US military installation in the re- gion, which is also the home to US Central Command’s forward headquarters. It hosts around 10,000 US troops and also includes UK military personnel on rotation. Qatar condemned the attack, saying it “reserves the right to respond directly in a manner equivalent with the nature and scale of this brazen aggression”. The Foreign Ministry of Qatar issued a statement late on Monday saying Qatari air defences “thwarted the attack and successfully intercepted the Iranian missiles,” with no injuries or deaths reported. Meanwhile, Israel continued to strike multiple sites in Iran on Monday, including Fordo, which the US claimed to have ‘obliterated’ on Sunday  . P9 15 expats to return from Iran, Israel today SIDDHARDHA G AT T I M I @ Hyderabad As many as 15 expatriates from Telangana are expected to arrive in Delhi from Iran and Israel early on Tuesday . Officials from Telangana Bhavan in Delhi said the expatriates were transported from Israel to Amman and from Tehran to Mashhad to facilitate their return to India. “The state government made arrangements to receive and support them at the airport and at Telangana Bhavan in Delhi,” they said. Earlier in the day Telangana Bhavan , facilitated the transit of six students who arrived late on Sunday . The group comprised four from Iran and two from Israel. All six boarded onward flights to Hyderabad and were seen off by Telangana Bhavan staff at 5.30 am on Monday . TG Cabinet resolves to block AP on Banakacherla M a n d a R a v i n d e r R e d d y @ Hyderabad The state Cabinet on Monday approved a resolution opposing the Godavari-Banakacherla project proposed by the Andhra Pradesh government. The Cabinet also decided to pursue legal action against the project. The Cabinet also resolved to brief public representatives in the first week of July on how the state government intends to present its arguments before the Union government regarding this matter. Information and Public Relations Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy stated that the Telangana government would not allow Andhra Pradesh to divert a single drop of Godavari water illegally . “The foundation for the Banakacherla project was laid during the previous BRS government. In 2016, at the Apex Council meeting, former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao agreed to divert 400 tmcft of Godavari water to the Penna basin,” he said. This was the first Cabinet meeting, held at the Secretariat under the leadership of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy after the recent expansion. The new, ly inducted ministers, G Vivek Venkatswamy, Vakiti Srihari and Adluri Laxman, attended the meeting. Srinivasa Reddy briefed reporters about the Cabinet decisions along with ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Vakiti Srihari. Briefing newsmen about the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Srinivasa Reddy said that as Justice PC Ghose has asked the government to submit additional details on the Kaleshwaram project by 30 June, the Cabinet has decided to provide the required information to the commission. He said: “The previous rulers claim Charting the future APPROVED n Southern section (Choutuppal– Sangareddy) of the Regional Ring Road, covering a distance of 201 km n Installation of Telangana Talli statues in all district collectorates by November 9 n Sports Policy and Vision - 2047 n Formation of two new municipalities, Indresham and Jinnaram, in Sangareddy district. n Admissions into IIIT-Mahbubnagar by 180 students per year, for 10 years Other decisions n Additionally, the Cabinet decided that the state reorganisation issues committee should send a letter to its counterpart in Andhra Pradesh regarding the division of assets n Noted doctor Nori Dattatreya to be appointed as an adviser to the government to provide guidance on cancer prevention and treatment in Telangana I cannot speak about elections to local bodies at this point of time as the matter is sub-judice and the Telangana High Court has reserved its orders on the issue Ponnam Prabhakar, Transport minister that this project had Cabinet approval. We will submit all details related to the implementation of the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla works.” India braces for Strait choke Over 2,000 Indians evacuated 290 more Indians were evacuated from Iran on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs said. With this, 2,003 Indians have been rescued. The first batch of 161 Indians from Israel will reach Delhi at 1:20 am on Tuesday Local body elections in Telangana are unlikely to be held within the next three months, according to submissions made by the state government and the State Election Commission (SEC) before the Telangana High Court on Monday . During the hearing of a batch of six writ petitions seeking directions to conduct elections to local bodies where the term of elected representatives ended on January 31, 2024, Additional Advocate General (AAG) Md Imran Khan informed the court that the government requires 30 days to finalise and announce reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in local bodies, as per Supreme Court directives. Senior counsel Sri Vidyasagar, representing the SEC, stated that elections would be held India is staring at a possible energy crisis if Iran goes ahead and closes the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. Even though the government has said oil supply to India remains intact and that it will take all necessary steps to ensure the stability of crude oil supply energy , experts and analysts think otherwise. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India has enough oil supplies to last for weeks. He said India has diversified sourc- es of crude oil, and out of the 5.5 million barrels of crude oil that India consumes daily, 1.5-2 million come through the Straits of Hormuz. However, data sourced from Kpler SAS—a global trade intelligence provider —shows 85% of India’s oil supplies come from the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has repeatedly threatened to close if attacked by the US. Meanwhile, oil prices fell as Iran spared energy assets and did not disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent oil futures dropped 6.4% to $72.07 a barrel on Monday . Nose-damaged flight: Pilots had no plan s l a l i t h a @ New Delhi IndiGo pilots on a Delhi to Srinagar flight last month, which suffered extensive nose damage due to a heavy hailstorm, did not have any clear plan to handle the situation, aviation regulator DGCA said in its report. The Air Traffic Control, too, faulted the pilots for their decisions. On May 21, 227 passengers on board had a miraculous escape with the nose of the flight suffered extensive damage. The pilots managed to land the flight in Srinagar. In its 29-page report, the DGCA pointed out that the forecast presented in the brief to pilots did not specify any significant weather changes. But the whether changed enroute. “The crew started taking deviations from the planned route to avoid weather in co-ordination with the three ATCs — the one at Delhi Airport, the Alpha Control for J&K and the Northern Control of the Air Force just before it reached the waypoint ASARI,” it said. “The cockpit crew were proactive in indentification of the weather. However, the actions and decisions which preceeded it indicate that the crew were not having a clear plan on the next course of action.” Cong wrests seat, INDIA 4, BJP one in bypolls P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi In the first set of bypolls to be held after Operation Sindoor, the Opposition bagged four out of five Assembly seats, in which elections were held across four states. The BJP retained the Kadi constituency in Gujarat. While the AAP received a shot in the arm in Punjab and Gujarat after its recent setbacks in Delhi, the Congress romped home with a convincing victory in Kerala ahead of assembly polls in the state next year. In bengal, the TMC retained its hold on Kaliganj in Nadia district. After the Congress-led UDF wrested Nilambur from the ruling LDF in Kerala in the bypolls with Aryadan Shoukath’s win over CPI (M) state secretariat member M Swaraj, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said working as a team with pointed focus, is the most important lesson of success. AAP’s Gopal Italia won from Gujarat’s Visavadar seat, his party also retained the Ludhiana West seat. The Congress which is seeking to strengthen the organisation in Gujarat by appointing new district party chiefs, suffered a setback with state party chief Shaktisinh Gohil stepping down.  P8 Local body polls unlikely in next three months T G N a i d u @ Hyderabad R a k e s h K u m a r @ New Delhi within 60 days of the completion of the BC reservation process by the government. The AAG’s submission came in response to a query from Justice T Madhavi Devi, who sought to know by when the government intended to conduct elections to the gram panchayats. The petitions were filed by former sarpanches challenging the appointment of Special Officers to oversee gram panchayats after the expiry of their terms.  CONTINUED ON P4 Former sarpanches left in limbo Ex-sarpanches have spent lakhs from personal funds to develop their villages on the assurance that they would be reimbursed through the State Finance Commission 16x25 public visibility E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi In a major overhaul of its visa screening process, the US embassy has advised all applicants for F, M, or J non-immigrant visas to set their personal social media accounts to public visibility effective immediately , . The policy, aimed at strengthening national security protocols, is designed to enhance identity verification and assist consular officers in determining applicants’ admissibility under US immigration law. F visas are intended for academic students attending US colleges, universities, or language training programmes; M visas cover non-academic VISA or vocational study; and J visas are reserved for individuals participating in exchange programmes, including, research scholars, and cultural exchange participants. The US Embassy in India posted on X: “Every visa adjudication is a national security decision.” Making social media accounts public became mandatory for vetting processes since 2019. Officials reiterated that all available information, including online presence, is used in visa screening to detect potential threats. The US State Department temporarily paused the issuance of student visas as it developed new social media screening guidelines on May-end.