pic: Sayantan Ghosh hyderabad l Monday l June 30, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION red alert in many states as monsoon covers entire India Southwest monsoon has covered entire country 9 days earlier than usual, bringing rain in Delhi and other northern states cloudburst in uttarakhand kills two Shimla-kalka rail line suspended The IMD has issued a red alert for heavy rainfall on June 29 and 30 in Uttarakhand, including Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri, Haridwar and Nainital. Authorities have put the Chardham yatra on hold for a day for the safety of pilgrims. A cloudburst in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi early Sunday left two construction workers dead ■ Services on the Shimla-Kalka rail line — a UNESCO world heritage — were suspended on Sunday after boulders and trees fell on the tracks following overnight rains in Solan. A bridge was also washed away ■ Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi, which has been experiencing rainfall since Sunday morning, is likely to receive heavy rain till July 2 June 26 in 2020 was the last time monsoon had arrived earlier than usual 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 Shah: No talks with Maoists as long as they carry arms E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Reiterating that the Union government was committed to ending Naxalism by March 31, 2026, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday urged Maoists to surrender and join the mainstream. He categorically stated that the Centre would not hold talks with those who continue to bear arms. “Our policy is no talks with those who have arms in their hands. Give up arms and surrender. If you do not surrender, we have decided to end Naxalism by March 31, 2026. Should we not end the Naxalites who have killed adivasis and police personnel?” Shah said. Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the National Turmeric Board headquarters in Nizamabad, the Union home minister said that while he “feared that the Congress might provide shelter to Maoists, there was no cause for concern as Narendra Modi was in power at the Centre”. “The Congress is asking for talks with Maoists. Our government’s policy is clear — no talks with those who hold weapons. Surrender and join the mainstream,” he said. Shah noted that in the Northeast, 10,000 individuals had surrendered and joined the mainstream, with some contesting elections at district and Assembly levels. “In the last one-anda-half years, around 2,000 Maoists surrendered,” he added. “From Telangana’s soil, I want to ask those who speak of protecting Naxals: What answer Maha rescinds 3-language policy orders S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai THE Maharashtra government on Sunday decided to rescind the decision to introduce Hindi as a third language in primary schools, a move that was panned by opposition parties as part of ‘Hindi imposition’. Announcing the decision on Sunday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said: “The state cabinet has decided to withdraw the Government Resolutions issued in April and June regarding the implementation of the three-language policy from Class 1.” Following the announcement, the Raj Thackeray-led MNS and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) cancelled their protest march planned on July 5 against the orders on teaching Hindi in primary schools. Fadnavis said a committee headed by economist and writer Narendra Jadhav will be formed to study the threelanguage formula and submit a detailed report on whether it can be implemented in primary schools. Till then, the government orders about introducing Hindi as a third language stand cancelled, he said. “The decision of third language policy was accepted by Uddhav Thackeray as it was recommended by scientist Raghunath Mashelkar. One Shiv Sena (UBT) member even said that Marathi, English and Hindi should be made mandatory up to graduation level,” Fadnavis said. Rly reservation chart to be out 8 hours ahead of departure RA J E SH K UMAR THA K UR @ New Delhi BJP MP gets threat calls from ‘Maoists’ BJP MP M Raghunandan Rao on Sunday lodged a complaint with the police that he received calls from unknown persons at 12.06 pm and 12.17 pm. The callers identified themselves as Maoists and threatened to kill him, the complaint said | P4 BJP issues notification to elect state unit chief The BJP set in motion the process to elect its new state president, with senior leader Y Laxminarayana issuing the election notification on Sunday. However, the election is expected to be unanimous | P4 will you give to the families of police personnel and adivasis who lost their lives in Naxal violence? Naxals have obstructed development in adivasi areas for decades. What is your answer?” he asked. Shah accused the BRS of indulging in massive corruption during its 10-year rule. He alleged irregularities in Dharani, Kaleshwaram, Singareni and other projects, and questioned wh e t h e r C h i e f M i n i s t e r A Revanth Reddy initiated even one case against those involved. Shah claimed that the family of former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao used Telangana as an “ATM” and alleged that the state has now become an “ATM for the Delhi Congress”.  Continued on P4 Relatives of the deceased mourn the deaths in Puri; people gather near chariots of Lord Jagannath during the annual ‘Rath Yatra’ in Puri, Odisha, on Sunday | PTI Three crushed in stampede at Puri Several injured in incident near Gundicha temple; tragedy when trucks entered crowded area Raj Kumar Mohanty & A s i s h Me h ta @ Puri/Bhubaneshwwar THREE devotees, including two women, were killed and six others suffered injuries when a stampede-like situation broke out in front of Gundicha Temple in Puri here in the wee hours on Sunday After chariot. pulling was completed as part of Rath Yatra, all three chariots were parked in front of the temple when the tragedy took place around 4.20 am. The temple is significant for being the destination of the annual Rath Yatra. Two of the victims died on the spot while the third succumbed in a hospital. Six more injured have been admitted to the district headquarters hospital, Puri collector Sidharth Shankar Swain said. The deceased were identified as Basanti Sahu (36) of Bolagarh, Pravati Das (45) from Balipatna and Prema Kant Mohanty (78) from Khurda. The incident took place when the morning ‘pahada’ lifting (opening for darshan) rituals had just begun leading to a sudden rush of devotees to catch a glimpse of the deities on the chariots. The gathering in front of Lord Jagannath’s chariot Nandighosa swelled and amid Collector, SP shunted Guv condoles deaths Just after the tragedy, Puri collector Siddharth Shankar Swain and SP Vinit Agrawal were transferred, while DCP Bishnu Pati and Commandant Ajay Padhi were suspended for the serious lapses Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati on Sunday expressed grief over the death of three persons in the crush. Kambhampati said on X: “Saddened by tragic loss of lives in the unfortunate stampede at Saradhabali” express read Cong to oppose Bihar’s voter revision New Delhi: As the ECI began its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls, the Congress on Sunday said it will oppose the move legally and politically. The move invited scathing criticism from the Opposition parties as the EC on Saturday said around 2.93 crore of 7.89 crore voters, or about 37% of the electorate, will have to submit proof of their eligibility. The Congress questioned the methodology adopted by the EC to ascertain that 37% of the electorate will have to re-register | P7 the push and pull, people started falling over each other. Eyewitness accounts said two trucks entered the area to unload the ladder parts for fixing the chariots to facilitate pahandi of the deities to the Gundicha temple. Devotees had to squeeze themselves to pave the way for the vehicles and the tragedy occurred. Expressing anguish over the incident, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi sought forgiveness from devotees of Lord Jagannath for the loss of lives. He also directed a probe by Development Commissioner Anu Garg and announced a compensation of `25 lakh each for kin of the deceased persons.  P5 AS part of its efforts to ease passenger comfort, the rail ministry is planning to release reservation charts eight hours prior to a train’s departure. Currently, the charts are released four hours before the scheduled departure. The new system is expected to come into effect from next month. Early preparation and release of charts will help passengers on waitlisted tickets know their status early enough to make alternative arrangements in case of nonconfirmation. The decision follows a series of meetings between railway officials and Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on how to improve ticket booking and t r av e l c o nv e n i e n c e f o r passengers. “To improve travel uncertainty, the rail ministry has proposed the new time frame to release the reservation chart, most likely to be implemented by July 1 or a few days late as it requires some technical modification in the system,” said a senior official, adding OTPbased authentication for Tatkal bookings will start on July 1.