hyderabad l wednesday l july 02, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE City EDITION stealth frigate INS Tamal latest induction into the navy An improved version of Shtil missile is the primary weapon for anti-air defence of the Russian-manufactured frigate INS Tamal shipborne surface-to-air missile key usp Describing the latest version of the missile, sources from Russia said the Russian Shtil-1 is a shipborne, medium-range, multi-channel, verticallaunch Surface to Air Missile (SAM) system. It provides omnidirectional collective defence of ship squadrons as well as omnidirectional individual defence of ships against attacks by enemy anti-ship missiles and aircraft ■ 8th Russian tech helps make in india plan ■ Trials of Shtil-1 with 9M317ME SAMs fitted aboard the frigate Tamal were completed at a Baltic Sea range before its delivery to India Sources termed the transfer of technology being “in line with Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation, which is evolving, on the basis of long-term contracts and ‘Make in India’ initiative | P7 INS Tamal is the eighth ship that Russia transferred to the Navy 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 Sigachi explosion toll mounts to 36 CM announces an ex-gratia of `1 crore for kin of deceased Criminal case registered against factory management Sridhar Babu takes serious view of absence of company officials A son’s search for his father P K rishna @ Sangareddy CM Revanth Reddy visits Sigachi factory; (Left) Immanuel, brother of one of the deceased, at the Patancheru hospital mortuary on Tuesday | Vinay Madapu P K R I S H N A @ Sangareddy A day after the catastrophic explosion at the Sigachi chemical factory in Sangareddy district, the death toll rose to 36, with 13 bodies identified as of Tuesday night. Grief-stricken families continued to camp outside hospitals and mortuaries, clinging to fading hopes as 16 people remain missing, and several bodies were charred beyond recognition. The atmosphere is sombre, pierced only by the wails of loved ones desperate for answers. For many waiting near the factory gates, no compensation can fill the void left by those feared lost forever. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy visited the site on Tuesday offering words of solace to , the bereaved families. He announced an ex-gratia of `1 crore to the kin of each de- INSIDE ceased worker. Visibly angered, the chief minister directed that the factory’s managing director be made to meet either the Industries minister or the Health minister. He asserted that responsibility would be fixed and stern action taken against those found guilty . Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu, who accompanied the CM, expressed outrage at the absence of company management even 24 hours after the tragedy “The . entire state administration is here to support the grieving families, but not a single senior official from the company has shown up. This will not be taken lightly,” he warned. Though rescue operations are nearly complete, officials have recovered only mangled body parts, making identification difficult. According to one Grim facts 143 workers present at the time of accident Total deaths confirmed 36 Total bodies identified 13 Undergoing treatment 34 Still missing 16 Escaped unhurt 57 official, removing the debris has become a Herculean task, and identification could take several more days. Authorities are yet to confirm whether some of the missing workers fled the site during the explosion or are still buried under the rubble of the threestoreyed building, which collapsed during the blast, trapping several employees inside. A criminal case has been reg- Unbearable wait at patancheru hospital mortuary I P2 Cops turning police stations into ‘settlement addas’: HC T G N ai d u @ Hyderabad The Telangana High Court on Tuesday rapped the state police, observing that several police stations have turned into ‘settlement addas’, particularly after the for mation of Telangana. The court said this trend has now reached its peak, with law enforcement personnel allegedly misusing their powers to intervene in civil matters. Justice Tadakamalla Vinod Kumar made strong oral observations while hearing a petition filed by Pamu Sudharshanam, who alleged abuse of authority by the Nagole police in collusion with real estate agents to settle disputes related to his plot (No 65) in Krushi Nagar, Bandlaguda. Sudharshanam claimed that E x p r e ss R e a d the police facilitated a settlement of civil and criminal disputes by allegedly forcing him to pay `55 lakh. During the hearing, the court pulled up Rachakonda Police Commissioner G Sudheer Babu, who appeared virtually and the , Station House Officer (SHO) of Nagole police station, who appeared in person. The court was particularly critical of the police’s alleged detention of the petitioner from 10 am to 9.30 pm on June 19, 2025, reportedly to coerce him into a settlement. Justice Vinod Kumar directed the police to submit CCTV footage from the police station for that date to verify the claim. The court expressed dismay over the police ignoring existing injunction orders in the matter.  continued on p5 istered against the factory management by the BDL Bhanur police under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempting to commit culpable homicide), and 117 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Sangareddy District Collector P Pravinya said that 13 deceased persons have been identified so far, and their families have been provided with `1 lakh as immediate assistance. Families of the 34 injured workers have received `50,000 each. DNA samples are being collected from the relatives of the missing to help identify severely mutilated or unrecognisable remains, currently preserved at the Patancheru hospital morgue. Distraught families continue to shuttle between the hospital and the factory hoping , for news of their loved ones. continued on p3 management knew machinery was outdated: son of victim I P2 ‘all industries across state will be inspected’ I P3 Hard talk on terror at Quad meet J ayan t h J a c o b @ New Delhi In the backdrop of the Pahalgam terror attack, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday asserted that India will not hesitate to defend its citizens against terrorism and expects its strategic partners to stand in solidarity, at a meeting of Quad foreign ministers in Washington. “A word about terrorism in the light of our recent experience — the world must display zero tolerance. Victims and perpetrators must never be equated. And India has every right to defend its people against terrorism, and we will exercise that right. We expect our Quad partners to understand and appreciate that,” Jaishankar said, addressing his counterparts from the US, Japan and Australia. The strong statement came in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 civilians — mostly tourists — in a cross-border terror attack, underscoring In- dia’s growing assertiveness on counterterrorism in multilateral groupings such as the Quad. Set against the backdrop of growing concerns over China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, the Quad meeting also reaffirmed the group’s commitment to a free, open, and rules-based regional order. “We are all committed to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Jaishankar said. “It is essential that nations of the Indo-Pacific have the freedom of choice, so essential to make right decisions on development and security,” Jaishankar said. He added that the bloc was becoming “more cohesive, nimble, and focused”. The Quad, or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, has emerged as one of the cornerstones of India’s strategic engagements amid a volatile regional landscape. India is set to host the next Quad summit later this year. Want to have similar meets every 5-6 mths: U.S. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed the strategic importance of the grouping. “We would like to do this every five-six months. These are important strategic partners and allies of the US. We have shared priorities — we talk about ideas and concepts,” he said X factor Trump-Musk feud US president Donald Trump threatened to deport his former ‘first buddy’ Elon Musk as the two fought over the tax bill | P9 EAC’s Banakacherla rejection just comma, not full stop: Revanth M an d a R a v in d er R e d d y @ Hyderabad Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday described the Expert Appraisal Committee’s (EAC) rejection of the Godavari-Banakacherla Link Project proposal as a temporary setback for Andhra Pradesh, stating, “It’s a comma, not a full stop.” He said that Andhra Pradesh will resubmit the proposal with clarifications to address EAC’s concerns because Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s survival depends on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, whose own survival hinges on the Godavari-Banakacherla Link Project. “They are political linkages like rivers linkage,” he remarked. Revanth Reddy accused former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and BRS MLA T Harish Rao of betraying Telangana’s interests in the allocation of Godavari and Krishna river waters. He alleged that KCR agreed to a reduced water share, effectively “mortgaging” Telangana’s rights. He claimed that Telangana, with 68% of the Krishna river’s catchment area, should have received 555 tmcft of water as per international water laws, but the BRS government settled for only 299 tmcft, which the state never fully utilised, peaking at 220 tmcft due to incomplete projects. On the Godavari, the chief minister said that of the 1,486 tmcft water available, Telangana was allocated 968 tmcft and Andhra Pradesh 518 tmcft. He slammed KCR for redesigning the Congress-initiated Pranahita-Chevella project into the Kaleshwaram project, escalating costs from `38,000 crore to `1.5 lakh crore, with only 168 tmcft of water having been lifted so far. He also pointed out that in 2016, KCR claimed 3,000 tmcft of Godavari water was going waste, prompting Andhra Pradesh to plan the diversion of 400 tmcft to the Penna basin. He urged the Central government to mediate watersharing disputes between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, instead of fostering litigation. He criticised Union minister G Kishan Reddy for neglecting Telangana’s interests while Andhra Pradesh pursued water diversion permissions. He also appealed to the new state BJP president, N Ramchander Rao, to raise Telangana’s water concerns with the Prime Minister.  continued on p4 Key Cabinet decisions on job creation, Olympics preparation 767 Maha ryots suicides recorded in 3 months `1 l cr scheme TO CREATE 3.5 CR JOBS Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Tuesday revealed in the legislative assembly that between January and March this year, at least 767 farmers died by suicide across the state. A majority of them hail from the Vidarbha region. The disclosure was made by the state government after Congress MLAs sought data on the rising farm suicides in Maharashtra, particularly in Vidarbha. They also wanted to know how the state government was extending help to the deceased farmers’ families | P8 R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi Parl panel meeting cut short over Medha Patkar | p8 More than 24 hours have passed, but for many families, the agonising wait continues. They do not know whether their loved ones are dead or alive. Their eyes and throats are dry worn out from , hours of weeping since Monday morning. “Can anyone tell me what happened to my father, Dasari Ramanjaneyulu? Where is he? Is he alive or dead?” asked a distraught Dasari Kishore, standing near the Sigachi chemical factory in Pashamylaram, the site of Monday’s massive explosion that claimed at least 36 lives. Kishore recalled dropping his father at the factory around 8 am. “I left him at the g ate and retur ned Dasari Kishore home. The blast occurred barely an hour later. Since then, I’ve been trying to find him, but in vain.” Ramanjaneyulu, who worked as a supervisor at the ill-fated factory has been , missing since the incident. Kishore has searched every hospital where the injured are being treated and visited the morgue multiple times, hoping to find his father or at least confirm his death. But many bodies were charred beyond recognition, making identification nearly impossible.  continued on p3 IN a bid to boost employment generation, especially in the manufacturing sector, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme with an outlay of `99,446 crore. The scheme is expected to create 3.5 crore jobs across the country over a twoyear period, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said while announcing the scheme. Of these, 1.92 crore beneficiaries are expected to be first-time entrants into the workforce, the minister said. The benefits of the scheme will apply to jobs created between August 1, 2025 and July 31, 2027. The scheme comprises two components— Part A, which targets first-time employees, and Part B, which incentivises employers to create additional jobs. Under Part A, first-time employees registered with the Employees’ Provident Fund Or- ganisation (EPFO) will receive support equivalent to one month’s EPF wage (up to `15,000), paid in two instalments. The first instalment will be provided after six months of continuous employment, and the second after 12 months of service. Under Part B, the scheme focuses on encouraging employHow to ers to create additional jobs qualify across all sectors, with emphaFirms with sis on manufacturing. Employfewer than 50 ers will receive incentives of up workers must to `3,000 per month per new emhire two more ployee for two years, provided workers. the employee remains in susLarger firms tained employment for at least must add 5 six months. For the manufacnew staff and turing sector, the incentives keep them for will be extended to the third six months and fourth years as well. Khelo Bharat Niti for fitter india E x press N e w s S er v i c e @ Chennai With the major objective of making India a sporting powerhouse and inculcating sports culture among the masses, the new Khelo Bharat Niti was approved by the Union cabinet. It will supersede the National Sports Policy of Promoting 2001. It also aims at engaging the youth of the country while business trying to build a fitter India. Another key The new Khelo Bharat Niti feature of the will aim to bring in more transpolicy is to parency and accountability in promote the sports governance while drivbusiness side ing necessary changes to usher of things with in a robust mechanism to prothe sports mote sports in our day to day market lives. The policy also has 2036 expanding Olympics in mind for which Inexponentially dia has already entered the bid- ding process. According to the ministry statement, “It lays out a visionary and strategic roadmap to establish India as a global sporting powerhouse and a strong contender for excellence at international sporting events, including the 2036 Olympic Games.” The policy also speaks about making sports part of the school curriculum. “In alignment with the National Education Policy 2020, the NSP 2025 proposes to: Integrate sports into school curricula,” said the document. Interestingly, both sports and education are state subjects. The policy which is a guiding document for , a better sports ecosystem, is aiming for establishing comprehensive sports programmes for all groups from grassroots to elite level. The policy also speaks about introducing more leagues with the help of National Sports Federations (NSFs), something the ministry has been trying to bring in for some time.