HYDERABAD l wednesday l july 09, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Only 53% of Class 6 students know tables up to 10: govt Representational Image half of class 3 kids know subtraction According to the survey, only 55% of students in Class 3 can arrange numbers up to 99 in ascending or descending order while 58% can perform addition and subtraction of two-digit numbers. In Class 6, 53% of students know addition and multiplication tables up to 10 and can apply the four basic operations on whole numbers to solve daily life problems | P7 The findings were a part of a survey by Education Ministry covering 21,15,022 students in Grades 3, 6 and 9, spread across 74,229 schools in India Class 9 govt schools shine in languages ■ ■ In Class 6, an additional subject ‘The World Around Us’, which covers environment and society, was introduced alongside Language and Mathematics. Students scored lowest in Mathematics (46%) In the case of Class 9, students from Central Government schools performed the best across all subjects, with a clear lead in languages 36 states were covered in the learning survey by the centre 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 State may amend Panchayat Raj Act to raise BC quota Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy with Union Ministers JP Nadda, left, and Piyush Goyal, in New Delhi on Tuesday Sec 285A revision to get by 'special cases' clause CM asks Nadda ... and reminds to ensure timely Goyal of `600cr supply of urea... NICDIT funds E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday urged Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers JP Nadda to ensure a timely supply of urea allocated to Telangana to meet agricultural requirements during the ongoing Kharif season. Revanth called on Nadda at his official residence in Delhi. During the meeting, the chief minister pointed out that only 3.07 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of urea had been supplied to the state between April and June, against a seasonal requirement of five lakh MT. With farming activity underway and irrigation projects receiving inflows, the Chief Minister said an uninterrupted supply of urea was essential. He also stated that Telangana was allocated 63,000 MT of domestically produced urea and 97,000 MT of imported urea for July, but only 29,000 MT had been received so far. Revanth also requested the Centre to increase the quota of domestically produced urea and to arrange additional rakes for transport, citing the Railways’ reluctance to provide more. Those present at the meeting included State Government Adviser AP Jitender Reddy Con, gress MPs Mallu Ravi and Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy Special Secretary to the Chief Min, ister Ajith Reddy, Agriculture Secretary Raghunandan Rao and Central Schemes Coordination Secretary Gaurav Uppal. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has requested Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to release `596.61 crore approved by the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) for the development of Zaheerabad Industrial Smart City . During a meeting with the Union minister in Delhi on Tuesday Revanth also sought central , assistance for infrastructure in the proposed smart city including water supply and power , networks. The chief minister raised the importance of the Hyderabad–Warangal corridor and urged the Centre to release funds for Warangal airport to expedite its completion. He said the feasibility study for the Hyderabad–Vijayawada Industrial Corridor was in progress. Revanth also asked the Union minister to designate the proposed Hyderabad–Bengaluru Industrial Corridor as an aero-defence corridor, highlighting the existing defence and aerospace park at Adibatla on the outskirts of the city . The chief minister briefed the Union minister about the state’s proposal to develop as many as 100 plug-and-play industrial parks and sought support for the new industrial development initiative. AP Jitender Reddy, Mallu Ravi, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, Ajith Reddy and Gaurav Uppal accompanied the chief minister. EO faints during bid to reclaim encroached Rama temple lands Express News Service @ Khammam Sri Seetharamachandra Swamy temple executive officer L Ramadevi fell unconscious during a confrontation with some people who have encroached land belonging to the shrine in Purushothapatnam village in AP on Tuesday . While the EO was shifted to KIMS hospital in Bhadrachalam for treatment, Assistant EO Bhavani Prasad lodged a complaint at the Yetapaka police station in AP . Temple officials told TNIE that a group of individuals has encroached upon 671 acres belonging to the shrine. On Tuesday, Ramadevi, accompanied by other temple staff, went to Purushothapatnam to resolve the matter. However, the group was stopped at the village entrance and a commotion ensued. During the jostling, EO Ramadevi reportedly slipped, fell and fainted. Bhadrachalam ASP Vikranth Singh Kumar con- The government is considering revising this clause to allow the The state government is likely to cap to be exceeded in “special amend the Telangana Panchayat cases”. Raj Act, 2018 to raise reservations Officials say the recent Socioefor Backward Classes (BCs) to conomic, Educational, Employ42% in the upcoming local body ment, Political and Caste Survey, elections. which places the BC population in The change may be introduced Telangana at about 56%, may be either through an ordinance or by cited as grounds for such an convening a special session exception. of the Legislative Assembly , A commission constisources said. tuted by the state governThe move comes amid ment to examine the sopressure to complete the ciopolitical status of BCs long-delayed local polls by has also recommended September, following a High increased political repreCourt directive. Governsentation, which is exCabinet to ment sources told TNIE that pected to support the govdiscuss the advocate general has ernment's case. The Cabinet also advised in favour of the The proposal is likely may discuss amendment. to be discussed at the the proposal Cabinet meeting schedCurrently Section 285A of , the Act caps total reserva- to amend the uled for July 10. Delays in tions for Scheduled Castes Act during the holding the elections July 10 (SCs), Scheduled Tribes have led to administrameeting (STs), and BCs in local bodtive and financial issues, ies at 50%, in line with Suincluding a reported halt preme Court rulings. in the release of central funds to The Section reads: “In pursu- panchayat bodies due to the abance of the Judgments of the Su- sence of elected representatives. preme Court of India, the upper The previous BRS government ceiling of 50 percent vertical reser- had reduced the BC quota from vations in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs 34% to 23% when it enacted the should not be breached in the con- Telangana Panchayat Raj Act in text of local self government”. 2018. B K a r t h e e k @ Hyderabad firmed the incident occurred in Andhra Pradesh. The ASP stated that Ramadevi’s condition is stable. He added that the temple staff did not inform the local police before entering the village. Endowments Minister Konda Surekha, who spoke to Ramadevi on phone, condemned the attack and urged Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to intervene and resolve the issue.  continued on P4 Inside Inside MoD okays defence land transfer to HMDA | P4 Indian nurse in Yemen to be executed on July 16 | P8 Trade deal ball in u.s. court: India D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi With the US government sending letters to over a dozen countries informing them of the reciprocal tariff they are likely to attract on exports to the US, the suspense over the trade deal with India continues. Even as President Donald Trump on Monday hinted that the US is hours away from announcing a deal with India, back home the government is in a wait-and-watch mode. “The ball is in the US court, we negotiated with the US officials, now it is up to them,” said an official, who refused to be identified. Citing the Vietnam trade deal announced by the US, the official said Trump has been unilaterally making a lot of announcements, which are later refutDonald Trump ed by the respective countries. The Indian government was confident of signing a limited deal by July 9, but with the US issuing a new deadline of August 1, the announcement may get delayed. The Indian government has maintained that it is not desperate for an early trade deal at the cost of the country’s interest. Dassault rubbishes Pak propaganda, says only one IAF Rafale crashed FATF: Terrorists abused e-comm sites Express News Service @ New Delhi THE protracted debate on loss of the Indian Air Force’s Rafale combat jets, which Pakistan claimed to have shot down, was debunked by the CEO of Dassault, which manufactures the fighter aircraft. Dassault Aviation Chairman and CEO Eric Trappier was quoted as saying that no Rafale was shot down in combat, but India had lost one aircraft due to technical failure, and a probe into it is currently on. Trappier was quoted by French website Avion De Chasse as saying that there was no enemy engagement in the loss of a Rafale. The incident “occurred at an altitude of over 12,000 metres during an extended training mission, with no enemy involvement or hostile radar contact,” the report said. Terror financing watchdog FATF cited the February 2019 Pulwama terror attack to point out that e-commerce platforms were misused by terror outfits. FATF said aluminium used in IED used in the 2019 attack was procured through Amazon by terror outfits Speaking specifically on Pakistan’s allegations that three Indian Dassault Rafales were reportedly shot down during the four-day Operation Sindoor launched by India, Trappier said the allegations were “inaccurate and unfounded”. Trappier took on Pakistan for false claims in a press conference on June 15, which Avion De Chasse reported. During the press conference, Trappier formally refuted the idea of an operational failure, quoting the Spectra electronic warfare systems that had not recorded any hostile engagements during the time slot in question. Further, the friend/foe identification devices and the flight logs transmitted to Dassault indicated no losses in actual combat, he said. As per the French Intelligence and military officials, it was China which was behind the smear campaign against the Rafale fighters. RCB pip mi IPL’s business value worth over `1,55,000 cr S w a r o o p S w a m i n at h a n @ Chennai THE business value of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has jumped by over 10 per cent in the last year, according to the global investment firm, Houlihan Lokey HL, who have come . out with yearly IPL brand valuation studies, held that IPL’s current business value stands at $18.5bn (over `1,55,000 cr; in 2024, it was $16.4bn). The firm said that the IPL’s brand value has also surged from $3.4bn to $3.9bn (over `32,000 cr). “This g r ow t h u n d e r s c o r e s t h e league’s expanding commercial appeal, global reach and deepening fan engagement,” the report said. The 18th edition of the league, won by Bengaluru franchise for the first time last month, helped the franchise become the No. 1 in terms of brand value in the 10-team league. Its brand value in 2025 stands at just under $270mn, up by 18.5% in the last 12 months. Chennai Super Kings, who had a blowout season, fell down to third place. In fact, out of all 10 teams, the franchise registered the lowest percentage gain (less than 2%) on a year on year basis. Punjab Kings, who advanced to the final, registered a whopping Brand values have increased for all 10 teams IPL continues Teams 2025 2024 change RCB MI CSK KKR SRH 269 227 18.5% 242 204 18.6% 235 231 1.7% 227 216 5.1% 154 132 16.7% Teams 2025 2024 change DC RR GT PBKS LSG 152 146 142 141 122 131 16% 133 9.8% 124 14.5% 101 39.6% 91 34.1% All figures in $mn All data from Houlihan Lokey’s IPL Valuation Study 2025 (a copy of the report is with this daily) to show increased brand and business values (in $bn) 3.2 3.4 3.9 15.4 16.4 18.5 2023 2024 2025 Business Brand 39.6% jump in brand value. The IPL’s principal stakeholders like to compare themselves with the US’ Big Four and the EPL and HL maintain that they are expected to become bigger in the years to come as there are several built in advantages. “When benchmarked against global peers like EPL and NBA teams,” the report added, “that wrestle with high player transfer fees, variable wages and high stadium operating costs (including servicing stadium debt), IPL franchisees operate with an asset-light, revenue-guaranteed model, a structure that not only cushions downside risk but also amplifies operating leverage on the upside.” paradise regained HYDRAA shared these 'before' and 'after' pictures after reclaiming and rejuvenating the Bathukamma Kunta lake in Hyderabad | P3 Ahead of poll, Nitish tweaks job quota for women R a m a s h a n k a r @ Patna With Bihar assembly elections less than four months away the , Nitish Kumar government on Tuesday restricted the 35% quota in place for women in all government jobs since 2016, to only those who hail from the state. The decision was seen as an attempt by Nitish to further consolidate his already strong female vote-bank. A final call to enforce the domicile criteria was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. “Only women native of Bihar will be eligible for 35% horizontal reservation in direct recruitment across all government service cadres in Bihar,” said S Siddharth, additional chief secretary after the meeting. , Till now, women from outside the state, too, were beneficiaries of the 35% reservation in government jobs. Siddharth said, “ Wo m e n f ro m other states applying for Bihar Nitish Kumar government jobs will be treated as general category They will not get the ben. efit of 35% women’s reservation.” Earlier, candidates from neighbouring UP and elsewhere, too, were appointed as teachers in government-run schools in Bihar under the quota. The decision to restrict the quota came amid intense push for implementing the domicile policy by the Opposition. Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav had supported the domicile demand of job aspirants for teaching positions in government schools, who took out a protest march and held a demonstration in Patna recently .