tirupati l sunday l july 20, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION Monsoon mayhem: 18 dead in uttar pradesh, alert for kerala Rain-related incidents in UP claimed 18 lives on Saturday while IMD issued alerts for heavy rain in U’khand, Himachal Pradesh, Bengal and Kerala landslides in arunachal pradesh, sikkim While torrential rain caused a flood-like situation in parts of Rajasthan, heavy rainfall and landslides in some areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim affected normal life and disrupted traffic movement. In Uttar Pradesh, of the 18 people who died due to rain-related events, eight died of drowning, while two died of snakebites, officials said ■ 23.4 cm red alerts for u’khand, parts of kerala ■ In Uttarakhand, a ‘red alert’ for heavy rain on Sunday in parts of the Kumaon region has been issued by the meteorological department In Kerala, IMD has issued a ‘red alert’ for rain in five northern districts — Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, and Kasaragod — where incessant rains lashed several areas, causing inundation of rain was recorded in Nainwa of Bundi district in rajasthan 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 New road to Daulet Beg Oldie near LAC by next yr-end M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi C hi n a Daulet Beg Oldie Saser Murgo Sasoma Ladakh Shyok Leh India Durbuk Map not to scale A new road to the strategically significant Depsang and Daulet Beg Oldie (DBO) near the Line of Actual Control along the China border in Ladakh is expected to become fully operational from November 2026. The new road, which runs almost parallel to the existing Darbuk-Shyok-Daulet Beg-Oldie (DSDBO) road, follows the alignment of Sasoma-Saser LaSaser Brangsa-Gapshan-DBO. The under-construction road is Plans afoot to make it an all-weather road about 130 km long and has nine Plans are on to make it an all-weather road. The BRO is working on a bridges of 40 tonne capacity . At present, the DSDBO is the 8-km-long tunnel at Saser La. Currently it is at the detailed project report stage. It will take 4-5 years to complete the tunnel project only road link to DBO. But parts of the road are under the direct observation of Sources said, “We ber-November next year.” Sunday the Chinese forces. Behave completed everyFor the forces, the new road Special thing from Sasoma to will facilitate faster troop-arsides, it has around 37 bridges of various lengths Saser Brangsa and mament movement away from and widths, making it that ahead of it towards east- the enemy’s line of sight. “Almuch more vulnerable. The 255ward — Murgo and Gapshan. most all artillery weapons, inkm DSDBO road ends at DBO, Over 70% work is done. We are cluding Bofors howitzers, were which is about 20 km away from certain that the entire stretch moved on this axis till Saser the Karakoram Pass. will be operational from Octo- Brangsa to test its load carry- Worrying rise in violence against women; private university’s student blames teachers for death Miscreants set 15-yr-old girl on fire in Odisha A s i s h M e h ta / R a j K u m a r M o h a n t y @ Bhubaneswar/Puri Accused won’t be spared: CM Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said stringent action will be initiated against perpetrators of the crime. “Her health condition is being monitored. If needed she will be airlifted to Delhi Criminals have become emboldened under this government and are not worried about punishment Naveen Patnaik, Former CM THE horror run of atrocities against women continued as Odisha woke up to the shocking attack on a 15-year-old girl who was set on fire by a group of miscreants in Puri district on Saturday morning. The minor girl, who suffered over 70 per cent burn injuries, was rescued by locals and shifted to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar. Preliminary investigations suggest the attack was premeditated. The girl was on her way to a friend’s house in a village under Balanga police station limits, 37 km from Bhubaneswar, when three youths gagged her with a handkerchief and abducted her on a bike, police said. They took her to the bank of Bhargavi river where she was doused with inflammable substances. In a bid to save her life, the girl ran towards nearby houses and cried for help, when a local resident came to her rescue and doused the flames before alerting police. The girl belonged to a minority community . The girl’s parents lodged an FIR with Balanga police station, police said, adding she was a Class 8 dropout and her father works at an automobile repair workshop. The incident comes close on the heels of the self-immolation by a 20-year-old student in Balasore. Executive director of AIIMS-Bhubaneswar Dr Ashutosh Biswas said the girl suffered 70 per cent burn injuries. “She is in ICU but without ventilator support... The next 72 hours are very crucial,” he said. Odisha Director General of Police Y B Khurania said special teams have been formed to nab the perpetrators. Mithun Reddy arrested in liquor case, SIT files 300-page chargesheet E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Congress activists raise slogans after the girl’s suicide in Greater Noida | PTI BDS student dies by suicide, faculty held N a m i ta B a j pa i @ Lucknow A second-year BDS student died by suicide due to alleged harassment by faculty members at Sharda University in Greater Noida on Friday . Soon after the university suspended two faculty members, both were arrested by police on Saturday since Jyoti Sharma, 21, had named them in her suicide note. The student from Gurugram took the extreme step in her hostel room inside the university . A suicide note was recovered from the scene in which the student accused her teachers, from PCP and Dental Materials department, of harassment and humiliation, and held them responsible for her extreme step. “If I die, Mahendra Sir and Sherry Mam will be responsible for my death. They tortured me mentally and humiliated me. I have been in depression because of their behaviour for a long time. I want them to suffer the same The two teachers named by the student in her suicide note | PTI way as I am. …Sorry I cannot .. bear it anymore,” the student wrote in her note. Dr Ajit Kumar, director, PR, Sharda University, assured that the guilty would be punished. “Two teachers named by the victim have been suspended and a probe committee has been set up,” he said. The matter is currently under investigation, said Sudhir Kumar, additional DCP Great, er Noida. The student was found hanging by her roommates who alerted the hostel warden after receiving no response at her door, following which police were alerted. express read Stone laid for revival of `36.91-cr ROB Guntur: Union Minister Pemmasani Chandrasekhar on Saturday laid the foundation stone for the long-delayed Nandivelugu Railway Overbridge (ROB) in Guntur East segment. Originally launched in 2014, the project stalled in 2019, and is now being revived at a cost of `36.91 crore Necrophilia accused denied bail Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has denied bail to Nayan Biswas, a compounder accused of murdering his employer’s wife, and committing necrophilia. Justice T Mallikarjuna Rao ruled that granting bail in such a case would send a negative message to society The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged multi-crore liquor scam during the previous YSRC regime, arrested Rajampet MP PV Mithun Reddy on Saturday . SIT has arrested 12 persons so far in connection with the case, including for mer Chandragiri MLA Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy . M i t h u n Re d dy w a s named as A4 in the FIR registered by CID, and SIT officials questioned him for more than seven hours before he was taken into custody . After the Supreme Court denied him anticipatory bail on Friday Mithun Reddy appeared , before SIT in Vijayawada city police office around 12.30 pm. He was questioned for more than seven hours pertaining to various issues such as his role @ Vijayawada faith beckons A fresh batch of 6,365 pilgrims, including 1,499 women, leave the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for Amarnath, in Anantnag of Jammu & Kashmir on Saturday | PTI Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra has expressed optimism about investment opportunities in Andhra Pradesh, indicating that his teams are already engaged in discussions related to solar energy, microirrigation and tourism ventures in the State. In a post on X on Saturday, Mahindra responded to Minister for HRD and IT Nara Lokesh’s appeal to consider setting up a Mahindra manufacturing unit in AP “Happy to be . a part of Andhra Pradesh’s journey he wrote, suggesting ,” Lokesh thanks Anand for positive response HRD and IT Minister Lokesh thanked Anand Mahindra for his positive response to the invitation to invest in AP. “We promise to impress you with our speed & approach,” Lokesh said in a post on X a positive outlook toward potential collaborations. The friendly exchange began when Anand Mahindra shared an advertisement of Mahindra Furio truck in Telugu on his X handle on Friday captioning it , “Just one decision... Your des- in formulating the liquor policy awarding work orders to dis, tilleries, collecting commissions from distilleries, diversion of funds to his companies under investments, other shell companies and operation of liquor stores in the State during the past five years. The information pertaining to the MP’s arrest was informed to his family members officially. SIT said the MP will be produced in court on Sunday . “Mithun Reddy was found to be the mastermind behind the formulation and implementation of liquor policy. He, along with other accused Kesireddy Rajasekhar Reddy alias Raj Kesireddy played a crucial role in collecting money in the form of commissions from distilleries. The same was invested in real estate, films, industries in the country and abroad,” said a P4 senior official. circular Economy Industrial Park for tirupati CM Naidu announced the setting up of a 300-acre Circular Economy Industrial Park at Thukivakam for sustainable growth P4 WITH THIS ISSUE Holidays in Hell PLUS 12 P AGES Trump’s latest: ‘5 jets were shot down’ during India-Pak conflict J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi After again claiming he brokered peace between India and Pakistan during the four-day standoff following Operation Sindoor, a claim repeatedly denied by the Indian government, US President Donald Trump has now said that “five jets were shot down” during conflict in May . He, however, did not clarify whether the losses were suffered by one side or both. Speaking at a White House dinner for Republican senators on Friday, Trump said: “We stopped a lot of wars. And these were serious, India and Pakistan that was going on. Planes were being shot out of there. I think five jets were shot down, actually These are two serious . Mahindra hints at investing in AP E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e ing capacity sources said. ,” The new road will also beef up the Siachen battlefield as it branches off from Sasoma in the Nubra Valley, which is on the route to the Siachen Base Camp from Leh. The route will converge with the DSDBO at Murgo, reducing the distance from Leh to DBO by 79 km — from 322 km via DSDBO road to 243 km via the new road. It will also reduce the travel time from two days to 11-12 hours. tiny is in your hands. Own a truck... Change your life.” The post in Telugu resonated strongly, especially with Lokesh, who praised the advertisement as heart-touching, and said it would strike a chord with the people of AP, one of the biggest markets for Mahindra vehicles in India. In his reply, Lokesh highlighted the investment-friendly environment in AP, and urged Mahindra to explore the possibility of setting up a unit in the State. Mahindra’s response in Telugu, “Our journey has just begun. Let’s see what happens next,” sparked anticipation of P4 deeper engagement. nuclear countries, and they were hitting each other.” Trump again claimed that the US defused the situation using trade leverage. “But India and Pakistan were going at it, and they were back and forth, and it was getting bigger and bigger, and we got it solved through trade.” New Delhi has consistently dismissed Trump’s repeated assertions, maintaining that the ceasefire on May 10 was achieved through direct communication between Indian and Pakistani military officials, without any foreign involvement. The brief conflict followed Operation Sindoor, launched by India on May 7 in response to a deadly terror attack in J&K’s Pahalgam. Since then, Trump has repeatedly said that his administration played a key role in ending the standoff and preventing further escalation. Hours later, he described the BRICS as a little group that wants to take over the “dominance of the dollar”. “And I said anybody that’s in the BRICS consortium of nations, we’re going to tariff you 10%,” Trump told reporters at the White House. Move to allot RTC land to Lulu Group opposed E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation’s (APIIC) proposal to transfer five acres of APSRTC land at the Governorpet-II bus depot in the heart of Vijayawada city to Lulu Group has hit a roadblock with APSRTC officials strongly objecting to the move. After the TDP-led NDA came to power in the State, the UAE-based Lulu Group revived its interest in investing `1,222 crore to establish shopping malls and hypermarkets in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. An MoU was signed with the State government, promising to create employment opportunities for nearly 2,000 people in the two cities. In line with this plan, the government recently instructed the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) to hand over 13.43 acres of land on Beach Road to APIIC for leasing it to Lulu Group. P4
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