HYDERABAD l sunday l august 24, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l LATE CITY EDITION Deep space exploration next, prepare for it: Pm to scientists PM on Saturday announced that India was preparing to set up a pool of astronauts for future missions, and asked youth to be part of it achieving milestones natural trait: Modi In a video address on National Space Day, PM Modi said, “We have reached the moon and Mars. Now, we have to peek into deep space, where several secrets that would benefit the future of humanity lie hidden.” Achieving one milestone after another in the space sector has now become a natural trait of India and its scientists, Modi said ■ Aug 23 exhorts private players to step up ■ Modi said India viewed space technology not only as a tool for scientific exploration but also as a means to enhance ease of living The PM also asked the private players to come forward for deep space exploration. “... Can we reach a point where we can launch 50 rockets every year?” he asked space scientists and engineers | P7 is national space day to mark landing of Chandrayaan-3 on Moon 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 Postal service to US Sergio Gor is first to take the hit Trump envoy Temporary suspension to impact small-scale exports J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi In a significant development with far-reaching implications for trade and personal shipments, the Department of Posts announced on Saturday a temporary suspension of all postal services to the US, effective August 25, citing “operational challenges” arising from new customs regulations. The move follows the issuance of Executive Order No. 14324 by the US administration on July 30, which revokes the long-standing duty-free de minimis exemption for imported goods valued at up to USD 800. The new rules, coming into effect on August 29, will subject all international shipments to customs duties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act framework. “ international postal items All destined for the USA, regardless of their value, shall be subject to customs duties,” an official release from the Ministry of Communications said, adding that only letters/documents and gift items valued up to USD 100 will remain exempt for the time being. Although the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued preliminary guidelines on August 15, key components of the new customs framework, in- pick for India J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi File photo cluding the designation of “qualified parties” authorised to collect and remit duties remain “undefined”, according to the department. “Several critical processes… remain undefined. Consequently, US-bound air carriers have expressed their inability to accept postal consignments after August 25, 2025, citing lack of operational and technical readiness,” the press release noted. The suspension comes amid escalating trade tensions between New Delhi and Washington. President Donald Trump recently announced 25% tariff on Indian goods that could couple with an additional 25% penalty targeting India’s purchases of Russian oil, effectively raising the total tariff burden on certain imports to 50%. It sparked concerns within India’s trade and logistics sectors, given the volume of smallscale exports and personal shipments reliant on international postal services. The negotiations (with US) are still going on. The bottom line is, we have some red lines. Those are the interests of our farmers and small producers. That’s not something we can compromise on — S Jaishankar Strategic autonomy “That’s our right (buying Russian oil). In my business, we would say that’s what strategic autonomy is about,” the external affairs minister said at an event in New Delhi | P7 In a key diplomatic move underscoring the Trump administration’s evolving strategy in Asia, President Donald Trump appointed Sergio Gor as the US Ambassador to India and Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs. The announcement came at a time of growing tensions between Washington and New Delhi over trade issues and India’s continued energy and economic engagement with Russia. At 39, Gor becomes the youngest US ambassador to India, replacing Eric Garcetti, a Bidenera appointee who vacated the post in January . His dual appointment signals a consolidation of regional diplomatic leadership under a figure with deep loyalty to Trump and substantial influence in the current administration. As Director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, Gor played a key role in staffing the federal government with Trumpaligned officials. The president Sergio Gor credited him with hiring nearly 4,000 “America First Patriots” across federal agencies in record time. “Sergio is a great friend who has been at my side for many years... For the most populous region in the world, it is important that I have someone I can fully trust to deliver on my agenda and help us MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump said, emphasising the political trust underpinning the appointment. A low-profile but powerful operative, Gor held senior roles in both presidential campaigns, including management of a pro-Trump Super PAC, and involvement in publishing the former president’s best-selling books. His loyalty and behindthe-scenes influence earned him a reputation as one of the administration’s most trusted aides. Teacher mixes pesticide in water, leaves 11 students sick Students undergoing treatment at the Bhupalpally Government Hospital on Saturday TG to press for deadline on Prez’s assent to Bills E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday informed the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the TPCC’s top decision-making body, that the state government has appointed two senior counsels to represent the Telangana government to build a strong case in the Supreme Court for setting a three-month deadline for the President to decide on state Bills. The state government is likely to place its arguments in the ongoing Tamil Nadu vs Governorrelated case in the apex court, instead of filing a separate case as it would be a long-drawn legal process. The party is also learnt to have decided to complete the local body elections within the September 30 deadline imposed by the high court. The chief minister made this announcement during the joint sitting of PAC and Advisory Committee, which lasted for close to three and a half hours at Gandhi Bhavan on Saturday The meet. ing was attended by almost all the Cabinet ministers, TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud, AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, and other senior leaders. Briefing the media, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Congress has decided to constitute a committee which would hold wide consultations to gather legal opinions from people like Justice Sudershan Reddy, the advocate general of Telangana and senior counsels at the national level. The committee would possibly look into the implementation of 42% reservations in the local body elections.  CONTINUED ON P4 Speaker issues notices to 4 ‘turncoat’ BRS MLAs E N S @ Bhupalpally Eleven students fell ill on Friday after drinking water in which a teacher allegedly mixed pesticide following a tussle with his colleagues at the Urban Residential School in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district. The students were discharged after treatment at the Bhupalpally Government Hospital. The matter came to light on Saturday morning, when the students complained to authorities about the ongoing tussle among the school staff. Preliminary inquiries revealed that science teacher Rajender mixed pesticide in the water and hid the bottle under students’ bedsheets. When questioned by the students, he warned them not to disclose anything. To avoid suspicion, he also drank the water himself and was later admitted to the hospital. Upon learning about the incident, Bhupalpally MLA Gandra Satyanarayana Rao, District Collector Rahul Sharma and SP Kiran Kare rushed to the school to assess the situation. Following an inspection, the district collector suspended Rajender, along with two other teachers, Venu and Suryaprakash, and the cook, Rajeshwari, for negligence. He cautioned the school principal and staff against indulging in internal disputes that could put students’ safety at risk. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy releases a ‘Vote Chori’ poster during the PAC meeting at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad on Saturday E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad mla nabbed in betting racket `12 crore seized by Enforcement Directorate officials from multiple locations during searches in an illegal betting case against Karnataka Congress MLA K C Veerendra (inset) and others. He was arrested under Sikkim’s anti-money laundering law | Express | P5 express read State releases `375 cr for Musi rejuvenation Min asks RFCL to supply TG’s full quota of urea Dharmasthala: SIT arrests whistleblower Hyderabad: Signalling its determination to implement the Musi rejuvenation project despite stiff resistance from some quarters, the state government on Saturday released `375 crore to the Riverfront Development Corporation Limited | P4 Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao on Saturday said that of the quota allocated to Telangana, 62,473 metric tonnes of urea were yet to be received. He urged the Ramagundam Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited to ensure full supply of the state’s quota| P4 Mangaluru: In a dramatic twist in the Dharmasthala mass burial case, the SIT on Saturday arrested the whistleblower and original complainant in the case on charges of perjury. SIT sources confirmed that the complainant hailed from Mandya district | P5 Legislative Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar is learnt to have issued notices to four MLAs who allegedly shifted loyalty to the ruling Congress from the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi. According to credible sources, the Speaker issued notices to Gudem Mahipal Reddy (Patancheru), B Krishna Mohan Reddy (Gadwal), Arikepudi Gandhi (Serilingampally) and T Prakash Goud (Rajendranagar). In a related development, one of these MLAs issued a public clarification stating that he is still in the BRS and met Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy only for the development of his constituency These claims now raise questions over . the political affiliations of all 10 alleged turncoats. On Saturday, the chief minister, TPCC chief B Mahesh Kumar Goud and Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu are learnt to have held a meeting to discuss the future course of action, particularly in light of the Supreme Court’s recent directive to the Speaker to decide within three months on the disqualification petitions against the 10 BRS MLAs who had allegedly switched allegiance to the ruling Congress. The BRS had approached the judiciary over disqualification of these MLAs. Mascara Men W ITH THIS ISS U E PLUS 12 P AGES CBI books Anil Ambani, RCOM in `2,929 crore bank fraud case M U K E SH RA N J A N @ New Delhi THE Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at industrialist Anil Ambani’s Seawind residence in Mumbai’s Cuffe Parade on Saturday in a `2,929.05 crore bank fraud case involving Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM). The raids began at 7 am, with Ambani and his family present, officials said.The CBI acted after registering a 20-page FIR in Delhi, naming Ambani, RCOM, unknown public servants, and others as accused, based on a complaint from SBI. SBI said that RCOM, under Ambani’s leadership, defrauded the bank of `2,929.05 crore, i n cl u d i n g a fund-based principal of Anil Ambani `2,227.64 crore and non-fundbased bank guarantees worth `786.52 crore. SBI had classified RCOM and Ambani as “fraud” on June 13, 2025, under RBI’s Fraud Risk Management guidelines, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply recently . RCOM’s Resolution Professional disclosed this to the Bombay Stock Exchange on July 1, 2025. SBI formally complained to the CBI on August 18, 2025, prompting the FIR. A spokesperson on behalf of Anil Ambani said: “The complaint by SBI pertains to matters dating back more than 10 years... Mr Ambani was a Non-Executive Director then, with no involvement in day-to-day management. Mr Ambani has been selectively singled out.” friendly match Kerala on course to get Messi fever this November E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi ON one moment, off the next. The Messi-to-Kerala saga has kept football fans on edge for nearly a year. The wait is over. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has confirmed that Lionel Messi and his World Cup-winning team will play an international friendly in Kerala, between November 10 and 18 this year. In all likelihood, Thiruvananthapuram will host the match, while the opponent is yet to be decided. Posting the infor mation, AFA wrote on X: “(Matches) in FIFA for October, between 6 and 14 will be played in US and for November, between 10 and 18 in Luanda, Angola, and Kera l a , I n d i a ( r iv a l s t o b e determined).” AFA India celebrated the milestone, noting the match stems from a year-long collaboration with the Kerala government, initiated in Madrid. “A new chapter in AFA’s global expansion,” they declared. Kerala Sports Minister V Abdurahiman, who spearheaded the effort since November 2024, confirmed that Greenfield International Sta- dium in Thiruvananthapuram will be the venue. “This is a historic moment. The two options we had were either October or November. In between, they tried to push it to next year, but we remained adamant in our demand as we aim to bring the 2022 World Cup winners to Kerala,” he told reporters. The minister said several top-50 FIFA teams had expressed interest in playing the friendly with Australia emerg, ing the frontrunner. Other teams that are in the fray to This is a historic moment. In between, they tried to push it to next year, but we remained adamant to bring the 2022 World Cup winners to Kerala— V Abdurahiman, Kerala sports minister play against Argentina are Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Efforts are on to bring the Brazilian team. For Kerala, where the Argentina-Brazil rivalry is woven into football folklore, Messi’s presence would be nothing short of momentous. The last time the Argentina football team played in India was in 2011 when it faced Venezuela in Kolkata’s iconic Salt Lake Stadium.