HYDERABAD l wednesday l november 26, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Ethiopia volcanic ash cloud drifting towards China: IMD Ash clouds from volcanic eruption in Ethiopia reached the skies over Gujarat, Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana on Tuesday No impact on air quality or weather Flight operations disrupted “The ash cloud is drifting towards China and will move away from Indian skies by 7.30pm on Tuesday,” Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology at the India Meteorological Department, said. He noted that the volcanic ash is present only in the upper troposphere and is affecting flight operations, but it has no impact on air quality or weather ■ ■ Hayli Gubbi, a shield volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region, erupted on Sunday, producing a large ash plume, which spread towards the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent Air India Dubai-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Delhi, Mumbai-Hyderabad and IndiGo’s Doha-Hyderabad flights were cancelled on Tuesday | P3 14 km The height to which the volcano spewed its ash plume 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 ’83 Nellie massacre reports One blames it on poll imposition, other doesn’t EX PRESS NEWS SERVIC E @ Guwahati THE Assam government on Tuesday tabled the reports of two probe panels on the largescale violence during the peak of the anti-immigrant agitation, including the 1983 Nellie massacre, which successive governments chose to sit on. Over 2,000 people, most of them immigrant Bengali-speaking Muslims, were killed on February 18, 1983 in the small town of Nellie in Central Assam’s Morigaon district. The two reports held contradictory views on the violence amid assembly polls during President’s Rule in 1983. The Tewari Commission, officially constituted by the then CM Hiteswar Saikia of the Congress, said the violence had no ‘communal colour’. “The decision to hold the elections cannot be blamed for the outbreak of the violence of 1983,” said the commission, headed by retired IAS officer Tribhuvan Prasad Tewary It held the All Assam . Students’ Union (AASU) and Asom Gana Sangram Parishad (AGSP) “primarily responsible for launching the stir and for its consequences”. The ‘unofficial’ Justice TU Mehta Commission, formed by Mukti Jujaru Sanmilan and members of the anti-foreigners’ agitation, attributed the reason for the violence to the imposition of elections against the wishes of the people. It said the situation was not conducive to India-China Arunachal tangle continues J aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi C hina o n Tuesday rejected allegations that an Indian woman from Arunachal Pradesh was Pema Wangjom harassed by immigration Thongdok officials during a layover at Shanghai airport, insisting that officers acted in accordance with the law. Pema Wangjom Thongdok, a UK-based Indian citizen, said her three-hour layover turned into an ordeal after immigration personnel d e cl a re d h e r p a s s p o r t “invalid” because it listed Arunachal Pradesh as her birthplace. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Thongdok had not been subjected to any compulsory measures, detention or harassment. Mao also reiterated China’s claims over Arunachal Pradesh, prompting a strong pushback from India, with the MEA asserting it remains an integral and inalienable part of India. E x p r e s s Re a d TGPCB orders closure of 305 polluting industries Hyderabad: The Telangana Pollution Control Board (TGPCB) has ordered the closure of 305 industries for failing to adhere to pollution control norms. The move aims to strengthen the enforcement of environmental laws and ensure effective pollution control across the state | P2 File picture of a family displaced after the Nellie violence in 1983 | X hold elections and put the blame on incumbent central government, Election Commission, “politicians who wanted to capture power by hook or crook”, the then Assam governor and his bureaucrats. The Mehta commission report said the Election Commission could have decided against holding the polls to stop the violence but it did not. Also, the report said, the polls were held without correcting the electoral rolls. “The evidence produced before the Commission clearly brings out the issues of foreigners, language, etc have been agitating the minds of the people for the last several decades, exploding into violence.” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said although the Tewary report was tabled in 1987, only one copy was sent to the Speaker. The Mehta report was tabled in the House for the first time on Tuesday . 27 ULBs to be merged with GHMC ex p r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Hyderabad In a major move to upgrade urban infrastructure, the Telangana state Cabinet has approved the expansion of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits. The Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday cleared the merger of 27 , Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) located within and around the Outer Ring Road (ORR). The ULBs to be merged are Pedda Amber pet, Jalpally, Shamshabad, Turkayamjal, Manikonda, Narsingi, Adibatla, Thukkuguda, Medchal, Dam- Other Cabinet decisions n lay underground power, T-Fiber To and other network cables in Hyderabad at an estimated cost of `14,725 crore n create a new DISCOM for farm To sector and drinking water schemes n call tenders for 3,000 MW of To solar power to boost renewable energy production maiguda, Nagaram, Pocharam, Ghatkesar, Gundlapochampally, Thumkunta, Kompally, Dundigal, Bollaram, Tellapur, Ameenpur, Badangpet, Bandlaguda Jag i r, M e e r p e t , B o d u p p a l , Panchayat polls in three phases from Dec 11 E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad The State Election Commission on Tuesday announced a fresh schedule for the Gram Panchayat elections. The polls will be conducted in three phases on December 11, 14 and 17 for 12,728 sarpanches and 1,12,242 wards in 31 districts. However, elections will not be conducted for 25 Gram Panchayats in Mangapet mandal of Mulugu district, two in V Saidapur mandal in Karimnagar district and four in Enkoor mandal and one in Penuballi mandal in Khammam district, due to the orders of the high court. The total reservation earmarked for Backward Classes in the upcoming elections is 17.087 per cent. Accordingly 2,176 of the total , 12,728 GPs have been reserved for BCs, as per the schedule announced by State Election Commissioner I Rani Kumudini. It may be recalled that the SEC issued a notification for conducting Gram Panchayat, MPTC and ZPTC elections in September. However, after the Telangana High Court stayed GO 9, which provided 42 per cent reservation for BCs in local bodies, the SEC on October 9 put the election process on hold until further orders.  CONTINUED ON P4 Peerzadiguda, Jawahar Nagar and Nizampet. To facilitate the merger, the Cabinet decided to amend the GHMC Act and the Telangana Municipal Act. Briefing the media on the Cabinet decisions, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu and ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Jupally Krishna Rao and Vakiti Srihari outlined several key resolutions. Sridhar Babu announced that the government will lay underground power cables across Hyderabad by dividing the city into three electricity circles. continued on p3 pm hoists saffron flag atop ram mandir, ayodhya Calling the moment “unique” and “divine”, PM Narendra Modi said the sacred flag is a testimony of triumph of truth. Also present were RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Yogi Adityanath | P10 SC uphOldS Sacking of Christian Army officer Calling his alleged refusal to enter his regimental temple’s sanctum sanctorum as the “grossest kind of indiscipline”, a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymala Bagchi on Tuesday upheld his termination | P10