HYDERABAD l thursday l december 04, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE CITY EDITION Specialist team from UK examines ailing Khaleda Zia A four-member UK specialist medical team arrived in Bangladesh on Wednesday to assist in the treatment of the former prime minister Will help chart advanced treatment plan Chiefs of three forces pay rare joint visit The UK specialists led by Dr Richard Beale of King’s College London reviewed 80-year-old Zia’s condition and assessed the treatment by the local medical team. The foreign doctors will work with the local team to help formulate an advanced treatment plan. Zia was admitted to a private hospital in Dhaka on November 23 with infections of heart and lungs | p9 ■ ■ In a rare joint public visit, the chiefs of Bangladesh’s three armed services visited the ailing former prime minister at the hospital The interim government directed Army and Air Force helicopters to conduct test landings near the hospital on Thursday as part of a Special Security Force protocol, which it said was for Zia’s protection Three The number of times Zia has taken oath as Bangladesh Prime Minister 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 Rupee breaches 90-mark for the first time BENN K OCH U VEEDAN @ Mumbai Telangana model Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Telangana Rising 2047 Global Summit to be held on Dec 8 and 9, in New Delhi on Wednesday | P4 State orders Vigilance to probe HILT details leak E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad The state government has ordered a Vigilance inquiry into how details of the Hyderabad Industrial Lands Transformation (HILT) Policy reached BRS leaders days before the GO was issued, setting off speculation within the administration over the source of the leak. The HILT Policy was cleared by the state Cabinet on November 18, but the GO was held back for reasons officials have not explained. Before the document was released, BRS working president KT Rama Rao addressed the media on November 21, citing policy details that were still out of the public domain. His remarks set off a storm within the government, prompting questions over how he obtained them. According to officials familiar with the early findings, the leak occurred while the draft GO was still under preparation. PPT slides used in the Cabinet presentation on November 20 are believed to have been circulated outside authorised channels. The GO was eventually issued on November 22. Sources said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu have asked the chief secretary to identify the source of the leak and recommend action. Intelligence units were instructed to trace possible access points soon after Rama Rao’s press conference, and inputs from those early checks formed the basis for Tuesday’s decision to open a formal Vigilance probe. Officials privately acknowledge that suspicion has fallen on a particular minister, though there is no confirmation. Intelligence teams are also said to have reviewed the roles of staff across departments and ministerial offices who may have handled the policy documents. express read Auctions fetch HMDA `3,708 crore Hyderabad: The HMDA on Wednesday completed the e-auctions for two land parcels in the Neopolis Layout at Kokapet, taking the cumulative realisation to `3,708 crore | P3 The rupee’s freefall deepened on Wednesday, breaching the 90-per-dollar mark for the first time, hitting a new low of 90.29 in the morning trade after opening flat at 89.96. It closed the day’s session at an all-time low of 90.15. Wednesday marks the sixth consecutive day of fall for the rupee as traders bet the subdued trade and portfolio flows will keep Asia’s worst perform- ing currency under pressure, while analysts project the next level for rupee at 92-93. However, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran sought to downplay the currency slide, saying the weakness has had no impact on inflation and the currency will recover in 2026. “Right now, it’s not hurting our exports or inflation. I am not losing my sleep over it. If it has to depreciate now probably Massive chaos as over 200 IndiGo flights cancelled Insiders attribute it to Emirates’ hiring spree S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi Thousands of fliers across airports in the country on Wednesday had a harrowing time as crew shortage at IndiGo resulted in cancellation of at least 200 flights besides delaying many others. This was the second consecutive day that IndiGo failed to operate a large number of flights. A massive recruitment drive by an international airline at Delhi and Mumbai this week is a key reason for it, said multiple sources. IndiGo attributed the disruption to multiple reasons, including unforeseen operational challenges. The shortage is of both the cockpit and cabin crew, the sources stressed. At Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport alone, 67 flights were cancelled, of which 37 were departures. Flights to Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Srinagar were among those that were nixed. Over 70 flights were cancelled from Mumbai and Bengaluru air por t until Wednesday evening. The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad witnessed irate scenes after 13 flights were cancelled to various cities apart from 18 incoming flights. Airline sources said, “Emirates has been having a recruitment roadshow in Mumbai and Delhi the last two days and IndiGo crew have been making a beeline for it.” An aviation source blamed it on IndiGo mismanagement, Ayyappa devotees sing devotional songs in protest as they wait for their flight at RGI Airport in Hyderabad on Wednesday IndiGo cancels 18 flights scheduled for today Hyderabad: IndiGo cancelled 18 Hyderabad flights scheduled for Thursday, following 40 cancellations on Wednesday — 19 departures and 21 arrivals — while delays continued to cause chaos for its passengers. The airline attributed the continuing disruptions to operational issues and cabin crew shortages | P2 which, however, attributed part of the problem to the DGCA’s revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) that kicked in from November 1. Increased weekly rest for pilots from 36 hours to 48 hours and limiting night landings by pilots to two instead of six are part of the revised FDTL mandate. Later in the day, the DGCA said IndiGo had cancelled 1,232 flights in November, of which 755 were due to the FDTL, adding it is probing the current cancellations. The Federation of Indian Pilots blamed the ongoing disruption on “IndiGo’s prolonged and unorthodox lean manpower strategy across departments, particularly in flight operations.” Delimitation to increase GHMC wards to 300 S B a c h a n J e e t S i n g h @ Hyderabad With the state government issuing a notification extending Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits to the entire Telangana Core Urban Region (TCUR), the civic body is preparing to release a draft notification on ward delimitation. The merger covers 27 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) — 20 municipalities and seven municipal corporations— located within or abutting the Outer Ring Road (ORR) across Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Sangareddy districts. Once the delimitation notification is issued, the public will be able to submit objections or suggestions after which a final order will be issued. Officials said paperwork for reorganising wards across existing GHMC areas and newly merged ULBs is near completion. The focus is on ensuring that each ward falls within the same Assembly and Parliament constituency to avoid overlap. The present structure of wards, circles and zones will remain, though Notification issued merging 27 ULBs with GHMC Hyderabad: The state government has issued a notification extending GHMC boundaries to cover the entire TCUR, following amendments to the GHMC Act through Ordinance 9 of 2025 and Ordinance 10 of 2025. The merger of 20 municipalities and seven municipal corporations came into effect on December 2, 2025. Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao stated that the new limits are notified under Section 3 of the GHMC Act and will now be treated as the territorial extent of Hyderabad city. Following the merger, GHMC Commissioner RV Karnan instructed deputy municipal commissioners to take over records from the 27 ULBs, erect GHMC nameboards on office buildings, seize minutes books, and transfer balances from existing municipal bank accounts into GHMC accounts. the number of units will increase substantially . The number of divisions is expected to rise from 150 to 250– 300, depending on populationbased calculations. The current six zones are likely to increase to 12, and the 30 circles may be restructured into 50–60 for administrative ease. At present, ward populations vary widely from about 30,000 in some ar, eas to over 1 lakh in others. Officials said the aim is to create more even, legally compliant ward boundaries using population data and geographical limits. Budget limitations GHMC is preparing its next financial year budget only for the pre-merger 150 wards. Officials pointed out that the present Council was elected for the earlier jurisdiction and cannot allocate funds to the newly merged areas. A mechanism, through government approval or a legal framework, is expected to be finalised soon for financial planning in the expanded limits. The Council’s tenure ends on February 10, 2026, and major administrative decisions are expected after its term concludes. is the right time,” he said at an event in Mumbai. With Wednesday’s fall, the rupee’s value eroded 5.7% so far this year, putting it on track for its steepest annual decline since 2022, and making it the worstperfor ming Asian currency . The fall also underscores a divergence in the domestic and external macroeconomic position of the nation. While GDP growth has been stronger-than-expected, punitive US tariffs and weak capital flows have piled pressure on the rupee. “Every day that we do not have a trade deal, the forex demand from trade deficit and outflows keep pushing the dollar, while forex supply is relatively thin and inconsistent,” HSBC said in a note. “We had one month of net inflows in October, but without any more trade deal headlines since then, net flows have become flat.” S U BHEND U MAITI @ Kolkata Now, it’s not hurting exports or inflation. I am not losing my sleep over it Anantha Nageswaran Govt blinks, rolls back Sanchar Saathi order AR S HAD K HAN @ New Delhi The government on Wednesday withdrew its order directing phone makers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app, following strong backlash from opposition parties, digital rights activists, and manufacturers including Apple and Google. The reversal came a day after the telecom ministry clarified that the state-run cybersecurity app is not mandatory and that users may activate or deactivate it. “Given Sanchar Saathi’s increasing acceptance, Government has decided not to make the pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers,” a statement by the ministry read. Sources said this is the first time phone makers have been asked to pre-install a government-owned app. The mandate also meant operational difficulties for phone makers. Earlier in the day, communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia sought to dispel privacy concerns saying the Sanchar Saathi app neither enables nor allows snooping. HC sets aside its order sacking 32,000 teachers in West Bengal Russia’s MAX Russia is the only country where phone makers need to pre-install a state-run app. MAX, a state-backed messaging service, must be installed by default on all phones and tablets In a relief for the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal ahead of the assembly elections, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday set aside a singlejudge order that had cancelled the appointment of 32,000 primary school teachers. “After being in service for nine years, if they are removed now, there could be an adverse impact on their families,” observed the division bench of justices Tapobrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra. “For cancellation of the entire exam, there must be a finding on systemic malice as borne out by the evidence on record. That is not the case,” the bench said. It noted service cannot be terminated due to ongoing criminal proceeding. Following the Teachers’ Eligibility Test held in 2014, a total of 42,500 primary school teachers were appointed. The appointments of 32,000 of them were cancelled by a single bench of Justice Abhijit Ganguly over alleged manipulation in the recruitment process. Ganguly is now a BJP MP from Tamluk in East Midnapore.