tadepalligudem l thursday l december 11, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION india secure bronze, Germany lift junior hockey crown India produced a brave-heart performance to nullify a two-goal deficit to beat Argentina 4-2 in the third-place play-off in Chennai on Wednesday Pic: Ashwin Prasath Set piece goals help hosts Sreejesh remains coy on what next On a night when nothing worked for India, they managed to win and convert four deadball situations; three penalty corners and one penalty stroke. Arshdeep Singh won each of India’s first three deadballs in the 4th quarter. Ankit Pal converted the first while Manmeet Singh the second. Shardanand Tiwari struck from the spot while Anmol Ekka scored the last mould this squad. When asked if he will remain with the junior programme, ex-India goalkeeper said he will continue to learn ■ Germany, who breezed past India in the semifinals, beat Spain 3-2 via penalties to win an incredible eighth title at this level | p11 ■ Over the last 12 months, coach PR Sreejesh has dedicated his time to 04 India won 4th medal at the event (gold in 2001 & 2016, silver in 1997) 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 US gives mixed signals as trade talks resume PUSHPITA D E Y @ New Delhi AS the US and India look to finalise a broader bilateral trade agreement, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said that India’s offers are “the best Washington has received”, though challenges remain in getting New Delhi to open up its agriculture sector. “There is resistance in India for certain crops and meats and products. They are a difficult nut to crack… but they have been quite forward leaning. The types of offers they have been talking to us about are one of the best that we have ever received as a country,” said Greer while speaking at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington, DC. The comments came as the US trade negotiation team led by Deputy Trade Representative Rick Switzer commenced the two-day talks in New Delhi on Wednesday. On the first day he held dis, cussions with Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal. Both reviewed the ongoing negotiations for the agreement. Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch is the US’ chief negotiator. India’s chief negotiator is Darpan Jain, They have been a tough nut to crack... but they have been quite forward leaning. The type of offers they have been talking to us about have been the best US team during negotiations with Indian officials in New Delhi on Wednesday | X — US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce. India’s former chief negotiator and current Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal will be supervising the progress of the negotiations. “The two sides exchanged views on matters related to In- Wednesday, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal reiterated that the ongoing trade negotiations with the US are progressing well. “Talks are continuously progressing. We are moving forward towards a bilateral trade agreement,” Goyal said. reply to opposition Want to remove all infiltrators: Shah j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi A combative Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday hit out at the Opposition in the Lok Sabha for its campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the Opposition wanted to keep infiltrators on the voter list. The Narendra Modi government’s policy, Shah said, was unambiguous — “detect all aliens from the rolls and throw them out of the country Shah .” said that the Opposition had raised the issue only because it could no longer win elections through “corrupt practices,” asserting that “the Congress’ repeated poll defeats stemmed from its leadership and not from EVMs or vote theft.” Intervening in the debate on electoral reforms, Shah rebutted the Opposition’s charges. His 90-minute speech saw frequent inter ruptions from Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who challenged him to a debate on his three press conferences alleging “vote chori” by the BJP. The heated exchanges eventually led to an Opposition walkout. Seeking to corner the Congress, Shah claimed three episodes of “vote chori” involving party icons, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. He said Nehru became Prime Minister in 1947 despite having fewer internal votes than Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel; that Indira Gandhi granted herself immunity after her election was set aside An outstanding speech by Home Minister Amit Shah Ji. With concrete facts, he highlighted diverse aspects of our electoral process and also exposed the lies of the Opposition —Narendra Modi, Prime Minister dia-US trade and economic ties, including on the ongoing negotiations for a mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement,” the Department of Commerce said. Meanwhile, speaking on the sidelines of the Pravasi Rajasthani Divas in Jaipur on A day after Microsoft committed $17.5 billion investment in India to help build AI capabilities, Amazon said it will invest $35 billion in India over the next five years to expand its businesses in the country from quick commerce to cloud computing and AI. The $35-billion investment, the company said, would create one million job opportunities and quadruple cumulative e-commerce exports to $80 billion by 2030. Amazon has 1.7 million sellers in India. Of these, over 200,000 export to more than 200 countries and have generated $20 billion in cumulative exports. Since 2010, Amazon has invested $40 P10 billion in India.  IndiGo to rope in external tech experts Video message The Board will involve experts to ensure corrective action so that this disruption never occurs again, says the airline’s chairman Express news service @ New Delhi INDIGO’s top management has broken its silence on the largescale flight disruptions caused by the airline this month. Late on Wednesday night, the airline’s chairman Vikram Singh Mehta said that exter nal experts would be roped in to ensure no disruption occurs again. “The Board will involve ex- flight cancellations... I know ternal technical exhow much distress this perts to... identify root caused. I want to say, causes and ensure corWe are sorry!” he said. rective action so that The disruptions were this disruption never due to a combination of occurs again,” Mehta internal and external said in a video mesevents, adverse weathsa g e released by er conditions, congesIndiGo. tion, and implementaVikram Mehta “On 3rd December, tion of/ and operation an unexpected chain under the crew roster of events led to large-scale rules, Mehta added. e x p r e ss r e a d child welfare Anganwadi staff get smartphones Vijayawada: In a significant move to strengthen child and maternal welfare delivery, the Andhra Pradesh government distributed 5G smartphones to 58,204 Anganwadi workers, supervisors, and block coordinators at a cost of `75 crore on Wednesday | P4 mayoral poll YSRCP finalises its candidate Kadapa: The election to the Mayor of Kadapa Municipal Corporation will be held at 11 am during a special council meet on Thursday. The YSRCP has unanimously nominated 47th Division Corporator Paka Suresh as its candidate | P4 Agriculture Equipment bank to come up in AP Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed the Agriculture Department to set up an Agriculture Equipment Bank to ensure farmers have affordable access to modern machinery | P4 CM lays greater emphasis on simple governance E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada by courts. He said the dispute of the third “vote chori” has just reached the civil courts on how Sonia Gandhi “became a voter before becoming a citizen of India,” a remark that invited sharp reactions from the Congress benches. Shah said SIR was a long-standing administrative exercise to maintain integrity of elections. No party, he said, had opposed SIR between 1952 and 2004. He listed revisions carried out under former Prime Ministers Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shatri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao, A B Vajpayee and even during the Manmohan Singh government. Shah also accused the Opposition of attempting to “normalise and formalise” infiltrators by resisting SIR in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaks in the Lok Sabha | PTI Oppn seeks poll reforms Opposition MPs sought machinereadable voter lists, a rollback of the 45-day CCTV wipeout rule, access to EVMs, and changes to laws that allow ECI officers to act with impunity | P7 Constitution has been amended several times for public welfare. Likewise, biz rules should be evolved to serve citizens better Naidu, CM Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has underscored the need to simplify governance by revising business rules wherever necessary “The Constitu. tion itself has been amended several times for public welfare. Likewise, business rules should be evolved to serve citizens better,” he said, directing officials to clear files without any delay, cut down on redundant procedures, and ensure every department is brought under audit by March 2026. Speaking at a high-level review meeting at the State Secretariat on Wednesday, Naidu laid out the NDA government’s reform agenda for the coming months, combining a frank as- New cic appointment PM-led panel on Wednesday met to decide on the new Chief Information Commissioner and commissioners. LoP Rahul Gandhi gave disstent note | P7 AP set to lead India’s AI revolution: Lokesh E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada HRD, IT and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh has used his ongoing US tour to pitch Andhra Pradesh as India’s emerging hub for artificial intelligence, semiconductors, smart manufacturing, and global technology investments. During a series of high-level meetings with leaders of Google, Intel, NVIDIA, Adobe, and Zoom, Lokesh outlined Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s vision of positioning Andhra Pradesh at the forefront of India’s AI revolution, and building a robust ecosyst e m fo r n e x t - g e n e r at i o n industries. He emphasised that Andhra Pradesh, with its $180 billion economy, aims to grow into a Amazon to invest $35 bn more in India HRD, IT and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh meets Google CEO Sundar Pichai during his US visit | Express $2.4 trillion economy by leveraging cluster-based development across nearly 20 identified sectors, including automotive, renewable energy , electronics and AI. He said the State’s strong political will, infrastructure, and skilled workforce make it an attractive destination for global technology giants. In his meeting with Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Lokesh reviewed progress on the $15 billion AI data center project in Visakhapatnam, which Pichai described as their largest FDI outside the United States. Lokesh urged Google to support server manufacturing ecosystems through Wistron, and establish drone assembly and testing units in Andhra Pradesh’s upcoming Drone P4 City project.  Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu Speaking at a high-level review meeting at the State Secretariat in Velagapudi on Wednesday | Express sessment of past challenges with a roadmap for transparent, efficient, and people-centric governance. He stressed fiscal discipline, accountability across departments, and the use of technology to deliver services more effectively . Naidu pointed out that loans raised at unsustainable interest rate by the previous government had eroded Andhra Pradesh’s financial credibility . “On an average, debts were raised at 12% interest. By rescheduling loans, and renegotiating terms with banks, we have already saved `512 crore in the first year. By March, savings will reach `1,000 crore, and overall, we expect to save `7,000 crore per annum,” he explained, adding that prudent financial management would restore trust, and free resources for development. Highlighting the push for digital governance, he said over 800 services are already available online, with plans to expand them to 1,200. A firm deadline of January 15 has been set for all government services to go digital, ensuring citizens need not visit offices P4 for routine tasks.  Pawan terms united demographic Hindu majority in India a myth E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Tuesday asserted that the belief that Hindus are a united majority in India is a ‘myth,’ arguing that the community remains deeply divided by caste, language, and regional identities. He said these internal divisions have contributed to discrimination against Hindus despite their demographic strength. Speaking to the media after interacting with Panchayat Raj and Rural Development staff, the Deputy CM emphasised that the Constitution guarantees equal rights to all religions, and insisted that laws governing religious practices should be applied uniformly “If rules . are different for Hindus compared to Muslims and Christians, societal conflicts become inevitable,” he said. Pawan Kalyan criticised what he termed ‘pseudo secularism’ in Tamil Nadu, accusing the DMK government of interfering in temple administration and selectively targeting Hindu customs. He said Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan takes part in the Mata Manthi programme in Mangalagiri on Wednesday | Prasant Madugula such actions reflect a prejudiced mindset that ignores similar scrutiny of other faiths. He condemned attempts to impeach judges who deliver verdicts favourable to Hindu religious rights, citing the Sabarimala case as an example where Hindus fought their case legally without resorting to p e r s o n a l at t a ck s o n t h e judiciary . He called for the establishment of a special board dedicated to safeguarding Sanatana Dharma, and urged Hindus nationwide to unite in defence of their cultural traditions. Referring to the Parakamani theft, he criticised for mer Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for dismissing the incident as insignificant. He questioned whether Jagan would react similarly if the issue involved his own faith. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has directed the TTD to protect temple traditions, and uncover past irregularities.