SAMBALPUR l sunday l december 14, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l CITY EDITION 19 U.S. states sue Trump over $1,00,000 fee on new H-1B visa The Democrat-ruled states warned that the policy will worsen labour shortages in key sectors such as health care, education and technology Petitioners say fee hike against law Coalition led by New york attorney general The attorneys general argued that the new fee breaches both the Administrative Procedure Act and the Immigration and Nationality Act, as it was introduced without congressional approval or the required rulemaking process. “The administration thinks it can raise costs on a whim, but the law says otherwise,” said the California attorney general | p9 ■ ■ New York Attorney General Letitia James (L) led 18 other attorneys general in filing the lawsuit. In September, President Donald Trump announced a one-time $1,00,000 fee on all new H-1B petitions Many states depend on H-1B visa to fill essential roles. For instance, about a third of health care workers in New York are H-1B visa holders $2K-5k Is how much it cost to file an H-1b application before the fee hike 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 in kolkata in hyderabad Naveen declines pay hike, wants it spent on the poor E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Fans turn violent after Leo Messi suddenly leaves due to security reasons. (R) Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, Rahul Gandhi with Messi | PTI/vinay madappu Mess in Bengal, grace in Hyd No glimpse of Messi for paying public Atmosphere electric as city hails soccer royalty A s hu t o s h A c ha r ya @ Salt Lake Stadium Stand E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad All for a glimpse of Messi. For a Messi fan, it’s all that matters. As soon as I reached the gates of the Salt Lake Stadium at 8.30am, fatigue from overnight journey just disappeared.The stadium was draped in Argentina colours, with people wearing jerseys with Messi written on their backs, there were giant cutouts and paintings. Fans from across the country were there. My ticket allowed me to one part of the stands. More than 60,000 fans would have gathered inside by 10:30am. There was a cultural programme highlighting India and Argentina, followed by a friendly football match between Diamond Harbour Club and Mohun Bagan. Fans were kept engaged, but as soon as the announcer hollered in stadium PA system that Messi would be entering, at around 11.30am, excitement quickly turned into a frenzy Fans began climbing the . barriers placed in front of the stands to catch a glimpse of the 70-foot Leo Messi statue was World Cup winner. As Messi en- unveiled by the legend tered the stadium in a car things | sri loganathan velmurugan started getting out of hand. However, the scenes turned chaotic after guests in the cordoned-off VVIP area crowded around Messi blocking his view. Event organiser was heard repeatedly urging them to step aside. All of a sudden the situation went out of control and Messi and his entourage were escorted out of the stadium. We in the crowd did not know what was happening. Words spread that Messi had left. This sparked anger. Bottles were hurled onto the field, banners were violently torn down, and the situation deteriorated. Fans began breaking chairs and throwing them in the stadium. Several people breached barricades and entered the ground. Makeshift tents were overturned, chairs smashed.Even the goalpost was damaged. Eventually exhausted and disillusioned, , fans began leaving the stadium. Shah Rukh Khan and Sourav Ganguly who were part of the event cancelled P11 their appearcnes.  Hyderabad put its best foot forward on Saturday by ensuring that the visit of Lionel Messi to India was a resounding success. While the football was limited to an exhibition match between Team Revanth Reddy Singareni and Aparna All Stars, playing for Messi, the atmosphere was electric at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal. The stadium and its vicinity turned into a roaring cauldron of song, colour and belief on a night Hyderabad came to salute football royalty First, Chief Minister A . Revanth Reddy stepped onto the pitch with his team, drawing loud cheers. A while later, Messi appeared, first watching quietly from the sidelines, smiling at the noise he had summoned without touching the ball. When he finally walked onto the field, the stadium erupted. Phones went up, voices cracked, and the stadium shook. Messi waved, took in the scene, and soon offered flashes of the touch that has defined a generation. He was joined by Luis Suárez and Rodrigo De Paul, with Revanth alongside them, a tableau that blurred lines between sport, spectacle and dream. For the record, Revanth found the net once and Messi twice. After the exhibition game ended, Messi made a slow lap of the ground, turning the moment into something personal. A gentle kick sent the ball sailing into the stands, triggering a scramble of joy At the football clinics, young . players shared the pitch with the legend, exchanging crisp tiki-taka passes. The loudest applause came when a child joined Messi on the grass, the two sharing a brief, unguarded moment that drew smiles across the stadium. Addressing the crowd in Spanish, Messi kept it simple. “I feel very happy and grateful to see so many people, and I am very happy to be in Hyderabad,” he said. Suárez and Guido Rodríguez echoed the sentiment, speaking of their delight at being part of The GOAT India Tour. The evening closed with a brief felicitation on the field by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Strong UDF show in Kerala local polls, BJP takes capital A n i l S @ T’puram Local body polls often signal the changing course of Kerala politics. On Saturday, political Kerala witnessed one of the biggest comebacks of recent times, with the Congress-led UDF scripting an authoritative victory in the two-phase local body elections held on December 9 and 11, and the ruling LDF nearly washed out. Riding on an anti-incumbency wave, the UDF garnered a stupendous victory, winning four out of six municipal corporations, seven district panchayats, 54 municipalities, 79 block panchayats and around 505 grama panchayats. The LDF lost four sitting municipal corporations, as many district panchayats, more than 100 grama panchayats, half of the block panchayats and around 20 C municipalities.  ontinued on P5 It’s been great to be part of the tour. I am very happy to be in Hyderabad in the midst of the love and affection shown by you all —Lionel Messi Xiiox Xiioxoiio xXiiox Xiiox Xiio xoiiox Xiiox Xiiox XiioxoiioxXiiox Xiiox Xiioxoiio xXiiox Xiiox XiioxoiioxXi ioxii ox ii ox Xii x Xiiox Xiioxoiiox Xiiox Xiiox XiioxoiioxXii ox XiioXiioxoiio xXiiox XXXXXsdfasdfsdfX, XXXXXX Babu to donate salary Days after the state Assembly unaniBJP MLA from Bhubaneswar-Ekaamra mously passed the bill to raise the salBabu Singh has also announced that ary and perks of members including he would donate his enhanced salary Speaker, chief minister, deputy CMs, to a poor family in his constituency. “ ministers and MLAs, leader of OppoTaking people’s suggestion, I have sition Naveen Patnaik on Saturday decided to donate my salary to one refused to accept the hiked amount poor family in my constituency every and urged the government to spend it month,” Singh said. The first-time on welfare of the poor people of the MLA had defeated senior BJD leader state instead. and minister Ashok Panda in the In a letter to Chief Minister Mohan 2024 elections. Charan Majhi, Naveen said, “I have been blessed by the love, affection and support of the chief minister have received people of Odisha for the past a backlash for effecting more more than 25 years. I am than three-fold hike in their highly indebted to the people salary and making themof Odisha and their love toselves the highest paid legiswards me and my late father lators in the country The As. Biju Patnaik.” sembly approved the salary Recalling his family’s decihike with retrospective effect sion in 2015 to donate their from June 2024 even as differancestral property ‘Anand ent teachers associations Bhawan’ in Cuttack for pub- In the same spirit, have been spending nights I would like to lic use, Naveen said, “In the under open sky in the capital forgo the salary same spirit, I would like to city demanding pay regulariand allowances forgo the salary and allowsation with pension hiked for Leader ances hiked for Leader of Opprovisions. of Opposition position which the Odisha which the Odisha The Assembly on DecemLegislative Assembly has reber 9 approved a hefty hike in Legislative Assembly has cently passed. I would like to the salary and allowances recently passed request you to utilise the ranging from `3.45 lakh same for the welfare of poor (MLA) to `3.74 lakh (chief Naveen Patnaik, people of our state.” minister). The salary and alLoP The decision of Naveen to lowances of the leader of Opsurrender his salary came at position is equivalent to cabia time when the MLAs, ministers and net minister at `3.62 lakh. WITH THIS ISSUE The Wars Behind the War PLUS 12 P AGES