tirupati l sunday l december 21, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION Slain Bangladesh youth leader laid to rest amid tight security mohd Yunus, army chief attend funeral The funeral of Bangladesh youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi (pic) was held in Dhaka on Saturday, drawing large crowds amid extra-tight security ■ 32-year-old 24-hour ultimatum to govt to arrest killers Bangladesh’s interim government head Muhammad Yunus and army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman attended the funeral of the leader of the radical right-wing cultural group ‘Inqilab Mancha’. A candidate in the February 12 general elections, Hadi was shot in the head by masked gunmen on December 12 and died while being treated in Singapore | p9 ■ Tens of thousands attended the funeral procession. Hadi was buried at Dhaka University’s central mosque. Later, Inqilab Mancha issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Yunus-led government to arrest his killers He was waging a campaign demanding Hasina’s return to Bangladesh to face death penalty after a special tribunal sentenced her to death Hadi was an outspoken critic of India 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 new balance as gill ‘Maha jungle raj’ in dropped, kishan in Bengal, says Modi t20 World cup team firoz mirza/gomesh s @ Chennai It was a story of two players. Ishan Kishan until Thursday was playing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy scoring runs for Jharkhand including a hundred in the final. Closer to the India team, Shubman Gill, who has had a forgettable T20I season, was the vice captain. Little did the two know that their fortunes would take different course on Saturday when the India team for the all-important T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka was announced. Kishan, who was out of favour for two years found his way back into the team. Of course, it was all because of his tremendous form in recent months. On the other hand, contrary to belief, newly-appointed captain of the Test and One-day teams, did not find a place in the 15 despite he being with the India set-up during the South Africa T20I series until Friday . If Kishan was a natural selection, there were murmurs about Gill’s exclusion. There were multiple indications that suggested Gill was not informed of the decision until Saturday. With pressure piling on Gill and captain Suryakumar Yadav for their lack of runs, team management seem to have decided to take the harsh decision for the World Cup. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that the call was taken to accommodate keeper-batter at the toporder. “At the end of the day , you are looking to see what are the best combinations or different options that you can get as a squad to give you the best chance of doing well in the World Cup. Whether it is decided today, yesterday, one week earlier, it doesn’t really matter. Hopefully, we get it right come the World Cup,” Agarkar said in Mumbai. For Kishan, even he could be back up for Sanju, call-up comes as a timely boost. After being dropped rather unceremoniously in late 2023 when he asked for a break due to mental fatigue, Kishan lost the central contract before going back to domestic cricket. He learnt to remain patient and calm. “Before every match in the SMAT, we used to have a video chat. It was more about mental things. Before the tournament started, I told him that this is his chance to impress the selectors. He not only did that but forced them to include him in the team,” Kish a n’s c o a c h U t t a m P11 Mazumdar said.  He’s a terrific player. It’s just that the situation is such that we need a keeper to back up the order — Captain Suryakumar Yadav on Gill False propaganda of YSRCP against govt won’t be tolerated: PK E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Rajamahendravaram Deputy Chief Minister (Panchayat Raj and Rural Development) Pawan Kalyan on Saturday issued a stern warning to casteist and divisive forces, stating that national icons should never be viewed through the narrow prism of caste as it would ultimately destroy the fabric of society . He also gave a strong warning to the YSRCP accusing it of , attempting to divide the State on caste lines, and intimidating government officials and the general public. Speaking after laying the foundation stone for the Amarajeevi Jaladhara project at Peravali on Saturday, he remarked that strict administrative action like the tough approach adopted by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath might be necessary to curb divisive forces that threaten social harmony in the State. He said national leaders such as Potti Sriramulu who sacrificed his life for the formation of Andhra Pradesh State, BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone for Amarajeevi Jaladhara Water Grid at Peravali on Saturday | Express Indian Constitution, and Dokka Seethamma, who satiated the hunger of poor, belong to the entire nation, and not to any single caste or community . It was unfortunate that some YSRCP leaders attempted to divide the society on caste lines by politicising an incident in Pithapuram Assembly constituency, the Jana Sena chief said. Asserting that it would be easy for those in power to act sternly using the policy machinery, he stressed that the NDA government believes in democracy and constitutional P4 principles.  Speeding Rajdhani mows down herd of seven elephants in Assam district P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati THE Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express rammed into a herd of wild elephants in Assam in the early hours of Saturday, killing seven and injuring a calf in Assam’s Hojai district early Saturday . Five coaches of the train got derailed, but there were no human casualties. The accident occurred near a paddy field in the Jamunamukh-Kampur section under Lumding Division of Northeast Frontier Railway . The train connects Mizoram’s Sairang (near Aizawl) to the A dead jumbo at the accident site in Hojai district of Assam | PTI Anand Vihar Terminal in Delhi. NFR said passengers from affected coaches were shifted to vacant berths in other coaches. After detaching the affected coaches, the train proceeded to Guwahati. “The incident was outside an elephant corridor. The loco pilot applied emergency brakes, but the elephants collided with the train,” NFR said. Helpline numbers (03612731621/2731622/2731623) were activated as senior officials rushed to the site. Restoration work was underway, with several trains cancelled. Locals said one dead elephant was pregnant. Dulu Borah of Hati Bondhu, an NGO, said an early warning system could have averted the tragedy . struggle to continue Slams Congress in Guwahati for ‘defending infiltrators’ Sonia Gandhi vowed to fight against the ‘black law’ | PTI People listening to Narendra Modi speaking virtually in Nadia district | PTI SU B H E N DU MAITI , P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Kolkata/ Guwahati Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, likening it to Bihar’s past lawlessness and calling it a “maha jungle raj”. Virtually addressing a gathering at Taherpur in Nadia district, one of the Matua-dominated belts in the state, over phone from the Kolkata airport as his helicopter could not land there due to dense fog, Modi hit out at the alleged corruption, nepotism and politics of appeasement by the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state. “Because of the state government’s cut-money and commission culture, people of Bengal are being deprived of development schemes worth thousands of crores,” he alleged. Positive development in the state can happen if the BJP gets to form a double-engine government. “Give us chance to do so,” he urged the gathering. Citing the recent elections in Bihar, he said the massive win of the BJP-led NDA in the state will open the road for victory of the BJP in Bengal in the coming assembly polls, adding, “Maha jungle raj will come to an end with formation of BJP government in the state.” Modi was scheduled to inaugurate the 66.7-km four-laning of the Barajaguli–Krishnanagar section of NH-34 in Nadia district and lay the foundation stone for a 17.6-km four-laning of the Barasat–Barajaguli section in North 24 Parganas. In Guwahati, Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress for speaking up in defence of the “infiltrators” (illegal migrants) by criticising the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of poll rolls. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the new terminal building of Lokpriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport in Guwahati, he said the government was working to stop infiltration and identify the infiltrators but the Congress and INDIA bloc openly adopt “anti-national agendas”. “The Supreme Court also spoke about removing the infiltrators but they (Opposition) are giving statements in defence of the infiltrators,” he alleged. “Such people will not protect Assamese interests. They will allow others to occupy your land and forests,” Modi warned. Infiltrators are blessed by the TMC. The ruling party is opposing SIR to save the infiltrators. You (TMC) give go back slogans against the infiltrators not against me Narendra Modi Will serve Matuas, says PM “I assure every Matua and Namasudra family that we will always serve them. They are not here at the mercy of TMC,” Modi said. A section of the Matuas are upset as their names do not figure in West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls after SIR Govt bulldozed MGNREGA, says Sonia Gandhi P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi ACCUSING the Modi Government of bulldozing the MGNREGA, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday asserted that the party will fight against the “black law” that seeks to repeal the job scheme. Both Houses of Parliament passed the VB–G Ram G Bill on Thursday that seeks to replace the two-decades-old MGNREGA. The Opposition has urged the government to send the new bill to a standing committee saying that it’s a “conditional, centrally controlled scheme stacked against states and workers”. In a video message, Sonia Gandhi said the Centre has altered the structure of MGNREGA without any consultation, discussion or taking the Opposition into confidence, and even removed Mahatma Gandhi’s name, undermining the spirit and intent of the landmark legislation. “Twenty years ago, I fought to secure the right to employment for the poor. Today too, I am fully committed to this struggle,” she said. She alleged that decisions on who will get employment, where and how, will now be taken centrally from Delhi, ignoring ground realities and weakening the role of the gram panchayats. By weakening MGNREGA, the Modi government had attacked the interests of millions of farmers, labourers, and landless people. “It is a matter of great regret that just recently the government , ran a bulldozer over MGNREGA,” she said. WITH THIS ISSUE The dark underbelly of the sunshine state Go Goa Gone PLUS 12 P AGES ‘Yoga spend not a splurge, it’s for public health’ E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Visakhapatnam Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday launched a political attack on former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, accusing the previous government of misusing public funds, and attempting to obstruct development initiatives in the State. Participating in the Swachh Andhra-Swarna Andhra programme at Thallapalem in Anakapalle district, the Chief Minister referred to expenditure incurred on projects such as the Rushikonda Palace and questioned the criticism being levelled against his government’s policies. “Those who had wasted `500 crore on the Rushikonda Palace project are now spreading a poisonous campaign against our government for promoting yoga as a tool for public health,” he remarked. Naidu also questioned whether the funds spent on the Tadepalli Palace, survey stones and statues during the previous regime had resulted in the creation of even a single medical college. He contrasted this with the present government’s efforts to establish medical colleges under the PPP model, and described threats to jail those involved in such initiatives as reflective of the opposition’s negative approach. Earlier in the day, Naidu interacted with sanitation workers, and inspected a compost manufacturing yard before addressing a public meeting.  P4 Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu interacts with students of Social Welfare Residential School in Anakapalle district | Express Naidu launches ‘Mustabu’ initiative E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Visakhapatnam Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said even small ideas can lead to meaningful development if implemented with clarity and purpose. He launched the Mustabu programme at the Social Welfare Residential School in Tallapalem of Anakapalle district on Saturday, and announced that the initiative would be extended across the State. The programme focuses on promoting personal hygiene, discipline and healthy habits among students. During his visit, the Chief Minister reviewed hygiene practices followed by students, and interacted briefly with them. He said the initiative was conceptualised on the suggestion of Parvathipuram Manyam District Collector N Prabhakar Reddy, and had yielded positive results during its implementation on a pilot basis. Addressing students, Naidu said the programme aims to improve health, self-confidence and attentiveness. He emphasised the importance of maintaining cleanliness, wearing neat uniform, and following basic hygiene practices in schools. “Simple habits such as washing hands before meals, and maintaining personal cleanliness contribute significantly to good health,” he said. The Chief Minister mentioned that around 75 lakh students are studying up to the In- termediate level in government and private schools across Andhra Pradesh. He opined initiatives such as Mustabu help instil discipline, and leadership qualities among students without placing an additional financial burden on the government. “Innovative ideas do not always require funding. Some programmes can create impact through awareness and practice,” he remarked. The government is extending multiple forms of support to students to improve educational outcomes. Financial assistance is being provided to mothers under the Talliki Vandanam scheme. Textbooks, uniforms and meals are being supplied free of cost, he highlighted.