HYDERABAD l Friday l December 26, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 76 l LATE CITY EDITION Ban on women using smart phones in raj dist withdrawn Village elders in Rajasthan’s Jalore district have withdrawn the ban imposed on women using smartphones after facing strident opposition Ban was misunderstood, say villagers ‘ban to curb children hooked to phones’ A meeting of the panchas (village elders) was convened on Thursday in Gazipur village, where they unanimously decided to withdraw the ban, saying the decision kept children in mind, but it was “misunderstood”. Earlier, on December 21, the panchas had banned daughters and daughters-in-law of 15 villages from using smartphones, starting Jan 26 ■ ■ A member of the panchas, Natharam Chaudhary, explained that the decision of December 21 was taken after numerous complaints from women that their children used to borrow their phones after school Chaudhary said kids spend the entire day watching videos, which has adverse effects on their brain; the ban was taken to curb this habit Dec 21 was when the village panchas announced the fiat 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 Political reset in B’desh as Tarique back in Dhaka Ex-PM Khaleda Zia’s son calls for building an inclusive Bangladesh EXPRE S S NEW S S ERVICE @ New Delhi Merry Christmas Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a Christmas service at the Cathedral Church of the Redemption in New Delhi on Thursday. “May Christmas bring renewed hope, warmth and a shared commitment to kindness,” Modi later posted on X | PTI HC sets aside cancellation of 453 land registrations Express News Service @ Hyderabad The Telangana High Court has allowed a batch of writ petitions and set aside proceedings dated May 12, 2025, issued by the Karimnagar collector cancelling 453 registered sale deeds. Justice K Lakshman held that the collector’s action, taken on the ground that the lands formed part of the prohibited list under Section 22A of the Telangana Registration Act, 1908, was not sustainable in law. The case relates to lands in Survey Nos. 197 and 198 of Kothapalli village and mandal in the district. The court noted that earlier proceedings arising out of ceiling cases against Shaik Saleh and his family primarily concerned lands in Rekurthi village, and not the Kothapalli survey numbers involved in the present matter. The impugned order was issued under Rule 243 of the Telangana Registration Rules, 2016, following a Lokayukta complaint alleging illegal alienation of state land. Acting on the order, the collector cancelled hundreds of registered documents, including sale deeds executed in favour of the petitioners, without issuing any notice to them. Allowing the petitions, Justice Lakshman held that there was no material to show that the lands in Survey Nos. 197 and 198 were validly included in the prohibited list by following the procedure prescribed under Rules 238 to 240 of the 2016 Rules.  continued on P4 WITH THIS ISSUE CITY’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 76 PAGES, INCLUDING 64 OF INDULGE (TABLOID) Top Maoist Uikey, with over `1 crore bounty, eliminated most wanted insurgents, operating under aliases including Rupa, Rajesh Tiwari, and IN a decisive blow to Maoist in- Chamru. He carried combined surgency security forces elimi- rewards of `2 crore across four , nated four persons, including states and orchestrated deadly top CPI (Maoist) central com- attacks across eastern and cenmittee member Ganesh Uikey tral regions of the country , . during an encounter in KandThe other slain cadres carhamal district’s Chakaried rewards of `1.65 pada on Thursday The . lakh each. Security forc69-year-old commander, es recovered two INSAS carrying a bounty of rifles and one .303 rifle `1.1 crore, headed Maofrom the site. ist operations across This follows WednesOdisha. day’s encounter in The operation in Gumma forest that Ganesh Uikey Rambha forest range killed two more Maonear the Kandhamalists, bringing the 24Ganjam border involved 20 Spe- hour toll to six. cial Operations Group (SOG) Union Home Minister Amit units, two CRPF battalions, and Shah termed it “a significant BSF personnel. “Multiple ex- milestone towards Naxal-free changes of fire occurred early Bharat,” reaffirming the governmorning. Four Maoists were ment’s commitment to eliminate neutralised, including two Naxalism by March 31. CM Mowomen, all in uniform,” said han Charan Majhi praised the ADG (Anti-Naxal Operations) forces, saying, “Odisha’s develSanjeeb Panda. opment and public safety reGanesh was among India’s main our top priorities.” e x p r e ss n e w s s e r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar slain naxal hailed from nalgonda | p2 Amid unrest and chaos in Bangladesh following the murder of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi, former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s son Tarique Rahman returned to Dhaka on Thursday after 17 years in self-exile. The dramatic return of Rahman, the acting chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is expected to change the dynamics of the February 12 elections with a possible contest between the BNP and its former ally Jamaat-e-Islami. With the Muhammad Yunusled interim government barring ousted PM Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League from contesting elections, BNP is said to be the front-runner. Hasina had banned the Jamaat but Yunus lifted it due to pressure from radicals. The Jamaat reportedly enjoys the support of student outfits that led the protests to remove Hasina from power. Shortly after landing at the Hazrat Shahjalal International airport, Rahman stood barefoot on Bangladeshi soil in a symbolic gesture to mark his return to the country’s politics. Articulating his plans to build an “inclusive Bangladesh”, he said: “We want to Plea in SC against Sengar EN S @ New Delhi BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman waves to his supporters in Dhaka | pti This country belongs to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians — Tarique Rahman Another Hindu man lynched in B’desh Days after factory worker Dipu Chandra Das was lynched by a mob, another Hindu man identified as Amrit Mondal was beaten to death. Local reports quoting police claimed he was an extortionist build a safe Bangladesh... no matter who a woman, man, or child is, they should be able to leave their homes safely and return safely .” Rahman, 60, had been living in London since 2008. He was leading the BNP since 2018 following Zia’s ill health. Urging people to maintain peace and stability, he said: “We have people from the hills and the plains in this country — Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists Pentagon report on India axis malicious: China EXPRE S S NEW S S ERVICE @ New Delhi Military base in Pak? Defence ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang, too, denounced the Pentagon report, which also flagged enhanced ties between China and Pakistan, adding Beijing “likely also considered” setting up a base in Pakistan China on T hursday denounced a Pentagon report that accused Beijing of leveraging reduced tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India to stabilise bilateral relations and prevent a deeper strategic alignment between New Delhi and Washington. “The Pentagon’s report distorts China’s defence policy, sows discord, and aims at finding a pretext for the US to maintain its military supremacy,” foreign Ministry spokesperson E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the phonetapping case stepped up its inquiry on Thursday and questioned K Nanda Kumar, an accused in the ‘poachgate’ case in which an attempt was allegedly made to poach MLAs. Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar held a meeting with SIT officials, attended by Intelligence chief Vijay Ku- mar and others, to discuss the summoning of politicians and additional witnesses. The investigation has been expedited, with the aim of filing a supplementary chargesheet within a month. The SIT summoned all accused to Jubilee Hills police station on Thursday Those called for ques. tioning included Sravan Rao, Bhujanga Rao, Radhakishan Rao and Tirupathanna. As the 14-day police custody of Prab- hakar Rao, former SIB chief and main accused in the phonetapping case, ended on Thursday investigators questioned all , accused together. According to sources, Prabhakar Rao responded in the negative to most questions. With his custody concluding, officials are set to submit a report to the Supreme Court on Friday . However, Prabhakar Rao named former DGP Mahender Reddy and Intelligence chiefs Naveen As for the LAC, Lin said, “The boundary question is a matter between China and India, and the current border situation between the two countries is generally stable with smooth communication channels.” The US releases such reports year after year, grossly interfering in China’s internal affairs, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang told a separate media briefing. He described it as a maliciously misinterpreted report that is full of erroneous understanding. Chand and Anil during questioning, sources said. Investigators seized a pen drive allegedly containing around 6,000 phone numbers, but Prabhakar Rao reportedly did not respond to questions related to it. He is said to have told the SIT that the then minister T Harish Rao spoke to him only on Maoist-related issues. He reportedly did not answer questions on the circumstances under which his re-employment was approved.  continued on p4 Corporators propose ‘study tour’ as countdown for term nears With a little over a month remaining before the elected body of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) completes its term on February 10, 2026, as many as 145 corporators have proposed undertaking “study tours” to Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and other cities to “lear n” about urban governance. The proposal, placed before the GHMC Standing Committee which is set to meet on De- Lin Jian caustically told the media in Beijing, when asked about the US Department of Defense’s annual report to Congress on China. Lin said Beijing views and handles its relations with New Delhi from a strategic height and a long-term perspective. “ We s t a n d re a dy t o strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust, promote cooperation, and properly handle differences with India, and advance a sound and stable bilateral relationship,” Lin said. SIT questions Poachgate accused in Tapgate investigation tripping! S B a c h a n J e e t S i n g h @ Hyderabad and Christians.” Invoking Martin Luther King’s famous speech “I have a dream”, he said, “I have a plan,” adding he will take everyone on board to rebuild the nation. Notably, during his address, Rahman didn’t make any direct reference to India though he mentioned the birth of Bangladesh in 1971. India liberated Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) from Pakistan’s brutal rule in 1971. P9 A Supreme Court petition has challenged the Delhi High Court’s decision to suspend expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s life sentence in the 2017 Unnao rape case. Advocates Anjale Patel and Pooja Shilpkar argued that the HC erred by ignoring the trial court’s observation that Sengar should remain imprisoned for life. They contended that the bail disregards his “serious criminal antecedents” and involvement in heinous crimes, including orchestrating the victim’s father’s murder while in custody . On December 23, the high court had suspended Sengar’s sentence, imposed in December 2019, noting that he had served over seven years. However, Sengar will remain in jail as he is serving 10 years for the custodial death case in the same matter. cember 29, 2025, seeks permission for the visits at this stage of the Council’s tenure. According to estimates, the civic body would spend between `90,000 and `1 lakh on each corporator for the tours. The amount covers airfare, accommodation, local transport, food and related expenses. The cumulative expenditure is expected to be between `1.35 crore and `1.4 crore. The stated objective is to study best practices followed by other cities and replicate them in Hyderabad. Citizens, however, have questioned the timing, pointing out that officials and delegations from various cities are already visiting Hyderabad to study GHMC’s own systems and initiatives. Residents have also described the proposed tours as recreational trips funded by public money particularly giv, en their proximity to the end of the Council’s term. Similar study tours were organised for corporators in the past. On those occasions, the Lokayukta had objected, observing that the visits yielded no tangible benefit to citizens and amounted to avoidable expenditure. Corporators, it was noted, rarely submitted reports or detailed observations after returning. Despite those objections, the practice appears to have continued. Citizens further point out that several corporators have been unable to deliver visible develop- mental works in their respective divisions during their tenure. The sudden interest in learning from other cities, just weeks before demitting office, has therefore drawn scepticism. The issue has gained sharper focus in the context of GHMC’s current financial position. The civic body is facing a financial crunch and has reportedly struggled to pay salaries to its employees, even as it considers spending over a crore of public f u n d s o n t r ave l - r e l a t e d expenses. Bus tragedy A luxury bus on fire following a collision with a speeding truck, in Karnataka’s Chitradurga in the wee hours of Thursday | PTI | P5 At least six killed At least six persons, including a child, were killed in the accident, Superintendent of Police Ranjith Kumar Bandaru said Two reported missing Four women and a girl child travelling in the bus, as also the truck driver were killed. Two persons were reported missing safety or welfare tnie TAKES An IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE APEX COURT ORDERS ON DOGS & THEIR IMPLEMENTATION|P3