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 ■ ■ HYDERABAD l friday l january 23, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 36 l LATE CITY EDITION Central team to review cancelled Naini tender E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad The Ministry of Coal on Thursday constituted a two-member technical team to visit the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) to identify the reasons for the cancellation of the Naini coal block tender. The state government had recently cancelled the Naini coal block tender following allegations of irregularities reported in a section of the media. Following the allegations and the cancellation of the tender, Coal India held a meeting on Wednesday . CSR funds were Later, Union misspent on Coal Minister furniture and G Kishan Redfacilities in dy s a i d t h e BRS MLAs’ Centre would offices. CMD appointment take over SCCL norms were if the state violated, and g o ve r n m e n t in-charge handed it over. heads continue He also said even now the Centre G Kishan Reddy, would examCoal Minister ine a proposal by the state government to constitute a CBI probe into the episode related to the Naini coal block tender in Odisha. In an office memorandum issued on Thursday, Coal India said the technical team was constituted on the directions of the Minister of Coal to examine and analyse the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) published on November 28, 2025, for the appointment of a Mine Developer and Operator (MDO) for the Naini coal block.  continued on P4 under scanner Tapgate SIT summons KTR E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad The second Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Thursday issued a notice to BRS working president KT Rama Rao, asking him to appear for examination in the alleged phone-tapping case at 11 am on Friday at the Jubilee Hills police station. The notice, issued under Section 160 of the CrPC, was served at Rama Rao’s Nandinag ar residence here. He was in Sircilla at the time. Reacting to the notice, Rama Rao termed the case a “lotta peesu case” and said he would appear before the SIT. He described the move as “political vendetta”. Rama Rao is the second senior BRS leader to be summoned by the new SIT in the main case. Earlier this week, the SIT questioned former minister T Harish Rao. The case was registered on March 10, 2024, after the formation of the Congress government in December 2023, over allegations of illegal phone-tapping during the previous BRS regime. The allegation is that around 6,000 phones, including those of judges, politicians and journalists, were tapped. Responding to the notice, Harish Rao said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was resorting to vendetta politics and warned that such actions would not deter the party . In Sircilla, Rama Rao said phone-tapping, where it occurred, was part of routine police work to maintain law and order and gather information.  continued on P4 An injured jawan being taken to a hospital after an Army truck plunged into a deep gorge in J&K’s Doda district on Thursday, killing 10 soldiers and injuring 11 | PTI | P8 India skips Board of Peace launch China, France, UK, Germany and Italy, too, give the event a miss; Pak PM Shehbaz shows up Board’s broad mandate could eclipse UN’s role JAYA N T H JAC O B @ New Delhi INDIA was among the notable absentees when US President Donald Trump unveiled on Thursday his Board of Peace on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, an initiative Washington is projecting as a new international body to help cement the fragile Gaza ceasefire and potentially address conflicts elsewhere. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited to join the board, but New Delhi has yet to take a decision. “India is considering various aspects as the initiative involves sensitive issues. We are examining the invite,” sources said. Trump said the board could become “one of the most consequential bodies ever created,” and added he was “honoured” to chair it. “Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do. And we’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations,” he said, arguing the The board’s mandate may stretch beyond Gaza, prompting concerns it could undercut the UN’s role as the primary forum for global diplomacy. Its charter describes it as “an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure peace” US President Donald Trump holds up a signed Board of Peace charter on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, on Thursday | AP UN’s “great potential” had not been fully utilised. The announcement, made during a signing ceremony in Davos, drew mixed response. Regional powers such as Turkey Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar , and the United Arab Emirates, along with Jordan, Indonesia and Pakistan, joined the board. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was present. However, China and several major global powers and traditional Western US allies including France, the UK, Germany and , Italy skipped the ceremony . US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the board’s immediate focus would be Gaza. “The Top Maoist among 15 killed in Jharkhand K’taka guv delivers 1-min address M u k e s h r a n j a n @ Ranchi IN a body blow to the Maoist insurgency in Jharkhand, security forces on Thursday neutralised at least 15 Maoists, including their top leader Patiram Manjhi alias Anal Da, in an encounter in the Saranda forests of West Singhbhum district. T h e g u n b at t l e e r u p t e d around 6 am near Kumbadih village under Chotanagra po- Who was Patiram Manjhi? A native of Giridih district, Anal Da had been active since 1987, masterminding attacks, IED blasts, murders, robberies across Jharkhand lice station limits, during an ongoing anti-Naxal operation, the police said. Acting on inputs, joint teams of Jharkhand Police and CRPF’s CoBRA were scouring the forests when Maoist cadres lying in ambush opened fire. Security personnel retaliated, leading to an exchange that lasted for hours, police said. IG (Operations) Michaelraj S confirmed the elimination of Manjhi, a central committee member of CPI (Maoist), with a bounty of `2.25 crore. e x p r ess ne ws s e rv i c e @ Bengaluru THE joint session of the Karnataka legislature witnessed dramatic scenes on Thursday as Governor Thawarchand Gehlot refused to read the full address prepared by the state government, and instead concluded his speech in just three sentences, lasting a minute before walking out of the House. Gehlot had raised objections to 11 paragraphs in the government-drafted address, particularly those criticising the Union gover nment’s move to replace the MGNREGA scheme with the VB-G RAM G Act. Governor Gehlot commenced his speech at 11.08 am. Without reading any of the 120 points drafted by the state government, he read the last paragraph and concluded his address before leaving. priority is making sure the plan for peace in Gaza is fulfilled, but it can also serve as an example of what’s possible in other parts of the world.” The White House has already announced a founding executive board to operationalise the initiative. It includes Rubio, exBritish PM Tony Blair, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, World Bank president Ajay Banga, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan and deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel Jr.  Major U.S. allies wary: P9 b’desh defies ICC, won’t play in India Bangladesh have reiterated their stance that they will not be travelling to India for the men’s T20 World Cup. There is a possibility that if Bangladesh do not play, Scotland could be replacing them | P11 Mission We stand in gratitude with those who protect India’s borders, people, and future. 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