visakhapatnam l monday l march 09, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION RSP all set to sweep Nepal polls as counting reaches final stage As of Sunday evening, the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won 122 of 165 seats and was leading in six others, Nepal’s Election Commission said counting for 159 seats completed poll panel withholds result in one seat As per the latest update, the Nepali Congress (NC) is a distant second with 17 seats, while the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) led by K P Sharma Oli has won eight seats, and the Nepal Communist Party has secured three seats. As per an official update on Sunday evening, the counting was completed in at least 159 seats ■ ■ The result in one seat, Dhanusha Constituency-1, may take a while longer as a court order is pending on the eligibility of RSP’s candidate Among the three former Nepal prime ministers who contested the March 5 general election, only Pushpakamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ managed to win. Both K P Oli Sharma and Madhav Nepal lost | P9 24,55,764 won by RSP in proportional voting system 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 Iran picks new history makers at home Supreme Leader as war deepens Budget session At long last, glory and a batting spectacle. Release. An outpouring of love from over a lakh of people, most of them dressed in various hues of India blue. In the scene of their greatest defeat, one of their biggest wins. The scars of November 19 (loss to Australia in ODI World Cup final) will remain but March 8 will bring with it the necessary balm to tide over the ghost of that horror. The stadium, gateway to India’s biggest sporting project, can heal. The T20 World Cup will stay with them. For the tens of thousands who were part of the imposing circular Blue Wall from as early as 4.30 PM, this was a memory for a lifetime. Even as Suryakumar Yadav & Co. took turns to hold aloft the shiny 6kg mostly silver trophy deep into the Ahmedabad night, nobody was prepared to go home. Board exams be damned, a new work week could wait. Sleep was set aside for a few hours to watch their favourite sporting team create history . P r eet h a N a i r @ New Delhi 1 Defending champs India won their third T20 World Cup, becoming the first team to do so in process 2 Co-hosts became the first team to lift T20 WC at home. In previous 9 editions, no home team had won 3 India’s total of 255/5 is the highest in a T20 WC final, bettering their 176/7 vs SA in 2024 4 Gautam Gambhir became the first India head coach to capture two ICC titles s w a r o o p s w a m i n at h a n @ Ahmedabad US-Israel strikes hit oil infra in Tehran; Iran destroys targets in Kuwait, Bahrain AG E N CI E S @ Tehran, Tel Aviv, Dubai India players lift the trophy after their victory in Ahmedabad on Sunday I debadatta mallick No side had ever won this title at home. No team had ever defended this title. Nobody had won it thrice. India took a sledgehammer to history. That’s how you create a new sporting identity. Not by winning it once but doing it again and again. It’s why Australia have an aura about them. It’s why Brazil are football’s aristocrats. It’s the only path towards invincibility You can be good, . but to be truly immortal, you need to make winning your only calling card. And they did everything in their power. Eighteen months of preparation was followed by trips to temples, delaying a training session as it collided with a lunar eclipse during their World Cup campaign. There was even an apocryphal story about changing hotels. And it was apt that Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma, the three musketeers who had been identified to redefine the art of batting in this format, took them there. They have shown the limits of what’s possible in this format. Needing 255, it was too P11 much for the Kiwis.  MHA asks Bengal chief secretary to explain lapses during Prez visit S U B H E N D U MAI T I & PARV E Z S U LTA N @ Kolkata / New Delhi Tiger sighting causes scare in K’nada villages E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kakinada A tiger has been sighted between Yeleswaram and Addateegala in Kakinada district. Forest and revenue officials have found tiger pug marks at Gangavaram on the outskirts of Rajamahendravaram, and on a small hill near Yeleru reservoir. Having learnt about it, Jaggampeta MLA Jyothula Nehru and Prathipadu MLA Varupula Satyaprabha alerted their constituents about the movement of tiger. “The tiger is moving between Addatee gala and Yeleswaram reserve forest,” said K Durga Ram Prasad, Forest Range Officer. The tiger killed a calf at D Krishnavaram in Addateegala mandal. After that, the wild cat moved to Yeleswaram. The next day, the tiger was sighted at Marriveedu, officials said. The movement of tiger has caused panic among locals. The forest staff are on high alert tracking the movement of the tiger. The local tehsildar urged people to be cautious. Earlier, tigers used to move in Dharmavaram, Gollaprolu, Yeleswaram and Prathipadu mandals. lakshya falls at the final hurdle again Lakshya Sen loses to Lin Chun-yi of Chinese Taipei in the final of the All England badminton. This was his second final outing in the premier competition | P11 THE Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Sunday sought a detailed report from the West Bengal government on the alleged protocol violation and lapses during President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to the state on Saturday to attend the International Santal Conference in Darjeeling district. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan directed West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraboty to explain the alleged lapses in security protocol, venue arrangements, and travel route during the President’s programme. Sources said the MHA also wanted to know the reason behind the failure the chief minister, chief secretary and DGP , to receive the President upon her arrival, which is a gross violation of protocol. President Droupadi Murmu | PTI No violation: Mamata West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday claimed there was no protocol violation at the President’s programme, terming it a “private event” The conference was held at a ground near the Bagdogra airport in Gosainpur, instead of the planned venue in Bidhannagar. Speaking at the event, on Saturday, Murmu had publicly expressed displeasure over the low turnout, attributing it to the change of venue, and noted the absence of the CM and her ministers. In her response, Banerjee accused the President of playing politics at the best of the BJP ahead of the state polls, triggering a political firestorm. On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into the Trinamool Congress (TMC) saying the “enlightened people” of West Bengal would never forgive the party for “insulting” the President, who is a woman and a tribal. “The dirty politics and arrogance of power of the TMC, which has gravely insulted a tribal President, will soon be shattered... The country will not forgive them, the tribal community will not pardon them, and the women of the nation will not forgive them,” Modi said. IRAN’s Assembly of Experts tasked with appointing the next Supreme Leader reportedly arrived at a majority decision on Sunday, but stopped short of naming him. The 88-member clerical body has sought some time to remove “some obstacles” before announcing the name. Khamenei’s son Mojtaba is billed to be the front-runner to succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed over a week ago in the strikes that triggered the war between Iran and Israel-US. The development came on a day when US-Israeli air strikes destroyed fuel dumps and triggered fires that choked much of Tehran in a thick blanket of smoke. In response, Iran struck Gulf infrastructure, hitting fuel tanks at Kuwait’s international air port and hit a desalination plant in Bahrain with the war reaching its second week. The war, which Israel and US launched on February 28, has so far claimed at least 1,230 lives in Iran, 397 in Lebanon including 83 children, 11 in Israel, and six US soldiers. The impact of the conflict is no longer limited to West Asia as it has rattled global markets, oil indices and disrupted air travel. If the war continues for long, it could impact energy prices worldwide. In India, cooking gas prices have already gone up. With the joint US-Israeli strikes continuing on Tehran, Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian vowed to expand attacks on US targets across the Gulf. “The more pressure they impose on us, the stronger our response will naturally be,” Pezeshkian said. Neighbouring countries have borne much of Tehran’s brunt, with 16 people killed in the Gulf states since the war began, according to an AFP tally . Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait all reported new attacks on Sunday . Israel-US hit Iran’s oil well A thick plume of smoke rose from an oil well hit by a US-Israeli strikes in Tehran Sunday. Israel said it struck “a number of fuel storage facilities in Tehran” used “to operate military infrastructure” Brent crude at 5-year high Crude oil price continued rising after some key countries slashed their output. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) soared to $115 on Sunday. Brent rose to $117, the highest level since 2022 Arab League warns Iran Arab League’s secretary-general Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Sunday that Iranian attacks on Gulf member states were “reckless”, urging Tehran to reverse what he called a “massive strategic mistake” Sparks to fly as motion against Speaker in Lok Sabha today The stage is set for a stormy start to the second leg of the Budget session of Parliament on Monday with the Lok Sabha , set to take up an Opposition motion seeking the removal of Speaker Om Birla. The rare move, which is the first in nearly four decades, highlights the deepening rift between the Opposition and the ruling side. The government is likely to allocate around three hours for the discussion on the motion, with three members each from the Treasury and Opposition benches expected to participate, sources said. From the Congress, either Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi or K C Venugopal, is likely to participate in the debate, sources said. While both the Congress and the BJP have issued whips directing their members to be present in the House, the BJPled NDA holds a clear numerical advantage to defeat the resolution in the 543-member Lok Sabha. However, the Opposition received a boost after the T r i n a m o o l C o n g re s s a n nounced Saturday that it would support the motion. As many as 118 opposition members had submitted notice to move a resolution to remove Birla from office for not allowing the Leader of Opposition and other opposition leaders to speak in the House on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, as well as for suspending eight opposition MPs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has backed Birla, stating he had taken all Parliamentarians along and was committed to upholding the principles of the Constitution and Parliamentary democracy . Amid the escalating conflict in West Asia, Lok Sabha will also see a briefing by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the evolving situation there. express read West Asia war hits banana prices Kadapa: Banana prices have started declining again in the wake of conflict in West Asia, leaving farmers in the district worried about losses. Farmers alleged that traders were citing the West Asia conflict to artificially bring down the prices of banana | P3 AI boosts care in AP govt hospitals Vijayawada: Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav said the government has introduced major changes in medical services with the use of AI. He said 18 innovators are engaged in screening in 18 selected hospitals using 40 devices on a pilot basis | P4 5 lakh women will be made entrepreneurs: CM Y B r a h m a j i @ Vijayawada AI-enabled pest control device launched in Vizag U s h a Pe r i @ Visakhapatnam In a first of its kind, an adaptive IoT-AI based pest control device developed by the Dr BR Ambedkar Chair at Andhra University was for mally launched in the farming fields of Pinagadi village in Pendurthi mandal of Visakhapatnam district on Sunday . The device named ‘AgriAI Adaptive IoT-AI Pest Control System with LLM Integration, has been developed with financial support from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empower- ment, Government of India. It was officially launched by Manoj Tiwari, Director of the Dr Ambedkar Foundation. The device was deployed in a farmer’s field to demonstrate its real-time capabilities. The system identified pest presence, analysed crop conditions and transmitted advisory messages along with field images directly to farmers’ mobile phones. The live field demonstration was conducted by Prof M James Stephen, Principal Investigator of the project.  P4 Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said his government aims to create five lakh women entrepreneurs within a year, after successfully developing one lakh entrepreneurs last year, describing it as a major achievement in the country, and a significant step towards strengthening women’s economic empowerment. He made the announcement while participating in the Statelevel celebrations of International Women’s Day at the Parade Grounds in Amaravati on Sunday . A large number of women from Self-Help Groups (SHGs) across the State took part in the event. On the occasion, Naidu felicitated five outstanding women entrepreneurs. He presented a cheque for `10,100 crore to women SHGs as part of financial assistance aimed at strengthening their economic activities. Naidu said good governance leads to improved incomes and Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu takes part in the International Women’s Day celebrations at the Parade Grounds in Amaravati on Sunday | Express Incentives for joint families on anvil “India’s joint family system is our greatest strength. Families should not split merely for benefits like ration cards, pensions or houses. We must protect and encourage the strong family structure. We are considering special incentives to encourage larger families, including additional pensions, three-bedroom houses and increased ration supply,” the Chief Minister said enables the government to implement welfare programmes effectively. The State government has evolved a comprehensive blueprint for women’s econ o m i c d eve l o p m e n t a n d entrepreneurship, Naidu said. He emphasised that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) should emerge from every household and 50% of units should be led by women. Products manufactured by women’s groups and MSMEs should reach national and international markets, he said. Highlighting the importance of branding, he said the gover nment has launched the Swayam brand for products manufactured by SHGs. The initiative aims to bring SHG products under a common brand identity and ensure better market access. The State government has signed 37 MoUs with various organisations to strengthen the Swayam initiative, improve quality, introduce technology and expand marketing networks for women-led units. P4