tadepalligudem l tuesday l april 07, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION three academics caught in ncert row approach supreme court The three academics in the NCERT book row moved the Supreme Court on Monday and said drafting of the content was a collective process trio has lots of credibility: defence special committee to vet revised chapter A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was told the three experts, Professor Michel Danion, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar, were not fly-by-night persons and had credibility. On February 26, the court banned NCERT’s Class 8 social science book which contained ‘offending’ contents on corruption in the judiciary ■ ■ On March 11, acting tough against the three experts involved in the drafting of the controversial chapter, the top court had directed the Centre and all state governments to disassociate from them The court was informed Monday that a committee comprising former SC judge Justice Indu Malhotra will review the revised chapter 14 days is when the supreme court bench meets again to hear the case 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 Both sides reject Pak proposal on truce, Israel hits South Pars again Trump calls ceasefire plan ‘very significant’ but not enough to end the ongoing conflict day 38 A gen c ie s @ Dubai CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu interacts with farmers at the Pendekallu reservoir in Tadipatri constituency on Monday | Express Naidu launches AP’s action plan for water security E x p re s s N e w s Ser v i c e @ Anantapur Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday launched a 100-day Water Security Action Plan and a dedicated mobile application at Yadiki in Tadipatri constituency, Anantapur district. The initiative, running until July 14, is designed to conserve water, recharge groundwater, and ensure sustainable irrigation across the State. Addressing a public gathering under the State needs Jaladhara - Water Security & Responsibility 1,300 TMC of Water Users Associations programme, annually Naidu declared water security as the govern- The CM said the ment’s foremost priority He outlined meas- State requires . ures such as check dams, farm ponds, micro- 1,300 TMC of water irrigation, desilting of canals and tanks, and annually, and this year alone, 74 TMC projects under NTR Jalasiri. He noted that Andhra Pradesh has become has been brought the No. 1 state in micro-irrigation, with `1,031 to Anantapur. crore invested. Drip irrigation, he said, has Improved reservoir transformed drought-prone Rayalaseema management will into a horticulture hub, while conservation secure both Rabi efforts have raised groundwater levels by 1.92 and Kharif crops, while sustaining metre statewide. industrial and Naidu pointed to the Purvodaya scheme, drinking water which is expected to bring `30,000 crore in needs Central assistance, alongside `70,000 crore in investments. Projects like Handri-Neeva and Pattiseema have ensured irrigation even to tail-end lands, boosting agricultural productivity He said the State requires 1,300 TMC of water an. nually and this year alone, 74 TMC has been brought to Anan, tapur. Improved reservoir management will secure both Rabi and Kharif crops, while sustaining industrial and drinking P4 water needs. CBI tasked with probing CM nepotism S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry into allegations that various government contracts in Arunachal Pradesh were awarded to firms linked to Chief Minister Pema Khandu’s family . “We order CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry The CBI to . submit a status report within 16 weeks on whether an independent investigation is required or not,” said a bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath. The court was hearing a PIL filed by two NGOs, Save Mon Region Federation and Voluntary Arunachal Senaa, alleging that most government contracts in the state were being illegally awarded to the Khandu family . The NGOs sought a probe by a Special Investigation Team into the charges. The court in its order said the CBI’s preliminary inquiry shall cover awards of contracts from 2015 to 2025. Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, had during the arguments pointed out that 31 contracts had been awarded in 11 years to Brand Eagles, owned by the CM’s wife. Another company called Frontier Associate, owned by the CM, got 91 contracts with a total value of `145 crore, he said. anti-CEC notice rejected in both Houses Rajya Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker rejected notices for a motion for the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar | P7 IRAN and the United States received a draft proposal late Sunday calling for a 45-day ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The proposal, tentatively dubbed the ‘Islamabad Accord’, came from Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators, hoping the 45-day window would provide enough time for talks to reach a permanent ceasefire. It was sent to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. Iran on Monday rejected the proposal. News agency IRNA said, “Iran... has rejected a ceasefire and insists on the need for a definitive end to the conflict.” Iran’s refusal for truce came after the head of intelligence for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Maj Gen Majid Khademi, was killed in an attack targeting him in Tehran. File photo of the South Pars gas field in the southern Iranian port town of Assaluyeh, which was hit by an Israeli missile strike on Monday | AFP Oil refiners to postpone maintenance shutdown Two more LPG tankers sail through Hormuz Indian oil refiners are planning to postpone maintenance shutdowns of their units to meet domestic production of LPG, petrol, and diesel. According to a top official, some refineries of Indian Oil Corporation and BPCL have already planned shutdowns. Two more Indian-flagged LPG tankers have crossed the Strait of Hormuz and are headed for Indian ports even as 16 other vessels remain stranded. Green Sanvi carrying 46,650 tonnes of LPG will reach India on April 7 while Green Asha with 15,500 tonnes will reach on April 9. For his part, US President Donald Trump said the truce proposal was a “very significant step,” but not enough yet to end the conflict. The Revolutionary Guards s a i d t h e y w i l l av e n g e Khademi’s killing, adding preparations were on to enforce new operating conditions 55% of voters remain excluded even after review: West Bengal Bengal, said the appellate tribunals should pass interim orders for those prima facie found THE West Bengal government wrongly excluded. on Monday told the Supreme The bench, however, declined Court that as many as 55% of the submissions and refused to voters whose names were re- set any deadline for the tribumoved from the electoral rolls nals to decide on the appeals. stand excluded even after the The court noted the electoral adjudication of claims list needs to be frozen and objections. at some point in view “Out of these 60 lakh of the upcoming Ascases, available data of sembly elections, but 40 lakh cases indicates it was leaving the decithe exclusion rate is sion to the appellate 55%,” said senior lawtribunals. yer Shyam Divan, apThe CJI asked the pearing for West BenCalcutta High Court gal Chief Minister Tribunals will go on chief justice to conMamata Banerjee. hearing and we do stitute a three-memA bench headed by not want to rush it, ber panel of former but we need to Chief Justice Surya senior judges to frame freeze the list Kant and comprising uniform procedures somewhere... j u s t i c e s Jo y m a l ya for these tribunals. Appellate process Bagchi and Vipin Pan- can take a month “Let the committee choli, noted that 59.15 prescribe the proceor even 60 days lakh out of 60.06 lakh dure by tomorrow Supreme Court cases were decided by (Tuesday) so that adApril 6 noon. judication of appeals Divan argued that the rejec- can be expedited,” it said and tion rate is very high despite fixed the matter for further the judicial safeguards. “These hearing to April 23. were mapped individuals. SevIn another decision, the court en lakh objections have already directed the NIA to take over been filed and several lakh ap- the probe into the gherao of jupeals are in the process of be- dicial officers engaged in SIR ing filed,” he said. work in Malda after noting seSenior advocate Kapil Sibal, rious allegations against the appearing for the State of West local police. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s central military command warned of “much more devastating” retaliation if enemies hit civilian targets. Word of Iran’s rejection came while Trump addressed an Easter event on the White House lawn. Asked if Tuesday at 8 pm Washington time was his final deadline for Iran, Trump replied, “Yeah.” Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said they struck a petrochemical facility in Iran. “The IDF has now strongly attacked the largest petrochemical facility in Iran located in [Asaluyeh],” he said, adding the facility in the Pars region services Iran’s South Pars natural gas field, and produced around half of the country’s petrochemicals. Strikes on cities across Iran killed more people on Monday , while in Israel’s Haifa, victims were found dead in rubble following an attack. Israel said four people were killed in Haifa. Oil prices fluctuated, with North Sea Brent at $109 a barrel and US West Texas at $112.  ‘Islamabad Accord’: P9 it’s official Gazette clears Amaravati as sole Capital of Andhra E x p re s s N e w s Ser v i c e @ Vijayawada The Government of India has officially published the Andhra P r a d e s h Re o r g a n i s a t i o n (Amendment) Act, 2026 in the Gazette, confirming Amaravati as the State capital. The Act, which received Presidential assent on April 6, amends Section 5 of the 2014 law, replacing ‘and there shall be a new capital’ with ‘and Amaravati shall be the new capital.’ It also clarifies that Amaravati includes areas notified under the APCRDA Act, 2014. The amendment is deemed effective from June 2, 2024. Express his happiness over the Gazette notification, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu described it as a victory for the people, especially Amaravati farmers. Taking to X, he thanked President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, MPs, and citizens for their support in fulfilling the ‘cherished dream of our Capital’ Bloom to gloom: Mango crop hit hard by weather; AP farmers stare at losses NETHAJI KUMARAMANGALAM @ Tirupati Mamata Banerjee addresses a public meeting in Nadia on Monday | pti ‘Stalin, Congress in cahoots with BJP’ Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee on Monday alleged that the BJP had entered into a “tacit understanding” with the Congress and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, saying many officers from Bengal had been sent to the southern state as poll observers. Also, the EC transferred around 500 officers in Bengal compared with a handful in other pollbound states, she alleged Mango farmers across erstwhile Chittoor, including parts of Annamayya district, are staring at heavy losses this season as erratic weather conditions have drastically reduced flowering, leading to a sharp decline in expected yields. Unseasonal rains and high temperatures as early as February have also dampened farmers’ hopes for a good mango yield this season. Spread across nearly 1.16 lakh hectares, mango cultivation in the district has been severely impacted, with experts estimating overall crop damage between 50% and 60%. The primary reason behind the decline is the significant reduction in flowering, which has fallen by more than half in many orchards. High temperatures exceeding 40°C since Maha Shivaratri have further aggravated the situation, affecting fruit setting and causing premature fruit drop. Even where initial fruiting occurred, the extreme heat disrupted the hormonal balance in the plants, resulting in poor retention. Unseasonal rains in January and March, along with showers at the end of December, also played a major role in disturbing the crop cycle. Instead of the required dry spell for healthy flowering, the rains triggered vegetative growth, leading to irregular blooming and reduced fruit formation. Flowering, which typically begins earlier, was delayed until the second week of February in many areas. The erstwhile Chittoor district, including parts of Annamayya and Tirupati districts, remains a major hub for mango cultivation, with orchards spread over 2.87 lakh. Of this, the Totapuri variety dominates nearly 90 per cent of the total mango area, covering an estimated 2.5 to 2.6 lakh acres (around 1.0 to 1.05 lakh P4 hectares).  Security scare at Delhi Assembly as private car breaks through the iron gate E x p re s s N e w s Ser v i c e @ New Delhi IN a major security breach at the Delhi Assembly on Monday afternoon, an unauthorised private car entered the premises after ramming through one of the boundary gates. The car with an Uttar Pradesh registration number stayed inside briefly and came out. The driver of the Tata Sierra placed a flower bouquet in the Speaker’s official car parked on the porch before fleeing, triggering a a major security scare at the Vidhan Sabha. The intruder hit a big gate and a boom barrier before en- Accused followed farmers’ agitation: Police Police sources said the accused, identified as 37-year-old Saravjeet Singh, a resident of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, is believed to be a follower of the farmers’ agitation. Uttar Pradesh Police reached the residence of Singh in Pilibhit and questioned his family members, who claimed he was suffering from mental health issues and was undergoing treatment tering the area via gate number 2, which is a VIP gate. Several police teams, including the bomb squad and dog squad, rushed to the spot. A Forensics team also came to the spot and lifted the exhibits from near the gate and the area where the bouquet was placed. The bouquet was also checked. Police checked the CCTV footage and intercepted the car at Roop Nagar area in north Delhi. Three persons, including the driver identified as Sarabjeet Singh, were intercepted. Forensic team inspecting Delhi Assembly premises on Monday | Sayantan Ghosh Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) Raja Banthia said that around 2.10 pm, a whitecoloured Tata Sierra bearing registration number UP26AZ8090 forcefully entered the premises of the Delhi Assembly through gate number-2. “One individual alighted from the car and proceeded towards the porch area carrying a bouquet and a garland of marigold flowers. The Vidhan Sabha was not in session. During the incident, the accused drove the vehicle in a dangerous manner with intent to run over security personnel on duty thereby endangering their , lives,” the DCP said.