visakhapatnam l saturday l april 11, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Commonwealth sports delegate satisfied with amdavad venues A three-member CS team led by its president Donald Rukare visited all the sporting infrastructure to assess preparation chief rukare satisfied with preparations india ready to put on a grand show CS chief Rukare said that all the venues were inspected and was satisfied with preparation for 2030 Games. Venues include Narendra Modi Stadium, Veer Savarkar Sports Complex, Mahatma Mandir and IIT Gandhinagar. The delegation undertook a comprehensive multi-city visit from April 8 to 10 across Amdavad, Gandhinagar, Vadodara and Ekta Nagar ■ Rukare said that “From what we saw yesterday (Thursday) and the day before (Wednesday), it’s very clear that with the facilities that are available, India is ready to put on a show.” ■ CEO Katie Sadleir and Director of Games and Assurance Darren Hall were part of the three-member delegation | P11 16-17 number of sports that may be included in the Games roster 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 Tehran hardens its stance ahead of key talks with Vance Ag e n c i e s @ Washington/Islamabad Vrindavan tragedy Rescue personnel in the Yamuna River after a boat capsized near Kesi Ghat, Vrindavan, in Mathura district, on Friday. At least 10 people, from Punjab, were killed and several others remain missing. The accident happened when the boat moved into deeper waters and hit a floating pontoon | pti Marco Rubio to come calling in May J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit India in May, the United States announced, signalling renewed momentum in ties between New Delhi and Washington after recent strains over trade issues. The visit comes as both sides are preparing to revive negotiations aimed at sealing an interim trade agreement, indicating a shared push to their economic engagement. The announcement followed a “productive meeting” between Rubio and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri at the White House, where both sides reviewed key pillars of the bilateral relationship, including trade, critical minerals, defence cooperation, and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. US Ambassador to India Sergio for Political Affairs Allison Hooker Gor, who attended the meeting, con- emphasized expanding cooperation firmed the upcoming visit in a post in security and economic domains. on X. “Secretary Rubio looks forward “We are finding practical ways to to visiting India next month,” Gor make both Americans and Indians said. The envoy said that safer and more prosperous, discussions with Misri foincluding through the cused on strengthening coQuad,” Hooker said. operation across strategic The Indian Embassy in sectors. Washington said that disDuring his three-day visit cussions also reviewed to Washington, Misri also progress since the last Formet US Deputy Secretary of eign Office Consultations in State Christopher Landau. December and covered reMarco Rubio According to the State Decent developments in West partment, the two sides “reAsia and other areas of muaffirmed the close partnership” and tual interest. exchanged views on global and reRubio’s upcoming visit is expected gional developments, including the to inject momentum to the India–US situation in the Persian Gulf. Sepa- Comprehensive Global Strategic rately, US Under Secretary of State Partnership. Colonel Shrikant Embattled Justice Varma puts in his papers Purohit promoted drashekhar and Senior Advocate Vasudeva Acharya. Varma’s resigAmid initiation of impeachment nation rendered all proceedings proceedings in the Lok Sabha fol- by the probe panel infructuous. lowing sacks of burnt currency The case stems from a fire on notes found at his residential com- March 14, 2025, in the storeroom plex in New Delhi last year, Justice of Varma’s official residence in Yashwant Varma resigned on Fri- Delhi, where police personnel day with immediate effect. found wads of partially burnt curIn his letter dated April 9, he con- rency notes in gunny bags. Photos veyed his ‘deep anguish’ and videos of them burnto President Droupadi ing were outed by the Murmu, while saying he then Chief Justice of Indid not wish to burden dia Sanjiv Khanna, who her office with the reaadvised Varma to quit sons for his decision. By after an in-house probe doing so, he escaped the panel pointed the finger ignominy of becoming of suspicion at him. Varthe first member of the ma refused and was rehigher judiciary to be patriated to the AllaYashwant Varma sacked by Parliament. habad High Court Varma was due to retire without assigning judion January 5, 2031. cial work pending inquiry . Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla By putting in his papers, the had recently shared that a three- judge hopes to have dodged the member in-house probe commit- bullet to protect his pension. Had tee had been reconstituted under he been impeached, he would have the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, lost not just pension but other reagainst Varma. The committee tirement benefits as well. The comprises Supreme Court judge burning question though is the Arvind Kumar, Bombay High source of those smouldering curCourt Chief Justice Shree Chan- rency notes caught on camera. N a m i ta B a jpa i @ Lucknow to Brigadier rank J A V ARIA RANA @ New Delhi Nearly two decades after the Malegaon blast case derailed his career, Army officer Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit has been promoted to the rank of Brigadier. He was acquitted in the case last year. Col Purohit, who was a Lieutenant Colonel when he was named in the case in 2008, rose to the rank of Colonel through time scale promotion during the course of the trial. He was acquitted in 2025 by a special NIA court after a 17-year legal ordeal. He was due to retire on March 31, 2026 as 54 years is the retirement age for Colonel, but the Armed Forces Tribunal put his retirement on hold, keeping him in service and within the promotion pipeline. Col Purohit had moved the tribunal following his acquittal. The retirement age for Brigadier is 56 years and the promotion effectively extends his service till 2028. Army sources said the tribunal’s intervention was key as continuity in , service is a prerequisite for consideration by promotion boards. Heatwave conditions prevail across State U s h a P e r i @ Visakhapatnam Several parts of Andhra Pradesh are experiencing intense heatwave conditions at the very start of April, with maximum temperature already crossing the 44 degree Celsius mark in some regions. On Friday the highest temperature , of the season was recorded at 44.1 degree Celsius in Karapa of Kakinada district, followed by 43.6 EX PR ES S ILL US TR AT IO N degree Celsius in Kadapa. Temperatures above 40 degree Celsius were reported in as many as 22 districts across the State. According to official data by the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA), 67 mandals recorded temperatures exceeding 41 degree Celsius. Kadapa district accounted for the highest number with 19 mandals, followed by 11 in Nandyal, seven in Markapuram, and four in NTR, among others. Among other high readings, Poduru in West Godavari recorded 42.9 degree Celsius, Varadayapalem in Tirupati 42.8 degree Celsius, Moguluru in NTR 42.6 degree Celsius, and Pedaparupudi in Krishna and Banaganapalli in Nandyal 42.3 degree Celsius each. Dharmajigudem in Eluru and Kommipadu in Nellore recorded 42.1 degree Celsius, while Tummikapalli in Vizianagaram touched 42 degree Celsius. Tovi in Kurnool registered 41.5 degree Celsius, with several other locations including Anantapur, Markapuram, Palnadu, Polavaram, Parvathipuram Manyam, Prakasam and Sri Sathya Sai districts reporting temperatures in the range of 41 to P4 41.4 degree Celsius.  AS the Pakistan-brokered limited ceasefire between the US and Iran appeared to hold for the fourth day on Friday, US Vice President J D Vance left for Islamabad to hold talks with Iranian negotiators on Saturday morning local time. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff are part of the US team. Iran’s delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf day was expected to reach Isl a m ab a d o n F r i d ay evening, but has not. Hinting that Tehran might pull out, Ghalibaf said a ceasefire must take hold in Lebanon and Iran’s assets must be unlocked before the talks can begin. The US, Iran and Pakistan have given conflicting accounts of whether Israel’s strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon are part of the ceasefire agreed on April 7. Iran and Pakistan claim Lebanon is part of the deal; US says it is not. Even if the talks take place as scheduled, no immediate breakthrough is expected on Day 1. Nego- 42 tiations with Iran are known to be time-consuming and complex. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has indicated the talks could continue for 15 days, which means the 15day ceasefire would be extended. The truce pact is already facing pressure with both the US and Iran flagging violations of the ceasefire agreement announced on April 7. Israel has stepped up its attack on Lebanon. As for Iran, it continues to control the Strait of Hormuz and has not been allowing free movement of vessels through it, drilling holes in Trump’s claim that the he got Iran to open up the vital passage. Trump said Iran was doing “a poor job” in freeing Hormuz. “That is not the agreement we have!” he rued. He also threatened to strike again if a deal not reached. Vance warned Iran not to try to “play” the US unless it wants bad results. The talks are scheduled to happen in Islamabad’s Serena Hotel. The US and Iranian teams won’t sit across the table; they will sit in separate rooms with Pak officials going from one room to the other to pass on the messages.  U.S. drafted Sharif’s  truce appeal to Don: P9 Cabinet clears major electronics and IT projects S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada The State Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the Secretariat on Friday, approved investments worth thousands of crores, paving the way for tens of thousands of new jobs. After the Cabinet meeting, Minister for Information and Public Relations Kolusu Parthasarathy briefed the media on the decisions, highlighting the State’s ambition to emerge as a national leader in IT, electronics, quantum technologies, industry, energy, education and health. In the IT and electronics sector, the Cabinet approvals included Adani Infra’s AI Data Centre in Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli, Credence Realty’s `386 crore IT Park, and Feuji Software Solutions’ `425 crore IT/ITeS campus. Sritech Data Ltd was cleared to establish a `1,800 crore cable landing station, while PG Technoplast received approval for a `1,305 crore consumer electronics manufacturing facility . Speciality chemicals and semiconductor projects were also cleared, including NPSPL’s `2,550 crore advanced LiB materials unit in Chittoor and RRP Electronics’ `10,239 crore OSAT and fabrication facility in Sri P4 Sathya Sai district.