hyderabad l friday l April 17, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 36 l LATE City EDITION Akasa Air, SpiceJet flights with 300 passengers collide at Delhi airport Narrow escape for passengers after incoming SpiceJet flight came in contact with a stationary Akasa aircraft waiting to depart. None was hurt Both aircraft belonged to Boeing 737 series Both aircraft were damaged in the collision and were grounded. The bizarre incident happened in the apron area of Terminal 1 at 2.15 pm. The right winglet of the SpiceJet flight (Boeing 737-700) was damaged while the left hand horizontal stabiliser of Akasa Air (Boeing 737 MAX 8) suffered damages, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said ■ DGCA Passengers disembark safely, none hurt ■ Akasa Air’s plane was to operate flight QP 1406 from Delhi to Hyderabad, while the SpiceJet aircraft had arrived from Leh after operating the flight SG 124, officials said After the incident, all passengers disembarked safely. Akasa Air said it would make arrangements to fly its passengers to Hyderabad The aviation watchdog Has begun its probe into the Delhi airport incident 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 quote Israel-Lebanon truce amid Asim Munir, Shehbaz diplomacy hanger Together, we are going to give India a new direction. Through women’s quota, we are going to make a meaningful effort to infuse sensitivity in our governance system Workers travelling in an auto-trolley use cotton clothes to shield themselves from the scorching heat on Wednesday, as mercury soars across the state | Vinay Madapu SC: Those cleared by tribunals 2 days before polls can vote in Bengal SC flags lack of trust between Bengal govt & EC New Delhi: Flagging the lack of trust between the West Bengal government and the Election Commission, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea challenging the transfer of more than 1,000 administrative and police officers by the poll panel in the election-bound state. The apex court, however, kept open for adjudication in future the contentious legal question about whether the Election Commission (EC) needed to consult the concerned state before effecting administrative changes in poll-bound states. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi also observed that it was the “misfortune” of the country that the purpose of creating the All India Services was getting frustrated. The CJI said the apex court had to appoint judicial officers in the exercise of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal as there was trust deficit between the parties. SUCHITR A K A LYA N MOH A NTY @ New Delhi in a big relief to legitimate voters whose names were struck off electoral rolls, the Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission of India to allow them to vote if their appeals are accepted by the appellate tribunals at least two days before the elections. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the Election Commission to issue a supplementary electoral roll to include the names of those whose appeals against deletion are allowed by appellate tribunals before April 21 (1st phase) and April 27 (2nd phase). In the order dated April 13 and uploaded on the Supreme Court website on Thursday the , CJI-led bench invoked Article 142 of the Constitution, which empowers the top court to pass any order necessary to ensure “complete justice” in any matter pending before it. The bench, however, sought to clarify that mere pendency of appeals by excluded persons before the appellate tribunals would not entitle them to vote. Only those whose appeals are accepted by the tribunals before the cut-off dates are eligible to vote. The bench passed the directions after hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal, where the names of several eligible voters were deleted, forcing them to move court seeking restoration of their names and interim relief. The court fixed April 24 as the next date for hearing the matter. The talk of delimitation seems fine on the surface but the real meaning comes to the fore when one carefully reads it. It smells of politics Please withdraw this bill. Call an all-party meeting. We will give good suggestions... We are ready to cooperate with the government. Don’t try to sabotage Indian democracy BJP has made ‘nari’ (women) into a ‘nara’ (slogan)... How many BJP MLAs or MPs are women?... The Samajwadi Party is for women’s quota, but is against BJP’s trickery Narendra Modi, PM FOR A BIT OF SHADE Neither men nor any state will suffer any loss after the implementation of the women’s quota. The main objective of the bill is to give women their due rights Arjun Ram Meghwal, Min Priyanka Gandhi, Cong KC Venugopal, Cong Akhilesh Yadav, SP No change in LS seat share in the South, clarifies Shah Women’s bill important for all parties that want to succeed in future: PM Screengrab of Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaking in the Lok Sabha on the first day of the special session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Thursday | PTI State Current LS seats % of 543 LS seats After % After delimitation delimitation Karnataka 28 5.15% 42 5.14% Andhra Pradesh 25 4.60% 38 4.65% Telangana 17 3.13% 26 39 7.18% 59 7.23% Kerala 20 3.68% 30 3.67% 129/543 23.76% 195/816 23.87% Total strength of the South After the passage of the bill, the number of MPs will be 30, and their percentage in the new House will be 3.67. “Of the total 543 seats, 129 MPs currently sit in this House, which is 23.76%. In the new House, 195 MPs will be sitting here, and their share will be 23.87%.” The remarks come amid concerns that population-based delimitation could reduce the relative representation of the South in Parliament. Shah also clarified the concerns over the caste census raised by some Opposition members and said, “Modi cabinet has decided to conduct a caste census. The ongoing census is being conducted on the basis of caste enumeration. There is no need to spread confusion.” WHENEVER R Vaishali had some free time in Paphos, the idyllic resort town in Cyprus where the Candidates was held, she either played table tennis or padel. Vaishali doesn’t consider herself to be a good table tennis player. In fact, in one of the interviews, she called herself a ‘terrible’ player. It’s just that she wanted to, at least every now and then, forget about the chess world. She didn’t want to always think about openings, rook-bishop endgames and castling queenside. She was feeling a lot of pressure, especially after beginning the tournament with four draws and one defeat. So the 24-year-old engaged in some form of eustress to calm her R Vaishali and her mother Nagalakshmi with the trophy | Michal Walusza / FIDE mind. It’s where M Pranesh played a key role behind the scenes. Officially, the 19-yearold, who became a GM at the age of 16, went to Cyprus to be Vaishali’s second. Someone who would help in preparation and coming up with novelties. Unofficially, Pranesh, another RB Ramesh product, was there as a sparring partner. “He’s a fun person to be around,” Vaishali said in a small interview to Chessbase India after winning the Candidates tournament on Wednesday “Lots of . pg student ends life in Osmania hospital hostel room On the legal framework governing delimitation, Shah emphasised continuity with existing provisions. “The Delimitation Commission law is strictly in accordance with the existing (old) law. There is no change. It will not impact the ongoing elections.” Responding to criticism from Opposition leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi, Shah said: “There was mention of the Delimitation Commission, saying that you will put your people in the Delimitation Commission and they will do this and that. I want to tell Priyanka Gandhi that we have not made any changes to the Delimitation Commission. We have replicated your Delimitation Commission Act. If you have tampered with it, I can say that we will not do so.”  P7 His friends broke open the door and found him unconscious. The student’s mother, however, alleged that he was under pressure | P2 e x p r e ss r e a d Nashik cops see funding angle in TCS case Mumbai: Nashik police have intensified the probe into the alleged sexual harassment and forced conversion in a BPO facility of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), seeking assistance from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), NIA and the Maharashtra’s ATS. The police urged agencies to probe a possible link of an international extremist group in funding the alleged conversion racket at the facility | P8 Haryana Cong suspends 5 MLAs for cross-vote Chandigarh: Congress has suspended five of its Haryana MLAs from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect. They had allegedly cross-voted in the March 16 Rajya Sabha election in favour of BJP-backed independent candidate Satish Nandal. The action follows the recommendation of the disciplinary committee and its approval given by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge | P8 F u e ll i n g i n t e r e s t Blitz, TT & padel: How Vaishali kept her cool @ Bengaluru day medical 3.18% Tamil Nadu history maker s w a r o o p s w a m i n at h a n pAKISTAN on Thursday stepped up its diplomatic efforts for a second round of peace talks between Iran and the US that could end the ongoing West Asia war with Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir meeting Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Munir, who is camping in Tehran to persuade the Iranians to reach a deal with the US, also visited the Khatam al-Anbiya central headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), where he met with its commander. According to Iranian media reports, Munir discussed with the IRGC commander the steps taken under the framework for ending the war and their recent talks in Tehran. Parallelly Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif , is touring the Gulf countries in a bid to gauge the mood and seek their support in finding an early end to the conflict. Shehbaz Sharif ’s office said the premier had discussed with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani “the latest regional and international developments, particularly in the Middle East”. According to Iran’s Press TV Munir is carrying a , message from the US for the Iranian leadership. After hearing from the Iranian leaders, he is expected to consult Washington and try and schedule another round of talks. The first round, held on April 10 in Islamabad, failed to arrive at an agreement. On Thursday Al Jazeera claimed Pakistan is expect, ing a “major breakthrough”, hinting Iran may have softened its stance on some sticking issues. Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, also said that Tehran is “cautiously optimistic” about its negotiations. Hours after Munir’s meeting in Tehran, US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon starting Thursday 21:00 GMT. One of Iran’s major demands was that Israel end its strikes on Lebanon targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.  P9 48 J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday asserted in the Lok Sabha that the number of seats in the southern states will not be reduced as he sought to counter what he described as a “manufactured narrative” that delimitation and related legislative changes would weaken the region’s political influence. During the debate on women’s reservation and delimitation, Shah said: “The biggest narrative being created is that these three bills — the Constitution Amendment Bill, two laws on delimitation, and changes to the constituency election law — will harm the power of the South.” Putting the initiative in context, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his intervention, highlighted women’s rising “political leadership” at the grassroots level, adding the quota bill is important for every political party if they want to succeed in future. Shah backed his argument with state-wise projections to demonstrate how South’s representation would increase both in absolute numbers and in the overall share. Karnataka has 28 seats, and 5.15% of the 543 seats in the House. After delimitation, the number of MPs will increase to 42, and the percentage in the Lok Sabha will increase to 5.44. Karnataka will not suffer any loss, he said. Andhra Pradesh has 25 seats, which is 4.60% of the total. After the bill passes, the number of MPs will increase to 38, representing 4.65%. In Telangana, which has 17 seats, accounting for 3.13%, after delimitation, the number of MPs will increase to 26, representing 3.18%. Tamil Nadu has 39 seats, which is 7.18% of the total. After delimitation, the number of MPs will be 59, and their percentage in the new House 7.23%. Tamil Nadu will also suffer no loss. Kerala now has 20 seats, which is 3.68%. A g e n c i e s @ Tehran / Washington things were happening within me, it was crazy It was Ramesh . sir’s idea to take Pranesh.” Even as the 24-year-old wanted to go through some of her lines as late as an hour before games, Pranesh played the role of friend, confidante and younger brother, all rolled into one (R Praggnanandhaa had to prepare for his own matches). “I was too tense,” Vaishali said in the same stream. “Even one hour before games, I was preparing and he used to say ‘akka , (elder sister), it’s okay you have , got this.’” On each of the four rest days, both of them played padel apart from Blitz games to help ease the pressure off Vaishali. “He would wait for the rest days because that’s when we played padel,” Vaishali said. Pranesh quipped: “That was my motivation (laughs).” First petrol pump? A case for Hyd M i r Q u a d i r A l i @ Hyderabad A recently viral social media claim crediting Mumbai with India’s first petrol pump, dated to 1928, prompted a closer look at the history of fuel infrastructure in Hyderabad. What emerged, deep inside the wooded expanse of the former Chiran Palace estate, KBR National Park, was an artefact that complicates that narrative. Hidden along an overgrown trail stands a rusted, upright metal cabinet, mounted on a concrete base. At first glance, it appears unremarkable. A closer inspection, however, reveals something more precise: A mechanised petrol dispensing unit, largely intact despite decades of neglect. The structure is not a mere remnant. Its internal assembly The mechanised petrol dispensing unit inside the Chiran Palace estate and inset, the maker’s name affixed to the casing | Sri loganathan Velmurugan survives. A square dial, marked with calibrated graduations, remains fixed to a central spindle. Behind it, the mechanical components—gears, chambers and linkages—are still visible. At the top, an inlet-outlet assembly suggests connection to a fuel source, either under- ground or via storage. Most significantly, a metal badge affixed to the casing bears the name: “Beckmeter,” associated with early fuel metering equipment. The presence of a Beckmeter unit alters the nature of the find.  continued on P4