vijayawada l wednesday l may 13, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION Himanta takes oath as Assam CM for second successive term The BJP-led NDA assumed the mantle of power for the third term on Tuesday when Himanta Biswa Sarma was sworn as in CM of Assam 25-minute ceremony saw top BJP leaders great day for assam, says pm modi Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya administered the oath of office to Sarma and the four legislators at a 25-minute ceremony held at the Veterinary Ground in Khanapara area in Guwahati. Besides PM Modi and Amit Shah, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Sarbananda Sonowal, Pabitra Margherita, and other top leaders were present | P10 ■ ■ The PM said NDA assuming office for the third consecutive term was a ‘’great day for Assam’’ and congratulated Sarma BJP’s Rameshwar Teli and Ajanta Neog, AGP’s Atul Bora, and Charan Boro of BPF also took oath as ministers, representing the tea community, women, the regional community and the Bodo tribe 102 seats of 126 seats in assam were won by the bjp-led nda coalition 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 NEET-UG cancelled, CBI begins paper leak probe Re-exam notice in 7-10 days; one accused arrested from Nashik lalitha s, sudhir s u r ya w a ns h i & r a j e s h a sn a n i @ New Delhi/Nashik/Jaipur Rahul dissent note to panel tasked to pick new CBI boss Sumit Kumar Singh @ New Delhi THE selection of the next CBI chief on Tuesday was marred by controversy as Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi issued a dissent note on the selection process. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant are part of the selection committee. They met on Tuesday but there was no official announcement on the panel’s decision at the time of going to press. However, Rahul presented a two-page dissent note to the PM alleging that despite repeated written requests, he was not provided with self-appraisal reports or 360degree reports of the eligible candidates. “Instead, I was expected to examine the appraisal records of 69 candidates for the first time during the meeting. The 360-degree reports were denied to me,” he alleged. “This deliberate denial of information, without any legal basis, makes a mockery of the selection process and ensures that only your predecided candidate is selected,” he alleged. Rahul accused the government of reducing the selection process to a mere formality, adding the LoP cannot be a rubber stamp. While several IPS officers were on the short list, discussions at the meet centred on three: Parag Jain, Shatrujeet Kapoor, Yogesh Gupta and G P Singh. Incumbent CBI Director Praveen Sood is scheduled to retire on May 24. E x p r e s s Re a d Chittoor panchayats win national honours Tirupati: Andhra Pradesh has made a strong mark in the National Panchayat Awards 2026 (Special Category), with three institutions from Chittoor district achieving recognition. Chittoor won the Panchayat Kshamta Nirman Sarvottam Sansthan Puraskar | P4 THE NEET (UG) 2026 exam held on May 3 was cancelled on Tuesday amid allegations of paper leak, with the CBI registering an FIR after the government asked it to probe the “irregularities”. The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the exam for admission to undergraduate courses in medical colleges, said fresh dates will be notified in the “next seven to 10 days” for the re-exam. The cancellation triggered nationwide outrage among medical aspirants, with students raising questions on NTA’s competence and demanding that the exam be conducted by AIIMS-Delhi. The Opposition attacked the Centre, alleging administrative failure, insensitivity toward students and “repeated lapses” in the conduct of national-level competitive examinations. The Rajasthan Special Operations Group (SOG), which probed the leak first, found that before the exam, a 150-page “guess paper” was circulated among students in Jaipur, Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Churu districts. The document contained 410 questions of which 135 figured in the actual exam paper. As per Rajasthan Police, the match was not limited to the questions alone. Investigators found similarities in sequence of options, language and punctuation marks. The SOG has so far detained 15 people, includ- Similarities in sequence of options, language Rajasthan Police said the match with the guess paper was not limited to the questions alone. Investigators found similarities in sequence of options, language and punctuation marks BAMS graduate arrested in Nashik, probe on A 30-year-old BAMS graduate from Nashik was arrested Tuesday. Police said he bought the leaked paper for `10L and resold 10 sets at `15L lakh each in Rajasthan and Maharashtra West Asia crisis is a stress test for India: CEA D i pa k M o nd a l @ New Delhi Auto alert siren and public address system installed in a selected village as part of the Mitigation Project on Lightning Safety | Express Pilot proj to curb lightning fatalities in 16 AP villages Identified villages Prakasam Mundlamuru, Tallur, Ippagunta and Miraiyampalli SFI members and supporters stage a protest against the cancellation of NEET 2026, after NTA cancelled the exam held on May 3, in New Delhi on Tuesday | Praveen negi ing Manish Yadav from Jaipur and Rakesh Mandawaria from Sikar. Manish Yadav is said to be the ‘mastermind’ of the paper leak operation in Rajasthan. Investigators also found that all 90 Biology questions and all 45 Chemistry questions in NEET exam matched the circulated material. Preliminary investigations suggest that a student from Churu, currently pursuing MBBS in Kerala, allegedly sent the question bank to a person in Sikar, who passed it to a PG accommodation operator in Sikar, who further shared it among students there. After the examination on May 3, a PG operator in Sikar filed a complaint with the Udyog Nagar police station and the NTA, alleging that a large number of students had received the suspected question bank before the exam. Following this, police sprang into action, sources said. The CBI registered cases of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, theft and destruction of evidence under BNS, besides offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair P9 Means) Act, 2024.  Anantapur Palthur, Ullikallu, Kristipadu and Doddagatta V’nagaram Chintada, Alamanda, Jonnavalasa and Sriharipuram Nellore Polampadu, Amudaladinne, Chennur and Kandamur Proj to cost `11.77 crore The project is estimated to cost `11.77 cr. It will be borne by the Centre and the State in a 90:10 ratio Rahul meets former KPCC heads, CM call likely today P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Congress’s M M Hassan after meeting Sonia Gandhi, in New Delhi | Parveen Negi Question of two by-elections Satheesan’s camp also argues that if Venugopal is given the post, the UDF will have to face two by-elections — one to elect him to the assembly and another to elect a new MP for the Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat currently represented by Venugopal. The Venugopal camp claims he has the support of most MLAs and is a strategist capable of ensuring victory in the bypolls. His camp also claims that most of the Congress MPs from Kerala also support Venugopal The deadlock over the selection of Kerala’s next Chief Minister appears headed for a breakthrough, with senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday holding a last round of consultations with former KPCC presidents, working presidents and key leaders at Sonia Gandhi’s house. The leadership opted for wider consultations to ensure that the decision to be seen as a collective one rather than a unilateral choice imposed by the high command. While AICC general secretary K C Venugopal appears to be way ahead in the race, riding on the support of newly elected MLAs, sources said the name of the new CM is likely to be announced on Wednesday . The other two contenders are Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan. Of the senior leaders who met Rahul on Tuesday, a majority except former KPCC presidents V M Sud- heeran and K Muraleedharan, were u n d e r s t o o d t o h av e b a c k e d Venugopal’s candidature. Sources said Muraleedharan and Sudheeran conveyed to Rahul that public sentiment should be taken into consideration before deciding the new chief minister. However, opposing this view, some leaders told Rahul that the protests were not spontaneous but were orchestrated by certain leaders as a pressure tactic. Sources also said UDF ally Muslim League’s adamant support to Satheesan further complicated matters. Speaking to reporters, Muraleedharan said since it is the UDF CM, views of allies will also have to be considered. The Chennithala camp says he is the senior most leader who has always stood by the party and the Nehru-Gandhi family. The leadership had come under pressure after failing to finalise the CM face nine days after election results were declared. Mentor Collectors to lead replication of novel ideas S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada Best practices Concept Collector District Smart Kitchens Cherukuri Sridhar Kadapa Sanjeevani Sumit Kumar Chittoor Jaladhara Nishant Kumar Annamayya Four Visits a Village Himanshu Shukla Nellore Mustabu Prabhakar Reddy Parvathipuram Sanjeevani Kritika Shukla Palnadu Net Zero Vijayakrishnan Anakapalli Swabhimaan Swapnil Dinakar Srikakulam Circular Economy Nagarani West Godavari Unlocking Wealth Venkateshwar Tirupati Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has introduced a strategic “Mentorship” framework to streamline governance in Andhra Pradesh, tasking high-performing District Collectors with guiding the statewide implementation of local success stories. The initiative makes these pioneering officers subjectmatter experts to help replicate effective models across all 28 districts, marking a functional shift in how successful administration is scaled. At the 7th Collectors’ Con- ference held recently, Naidu designated 10 Collectors as mentors for nine specific innovative projects. This model aims to foster a culture of peer-to-peer learning to ensure that proven solutions in welfare and service delivery are scaled efficiently . The Chief Minister noted that by adopting these best practices, the administration can deliver better results at a lower cost while strengthening public trust. Providing clarity on the functional nature of the mentors’ role, I&PR Commissioner KS Viswanathan told TNIE that the setup is designed for collaboration rather than control. “It will be more like advisory, combined with sharing best practices. There will be a nodal department where a mentor Collector will act as the model Collector. As they have already achieved some success in the concept, they will invite other Collectors to their respective districts for training,” he said. He added that these mentor Collectors may also have to visit other districts at least once to provide guidance and hand-holding support during P4 implementation.  N e t h a j i K u m a r a m a n g a l a m @ Tirupati In a major step towards disaster mitigation, the Andhra Pradesh government has come up with a model project to minimise lightning fatalities in vulnerable rural areas. The Mitigation Project on Lightning Safety (MPLS) will be implemented in 16 villages across four high-risk Anantapur, Prakasam, Nellore and Vizianagaram districts. The project is being taken up with the support from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) and in coordination with the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) and RTGSAWARE platform. The government has identified lightning as a major threat after the AWARE early warning system showed no decline in lightning-related deaths during June-December 2025. Official data revealed that the number of lightning deaths more or less remained unchanged in 2024 and 2025. Only three cyclone-related deaths were recorded in 2025 due to commendable progress in disaster management, whereas lightning fatalities stood at 95. Officials mentioned that 32 lightning deaths have already been reported in the State during the summer season (March and May), highlighting the urgent need for focused mitigation steps. Hence, the government has decided to develop physical safety infrastructure and community preparedP4 ness systems in vulnerable villages.  The West Asia crisis has become a live balance-of-payments stress test for India, with direct implications for inflation, the current account deficit (CAD) and the rupee, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said on Tuesday “Man. aging the current account credibly, financing it sustainably, and preventing further currency depreciation are the central macroeconomic imperatives of FY27,” he said at the CII’s Annual Business Summit. CAD is expected to rise to 2.2% of GDP in FY27 from an estimated 0.8% in FY26. CAD is a situation when a country’s imports exceed exports. A higher CAD we a ke n s t h e cur rency, increases inflation risks and reduces economic stability Rupee . on Tuesday fell to another low of 95.63 against the dollar. Nageswaran said 87% of crude oil is imported, with a major share transiting through or near the Hormuz. Around 60% of LPG comes from the Gulf, while 38% of annual remittances originate from Gulf nations. “These are not the readings of a temporary shock that will self-correct when the situation stabilises.” The CEA warned that the global economic architecture is undergoing a structural challenge rather than a temporary disruption. Puri worry on losses “How long the oil companies will continue to take losses, frankly, worries me,” petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri said | P12