hyderabad l wednesday l june 03, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION internet loves army pilot’s proposal to partner post p.o.p A newly qualified Army pilot proposed to his girlfriend right after his graduation ceremony in Nashik — with a helicopter as the backdrop NASHIK to new beginnings after tough training The video spread quickly online, with people responding to how genuine and unscripted the whole thing felt. Captain Bharat Bhardwaj called it a “love ka salute” — and joked that while officers give and receive salutes at work, back home, the wife is in charge. For the Captain, the day marked the end of a tough professional journey, and the start of a new one is where the Army trains its combat helicopter pilots 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 Finally, CBSE heads roll Board Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta shifted, replaced with Lokhande Prashant Sitaram & Varun Bharadwaj respectively; OSM system probe ordered Out Rahul Singh IN Himanshu Gupta Lokhande Prashant Sitaram Varun Bhardwaj S L A L ITHA @ New Delhi In a major administrative shake-up following controversy over the CBSE’s new digital evaluation system for Class XII board examinations, the Centre on Tuesday removed CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta with immediate effect and ordered a high-level inquiry into the procurement of the OnScreen Marking (OSM) system used for evaluating answer sheets. The government also announced the constitution of a one-member committee headed by S Radha Chauhan, Chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission, to investigate the award and procurement of services related to the OSM platform. It directed the committee to submit its report to the Department of Personnel and Training within a month. According to the official order, Chauhan has been authorised to seek assistance from officials of other departments during the inquiry while the Capacity Build, ing Commission will provide secretarial support. The action came hours after the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education held a meeting with senior officials of the CBSE and the Ministry of Education to review complaints surrounding the implementation of the digital marking system. Later, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed Lokhande Prashant Sitaram, a 2001 batch IAS officer as the new CBSE Chairperson. Varun Bhardwaj, Indian Information Service officer of 2008 batch was appointed the Board’s secretary . While Rahul Singh was transferred as Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Gupta was sent back to parent cadre with the ‘extended period of cooling off ’. Controversy erupted after the declaration of Class XII results on May 13, with students and parents alleging widespread discrepancies in evaluation, technical glitches, delays in verification and re-evaluation processes, and lack of transparency in the OSM system. While student Sidhant Sartak alleged that three tenders were rigged to favour Hyderabad-based Coempt EduTeck Pvt Ltd in the award of the OSM contract, the CBSE in its pushback submitted a report to the committee, defending the implementation of the system. It also said that portal-related glitches had been rectified. The controversy deepened after another student, Vedant Shrivastava, claimed that CBSE had uploaded and evaluated another candidate’s answer sheet under his name. E x p r ess Re a d 30 days to update cell no., email on VAHAN Hyderabad: The Transport department has made it mandatory for vehicle owners across Telangana to update their mobile numbers and e-mail on the VAHAN portal within one month. The move is in line with amended provisions of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules | P2 TN BJP chief summoned, Annamalai suspense on Chennai: After aggrieved former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai met Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, the BJP leadership summoned state BJP president Nainar Nagendran to Delhi, fuelling speculation of a possible mutual reconciliation | P5 A denial of service attack attempt caused 1.5 mn hits on the CBSE re-evaluation portal within 2 mins and over 1 lakh bids of unauthorised file access CBSE statement ‘OSM tenders rigged to favour firm’ Sidhant Sartak, 17, made a detailed presentation before a Parliamentary Standing Committee, alleging that at least 15 changes were made across three tenders to favour Hyderabad-based Coempt EduTeck Pvt Ltd over Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in the award of the OSM contract. His presentation was made in the presence of senior CBSE officials | P7 Major cyber attack as revaluation portal for Class XII opens S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi Malicious actors attempted to disrupt services on the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) Class XII re-evaluation portal through a barrage of cyber attacks on Tuesday, the day it became operational. The Board shared the information after complaints from thousands of students since early morning that they were unable to login to the portal. An official statement from the Board said that the portal currently supports usage by 8,000 concurrent users and a total of 16,000 had successfully completed their submissions for re-evaluation of marks by 3 pm. “While thousands of students accessed the CBSE re-evaluation portal today malicious actors at, tempted to disrupt services through a barrage of cyberattacks. Most recent being a denial of service attack attempt causing 1.5 million hits on the portal within a matter of 2 minutes and more than 1 lakh attempts of unauthorised file access.” The platform has been Screengrab of students failing further refined by the to login to the portal CBSE based on student feedback, it said. Session time limits have been extended to make the process more convenient and seamless, it added. There was enormous criticism from students over the need for Aadhaar verification. In another statement, the CBSE said, “Aadhaar Verification has been included for security reasons.” It also clarified that in the case of children who do not have this document, the parent’s, relative’s or guardian’s Aadhaar details may be used. “In this case, the Aadhaar Name, Date of birth and Gender must be of the person whose Aadhaar number is used,” it added. The portal was finally opened to begin the revaluation process early in the day with the Board announcing it at 4.42 am on its social media handles. No role for third-party mediation in border dispute with Nepal, says India J aya n t h J a c o b @New Delhi INDIA on Tuesday firmly rejected any role for third parties in resolving its boundary dispute with Nepal, responding to remarks by Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah in Parliament on Sunday in which he called for involvement of the UK and China in efforts to resolve the border issue. The Indian response came amid a deepening political controversy in Nepal, where Shah’s comments have triggered protests and repeated disruptions in Parliament. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India had External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Nepal’s Rastriya Swatantra Party president Rabi Lamichhane in New Delhi Tuesday | PTI taken note of both Shah’s statement and a subsequent clarification issued by Nepal’s Foreign Ministry . Reiterating New Delhi’s long- standing position that boundary issues must be addressed bilaterally, he pointed out that most of the India-Nepal border has already been settled. “While close to 98% of the India-Nepal boundary has been demarcated, there are some unresolved segments. The shifting of the course of Gandak river has resulted in this situation. There are cases of crossborder occupation and encroachment of the boundary which are currently being mapped jointly he said. ,” The fallout from Shah’s comments paralysed Nepal’s Parliament for a second consecutive day on Tuesday . Govt helping people realise their dream, says Revanth E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad Asserting that his government was serving as a bridge connecting society with its aspirations, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday said his vision was to position Telangana not merely as a gateway to India but to the world. He sought the support and cooperation of the people to achieve the goal of a one-trillion US dollar economy by 2034 and a three-trillion-dollar economy by 2047. Addressing a gathering after unfurling the national flag at the Parade Ground as part of the formation day celebrations, Revanth said that over the past two-and-a-half years, his government had taken policy decisions and implemented programmes aimed at fulfilling the aspirations of farmers, youth and women while ensuring social justice and the welfare of SCs, STs, BCs, minorities and economically weaker sections among the upper castes. “The government accorded equal priority to development and welfare and I can proudly say that Telangana is the only state implementing numerous welfare schemes and has emerged as a role model for the country he added. ,” He said: “We are serving as We are the bridge connecting society to its aspirations. We do not consider this opportunity people have bestowed upon us merely as ‘power’. We do not perceive ourselves as rulers, rather as servants fulfilling our duties A Revanth Reddy, chief minister Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy pays floral tributes to Telangana Martyrs at Martyrs Memorial, Gun Park in Hyderabad on the occasion of Telangana Formation Day on Tuesday the bridge connecting society to its aspirations. It is the reason we do not consider this opportunity people have bestowed upon us merely as ‘power’. We do not perceive ourselves as rulers, rather as servants fulfilling our duties. We firmly believe and act upon the principle that a government is not merely the exercise of authority by a select few, but the collective representative of 4 crore Telangana people.” Highlighting achievements in the agriculture sector, Revanth said Telangana was expected to record a foodgrain output of 236.87 lakh metric tonnes in 2025-26. Stressing the need for crop diversification, he urged farmers to move towards varied cultivation practices. He said the government had spent `1,56,496 crore on agriculture and farmer welfare during the past two-and-a-half years, including `82,840 crore on paddy procurement since December 2023.  continued on p4 Aspirations of TG people remain unfulfilled: Nabin E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad Claiming that the aspirations behind the formation of Telangana remained unfulfilled even after more than a decade, BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Tuesday said his party would work towards achieving the goals envisioned during the statehood movement. “The poor people of Telangana did not get the kind of government they expected,” Nabin said, alleging that the state’s development agenda had been neglected, first by the BRS and then the Congress. “Those who opposed Telangana may be in power today but the , resolve and sentiment for Telangana’s development remain unfulfilled even now. We will make every effort to fulfil that resolve,” he added. Targeting the Congress government, Nabin alleged that those in power were using Telangana as an ATM and that the hard-earned money of the people was being diverted for the party’s interests. The BJP national president was addressing state formation day celebrations organised by the party in Delhi. Recalling the Telangana statehood movement, he said that when the Centre initiated the process for the formation Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan speaks during a press meet at his residence in Hyderabad on Tuesday PK: Jana Sena to contest TG Assembly polls Nitin Nabin and G Kishan Reddy arrive to participate in the formation day celebrations in New Delhi on Tuesday of Telangana on December 9, 2009, people across the region were filled with hope. However, he alleged that Congress later backtracked, triggering a prolonged agitation that resulted in the loss of many lives. “Telangana of their dreams, in the way it should be built, we are perhaps still lagging behind in that direction. But the resolve of the BJP is that we will certainly struggle for the development of Telangana and work to fulfil it,” he said. Paying tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the BJP national president said it was Patel’s determination that freed Hyderabad and Telangana from the Nizam’s rule and helped integrate the country  continued on p4 . EN S @ Hyderabad Asserting Jana Sena Party’s commitment to Telangana, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Tuesday declared that his party would remain active in the state and contest the 2029 Telangana Assembly elections as well as the GHMC polls. A day after Gachibowli police denied permission for a public meeting, Pawan addressed a press conference at his Hyderabad residence, where he criticised “growing regionalism in political discourse”. He cautioned that excessive regional sentiment could undermine national unity and stability and asserted that Jana Sena would never support any ideology that weakened nationalism in the name of regional identity  . continued on p4 Qatar team Malabar’s football aspirations manifest in the flesh at 2026 FIFA WC TMC supremo mamata protests attacks Former CM addresses a sit-in protest against the attacks on party leaders and workers in Kolkata on Tuesday | P8 R o n n i e K u r i a k o s e @ Kochi KERALA’S love affair with football has found a moment of history. Tahsin Mohammed Jamshid, who has roots in Kannur, has earned a place in Qatar’s 26-member squad for the FIFA World Cup. He has also become the first Malayali to make a World Cup team. The 19-year-old, however, won’t be the only player with Indian heritage at the football gala. Nishan Velupillay whose , roots trace back to Tamil Nadu, will be representing Australia. Born and raised in Qatar to parents from Malabar region, Tahsin was named in the final squad after figuring in the country’s probable list. He is also the first player of Indian origin to feature in the Qatar Stars League. He plays for AlDuhail SC, the country’s oldest football team. “Tahsin may be playing for Another with TN roots Nishan Velupillay, whose roots trace back to Tamil Nadu, will be representing Australia. Velupillay, 25, has seven senior caps and three goals for Australia, having debuted for his country against China and scoring in 2024 Qatar, but Malabar’s aspirations run through his veins. His parents moved to Qatar in 1996. It was during an inter- school football tournament that he was first scouted,” said D Ravi Kumar, a veteran journalist who has covered the football scene in Qatar extensively . Tahsin trained at Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence, which is globally renowned for its state-of-the-art facilities, and went on to represent Qatar at the Under-16, Under-17 and Un- der-19 levels. “It is not common that players of different origin feature in a national side, but because of Tahsin’s exceptional talent, he was considered,” Ravi said. Tahsin’s international debut came during the World Cup qualification campaign against Afghanistan. Though included in the squad against India, he did not feature in the match but later played in Qatar’s decisive final two qualification fixtures. “The boy plays as a winger. But under Julen Lopetegui, the head coach of Qatar, we may see him move into a more defined position in midfield,” Ravi said. Tahsin is the second son of Hibasil Jamshid, a Thalassery (Kozhikode) native working as a chief accountant in Qatar, and Shyma.