HYDERABAD l wednesday l july 01, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE CITY EDITION Supreme Court rejects don bid to halt birthright citizenship In a blow to Donald Trump’s anti-immigration initiatives, the SC ruled 6-3 to maintain the right to citizenship for everyone born on US soil order relies on the 14th amendment a nail in the coffin for anti-immigration Trump signed an executive order in 2025 decreeing that children born to parents in the US illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens. Lower courts had blocked the order. Chief Justice John Roberts drew from the 14th amendment and wrote, “Children born in the US to parents unlawfully or temporarily present... are citizens at birth” ■ ■ During arguments in April, both conservative and liberal justices questioned the order’s legality in a momentous case that was magnified by Trump’s unprecedented attendance in the courtroom Birthright citizenship was the first immigration-related policy of Trump to reach the SC for a final ruling till the closure on Tuesday | P11 3rd loss for trump this term after tariff verdict and fed guv episode 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 Data-driven rollout of Gram-G scheme today Heavyweights pay penalty On a day of high-drama, Paraguay & Morocco prevailed over the established European powers Netherlands and Germany. A look... paraguay send germany packing Four-time champions Germany had come into the World Cup with a whole host of problems. But they were still expected to beat a limited Paraguay side in the first KO round. However, their structural issues were front and centre as they lost on penalties to Paraguay after coming from behind to equalise. Norway to face Brazil in last 16 Erling Haaland made the difference as Norway beat Ivory Coast 2-1 to set up a date with Brazil in the Round of 16. Norway took the lead through Antonio Nusa. Ivory Coast equalised through Amad Diallo before Haaland’s intervention at the death. Tale of two keepers in shoot-out For Morocco & Paraguay, it was the tale of two keepers. Yassine Bounou worked miracles in 2022 and once again displayed his penalty saving acumen. But Paraguay’s Orlando Gill, who had only two caps till 2025, emerged on top against Neuer. Netherlands suffer: When Cody Gakpo scored, all was going well for Netherlands. But that’s when they became defensive and invited pressure. Morocco scored in injury time before Yassine Bounou’s heroics in shoot-out. Today's matches Kane & Co aim for peaceful passage England, still seeking their first World Cup triumph since 1966, face Africa’s DR Congo in their first knockout round on Wednesday. Harry Kane will be a key player for them. This will be Congo’s first-ever knockout match. Revanth turned TG into ATM for Cong: Nabin E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Alleging that the Congress government had turned Telangana into an “ATM for Delhi”, BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Tuesday asserted that the BJP will come to power in the state and hold it accountable for every rupee spent. Exuding confidence that the BJP would emerge as the principal political force in Telangana and come to power in the 2028 elections, he called upon party workers to intensify their struggle on people’s issues and work towards the twin goals of “Viks i t B h a r at ” a n d “ Vi k s i t Telangana.” Addressing the BJP state executive meeting at Aushapur in Ghatkesar, Nabin claimed his three-day visit to Telangana had strengthened his belief that the future belongs to the BJP in the state. He described BJP workers as the “commanders” of the party who would fulfil the aspirations of the people and build the state envisioned at the time of its formation. Senior party leaders, including N Ramchander Rao, G Kishan Reddy, Bandi Sanjay, DK Aruna, Telangana in-charge Sunil Bansal, K Laxman, MPs, MLAs and MLCs attended the meeting.  continued on P7 England vs DR Congo 9.30 PM, Belgium vs Senegal 1.30 AM*, USA vs Bosnia & Herzegovina 5.30 AM* (*IST Thursday ) Live on United8 Sports Network/ZEE5 P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi The Centre has rolled out the new framework for the rural job scheme VB-GRAM G, marking a decisive shift from the demand-driven approach of the UPA-era MGNREGA to a datadriven planning system powered by technology. Set to be implemented from Wednesday , the new framework seeks to transform how rural jobs are identified, prioritised and implemented for 125 days a year. At the centre of the new framework is the Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan (VGPP), which will replace conventional village-level “wish list” planning with a technology-led, geospatially enabled, and resourceoptimised model of rural development. Gram panchayats will now use integrated digital platforms such as Yuktdhara, PM Gati Shakti, Bhuvan and IndiaWRIS to map existing public assets, identify infrastructure gaps, and design development works based on real-time geospatial data. The framework identifies five focus areas as water secu- Social inclusion A key feature of the new framework is its focus on social inclusion. Priority in asset creation and livelihood support will be given to SCs, STs, women-headed households, persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups rity rural infrastructure, liveli, hoods, disaster mitigation and climate resilience. A key departure from MGNREGA is the move from activity-based planning to outcomebased governance. Instead of tracking only the number of works completed, the new system will measure improvements in water security liveli, E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Flanked by Ministers Thummala Nageswara Rao, Bhatti Vikramarka, N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Md Azharuddin, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy releases Rythu Bharosa funds in Hyderabad on Tuesday husbands and wives. His daughter herself said that KCR tapped her phone. He should jump into a well and die.” Revanth said that his government had spent `1.75 lakh crore on farmers in the last 30 months. While the previous BRS government spent an average of `2,500 crore per month on farmers, his government was spending an average of `6,000 crore per month, he said. “We have spent `20,677 crore for crop loan waiver, `27,000 crore for Rythu Bharosa, `30,000 crore for free power, `4,000 crore on fine rice bonus, `3,500 crore for Rythu Bima and `2,000 crore for far m mechanisation.” Modi gave jobs, only to Kishan and Bandi: CM Reacting to BJP president Nitin Nabin’s visit, Revanth said: “Nabin is saying that they will come to power here. It will take them 15 years even if they play their dirty tricks.” He claimed that Modi, who promised to provide two crore jobs every year, gave “only two jobs — to G Kishan Reddy & Bandi Sanjay”. Swiss giant MSC to invest $1.4 bILLION in Vizhinjam port | p7 Chiru’s wife on Yadagirigutta Trust Board E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad The state government has constituted the Yadagirigutta Devasthanam Trust Board (YTDB), appointing M Satyanarayana Reddy chairman of MSN Phar, ma, as its chairman. Konidela Surekha, wife of actor K Chiranjeevi, has also been nominated as a member of the board. Other nominated members are Cong ress MLA Vinod Venkataswamy, Chilappagari Vijayarajam, wife of industri- E20 at experimental stage, Centre tells SC It is a tech-led, resource-optimised model for rural development KCR neglected agriculture for drinking culture: Revanth Accusing former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of destroying agriculture and encouraging a “drinking culture” in the state, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday ter med the BRS supremo “Rythu Rabandhu”. “KCR destroyed agriculture, horticulture and sericulture and introduced drinking culture. While the previous governments established Rythu Bazaars, KCR established Belt Bazaars. KCR turned children into drunkards,” Revanth said. He was addressing the gathering after releasing `2,482.02 crore as the first instalment under the Rythu Bharosa scheme at Shilpakala Vedi k a i n Hyderabad. Revanth challenged BRS leaders to a debate on agriculture. He said: “Are you ready to debate? Let us hold a special Assembly session to discuss what we and you did for farmers.” He added: “BRS leaders are asking me to step down. Is it your father’s jagir (fiefdom) that I step down when you tell me to? Do you think we are slaves? If KCR comes to power again he will do nothing, except tap phones and listen to conversations between policy clarity in a year alist CL Rajam, Vijayender Tul- girigutta Temple Development la, son of former minister Dev- Authority (YTDA), executive ender Goud, Pochaboina o f f i c e r o f Ya d a Eshwaramma Yadav, girigutta DevasthanGundu Mallaiah, Swathi am, and the sthanachKantaman, M Raghavenarya, or the der Rao, Dr Lakshmisenior-most pradhana narayana Naik and the archaka (head Founder Trustee. priest). The board also inThe newly consticludes ex-officio memtuted board will overbers: the chief secretary Konidela Surekha , see the administraprincipal secretary (Revtion, development and enue-Endowments), commis- management of the Yadasioner of Endowments, Yadadri girigutta Devasthanam in acBhuvanagiri district collector, cordance with the amended Envice-chairman of the Yada- dowments Act. Legal sanctity Yadagirigutta Devasthanam Trust Board was enabled through the Telangana Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments (Amendment) Act, 2025. The bill was introduced in the Assembly on March 17, 2026 hood generation, infrastructure quality and climate resilience. Water security has been accorded top priority, with the Centre linking expenditure norms directly to groundwater stress levels. At least 65% of spending is proposed for overexploited and critical groundwater blocks, around 40% in semi-critical regions, and 30% in safe groundwater zones. Climate vulnerability assessments have also been integrated into gram panchayat planning. Villages will map exposure to droughts, floods, heatwaves, cyclones and other extreme weather events. From now, gram panchayat plans will be prepared through Gram Sabha consultations and approved by local-level resolutions. These plans will then be uploaded onto the Yuktdhara portal and consolidated at block, district, state and national levels. They will then be integrated into the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack (VB-NRIS), a digital repository designed to align rural development works with broader national infrastructure priorities. s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi HC’s order directing OMCs to consider enhancement of ethanol allocation to VINP Distilleries would destabilise the national policy R Venkataramani, AG Litigation floodgates The Centre said entire ethanol allocation was over in October, 2025. If one supplier’s quota was enhanced, others would claim parity, which would open litigation floodgates THE Union government informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the 20% ethanol blending programme in petrol is still an “ongoing experiment” and the impact of the policy would be clearer by next year. The SC was hearing a plea filed by BPCL challenging an order of the Karnataka High Court, which directed OMCs to revisit the distribution and enhancement of ethanol allocation for 2025–26. In a relief for OMCs, the Supreme Court ordered a status quo with regard to the HC order. A two-judge bench of justices M M Sundresh and Sheel Nagu issued notice to dedicated ethanol plants that had earlier procured a favourable order from the HC for enforcement of an agreement giving them rights to supply ethanol to OMCs. “Till the next date of hearing, status quo,” SC said. Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for BPCL, told the bench that the order could destabilise the national policy for 20% ethanol blending. The plea before the High Court was filed by VINP Distilleries and Sugars, a Dedicated Ethanol Plant (DEP), which was bound under a long-term offtake agreement to exclusively supply ethanol to BPCL, HPCL, and IOCL. In 2025, the OMCs allowed procurement from non-DEPs too, and fresh tenders left VINP with just 1.44 crore litres against its 9.26 crore-litre bid. VINP moved the High Court.