hyderabad l Friday l July 10, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 36 l late city EDITION Sir: Voter base in Odisha, Sikkim, Mizoram & Manipur shrinks by 22L Around 22 lakh voters have been left out of the draft electoral rolls in Mizoram, Odisha, Manipur and Sikkim where Phase 3 of the SIR is underway voter count down to 3.46 cr from 3.68 cr 20 lakh names dropped in odisha alone The collective voter base in these states, which stood at 3.68 crore before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, has now shrunk to 3.46 crore, according to data made available in the public domain over the past few days. People left out of the draft rolls still have a chance to be included in the final rolls to be published later this year ■ ■ The largest deletion of names—20.11 lakh—was in Odisha, where over 8.3 lakh electors were found to be deceased, while 10.07 lakh had either shifted residence or were found absent The four states are among the 16 states and three Union Territories where electoral roll revision is underway with a staggered schedule May 30 when phase 3 of the special intensive revision was rolled out 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 Australia eases uranium hurdle in win-win deal Just 12.92%: TG reservoir storage lowest in India M a n d a R a v i n d e r Re d d y @ Hyderabad More than a month into the monsoon season, Telangana’s eight major reservoirs continue to record the lowest live storage in the country, holding just 12.92% of their total live capacity at Full Reservoir Level (FRL). The latest data from the Central Water Commission (CWC), which monitors Kadam, Nagarjunasagar, Lower Manair, Musi Project, Nizamsagar, Jurala, Singur and Sr- Modi’s cricket analogy caps major push to enhance bilateral defence and trade ties J aya nt h J a c o b @ New Delhi India and Australia on Thursday finalised a long-pending arrangement for Australian uranium exports to India for peaceful civilian use and unveiled a sweeping defence and security framework, signalling a sharper convergence of interests in the Indo-Pacific. The announcements came after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Melbourne, where they also reaffirmed their commitment to concluding the long-delayed Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and expanding cooperation in critical minerals, cyber security clean energy , and advanced technologies. Setting a light-hearted tone, Modi likened the bilateral relationship to cricket. “Our meetings feel like a cricket match— the agenda has the focus of a One-Day match, decisions are as fast as T20, and our partnership is as long and deep as a Test match,” he said. The centrepiece of the visit was the finalisation of the administrative arrangement under the 2014 India-Australia Civil Nuclear Agreement, clearing the way for Australia, one of the world’s largest uranium producers, to supply uranium for India’s civilian nuclear programme after years of delays over safeguards and implementation. No volume of uranium exports was announced. The leaders also issued a new ‘Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation’, replacing the 2009 security declaration and significantly broadening military engagement. The framework envisages stronger strategic coordination, more complex joint military exercises, greater interoperability between the armed forces, enhanced cyber cooperation, counter-terrorism collaboration, defence industrial Hyderabad: Suspending its interim stay on provisions of GO No. 9, the Telangana High Court accepted the state government’s assurance on a time-bound fee reimbursement schedule. It barred colleges from collecting fees from first-year students until August 15 | p2 iramsagar, paints a stark pict u r e . T o g e t h e r, t h e s e reservoirs have a live capacity of 344.7 tmcft at FRL. As of July 9, however, they held only 44.5 tmcft of water, down sharply from 104.5 tmcft dur- By Numbers Live Capacity at FRL (in tmcft) Reservoir Current Live Storage (in tmcft) Nagarjunasagar 180 6.53 Sriramsagar 81.22 15.18 Singur 28.96 4.23 Manair 21.89 5.65 Nizamsagar 17.02 6.35 Jurala 5.65 1.97 Kadam 4.59 0.45 Musi 4.23 3.42 ing the same period last year. The decline has continued even over the past month. From 57.21 tmcft on June 4, Year & date when monsoon covered entire India PM Narendra Modi with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese at an event in Melbourne on Thursday | PTI the combined live storage has fallen to 44.5 tmcft, a drop of 3.75%. While Jurala, Musi and Kadam recorded a marginal increase in storage during the period, water levels in the remaining reservoirs declined. The sharpest fall has been recorded at Nagarjunasagar, the state’s largest reservoir. Against a total live capacity at FRL of 180 tmcft, it currently holds only 6.53 tmcft, or 3.26% of its live capacity. Within a month, its storage dropped from 16.95 tmcft on June 4 to 6.53 tmcft. Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand 2026 9 July Developing a critical minerals corridor 2025 29 June The two sides unveiled the Australia-India Partnership on Cyber, Critical Technologies and Supply Chains (PACTS) and agreed to develop a critical minerals corridor to secure supply chains vital for clean energy and advanced manufacturing 2024 2 July 2023 2 July partnerships and humanitarian assistance. A key outcome was the launch of the ‘India-Australia Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap’, alongside an MoU between the Indian Coast Guard and Australia’s Maritime Border Command to strengthen maritime domain awareness, information sharing and operational coordination. The expanded agenda comes as both countries seek to bolster cooperation amid China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. Stressing the strategic significance of the region, Modi said, “The Indo-Pacific... symbolises the shared aspirations of like-minded democracies like India and Australia.” He announced the launch of an “India-Australia Defence Innovation Corridor” to connect defence industries and startups and said both nations would cooperate in shipbuilding, ship repair and maintenance. Australia will also host an Indian military instructor at the Australian Defence College in 2028-29. express read HC suspends stay on fee reimbursement GO Monsoon Falls Short More than 40 days into the southwest monsoon, the state continues to face a 15% rainfall deficit, with 20 districts recording below-normal rainfall. MedchalMalkajgiri has the highest deficit at 48%, while Hyderabad’s cumulative deficit stands at 25% | P4 TG aims to contribute 10% to economy: CM Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said Telangana aims to contribute 10% to the national economy and become a $3 trillion economy by 2047. He was speaking after inaugurating Premier Energies Limited’s NextGen Solar Module Manufacturing Facility at Seetharampur | p4 2022 2 July 2021 12 July 2020 26 June 2019 19 July 2018 29 June 2017 19 July 2016 13 July 2015 26 June 2014 17 July A boy collects water from a hand pump outside his partially submerged house after heavy rain, at a village in Khowai district of Tripura on Thursday | PTI Damaged buildings after a landslide near Kaddukhal on National Highway 707A following heavy rainfall, in Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand | PTI Day late, but monsoon covers India J i ten d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi The southwest monsoon on Thursday fully covered the entire nation, marking a day’s delay from the normal arrival date of July 8. The last time it covered the whole country by July 9 was in 2011. This year’s monsoon onset over Kerala occurred on June 4, which was three days later than the climatological normal date of June 1. Last year, the monsoon had covered the entire nation by June 29, almost nine days earlier than normal. At 108%, last year’s monsoon was well above normal. In contrast, this year’s precipitation is expected to be the reverse. In June, the monsoon deficit was 40% of the long-period average, resulting in the fifth lowest rainfall (99.5 mm) ever recorded for that month. However, good rainfall since July has helped reduce the deficit to -15.2% by July 9. India has received a total of 195.5 mm of rainfall in the current season, compared to the total long-term expectation of 230.4 mm. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the monsoon advanced further into the remaining parts of the north Arabian Sea, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab on Thursday thus covering the entire country It also forecast a below, . normal to deficient rainfall for the country, anticipating around 90% of the long-period average from June to September. This below-normal expectation is attributed to the emergence of a strong El Nino phenomenon, which refers to the abnormal warming of the East Pacific Ocean. In India, El Niño is synonymous with a weaker monsoon. The IMD also predicted a fresh cyclonic circulation over Bay of Bengal adjoining Odisha and West Bengal in the next few days. The poor monsoon affected kharif sowing, with only 350 lakh hectares sown so far — about 92 lakh hectares less than normal. Kotla, Delhi A tree collapses on a parked car following incessant rain in Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla stadium area on Thursday | Sayantan Ghosh Vasundhara, Ghaziabad A section of a road in Ghaziabad caved in beside an underconstruction basement, sending a car into the pit | Express Raigad dist, Maharashtra Gas cylinders adrift in the Patalganga after being swept away from a HPCL bottling plant, in Raigad district | PTI Khowai dist, Tripura Khamenei laid to rest, Iran hits US military targets in Gulf A G E N CI E S @ Mashhad Amid fresh escalation in its conflict with the US, Iran on Thursday buried its slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a shrine in his hometown in Mashhad, marking the culmination of a week of mass funeral processions and rallies. As the body of Khamenei, who was killed in a US airstrike on the first day of the war on February 28, was taken through crammed streets of Mashhad, a sea of black-clad mourners waved Iranian flags, photographs of the late leader and red placards with revolutionary slogans. Many reportedly called for revenge and rejected any compromise with the US to end the war. Beating their chests and weeping, mourners lined the route as they waited for Khamenei’s coffin to arrive at the city’s shrine of Imam Reza, the holiest site for Shia Muslims in Iran and the burial place he had chosen in his will. Early in the day, Tehran attacked “US bases and strategic centres” in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar after Washington bombed Iranian cities for a second consecutive night. Reports said sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters, and Jordan, where the US has stationed troops and aircraft. Iran said it fired 10 ballistic missiles at Jordan’s Azraq military base, which hosts the US Air Forces Central’s 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. HC grants regular bail to Bandi’s son in POCSO case Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday granted regular bail to Bandi Sai Bhageerath, son of Minister of State Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in a POCSO case. Justice K Sujana allowed the criminal petition and directed Bhageerath to furnish a personal bond of `1 lakh along with two sureties of `1 lakh each. The case was registered based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl, alleging that Bhageerath sexually assaulted her daughter at a farmhouse. Claiming he was falsely implicated, Bhageerath sought bail before the court. Justice K Sujana allowed the plea, subject to the conditions imposed. Bhageerath is expected to be released after complying with the bail conditions. Govt clears `7,345 cr for first phase of Musi project HC judge recalls status quo order in Fatima Owaisi college demolition case E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad The Telangana government has accorded administrative sanction of `7,345.12 crore, excluding land acquisition costs, for the first phase of the Musi Riverfront Development Project (MRDP), clearing the way for work on the priority Zone-1A and Zone-1B stretches in Hyderabad. The project will be financed through a `4,500 crore (USD 500 million) loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), while the remaining `2,845.12 crore will be met by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and the Telangana State Industrial The pl an , in b rief First phase of the MRDP coverage: About 21 km of the Musi river Execution mode: Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode with a Project Management Consultancy (PMC) Project blueprint Zone-1A Himayatsagar to Gandhi Sarovar (Bapu Ghat) Length: 9.20 km Cost: `3,232.01 cr Project works: `3,104 cr O&M: `128.01 cr Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC). The funding proposal, cleared by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), has now been finalised with ADB assistance, enabling the project to move ahead. The first phase of the MRDP will cover about 21 km of the Zone-1B Osmansagar to Gandhi Sarovar (Bapu Ghat) Length: 11.80 km Cost: `4,113.11 cr Project works: `3,950 cr O&M: `163.11 cr Musi river through two priority stretches. Zone-1A, from Himayatsagar to Gandhi Sarovar (Bapu Ghat), spans 9.20 km at an estimated cost of 3,232.01 crore, while Zone-1B, from Osmansagar to Gandhi Sarovar (Bapu Ghat), covers 11.80 km at an estimated cost of `4,113.11 crore. Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju inspected the Phase-1 stretch, covering Osmansagar, the Narsingi sewage treatment plant site and the Gandhi Sarovar project area, where he reviewed flood mitigation, land development readiness and corridor infrastructure with senior officials. Jaju stressed coordinated execution and adherence to environmental and technical standards. He also suggested a master plan for the area between the Musi and Esa rivers up to Gandhi Sarovar to improve connectivity and support sustainable riverfront development. MRDCL said the suggestions would be incorporated into the Phase-1 works. T G N a i d u @ Hyderabad Justice B Vijaysen Reddy of the Telangana High Court on Thursday recalled the interim status quo order granted earlier this week in a writ petition challenging the proposed demolition of the Barrister Fatima Owaisi Educational Campus at Bandlaguda, after noting that the issue was already being examined by another bench. Meanwhile, Justice NV Shravan Kumar made it clear that protection of lakes and public water bodies transcends individual interests and falls squarely within the domain of public interest while expressing his displeasure over the continued inaction of authorities on allegations of illegal constructions within the FTL and buffer zone of Salkam Cheruvu. Justice Vijaysen Reddy directed the Registry to tag the writ petition with the pending case relating to alleged encroachments in the FTL area of Salkam Cheruvu to avoid conflicting judicial orders. The writ petition was filed by the Salar-e-Millat Educational Trust, represented by its trus- tee and authorised representative, Vedyam Anand. The trust alleged that the GHMC proposed to demolish its ground-plus-seven-storey educational building on a 2,360 sq yd site at MM Colony, Keshavagiri, Bandlaguda. The court had granted an interim status quo order on July 6. During the hearing, advocate R Vijay Gopal sought to implead himself as a respondent, informing the court that he had already filed a PIL concerning alleged encroachments and illegal constructions in the FTL and buffer zone of Salkam Cheruvu, which is pending before another bench.  Continued on page 2