visakhapatnam l saturday l july 18, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION india’s First Hydrogen-Powered Train flagged off in haryana Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated India’s first hydrogen-powered train from Jind railway station to Sonepat in Haryana PM Narendra Modi inspects the engine room of the train in Jind Friday | PTI zero emission, yet massive power success of make in india, says PM Modi The indigenously designed train features 10 coaches and a 3,200 hp propulsion system, making it one of the most powerful and largest hydrogen-powered trains in the world. Most hydrogen trains currently operate with only 2-4 coaches. The new train runs on hydrogen fuel cell tech, produces zero emission and can accommodate 2,600 passengers ■ ■ At the inauguration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India has joined an elite group of nations — Germany, Japan, China, and the US — actively developing hydrogen-based rail transport The PM said the train is a shining example of ‘Make in India’, designed by Indian engineers and built solely by domestic companies 75 kmph maximum speed that the train can attain on jind-sonepat route 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 `3,216 cr lent to over 1 lakh beneficiaries S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participated in a Mega Credit Outreach Programme jointly organised by the Union Ministry of Finance and Public Sector Banks at Narasaraopet in Palnadu district on Friday and , distributed loans worth `3,216 crore to 1,03,246 beneficiaries. The beneficiaries, who received cheques and loan sanction letters, included 15,000 DWCRA women, 13,355 entrepreneurs, farmers, tenant farmers, street vendors and transgenders. Of total beneficiaries, around 70,000 received institutional credit for the first time. Addressing a gathering, the Chief Minister said Palnadu should emerge as a major destination for entrepreneurs. “The objective is to ensure that every eligible individual-farmer, students, women from self-help groups and entrepreneurs get access to credit. Banks are not merely lending institutions but ke y p a r tners in A ndh ra Pradesh’s growth,” he noted. Naidu said Andhra Pradesh had inherited severe financial distress two years ago, but had regained momentum with the P4 support of the Centre.  JPC seeks to temper higher education bill PR E E THA NAIR @ New Delhi With the Centre preparing to move the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 for passage in the monsoon session of Parliament, a Joint Parliamentary Committee has sought safeguards against excessive centralisation, recommended stronger consultation with states, and protection of institutional autonomy . According to the draft report circulated among members, the panel recommended changes to key clauses that drew sharp criticism from multiple quarters, including NDA allies, for granting the Centre sweeping powers to override policy disagreements, supersede regulatory bodies, and control funding. The Bill proposes an overhaul of the higher education sector by dissolving the University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education, and the National Council for Teacher Education to create a single, unified regulatory commission. While Clause 47 allows the Centre to supersede the Commission or any Council with Presidential approval, the panel recommended that ‘supersession’ should be invoked only in extraordinary circumstances, for a limited duration and as a last resort. NDA-ruled Andhra Pradesh, Report on bill to sack PM, CMs put off The JPC examining the bill on removal of the prime minister and chief ministers detained on serious charges, on Friday decided to defer the adoption of a draft report when voting was underway on the panel’s recommendations. AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule had submitted their dissent notes but withdrew them after the panel decided to defer the adoption several universities, opposition and other stakeholders have characterised the provision as “critical vulnerability” as it allows the Centre to dissolve the regulator entirely without adequate safeguards. In its recommendation, the panel said, “Clause 47 be comprehensively reviewed and the expressions 290 “unable to dis- j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi They keep pushing their own self-interest to the end. I feel 100% that the reason this hasn’t moved forward is on the Indian side Hideki Makihara, Former Japanese minister ings and negotiations was the sheer recklessness of the Indian side, repeated over and over. They just don’t keep promises,” he wrote. He went on to criticise the In- Low-pressure likely to bring rain across State E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Visakhapatnam A low-pressure area over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Jharkhand and North Odisha is expected to bring light to moderate rainfall across Andhra Pradesh over the next few days, with gusty winds of up to 50 kmph along the coast, prompting weather and disaster management authorities to issue advisories for fishermen and the public. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the low-pressure system, which was earlier over North Odisha, is cur rently centred over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Jharkhand and North In the rebranded ‘Bronze match’ at the World Cup’s penultimate game, England face France. A look at the game.  Suggests key changes in draft, curbs on govt’s sweeping powers charge functions” and “persistently made default” shall be defined through objective, measurable, and verifiable criteria in the Act or the rules, to eliminate ambiguity, ensure transparency, and prevent arbitrary invocation of the power of supersession.” It further said that the Clause 47(2)(a) shall be amended may be read as, “The Chairperson of the Commission, or the Presidents of the Councils and other members of the Commission or the Councils, as the case may be, shall, as from the date of ‘supersession’, cease to hold their respective office and desist from exercising all the powers, functions and duties under the provisions of this Act, and their office shall deemed to have been as vacated.” While Clause 45 empowers the Centre to issue binding directions on questions of policy, the panel called for objective thresholds, procedural safeguards and transparency requirements governing the Centre’s power. It proposed adding the words “for the purposes of this Act” to the provision allowing the government to assign additional functions, to restrict its scope. The JPC also recommended increasing the number of state government nominees on each of the three councils under the Commission to three. India raps Japan leader’s charges on bullet train INDIA on Friday squarely rejected claims by former Japanese minister Hideki Makihara that New Delhi was responsible for delays in the MumbaiAhmedabad high-speed rail project, describing his remarks as a personal opinion that was “at considerable variance with facts” and asserting that the flagship India-Japan venture is progressing as planned. Makihara, a former Justice Minister and a member of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party had alleged in a social , media post that India’s handling of the Shinkansen project was marked by broken commitments and poor negotiations. “The Shinkansen project in India is something I was involved with myself, but what stood out in international meet- Consolation match Odisha. The associated cyclonic circulation extends up to 5.8 km above mean sea level, and is likely to weaken gradually over the next 24 hours. PLN Murthy Scientist-E and , Head of Visakhapatnam Meteorological Centre, said light showers are likely over Coastal Andhra Pradesh on Friday and Saturday , with rainfall expected to continue across the region over the next five days. Gusty surface winds reaching speeds of 40-50 kmph are likely at isolated places along the coast, and fishermen have been advised not to venture towards the Odisha coast. The IMD has forecast light to moderate rain at a few places over Coastal Andhra P4 and Yanam on Saturday  . dian leadership overseeing the project, saying, “They keep pushing their own self-interest right up to the very end. The minister in charge was especially awful—if the top guy’s like that, there’s no way to have any decent dealings.” Responding to the remarks, Exter nal Affairs Ministry (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed them as unrepresentative of the bilateral engagement. “It is an individual opinion and at considerable variance with facts,” he said. Japan, he added, will supply the next-generation E10 series Shinkansen trains in the early 2030s, as the rolling stock is still under development. “First section will be opened in 2027 itself. Both sides agreed to start the operations with Indian high speed train. The signalling equipment has been ordered accordingly... No Japanese offer was received in this context. The project execution is in line with the common goal of starting the high speed train at the earliest,” Jaiswal said. Today’s match: 3rd place play-off: France vs England 2.30 AM* (*IST Sunday) Mbappe, Kane, Jude and the golden boot This match has historically seen coaches play fringe players. This one could see the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham start because of what's at stake: the Golden Boot. Both Mbappe and Lionel Messi have the same goals but the latter is the leader on account of him more assists. Trump to attend final US President Donald Trump will attend Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, the White House said, saving his first appearance at the tournament for its grand finale NCP merger bid Big buzz on Pawar party joining NDA s u d h i r s u r y w a n s h i & R a j es h k u m a r t h a k u r @ Mumbai/New Delhi SPECULATION that Sharad Pawar’s NCP(SP) is set to join the BJP-led NDA and merge with the Ajit Pawar faction intensified after senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil held key meetings with BJP general secretary Vinod Tawade, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat claimed the picture would become clear within the next eight days. Highly placed sources said Sharad Pawar has personally entrusted Patil, his confidant, with negotiating the terms of NCP(SP)’s entry into the NDA and the merger of the two NCP factions. Sources said Patil and Jitendra Ahwad could be inducted as cabinet ministers in Maharashtra, while Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule and Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel could be inducted as cabinet ministers at the Centre. However, Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar and NCP national president, has opposed the move fearing it would end her family’s control over the party and jeopardise the political future of her sons, Parth and Jay . The BJP, however, is not inclined to accommodate NCP (SP) separately in the Maharashtra NDA government, a senior BJP source said. Instead, it is pushing for a merger of the two NCP factions, with the merged entity continuing as a key NDA ally, the senior BJP source said. E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Eluru Sharad Pawar The BJP has given the green light (to the merger), but NCP national president Sunetra Pawar has raised the red flag, saying it will end their career Top BJP leader Finance remains thorn A key factor delaying consensus within the NCP (Pawar) faction is its reported demand for the finance portfolio in the Maharashtra government, a department previously held by Ajit Pawar before it was taken over by Fadnavis following Pawar’s death SITsubmit interim report to the SC on Ram temple may The SIT probing the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple may submit an interim report to the SC on July 20 in compliance with its directions, sources said goodbye legend IT is obviously a very sad day . We all know that no one lives forever. We all know these things are inevitable. But at the same time, when you have these occurrences, it shifts you a bit. It’s not someone that is a distant past friend. It’s someone that you have known for many, many years and still have some sort of contact with over the years. So it’s a bit tough at times. No, I obviously didn’t play with Sir Garry. He was before my time, but he was always around cricket. He was always around whenever we had tours. There are always cocktail parties everywhere you went with cricket teams. And he was always in attendance at those cocktail par- ties in Barbados and some of the other islands because, of course, he travelled around the Caribbean whenever cricket was going on. And of course, he was on tours. He came to Australia. He was down there during Kerry Packer as well. So people of my generation, who did not play with him, still had a lot of close contact with him. I also spent a brief bit of time with him when there was the 20/20 tour nament with Stanford in the Caribbean. I spent about 10 months with him on that. I didn’t last Sir Garfield Sobers 28.7.1936—17.7.2026 The Central Empowered Committee (CEC), appointed by the Supreme Court, has directed the Eluru District Collector to extend full cooperation to the Forest Department in demolishing illegal fish ponds in Kolleru Lake. The CEC has instructed the Andhra Pradesh government to submit a detailed report on recent Kolleru Lake encroachments and bund construction. The committee took serious note of complaints from the Forest and Environment Department that local officials were obstructing demolition of illegal fish ponds in the lake. It also expressed strong displeasure over electricity connections being provided to illegal ponds within the sanctuary limits, and sought a report. The CEC also raised concern over rising pollution in Kolleru Lake, and the drying up of the Atapaka Bird Sanctuary, posing a severe threat to survival of bird species. District authorities were asked to accelerate conservation measures and report progress. Meanwhile, locals and fishermen community voiced concern over the growing threat of saline intrusion through the Upputeru channel. They fear their livelihoods could be hit if seawater enters the lake. They urged the State government to construct three regulators to block saline water, and restore lake levels. The CEC’s latest directions have once again brought the long-pending issues of encroachments, illegal fish ponds and pollution in Kolleru Lake into sharp focus. E x p r e s s Re a d He left us but we’ll have lots of good memories michael holding Demolish illegal fish ponds in Kolleru: CEC to Eluru Collector very long. But even so we had contact. We spoke, and even if I didn’t speak to him personally, I would see his friends who were close to him and we’d exchange views. I can’t say that he inspired me in any way. There’s no way I could ever think of doing anything that he did, anything as good as he did it. So it was not a matter of inspiring me with my game. I went out there trying to play as best as I can for the West Indies. I didn’t think about Garry Sobers when I was out there. I couldn’t match anything he did. He did a lot of great things for the West Indies, for Barbados, for individuals he came across. We’ll have lots of good memories. The writer is former WI great As told to Firoz Mirza PM Modi inaugurates 3 revamped AP rly stns Vijayawada: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday virtually inaugurated the redeveloped Rayanapadu, Mangalagiri, and Cumbum railway stations in Andhra Pradesh under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, a flagship initiative aimed at modernising railway infrastructure and improving passenger amenities across the country | P3 NRSC-funded coastal research lab set up at AU Visakhapatnam: In a major boost to marine and climate research in the Bay of Bengal region, the NICES-Coastal Observation Research Laboratory (CORAL) was inaugurated at the Centre for Studies on Bay of Bengal (CSBOB), Andhra University, on Friday. The laboratory was inaugurated by Dr Prakash Chauhan, Director, NRSC | P4