tirupati l thursday l july 23, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION after major legal victory, lalit Modi plans India visit Relief from Appellate Tribunal Former IPL commissioner, Lalit Modi, who has been living away from the country for over 15 years, 'wants to move on in my life' after relief 'I have fought for 16 years' Tribunal sets aside penalties imposed by ED over long-running case with respect to SAFEMA ACT over conducting IPL in South Africa in 2009. It held that the foreign remittances in question were current account transactions and did not require prior RBI approval. It also ruled that Lalit Modi was not responsible for ensuring the BCCI's compliance with FEMA ■ ■ Post the ruling, Lalit Modi said: "Sixteen years I have fought and whatever I have been saying to the media and to everybody has finally emerged as the truth." On social media, the 52-year-old added: "I'm going to move on in my life and I'm looking forward to coming back to India.” 2010 lalit Modi moved to london after BCCI suspended him in 2010 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 CM invites PM to inaugurate ASR Airport on Aug 1 As fresh groups of protesters pour into Jantar Mantar, Lok Sabha Speaker asks Parliamentary Affairs minister to issue a statement following repeated House disruptions d ay ' s d e v e l o p m e n t s 1 CJP made it clear that it will hold talks with the Centre only at or near Jantar Mantar nation. Continuing his national capital visit, Naidu held sepaChief Minister N Chandrab- rate meetings with Union abu Naidu met Prime Minis- Ministers CR Patil, Piyush ter Narendra Modi in New Goyal, and Manohar Lal KhatDelhi on Wednesday to extend tar to discuss progress of the an official invitation for the Polavaram project, Jal Jeevan grand inauguration of the Al- Mission, and urban infraluri Sitarama Raju Interna- structure initiatives. tional Air por t at Bho gMeanwhile at the Secretarapuram, scheduled iat in Velagapudi, a ‘It will spur high-level rev i ew for August 1, 2026. growth’ Sharing details of meeting was held by the meeting on X, State ministers, senCM Naidu Naidu stated that the ior officials, and disemphasised new airport, named trict administrations that the after revolutionary from Srikakulam, Bhogapuram freedom fighter Alluri Vizianagaram, Alluri International Sitarama Raju, stands Sitarama Raju and Airport will as a tribute to his legParvathipuram Manserve as a acy while serving as a global logistics yam to coordinate arstrategic growth enrangements for the hub and a gine for North Coastal game-changer August 1 event. Andhra. Ministers K Atchfor the State’s During the interacannaidu, P Narayana, economy tion, Naidu introPayyavula Keshav, duced Vizianagaram Vangalapudi Anitha, MP Kalisetti Appalanaidu to Y Satya Kumar Yadav, BC the Prime Minister, who Janardhan Reddy and Gottiwarmly acknowledged the pati Ravi Kumar, alongside MP’s practice of commuting TDP State president Palla to Parliament on a bicycle. Srinivasa Rao and BJP State Naidu and Modi also held president PVN Madhav, disdiscussions on major political cussed logistics, crowd manand development issues con- agement, transport, parking, P4 cerning both the State and the and catering.  2 Delhi HC sought views of Centre and Delhi Police on using force on protesters 3 Sonam Wangchuk to end his hunger strike if Centre assures no action against youth 4 Delhi Police is using facial recognition system to identify suspects at the protest site 5 A total of 17 metro stations, including Rajiv Chowk were shut citing security issues 6 Centre has shifted 20 additional CRPF companies from West Bengal to Delhi amid protests Express News Service @ Vijayawada Cockroach Janta Party supporters during the ongoing protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Wednesday | Parveen negi Govt offers NEET talk in LS, Oppn says sack education minister first p r e e t h a n a i r @ New Delhi AS Parliament remained paralysed for the third consecutive day over the NEET controversy , the government on Wednesday said it is prepared for a detailed discussion in the Lok Sabha, even as the Opposition refused to relent unless Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns. As proceedings in the Lower House were disrupted as soon as it reassembled at noon following an earlier adjournment, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju to issue a statement. However, Congress leader K C Venugopal intervened to reiterate the Opposition’s demand for Pradhan’s resignation. “Our demand is simple. When the entire nation is feeling the pain of our students, all other business of the House should be set aside and this Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu calls on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, and invites him to inaugurate the Bhogapuram airport | Express Terror attack Policeman on Amarnath Yatra duty shot dead F aya z W a n i @ Srinagar In the first terrorist attack in Kashmir since last year’s Pahalgam massacre, a policeman posted on Amarnath Yatra security duty was shot dead in Anantnag on Wednesday . The police said a gunman fired from close range at head constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi in the Lal Chowk area of Anantnag around 12.30 pm. Qureshi was shot from behind. He was rushed to the Government Medical College, Anantna g, where doctors deAshiq Hussain Qureshi clared him brought | Zahoor Punajabi dead. The Resistance Front (TRF), an off-shoot of Lashkar-e-Toiba, has claimed responsibility for the attack. Soon after the attack, the security forces launched a massive anti-terror crackdown across the Valley detaining over , 2,000 suspected overground workers. The attack was caught on CCTV. In the video grab, a gunman wearing a black cap is purportedly seen firing on a policeman. A major manhunt is on to locate the attacker. Spotlight on Commonwealth Games Pared-back edition of quadrennial international multisport event to begin with Opening on Thursday Weightlifting, a medal-rich discipline for the country, could be the main source for gold this time thanks to the likes of Mirabai Chanu, India’s flag-bearer for the Opening Ceremony. In athletics, Neeraj Chopra is bound to grab eyeballs Passing the baton to India India will receive Games’ flag during the Closing Ceremony as they are the next hosts in 2030 (Ahmedabad). Prime Minister Narendra Modi may attend Closing Ceremony India’s strength No. of athletes 78 men Rahul: 152 exam paper leaks, no convictions Youth used as tools by vested interests: Singh Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the government of destroying India’s education system saying that there was not one conviction though 152 cases of paper leak happened in past 10 years. Gandhi said the education system is not only rigged, but also unaffordable Addressing the ongoing student protests, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said, “It is extremely unfortunate that some people are attempting to use the students and youth of our country as political tools to serve their own political interests” burning issue should be top priority for Parliament,” Venugopal said. Referring to the alleged police action against the protesting students on Monday, Venugopal said their demand is that Pradhan should resign first. After the minister’s resignation, the issue can be discussed through an ad- 48 women Dates: July 23 to August 2 | 10 Sports, 6 para sports in 4 venues | 215 medal events US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to impose tariffs of up to 200% on generic pharmaceutical imports unless manufacturers shift production of those drugs to the US. Under the proposed pharmaceutical tariff regime, generic drug exporters worldwide have been given two years to shift production to the US, failing which a 100% tariff will be imposed from August 2028 and 200% from August 2029. “Effective August 1, 2026, all Generic Drugs being brought Power distribution utilities in Andhra Pradesh are aggressively advancing agricultural feeder segregation under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) to ensure a guaranteed, continuous ninehour daytime electricity supply to the farm sector while significantly improving overall rural power quality . The statewide initiative aims to decouple agricultural loads from general rural distribution networks wherever farming loads exceed 30 per cent, thereby stabilising grid perform- ance, and extending round-theclock three-phase electricity to non-agricultural rural consumers. Highlighting the progress in the eastern coastal belt, APEPDCL Chairman and Managing Director Prudhvitej Immadi stated that 721 agricultural feeders out of 994 identified for segregation have already been decoupled across the Discom’s operational domain. The CMD noted that this milestone has directly enabled 1,383 villages to get uninterrupted 24x7 three-phase power supply for domestic, commercial, and healthcare needs.  P4 Visakhapatnam has retained the top position in LinkedIn’s annual ‘Cities on the Rise’ ranking for the second consecutive year, while Vijayawada featured at the 10th spot, slipping from the third position it held in the previous edition. The ranking identifies emerging cities where job opportunities, hiring activity and talent migration are witnessing sustained growth. Compiled by the LinkedIn News team in collaboration with the platform’s data scientists, the list is based on anonymised data from millions of LinkedIn member profiles and job postings between March 2024 and February 2026. According to the report, Visakhapatnam’s rise is being driven by investments in digital infrastructure alongside its established industrial base. The report cited Google’s proposed $15-billion AI hub, Reliance’s proposed `1.6-lakh-crore data centre project, and the expansion of companies such as Infosys, Cognizant and Accenture as key factors contributing to employment growth. The top hiring sectors in Visakhapatnam are IT Services and IT Consulting, Chemical Manufacturing, Technology, Information and Internet. Major employers include Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Laurus Labs Limited and Miracle Software Systems. The report noted that 17.1% of job opportunities in the city were remote, while 5.2% were hybrid. Vijayawada, which ranked third last year, was placed P4 10th this year.  into the United States will continue to have a tariff of zero percent for a two-year period, after which the tariff will be raised to 100% for a one-year period, and 200% thereafter. This is done in order to re-shore Generic Pharmaceutical Production into America, with a penalty to those Companies that decide not to build Plant and Equipment within the stated period of time given to them,” Trump said in a social media post. In September last year, the Trump administration had announced plans to impose a 100% tariff on imported branded and patented medicines. However, the proposal was later revised. In April this year, the Trump administration announced tariffs of up to 100% on specified branded medicines and key pharmaceutical ingredients under the Section 232 national security framework, while exempting generic medicines. Trump’s latest announcement, aimed at boosting domestic manuf acturing, has raised concerns among In- dian drug manufacturers, which are among the largest exporters of generic medicines to the US market. In its initial response to the development, the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance said tariffs alone will not help build a sustainable generic drug manufacturing base in the US. According to Dr Reddy’s Laboratories’ CEO Erez Israeli, the move will increase drug prices in the US and it is not practical to move operations there. India exported pharmaceuticals worth $25.8 billion in 2025, of which drugs worth $9.7 billion were shipped to the US. Peace along LAC a pre-requisite for normal relations, India tells China Discoms accelerate farm feeder segregation S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada journment motion, he said. In his response, Rijiju said the government is willing to debate the NEET paper leak issue in detail. He said the Speaker would hold consultations with floor leaders of political parties to decide the rule under which the discussion would take place, along with its date and duration. Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav expressed displeasure that while BJP and Congress members were allowed to speak, he was not given an opportunity . He maintained that when the interests of youth and students are affected, the Opposition is justified in taking the protest to the streets as well. “This is not an issue of Congress, SP BJP... , this is an issue of students, youths. The way the government has behaved... students were thrashed. We were compelled to hold a protest outside the PM’s residence. Why can’t the PM give a statement in the House when he can make statements outside?” he asked. Addressing the House, Birla said he had heard the views of all sides and noted the government’s willingness to discuss the issue with an open mind. He urged Opposition members to participate in a debate instead disrupting proceedings. U s h a P e r i @ Visakhapatnam Trump threatens 200% tariff on generic drugs P U SH P ITA D EY @ New Delhi Nation’s eyes on weightlifting & athletics 13 disciplines A volunteer sits on the bonnet of a Delhi Police vehicle trying to make way through a crowd of protesters near Parliament Street on Wednesday | pTI Vizag retains top spot in ‘Cities on the Rise’ list J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi LT conductor stringing work in progress at Thogummi of Kovvur Section under the RDSS | Express External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) remains the “pre-requisite” for normal India-China ties, even as he called for addressing long-standing concerns over market access, trade imbalance and supply chain predictability . The meeting, held on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit (EAS) and ASEAN Regional Forum in Manila, came as New Delhi and Beijing contin- S Jaishankar meets Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Manila, Philippines | PTI ue efforts to stabilise bilateral relations following the prolonged military standoff in eastern Ladakh. Reviewing the trajectory of ties since the October 2024 meeting between Prime Minis- ter Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in Kazan, Jaishankar said relations had been “gradually normalising”. “Peace and tranquility in the border areas is obviously the pre-requisite for normal ties. Since October 2024, both sides have engaged to ensure that this important objective is met. This will continue to need our constant attention,” he said. He said important economic issues still needed attention. “Fair market access and a trade balance rank high in that regard. There are also concerns about predictability of supply chains,” Jaishankar said.