hyderabad l monday l july 27, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Rajnath issues strong warning to Pak on 27th Kargil Vijay Diwas Operation Sindoor showed the fate that awaits those who use terrorism against India, Rajnath Singh said at the Kargil War Memorial on Sunday ‘Indian response can be beyond imagination’ praises troops for 1999 kargil victory Warning Pakistan against any misadventure, the defence minister said India can respond in a manner “beyond their imagination.” He added that “there would be no talks with Pakistan, and any dialogue would focus solely on PoK,” describing the region as an integral part of India. Recalling Operation Sindoor, he said India dealt a big blow to the backers of terror ■ ■ Kargil Vijay Diwas commemorates the culmination of Operation Vijay, the name given to India’s military action to reclaim the heights of Kargil after Pakistan’s infiltration in 1999 “The victory in Kargil wasn’t just a military or diplomatic success; our soldiers exhibited indomitable courage and valour,” Rajnath said 545 Indian soldiers lost their lives fighting in the 1999 Kargil war 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 Pralhad Joshi assumes charge as Union education minister Rahul writes to Amit Shah on use of pellet guns on students Shortly after taking charge of education ministry on Sunday, Union minister Pralhad Joshi held a review meeting. School education secretary TK Anil Kumar and outgoing higher education secretary Vineet Joshi briefed him. MoS Jayant Chaudhary attended the meet Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has written to Home Minister Amit Shah demanding accountability for the “barbaric assault” on students and whether he approved the use of “lethal force”, including pellet guns, against the protesting youth | p7 Nandan Nilekani-led task force to reform exam system Special panel to push technology-driven reforms to overhaul existing processes LS braces for Oppn heat as paper leak bill comes up today RA J E SH K U MAR T HA K U R @ New Delhi A day after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Union education minister and the protesting students called off their 36-day agitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced a high-powered task force headed by former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani to carry out examination reforms. Making the announcement through a video message posted on his Instagram handle, Modi said the task force would explore technology-driven reforms aimed at creating a transparent examination system, adding that t h e g o ve r n m e n t wo u l d a c t o n i t s recommendations. Apart from Nilekani, a multidisciplinary group of domain experts will be part of the task force. The other members are IIT Madras director V Kamakoti, former Isro chairman S Somanath, former IB director Tapan Deka, former education secretary Anita Karwal, and logistics expert Amrit Lal Meena. Explaining the objective of the task force, Modi said it would focus on examination reforms. “And based on its report, steps will be taken to ensure the credibility of upcoming examinations at the earliest.” The task force will recommend immediate steps to secure upcoming tests and suggest ways to overhaul national examination and testing systems to make them leak-proof. In his latest outreach to students through Instagram, the PM noted that the government had established fast-track courts to ensure justice for students and was taking all necessary steps to make the examination system more transparent. Modi said examination reforms would be undertaken based on the report submitted by the high-powered task force. “The government is continuously taking measures for the students. Those who tampered with students’ future are languishing in jail. We have already established fast-track courts,” he said, adding that the government was moving fast to bring stringent legal provisions to check paper-leak racketeers. We must look to the future. To make sure our examination system is trustworthy, transparent and the technology is used optimally, we have decided to constitute a high-powered committee Narendra Modi, PM Domain experts in panel Apart from Nilekani, a multidisciplinary group of domain experts are part of the task force. They are IIT Madras director V Kamakoti, ex-Isro chairman S Somanath, former IB director Tapan Deka, former education secretary Anita Karwal, and logistics expert Amrit Lal Meena Dutch woman sexually assaulted; techie absconding E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad A software engineer, booked for the sexual assault of a 36-yearold woman from the Netherlands, is absconding, Gachibowli police said on Sunday . The accused, Aditya Anand, a resident of Kondapur and a native of Bihar, is accused of sexually assaulting the woman while she was staying with her boyfriend at a flat they shared with him. According to the complaint lodged on July 23, the woman visited India between March 5 and March 23. During her stay, Anand allegedly sexually harassed and assaulted her on multiple occasions in the absence of her boyfriend. The complainant alleged that Anand would repeatedly approach her and touch her inappropriately. Around March 17, while she was alone in the kitchen and her boyfriend was away, Anand allegedly approached her while he was in a semi-naked state, pressed himself against her and attempted to make further sexual advances. The incident was interrupted when her boyfriend returned home, she alleged.  continued on p3 p r eet h a n a i r @ New Delhi AS Parliament reconvenes on Monday after a washout of the first week of the Monsoon Session, the deadlock may ease slightly with Op, position sources saying INDIA bloc parties may be inclined to participate in the debate on the Bill seeking to strengthen the two-year-old anti-paper leak law. The government has listed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill 2026 for the Lok Sabha on Monday A final decision on the Opposition’s . floor strategy will, however, be taken at a meeting of INDIA bloc leaders in Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber in Parliament on Monday morning, sources said. Speaking to this paper, an Opposition leader said parties did not want to be seen as blocking reforms given that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has quit. A heated debate on the paper leak issue is expected if the government and the opposition break the ongoing deadlock in both Houses of Parliament. The Congress-led Opposition plans to keep up the pressure over the alleged police crackdown on protesting students, demanding action against those responsible and an apology from PM Modi. TMC’s Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sagarika Ghose submitted a notice under Rule 267 seeking an immediate discussion on “use of excessive force on student protesters” in Jantar Mantar. The Opposition is also preparing to corner the government on Ram temple donation theft and the ethanol blending controversy . E x p r e s s Re a d Safety module in pvt schools soon Hyderabad: The School Education department plans to recommend its Adolescent Safety and Empowerment Programme, introduced in govt schools in 2025-26, to private schools this academic year. Developed for classes 6 to 10, it covers 11 themes, including child sexual abuse, cyber safety, mental health and drug abuse. The TGBIE has also made anti-drug declarations mandatory for junior college admissions | p2 `2,278 cr cleared for Adilabad airport Hyderabad: The state government has sanctioned `2,278.14 crore for acquiring 2,009.23 acres for the proposed Adilabad Airport, which will be developed as a joint-user facility for civilian and Indian Air Force operations. Of the total, 1,609.23 acres will be acquired for the IAF, while 400 acres have been earmarked for a civil aviation enclave, maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities, cargo operations and hangars | p2 Mirabai, Manipur’s golden girl, threepeats f i r o z m i r z a @ Chennai FOR more than a decade, Mirabai Chanu has been the country’s biggest medal hope in weightlifting. And it was no different at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games (CWG). Living up to her billing, the diminutive 31-year-old lifter from Manipur completed a hattrick of CWG gold at the SEC Armadillo auditorium on Sunday, beating her opponents by miles. The gold was also the country’s first at this edition of the Games. The 2017 world champion and Mirabai Chanu wells up after her recordbreaking lifts on Sunday | PTI the 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medallist’s superiority among her opponents can be gauged by the fact that her total lift was 22 kg more than the nearest rival — Ruth Asuquo Nyong from Nigeria. En route to a top-of-the-podium finish, she also set the CWG record four times in the 48kg weight category. While lifting 85kg in the snatch section in her third attempt, she also set a Commonwealth record. Mirabai had won a gold each in the 2018 and 2022 editions with the previous one coming in the 49kg division. In 2014, she won a silver medal (48kg). Earlier in the day another Manipuri lifter, , Rishikanta Singh Chanambam pocketed silver in the 60kg weight category . Nervous starts In snatch and clean & jerk sections, she failed to complete the first lift of 82kg and 105kg respectively but made amends in the second attempts to finish the contest ‘Lower contesting age’ CM to meet Rahul, Kharge in Delhi today E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan and Jai Yuva’ Revanth suggested that, if necessary, the proposal to lower contesting age could be referred to a JPC for discussions with stakeholders. “The slogan now is ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan and Jai Yuva’, and the Congress will carry it forward,” he asserted. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will leave for Delhi on Monday to submit a proposal to Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi seeking a reduction in the minimum age for contesting Assembly and Lok Sabha elections from 25 to 21 years. Appealing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “open the doors of Parliament to the youth”, the chief minister said the move would give Gen Z an opportunity to participate directly in law-making. Speaking informally with the media on Sunday Revanth , said he would meet Rahul and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and place the proposal before the Congress leadership before taking it to the INDIA bloc. “I will put forward my proposal before the INDIA bloc leaders. Let us see whether they introduce a private member’s Bill,” he said. The chief minister reiterated that the Telangana Legislature would adopt a resolution in the first week of August seeking the reduction Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy interacts with mediapersons at his residence in Hyderabad on Sunday in the minimum contesting age and forward it to the Union government. “August will be a miracle month for the country he remarked. ,” Revanth urged the Centre to discuss his proposal along with the proposed Delimitation Bill, increase in Lok Sabha seats and the Women’s Reservation Bill. “Let Parliament debate all four issues together,” he suggested. Stating that the country was currently witnessing “Gen G Raj”, the chief minister said the youth, who represent India’s future, must be brought into mainstream politics.  continued on p4 Siddaramaiah not to contest 2028 polls E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Mysuru Nearly two months after stepping down as Karnataka chief minister, veteran Congress leader Siddaramaiah made his most definitive political announcement on Sunday, declaring that he will not contest the 2028 Assembly elections. Ending weeks of speculation over his electoral future, the 79year-old leader revealed his decision at a function in KR Pete taluk in Mandya district, saying it was prompted by advancing age, health concerns and growing corruption in politics, but said he will remain active in public life. Addressing a gathering at a programme to mark the birth anniversary of KR Pete Krishna, Siddaramaiah responded to repeated appeals from supporters urging him to continue in electoral politics for another decade. While acknowledging the affection of his followers, he made it clear that he had already taken a decision not to seek another electoral mandate. His remarks assume significance as the former CM has never publicly spoken about his electoral future after resigning from the post on May 28.