tadepalligudem l tuesday l august 18, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Ayush causes big upset, defeats World no. 1 Shi Yu Qi in delhi India’s Ayush Shetty causes biggest upset at the badminton World Championships on Monday. 2019 champion PV Sindhu too enters next round India’s Ayush Shetty takes a selfie with young fans after his win | Sayantan Ghosh three-game thriller in first round This is not the first time the 21-year-old has upset a top player. He has habbit of taking down some of the big names in world badminton like Li Shi Feng, Jonatan Christie and Kunlavut Vitidsarn before winning the Asian Championships silver. Shuttler, who hails from Bengaluru defeated Shi 21-14, 13-21, 21-19, in a gripping first round men’s singles contest. ■ 1st An Se-young and others advance ■ South Korea’s An Se-young, World No 1 in women’s singles, also entered 2nd round with a straight-game win over Kaloyana Nalbantov Apart from Sindhu & Ayush, the doubles players — Hariharan Amsakarunan/MR Arjun, Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand and Kavipriya Selvam/Simran Singhi — also advanced | P11 The win was ayush’s first over Shi in four meetings 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 New team Some of the most notable changes in the organisational reshuffle of the BJP Smriti Irani Ram Madhav Deepak Mhaskey IT cell chief Amit Malviya replaced by academic Deepak Mhaskey Irani, Madhav back in core nat’l team in big BJP rejig RAJ E SH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi THE BJP on Monday revamped its core national team under party president Nitin Nabin, announcing appointments to key positions including national vice-presidents, national general secretaries, and national secretaries, apart from key posts in the media and social media departments and the party’s various Morchas. The reshuffle, which comes ahead of an expected Cabinet rejig, reflects a blend of both experienced and young faces. Among the 13 national vicepresidents, three—former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Baijayant Panda and Rekha Verma—have retained their positions while 10 have been elevated or inducted from other party responsibilities. Lal Singh Arya, for instance, has been promoted to national vice-president from his earlier position as national president of the BJP’s SC Morcha. Among the most notable changes is the return of former Union minister Smriti Irani, who had been kept out of party responsibilities for several years, to an important role as a national general secretary She . joins a group that includes prominent figures Satish Poonia, Harish Dwivedi, Sunil Bansal, Vinod Tawde, Biplab Kumar Deb, among others. The 16-member group of national secretaries includes four women, including Irani. The The newly appointed team brings together organisational experience, energy and grassroots connect Prime Minister Narendra Modi RSS men in top team With Ram Madhav’s return as national vice-president, four senior RSS-linked leaders are now part of the BJP’s central organisational structure. The others are B L Santhosh (national general secretaryorganisation), Shivprakash, and Saudan Singh (joint secretaries-organisation) others are Kavita Patidar, Phangnon Konyak, and Sangeeta Yadav. Tawde, who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha, and Bansal have retained their organisational responsibilities as national general secretaries. Several established party faces, including Arun Singh, Dushyant Kumar Gautam, Tarun Chugh and Dr Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, have been dropped from the national general secretary-level organisational structure. In the rejig, several prominent faces were let go. These include IT Cell chief Amit Malviya, BJP Yuva Morcha president and Lok Sabha MP Tejasvi Surya, Dushyant Gautam, Sanjay Mayukh, Saroj Pandey, Laxmikant Vajpayee and Arun Singh. Among the unexpected appointments is that of academic Deepak Mhaskey as the head of the BJP’s social media department, replacing Malviya. Mhaskey will head the department as convenor, assisted by Priti Gandhi, Shivanand Dwivedi, Alok Bhatt and Arun Yadav. The organisational revamp marks the return of RSS ideologue Ram Madhav to the prominent position of national vice president. His induction is being seen as a move towards strengthening coordination between the RSS and the BJP . The revamp has also sought to ensure broad geographical representation. Among the national vice-presidents, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Delhi, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka and West Bengal have received representation. The eight national general secretaries include leaders from Maharashtra, Delhi, Tripura, UP, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. Union Minister Piyush Goyal has retained his position as national treasurer, while B L Santhosh continues as national general secretary (organisation), a key post in the party . Class X boy dies as school wall caves in New era: Commercial ops begin at ASR Int’l Airport E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vizianagaram @ Parvathipuram-Manyam A 14-year-old Class X student was killed and a Class IX student seriously injured when a compound wall collapsed at a Zilla Parishad High School in Salur town during lunch break on Monday . The deceased was identified as Thupakula Arun Teja, while the injured student was identified as Sondi Yacob. Both boys, residents of Relli Street within Salur municipality, were studying at the school. The tragedy occur red when the students were resting near the school’s compound wall during the lunch break. Without warning, the wall collapsed on them. Hearing the noise, school staff rushed to the spot and pulled the students out. Arun Teja had, however, suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene. Yacob sustained severe injuries and was shifted to the local government hospital, where he is undergoing treatment. Education Minister Nara Lokesh directed officials to ensure the best possible medical care for him. Minister for Women and Child Welfare and Tribal Welfare and Salur MLA Gummidi Sandhya Rani expressed shock and grief over Ar un Teja’s death and briefed Lokesh about the inP4 cident.  x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Commercial flight operations began at Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport in Bhogapuram on Monday mark, ing a new chapter in the aviation and economic journey of North Andhra Pradesh. The airport welcomed its first commercial flight, IndiGo 6E 6408 from Hyderabad, at 6.45 am. GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited (GVIAL) accorded a ceremonial water cannon salute to the aircraft. Air India Express, Air India, IndiGo, Scoot and India One also operated their first arrivals of the day. The airport recorded 52 planned air traffic movements (ATMs) on its opening day . Union Civil Aviation Minis- ter Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, District Collector S Ramsundar Reddy GVIAL CEO , Kanwarbir Singh Kalra, Markfed chairman Karrothu Bangarraju and other dignitaries ceremonially handed over boarding passes to passengers on the inaugural IndiGo and Air India Express flights and presented mementoes. Kalra said the airport would provide safe, seamless and world-class travel facilities. He said GVIAL would work to exP4 pand connectivity  . Soren blinks, cancels all dodgy state exams m u k e s h r a n j a n & p r ee t h a n a i r @ Ranchi/New Delhi Twenty-four days after student protests in Jharkhand against exam irregularities, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday blinked and agreed to their demand to cancel the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) examination and all exams conducted by a private agency, TSR Data Processing Pvt Ltd (TDPL). The decision came hours after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote to Soren urging him to “listen to the students”. The protesting students thanked the chief minister for the decision but said the protest will continue as their demand for a CBI inquiry is yet to be fulfilled. Soren said a decision has also been made to cancel all exams conducted by TDPL as also all results published by it. “Today we held a special Cabi, net meeting to bring this matter to a conclusion. We have decided to cancel all examinations conducted by TDPL, the results published by TDPL, and the selection or participation of any candidates through Student-protesters in a jubilant mood after the Jharkhand cabinet decided to cancel the Combined Graduate Level exam, in Ranchi on Monday; Chief Minister Hemant Soren (left) with cabinet ministers making the announcement | PTI TDPL,” said Soren. The CM also said an exam reforms committee headed by senior IAS officer Amitabh Kaushal will be constituted soon. However, a new problem erupted as cancelling all exams would render around 2,000 aspirants who had cleared them without jobs. These students have begun a protest outside the state secretariat. In his pushback, minister Sudivya Kumar said candidates whose exams were cancelled by govt were free to take legal recourse. As for student leader Devendra Mahto, on hunger strike for 16 days, he said he will soon reach the protest site to break his fast. Rahul had urged Soren to personally meet the student ‘We recruited 15,941 teachers in 148 days’ DSC-2025 fully fair and clear, asserts Naidu S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada Firmly rejecting Opposition allegations over the Mega DSC teacher recruitment drive, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday assured the Legislative Assembly that the entire hiring process was executed with 100% transparency, zero deviations, and total digital accountability . Asserting that his administration views education as the cornerstone of building world-class human resources, Naidu slammed the opposition YSRCP for engaging in ‘hit-and-run’ tactics on the streets rather than attending the Assembly to debate public issues directly . “There is not a single deviation in the entire recruitment process or the notification guidelines,” Chief Minister Naidu stated on the floor of the House. “We filled 15,941 teacher posts in just 148 days, keeping our promise marked by first official signature upon assuming power. From TET and DSC notifications to horizontal and vertical reservation rosters, everything was made available transparently online. How much more transparent can a system be?” The Chief Minister noted that 42,000 questions across This is the first time in my career I am seeing a political party stay away from the Assembly for twoand-a-half years while continuing to draw salaries and enjoy official privileges Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister 13 subjects were selected to conduct Computer Based Tests (CBT) across 154 centres. Selection lists were generated strictly on a merit-cumroster basis, supported by zonal, State-level, and appellate committees to resolve candidate grievances. Sports quota norms laid down by the Union gover nment were strictly adhered to. Naidu criticised the past administration for failing to recruit a single teacher while letting 10 to 12 lakh students drop out of gover nment schools. In contrast, he highlighted that out of 14 DSC recruitment drives conducted in the State’s history, 11 were executed under TDP and NDA governments without a single complaint of corruption. “Through our Thalliki Vandanam financial assistance initiative and upgraded educational standards, over one lakh students have moved from private schools to government schools this year,” Naidu said, adding that his party has pioneered educational reforms over the last 30 years — from establishing Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam and residential schools under NTR to enacting laws for transparent teacher transfers. Naidu accused the YSRCP of staging ‘fake demonstrations’ using hired labourers from Odisha and elderly partisans acting as fake Gen-Z youth. He pointed out that legitimate, merit-selected candidates were outraged by the slander. He challenged YSRCP MLAs to face a debate on the Assembly floor rather than playing games outside. “This is the first time in my career I am seeing a political party stay away from the Assembly for two-and-a-half years while continuing to draw salaries and enjoy official privileges,” he added. representatives and take steps to resolve the issue at the earliest. “I am writing to suggest that you personally meet representatives of the students. This will help reinforce the government’s commitment to resolve their concerns,” Rahul said. “Please do your utmost to hear them out and take appropriate action towards the resolution of this issue,” he said. Pvt N-plants: SC seeks clarity on judicial power to set relief amount S u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday sought clarification from the Centre on whether courts are precluded from awarding fair and just compensation under the SHANTI Act in the event of a nuclear accident. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing a petition filed by a group of retired civil servants and scientists, led by ex-bureaucrat E A S Sarma. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the batch of petitioners, argued that the Shanti Act exempts nuclear plant suppliers from liability and caps operator liability at a level grossly disproportionate to potential damage. “Irrespective of provisions of the Act, nothing shall preclude a constitutional court from determining the amount of fair and just compensation.... Central government owes certain liability under the Act,” the CJI said. The bench issued notices to the Centre and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board seeking response. The SHANTI Act permits private firms to set up civil nuclear plants but exempts them from liability beyond `3,000 crore. The Centre’s residual liability is capped at `4,500 crore. Major ISI-backed terror network busted, 200+ arrested in pre-I-Day swoop MUK E SH RA N JA N @ New Delhi SBN chief being probed for terror-related cases MORE than 200 operatives of the Pakistan-based and ISIbacked Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN) were arrested in coordinated raids across 14 States ahead of Independence Day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday. These arrests were made following 80 FIRs registered across states. Shah said the operation had dismantled the terror network and foiled plans to carry out SBN chief Shahzad Bhatti is being probed by NIA for several cases, including the March 2025 grenade attack in Jalandhar,the November 2025 explosion at Women Police Station in Sirsa and the January 2026 car-bomb blast at the Baldev Nagar police station in Ambala. “subversive attacks” around August 15. According to a statement by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the multi-state operation was conducted on August 12 using a realtime intelligence-sharing mechanism involving central agencies and state police forc- es. “More than 200 arrests were made across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Gujarat, Bihar, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala,” it said. “Uttar Pradesh accounted for the highest number of arrests at 62, followed by Haryana with 52, Delhi with 51 and Punjab with 44. Rajasthan recorded 15 arrests, Maharashtra eight and Uttarakhand five. Karnataka, Gujarat and Bihar reported three arrests each, while Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala reported two each,” the MHA said. F re s h FIRs were also registered in Delhi and Kar nataka. The MHA said the arrests were made under UAPA, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Arms Act, NDPS Act and Explosive Substances Act. “Security agencies recovered improvised explosive devices (IEDs), grenades bearing Pakistan Ordnance Factory markings, pistols and live ammunition during the operation. CCTV cameras allegedly used for surveillance and espionage were also seized,” a senior MHA official said, adding that the recovery of ordnance bearing Pakistani markings pointed to the network’s cross-border links. The MHA described SBN as a Pakistan-based terror syndicate involved in grenade, IED and petrol-bomb attacks as well as targeted killings in India. Shah said the crackdown demonstrated a resolve to dismantle terror networks.