No ethanol link to sugar price: Govt The government on Friday rejected claims that diversion of sugar for ethanol production was driving a sharp rise in its price | P9 It instead blamed the industry for jacking up prices despite the country having sufficient stock to meet domestic demand The Centre has asked States to take action against hoarding and black marketing of sugar It is also considering reducing the stock that dealers can hold COIMBATORE  SATURDAY  AUGUST 22, 2026  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION 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 After 6-hr Rahul sit-in, FIR Revanth cancels US filed on use of pellet guns leg of trip after govt Rahul: First step towards justice; BJP calls protest diversionary ploy P R E E T H A N A I R & N I T I N R A W AT CJP team bashed up @ New Delhi DELHI Police on Friday registered a first information report (FIR) over pellet injuries suffered by a 19-year-old student during the July 20 Jantar Mantar protest after a nearly six-hour dharna by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Parliament Street police station demanding action in the case. The day saw high drama with Rahul first accompanying injured student Sahil Lochab to Mandir Marg police station, and later moving to Parliament Street police station after his demand for an FIR was not accepted. While Rahul refused to budge until the FIR was registered, he was joined by several Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi, Salman Khurshid, Jairam Ramesh and many others. “This is the first step towards justice and a case has been registered,” Rahul said after the Rahul Gandhi at Parliament Street police station on Friday | PARVEEN NEGI FIR was lodged, asserting that he would continue to fight for justice for Lochab and other students injured during the Jantar Mantar protests. Police said a case was filed under Sections 118(1), relating to voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means, and 125, concerning acts endangering life, of the BNS. Lochab had suffered pellet injuries in his eye and abdomen in police action during the CJP-led march to Parliament CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka and party volunteers were allegedly assaulted on Friday while travelling to inspect a dilapidated government school in Jaipur’s Bagru Assembly constituency. Ranka described the attack as pre-planned, and demanded the arrest of the culprits within 48 hours | P10 demanding the resignation of then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on July 20. Rahul alleged that police officers at the station were willing to register the case but had been stopped. Earlier, after talks with DCP Sachin Sharma failed, Rahul began his sit-in and showed Lochab’s medical reports to prove his point. Union minister J P Nadda and other BJP leaders called the Congress protest as “diversionary” politics. EXPRESS READ Udhayanidhi dares Vijay to open ‘corruption files’ Actor Sowcar Janaki passes away at 94 Chennai: Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin on Friday dared the CM to open the three files on his table, which Vijay claimed have proof of corruption in the previous DMK regime, and take action on them | P4 Chennai: Veteran actor Sowcar Janaki, one of Indian cinema’s most revered actors known for her roles across South Indian languages, passed away here on Friday due to age-related ailments. She was 94 | P7 Min: CM committed to LS seat freeze demand Chennai: Minister Aadhav Arjuna on Friday asserted in the Assembly that the state, as well as CM Vijay, remains committed to the stance on seeking freezing of Lok Sabha seats at 543 for the next 25 years | P4 denies political nod J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi TELANGANA Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s proposed visit to the United States was denied political clearance as the programme was “not considered appropriate to the office he holds and the stated purpose of the visit”, the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) said on Friday . The clarification came hours after the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) announced that Reddy had been forced to cancel the US leg of his ongoing foreign tour after the Centre declined permission for the visit. “Let me say that the visit of chief ministers, as indeed of other dignitaries, are assessed by the Ministry of External Affairs in order to accord political clearance,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. “The programme proposed, in such cases, should be appropriate to the office held and the purpose of the visit. In this particular case, that was not so in respect of US... clearance was denied.” Reddy is currently in London as part of his “Telangana Rising” tour. He was scheduled to travel to the US from August 23, with planned engagements in Boston and New York aimed at exploring partnerships between Telangana and leading American educational institutions. Reddy’s office said he would now return to Hyderabad from London instead of proceeding to the US. “The CM will return from London to Hyderabad on August 23 instead of leaving for Boston, NY,” the statement said. According to the Telangana government, it had sought the Centre’s nod for the UK and US visits in accordance with “policy and protocol”, but clearance was granted only for the UK leg. Reddy had said the proposed US visit was aimed at exploring the possibility of bringing leading American universities and educational institutions to Telangana. Despite the cancellation, Reddy instructed state officials accompanying his delegation to proceed with the planned US engagements and pursue deals with institutions including Harvard University the Massachusetts Institute of Technol, ogy Northeastern University and Virginia Tech. , We should all think beyond politics when it comes to nation building and future of the youth... only purpose of visit was to bring the best institutions to India China stake ease draws `5K cr FDI proposals Revanth Reddy, CM P U S H P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi Not sans precedence WITHIN months of relaxing rules for investments involving Chinese beneficial ownership, India has received 29 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth `4,895.65 crore as of August 20 across various sectors, including information technology artificial intelligence, manufac, turing, pharmaceuticals, data centres and transport services, the government said on Thursday . Rules were relaxed in March to ease investment procedures with up to 10% beneficial ownership by Chinese investors. The change in rules aimed at providing greater certainty to foreign investors and reducing the time required to complete investment transactions. Investments have also been proposed from various other jurisdictions, including Mauritius, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Luxembourg and Cayman Islands. Under the revised framework, investors are required to report relevant information to the government but do not need prior approval, provided they comply with sectoral caps, entry routes and other applicable conditions. The denial of clearance is not without precedent. The External Affairs ministry in the recent past declined political clearance for foreign visits by chief ministers, including Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee while they were serving as chief ministers of Delhi and West Bengal respectively