hyderabad l Sunday l august 17, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION flashfloods wreak havoc in pak, 344 dead The toll from monsoon rains that have triggered flashfloods across northern Pakistan rose to 344 on Saturday maximum damage in khyber pakhtunkhwa blocked highways being restored ■ The affected districts include Bajaur, Buner, Swat, Manaehra, Shangla, Torghar, and Batagram. Buner was the worst-hit, recording 184 deaths, followed by Shangla’s 36 deaths | P9 ■ Instructions have also been issued to mobilise all resources for restoration of blocked highways and link roads in tourist areas The majority of the deaths were recorded in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Most were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses. Torrential rains, which triggered the flash floods, are expected to continue intermittently until August 21, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority’s weather note on Saturday 2,000 workers deployed for rescue and relief operations 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 Some positives for India as Trump Special NCERT open to secondary tariff rethink module on Partition US prez nudges Putin towards peace deal at summit, lines up Monday talks with Zelenskyy J aya n t h J a c o b a n d P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi gets Congress’s goat P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi A high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday produced no ceasefire in Ukraine but shifted the diplomatic narrative toward a possible peace deal — one that remains vague, contested, and fraught with uncertainty . For India, caught in the crosshairs of the looming US penalty tariffs over Russian oil imports, the suspense now tilts slightly toward hope. The nearly three-hour summit in Alaska, the first face-toface meeting between the two leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, ended with Trump calling for a direct peace pact between Kyiv and Moscow, bypassing the ceasefire route long advocated by Ukraine and its Western allies. “It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war... is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, and not a mere Ceasefire,” Trump said on social media. Calling Russia a “very big power” and Ukraine “not”, Trump urged Kyiv to “make a deal”, suggesting that continued resistance might be futile. He said he would host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday and if that went well, , would schedule a follow-up meeting with Putin. “Potentially millions of people’s lives will , be saved,” he said. He (Putin) lost an oil client, so to speak, which is India, which was doing about 40% of the oil. China, as you know, is doing a lot…And if I did what's called a secondary sanction, or a secondary tariff, it would be very devastating from their standpoint. If I have to do it, I'll do it. Maybe I won't have to do it Donald Trump US President Donald Trump (C) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shake hands after a joint press meet in Alaska | AFP India welcomed the summit terming the pursuit of peace is commendable. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “India appreciates the progress made in the Summit. The way forward can only be through dialogue and diplomacy. The world wants to see an early end to the conflict in Ukraine.” Zelenskyy, while cautious, said after a long call with Trump that Ukraine was ready for “constructive cooperation” and supported the idea of a trilateral summit. But Moscow was non-committal. In a post-summit interview It’s a dud National Medical Register is no more mandatory cent of doctors had enrolled on the platform by May . In a written reply to a THE government’s ambi- question in the Lok Sabha tious National Medical Reg- by Samajwadi Party MP ister (NMR), launched last Aditya Yadav, MoS (Health) year with the aim of creat- Anupriya Patel confirmed ing a centralised and on August 8 that dynamic database NMR registration of modern medicine was no longer manpractitioners in the datory “The applica. country has failed to , tion for issuance of take off. Less than a NMR is voluntary,” year after it was she stated in Parliamade mandatory, m e n t . Ya d av h a d IMA’s the Union Health posed his question concerns Ministry has quietly based on a report The Indian rolled back the republished in this Medical quirement, declarnewspaper earlier Association ing registration as this year, which had raised voluntary . highlighted the poor The NMR portal, concerns about response to the reglaunched on August the redundancy istration drive. 23, 2024, by Union of the process, As per an RTI rehealth minister J P and urged the ply received by KerNMC to Nadda, was billed as ala-based ophthalstreamline a big leap to ensure mologist and RTI the system transparency and activist Dr K V Babu, verification in Inonly 996 doctors had dia’s medical workforce. registered on the NMR porThis paper on May 1 was tal as of August 8 — of over the first to report that the 13 lakh doctors in India.“This NMR portal was largely un- move is welcome. But it does successful in registering not absolve National Medimodern medicine practi- cal Commission (NMC) of tioners. Less than one per its failure,” Dr Babu said. K a v i ta B a j e l i D at t @ New Delhi with Fox News, Trump indicated that land swaps and security guarantees were part of the informal talks. “I think we’re pretty close to a deal... Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they’ll say no,” he said. For India, the lack of a definitive ceasefire or framework complicates matters. But it doesn’t close the door. T r ump had earlier announced a 25% secondary tariff on Indian purchases of Russian oil, set to take effect on August 27. But in remarks after the summit, he signalled the measure might be delayed. @ Hyderabad Uppal police, searching for a five-year-old boy who had gone missing, found his body assault, ed and strangled in the bushes at Ramanthapur. The boy was allegedly kidnapped on August 12, sexually assaulted and killed by one 19-year-old Shams Qamar, a native of Bihar. According to police, Qamar lured the child with the promise of buying him biscuits, took him to nearby bushes where he assaulted him. Fearing the boy would reveal the incident, he strangled him with a wire and smothered him to death. The boy’s father reported his son missing around 3.30 pm on Three elements “On August 15, 1947, India was divided. But this was not the doing of any one person. There were three elements responsible...: Jinnah, who demanded it; second, the Congress, which accepted it; and third, Mountbatten, who implemented it. But Mountbatten proved to be guilty of a major blunder,” the NCERT module said Responding to the Congress’ allegations, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said Rahul Gandhi’s ‘appeasement politics’ mirrors Jinnah’s divisive ideology. “NCERT has brought the truth of Partition to textbooks. The Rahul-Jinnah party is rattled because their role is exposed,” Bhatia said. NCERT published two separate modules — one for Classes 6 to 8 and another for Classes 9 to 12. These are supplementary resources in English and Hindi, not part of regular textbooks, and are meant to be used through projects, posters, discussions and debates. The module quotes Jinnah as saying he never thought Partition would happen. “Later, even Jinnah admitted that he had not expected Partition to happen. He told his aide, ‘I never thought it would happen. I never expected to see Pakistan in my lifetime’,” it said. IMD’s red alert as rain fury peaks in TG Express News Service @ Hyderabad Heavy rain continued to lash Telangana on Saturday leaving , large parts of the state battered and prompting the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue a red alert for five districts for Sunday . Bhadradri Kothagudem, Hanamkonda, Mahbubabad, Mulugu and Warangal are expected to receive very heavy rainfall, while most other districts will remain under an orange alert for the next three days. Mulugu district recorded the highest rainfall, with Govindraopet receiving 217.6 mm in 24 hours. Rivulets overflowed, lakes breached and road connectivity was cut off in several mandals. Police set up barricades to prevent people from crossing swollen streams, while traffic on NH-163 came to a standstill after trees were uprooted. In Adilabad, Tamsi mandal saw 170.6 mm, leaving colonies in Adilabad town waterlogged. A fisherman was washed away inside Life of traffic cops on Hyd roads I P3 5 -year-old boy assaulted, murdered Express News Service “Because of what happened today... I don’t have to think about that right now. I may have to think about it in 2–3 weeks,” he told Fox News, implying that the tariff deadline could quietly lapse. “It’s still fingers crossed. But we are ready to deal with any eventuality in our national interest,” said a source. However, Trump’s additional claim that India had “already stopped buying Russian oil” raised eyebrows. New Delhi made no such announcement and continues to defend its sovereign right to energy diversification. A political row broke out on Saturday over a new special module by the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), which holds the Congress leadership, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and Viceroy Lord Mountbatten responsible for Partition of India. The module, released by NCERT to mark ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’, drew the ire of the Congress, which demanded that the module be set on fire as it presents a distorted history . Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Congress leader Pawan Khera said, “Is 1938 mentioned or not in the NCERT module? In 1938, the Hindu Mahasabha’s national conference in Gujarat announced that Hindus and Muslims could not live in one country. Is 1940 mentioned in the module?” he asked. In 1940, Jinnah adopted the Hindu Mahasabha’s idea at the Muslim League’s Lahore session. “It was mooted in 1938 by the Hindu Mahasabha, and Jinnah repeated it in 1940,” he said. “Burn the document if all this is not mentioned in it. Partition happened due to the nexus between Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League. Generations will not forgive them,” he said, adding that MahasabhaMuslim League coalition governments in Bengal, Sindh and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) after 1942, led to Partition. August 12, following which police searched the area and reviewed CCTV footage. The footage showed the child being led away by a man. Qamar, who worked at the same timber depot as the complainant, was identified and arrested on Friday evening. During questioning, he confessed to the crime, police said. Monsoon fury .... Govindraopet (Mulugu) 217.6 mm Tamsi (Adilabad) 170.6 mm Talmadugu (Adilabad) 162.4 mm Mavala (Adilabad) 154.2 mm Gudihathnoor (Adilabad) 145.2 mm Adilabad Urban 142.0 mm ... and infra damage 629 km at 454 locations (total road damage) 22 stretches washed away (4 temporarily restored) Connectivity disrupted at 108 critical points (71 cleared) Rural roads damaged 84.97 km `147.7 cr Repair estimate for rural roads Breaches at 30 locations 77 culverts/ causeways damaged near the Kadam project, where all 18 gates were lifted to release 2.14 lakh cusecs. Police and the DRF team rescue a family of six members from Seethagondi village in Gudihathnoor mandal of Adilabad district. 15 districts get heavy rains remaining received normal rainfall. Jagtial, facing a deficit, has started receving rainfall Deploy NDRF and SDRF teams in advance and coordinate with district collectors for relief operations in the flood-hit habitations No NOC, no power to highrises: HC TG N a i d u @ Hyderabad The Telangana High Court has ruled that electricity supply to multi-storey buildings cannot be released without an occupancy or completion certificate from municipal authorities. Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka gave the ruling while disposing of a petition filed by Mohammed Arif Rizwan, who sought power supply to his property at Himayathnagar, Hyderabad, without producing the certificate. Rizwan, represented by counsel Mohd Habeebuddin, argued that his building, consisting of a stilt and five upper floors, had been constructed as per the sanctioned GHMC plan. He said all charges had been paid and sanction for power supply was issued on January 7, 2025. He pointed out that in earlier cases the court had permitted electricity release on the basis of an undertaking to furnish the certificate later. Counsel for TGSPDCL, N Sreedhar Reddy opposed the , request, stating that in most cases where relaxations were granted, beneficiaries failed to later submit occupancy certificates but continued to enjoy uninterrupted supply He added that the . sanction letter itself required the certificate before releasing service to buildings above 10 metres in height.  continued on P3 WITH THIS ISSUE Code Green — Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy reviewed the flood situation with officials and directed the administration to move families from low-lying areas to relief camps.  continued on P4 PLUS 12 P AGES New ‘injury replacement’ rule for domestic cricket g o m e s h s @ Chennai IN what could be a major rule change for the upcoming 202526 domestic season, the Indian cricket body has made provisions for ‘serious injury replacement’ for multi-day redball cricket. This rule change comes after the ICC announcement in June that full-member nations will trial replacement players for domestic first-class cricket. Unlike the past where a likefor-like replacement was allowed only for concussion sub- How it works When a player suffers an external injury (fracture, deep cut, etc.) within the playing area and gets ruled out of the match, the onfield umpires have the authority to determine extent of the injury. They can consult match referee and doctor to determine The team manager submits a request for a like-for-like replacement as soon as possible to the match referee The referee determines whether it is a valid replacement or one team gets an advantage before approving stitutes, if a player suffers an external injury on the field they can be replaced by the respective teams. This change, along with a few others, was The names should be from nominated substitutes unless it is a keeper briefed to the umpires during a seminar in Ahmedabad ahead of the season. “The serious injury must have been sustained during play and within the playing area described in clause 1.2.5.2 above. The injury must have occurred due to an external blow and result in fracture / deep cut / dislocation etc. The injury should render player unavailable for remainder of the match,” the new playing conditions document reads. Last month when Rishabh Pant fractured his foot and could not be replaced during the Manchester Test between India and England, it sparked a debate on the subject. Dhruv Jurel kept wickets but was not allowed to bat.  P11