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 ■ ■ tirupati l friday l january 23, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION K’taka guv wraps up his address in just 60 seconds t20 world cup 2026 B’desh defies ICC, won’t play in India e x p r e s s n e w s s e r v ic e @ Bengaluru THE joint session of the Karnataka legislature witnessed dramatic scenes on Thursday as Governor Thawarchand Gehlot refused to read the full address prepared by the state government, and instead concluded his speech in just three sentences, lasting a minute before walking out of the House. Gehlot had raised objections to 11 paragraphs in the governmentdrafted address, particularly those criticising the Union government’s move to replace the MGNREGA scheme with the VB-G RAM G Act. Governor Gehlot commenced his speech at 11.08 am. Without reading any of the 120 points drafted by the state government, he read the last paragraph and concluded his address before leaving. G O M ES H S @ Chennai Bangladesh have reiterated their stance that they will not be travelling to India for the upcoming men’s T20 World Cup. This comes a day after the International Cricket Council gave Bangladesh Cricket Board an ultimatum, upholding the original tournament schedule. It is understood that as of late on Thursday, there has not been any movement in the ICC. There is a possibility that if Bangladesh is not allowed to play Scotland could , be replacing them. On Thursday after talking to the government and top cricketers, national government sports adviser Asif Nazrul told reporters that the government has decided not to play in India. “”Let me tell you clearly It is the gov. ernment’s decision not to play in India due to security concerns,” said in Dhaka. He accused the ICC of not delivering justice as they remain hopeful of playing the matches in Sri Lanka despite the risk of being excluded from the tournament. “I think we did not get justice from ICC. Whether we will play in the World Cup or not is entirely a government decision. Nothing happened in India in the recent past that suggests things have changed there (security-wise). We hope ICC will give us justice.” BCB president Aminul Islam said that they will go back to ICC with the plan of playing in Sri Lanka. “They did give us a 24 hour ultimatum but a global body can’t do that. ICC will miss out on 200 million people watching the World Cup,” Islam said. Top Maoist among 15 killed in Jharkhand M u k e s h r anjan @ Ranchi IN a body blow to the Maoist insurgency in Jharkhand, security forces on Thursday neutralised at least 15 Maoists, including their top leader Patiram Manjhi alias Anal Da, in an encounter in Saranda forests of West Singhbhum district. T h e g u n b at t l e e r u p t e d around 6 am near Kumbadih village under Chotanagra po- Who was Patiram Manjhi? A native of Giridih district, Anal Da had been active since 1987, masterminding attacks, IED blasts, murders, robberies across Jharkhand lice station limits, during an ongoing anti-Naxal operation, the police said. Acting on inputs, joint teams of Jharkhand Police and CRPF’s CoBRA were scouring the forests when Maoist cadres lying in ambush opened fire. Security personnel retaliated, leading to an exchange that lasted for hours, police said. IG (Operations) Michaelraj S confirmed the elimination of Manjhi, a central committee member of CPI (Maoist), with a bounty of `2.25 crore. An injured jawan being taken to a hospital after an Army truck plunged into a deep gorge in J&K’s Doda district on Thursday, killing 10 soldiers | PTI | P10 India skips Board of Peace launch China, France, UK, Germany and Italy, too, give the event a miss; Pak PM Shehbaz shows up Board’s broad mandate could eclipse UN’s role J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi INDIA was among the notable absentees when US President Donald Trump unveiled on Thursday his Board of Peace on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, an initiative Washington is projecting as a new international body to help cement the fragile Gaza ceasefire and potentially address conflicts elsewhere. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited to join the board, but New Delhi has yet to take a decision. “India is considering various aspects as the initiative involves sensitive issues. We are examining the invite,” sources said. Trump said the board could become “one of the most consequential bodies ever created,” and added he was “honoured” to chair it. “Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do. And we’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations,” he said, arguing the The board’s mandate may stretch beyond Gaza, prompting concerns it could undercut the UN’s role as the primary forum for global diplomacy. Its charter describes it as “an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure peace” US President Donald Trump holds up a signed Board of Peace charter on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, on Thursday | AP UN’s “great potential” had not been fully utilised. The announcement, made during a signing ceremony in Davos, drew mixed response. Regional powers such as Turkey Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar , and the United Arab Emirates, along with Jordan, Indonesia and Pakistan, joined the board. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was present. However, China and several major global powers and traditional Western US allies including France, the UK, Germany and , Italy skipped the ceremony . US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the board’s immediate focus would be Gaza. “The priority is making sure the plan for peace in Gaza is fulfilled, but it can also serve as an example of what’s possible in other parts of the world.” The White House has already announced a founding executive board to operationalise the initiative. It includes Rubio, exBritish PM Tony Blair, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, World Bank president Ajay Banga, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan and deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel Jr.  Major U.S. allies wary: P11 express read AP mulls under-16 social media ban CM meets Tata Sons Chairman at Davos 3 burnt alive as bus catches fire in Nandyal Command Centre for medical exams set up Vijayawada: HRD Minister Nara Lokesh has revealed that the Andhra Pradesh government is mulling a ban on access to social media for children below 16 years. Lokesh said the AP government is studying the framework of Australia’s ban, observing that youngsters must be protected from harmful social media content | P4 Vijayawada: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu said `2.50 lakh crore investments were already grounded out of the total proposals signed at Davos in 2025. On the last day of his Davos visit, Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekharan met Naidu. They discussed the progress of TCS centre in Vizag and other major projects | P4 Kurnool: Three people were burnt alive, and 36 passengers were rescued when a private travel bus caught fire on the National Highway near Sirivella Metta in Nandyal district in the early hours of Thursday. The bus lost control due to tyre burst, jumped the road divider, and collided with a lorry. The crash triggered a major fire | P5 Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh has taken a major step toward ensuring transparency in medical education exams with the inauguration of a Remote Command Control Centre at NTR University of Health Sciences. It was designed to monitor the conduct of exams in 37 government and private medical colleges in AP | P5 Mission We stand in gratitude with those who protect India’s borders, people, and future. You protect our nation. Let us help navigate your financial life. 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