hyderabad l sunday l august 09, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION India plans high-risk mission to bring ‘Green Boots’ home India is seeking a specialist recovery team to retrieve the remains of Dorje Morup, a 48-yearold lance naik of ITBP, from Mt Everest’s summit Part of historic everest expedition For nearly 30 years, a body known as “Green Boots” has been frozen under a rock near Mount Everest’s summit. Morup was part of a historic 1996 ITBP expedition aiming to become the first Indian team to summit Everest from the Chinese side. Three climbers reached the top; but a blizzard claimed all three. Two bodies remain missing. The third was Morup’s ■ 300 tricky recovery has september deadline ■ Authorities hope to return Morup’s remains to his family in Ladakh for DNA confirmation and final closure, the BBC reported Recovery from the death zone at 8,500 metres is hazardous. Temperatures can fall to -40°C, and the Chinese side lacks helicopter evacuation. ITBP aims to complete the operation by September. at least 300 people have died in the region since records began 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 PM addresses IIT-D convocation; in UP, Rahul says no jobs available No UPI user fee for you, Centre assures consumers E NS E c o n o m i c B u r e a u @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 57th Convocation of IIT Delhi, flanked by Education Minister Pralhad Joshi | PTI Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi interacts with students in Prayagraj on Saturday | PTI Question Dard, data, ideas, Modi daulat pitch tells Gen Z by Rahul Former MLA convicted in `34L cheque bounce case I f r a h M u f t i @ New Delhi ADDRESSING the 57th convocation of IIT Delhi on Saturday Prime Minister Narendra Modi ex, horted graduating students to question ideas accepted without a thought while stressing that they should not stop at questioning but summon the courage to find solutions too. Challenges, he said, become opportunities for only those who innovate boldly . Returning in person to IIT-D after a virtual address during the pandemic, the prime minister told the Class of 2026 that an IIT education’s true value lies beyond degrees, CGPA or placements. “Your degree tells the entire world that you know exactly how to solve highly difAmidst all this ficult problems,” he said. rapid change, The PM recalled IIT-D’s remember hostel rivalries among Kumy words: the maon, Aravali, Karakoram, Vindhyachal, Nilgiri, Kaione who lash and Himadri, and locontinuously cal favourites like Jia learns is the one Sarai’s poha and Satpura who will win mess parathas, saying campus memories would enerNarendra Modi, gise them amid future Prime Minister responsibilities. He advised students to keep their curiosity alive in life. “The fundamental reason for the success of many alumni was that they boldly identified those crucial questions which the world had stopped considering as questions.” The university conferred degrees on over 3,000 graduating students, including 587 PhD scholars, during the ceremony which also saw , the first graduating batches of Bachelor of Design, Executive MBA, MSc in Biological Sciences and MA in Culture, Society Thought. , Of the 587 PhD graduates, 245 were women, on which PM Modi said it would have been “a little nicer” to see one or two more daughters on that list, before correcting himself: “not one or two, but far more.” E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Former BRS MLA Panjugula Rohith Reddy alias Pilot , Rohith Reddy was on Satur, day convicted in a `34.23 lakh cheque-bounce case dating back to 2014-15. The I Judicial Magistrate of First Class issued a non-bailable warrant after he failed to appear for the pronouncement of the judgment. According to the complaint filed by M/s Intellidecs Pvt Ltd, represented by its director, Pinnapareddy Jaya Aditya Reddy the com, pany had appointed Rohith Reddy as one of its directors to help expand its business. However, the company alleged that instead of developing its business, Rohith Reddy diverted the firm’s resources for his personal benefit without the managem e n t ’s k n ow l e d g e. H e allegedly participated in tender works in Jammu as a GPA holder of TA Infra, actions the company claimed were against its interests.  continued on P5 N a m i ta b a j pa i @ Lucknow Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday described India’s youth as the country’s “greatest strength,” asserting their power was unmatched and unparalleled. Addressing the ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ programme in Prayagraj, he told a large gathering of students and competitive exam aspirants: “You are the power and pride of India. When I say this, I am talking about every Indian citizen.” The Congress leader said nations like China, America and Russia were often called major global powers, yet their strength paled in comparison to the potential of Indian youth. In a nearly 20-minute adToday, education dress, he took a jibe at the certificates have education system, noting that families spent hardno meaning in earned money on BA and India because MA degrees that failed to they cannot give generate employment. Only a dozen out of every 1,000 you jobs. All youngsters, he claimed, sedoors of cured permanent jobs. employment “This evening, I want to are closed speak to you about dard (pain), data, and daulat Rahul Gandhi, LoP (wealth),” Rahul said. He argued that all doors of employment were “closed”, blaming a decline in manufacturing, difficulties in securing loans, exam paper leaks and artificial intelligence replacing jobs for hurting young people’s prospects. Despite waterlogging and muddy patches at the venue, the event drew a sizeable crowd. On the recent student protests across the country, Rahul said the youth had “lit a light in the darkness” by confronting their fears and, in doing so, helped change the nation. “We will never resort to hatred or violence. We will change the system with love and affection,” he said, urging the audience to follow the same path. Students present at the venue raised concerns about hostel problems and competitive examinations. Desperation on Display Thousands turn up for 150 HYDRAA jobs, police use batons to control crowd E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad The scramble for a job turned into a scene of desperation at Saroornagar Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday, with stampede-like scenes forcing the police to use lathis to bring the situation under control. The incident drew sharp criticism from the Opposition, which linked the desperation of unemployed youth to the Congress government’s promises to provide jobs. Thousands of unemployed youth turned up for physical tests conducted by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) for 150 posts. HYDRAA officials said more than 3,000 aspirants attended the first day of recruitment for 100 Disaster Response Force Assistant posts and 50 driver posts. The two-day selection process started on Saturday . The massive turnout led to chaos at the venue, prompting police to deploy barricades to regulate the crowd. At one point, police resorted to using Aspirants wait for their turn during the HYDRAA recruitment drive in Hyderabad on Saturday; cops try to control the crowd with lathis (right) batons to disperse a section of the unruly gathering. Aspirants expressed dissatisfaction with the arrangements, alleging that they were made to stand in long queues without adequate facilities. Several candidates had travelled from different districts in the hope of securing employment. Officials said they initially faced difficulties receiving applications and issuing tokens for the physical tests as a large THE government on Saturday reiterated that consumers will not have to pay any fee for making UPI payments and that a vast majority of merchant transactions will continue to remain free, even if merchant discount rate (MDR) is introduced in the future. The clarification comes after Parliament passed the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to amend Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act (PSS Act), enabling introduction of MDR on UPI transactions. The government said the amendment does not impose any charges on UPI transactions. Any MDR, if introduced, would apply only to a limited set of merchant transactions above a specified threshold and at a nominal rate, significantly lower than MDRs applicable to debit and credit cards. “All person-to-per- son transactions will continue to be free of charge,” the government said in a statement, adding that the vast majority of merchant transactions would also remain free. Once the amendment comes into force, the UPI and Services Steering Committee, headed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), will decide on the MDR, if any . The amendment is an enabling provision aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability of UPI, rather than an immediate move to impose charges on users or merchants, the government said. A similar clarification was issued by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, followed by the Payments Council of India (PCI) on Friday . The Centre argued that with UPI transaction volumes expanding rapidly, the payment infrastructure needs investm e n t i n cybersecurity, fraud prevention and technology . J aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi US Vice President JD Vance rang up Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday as India and the United States seek to steady bilateral ties and maintain momentum in their strategic partnership. During the phone call, the two leaders “reviewed progress in the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership” and “noted the sustained momentum in the high-level engagements,” according to an official release. They “reaffir med their commitment to f u r t h e r strengthening cooperation in trade, defence, critical and emerging technologies, energy security and critical minerals,” the release said. Modi and Vance also exchanged views on regional and global developments of mutual interest. Modi later said in a post on X: “Received a phone call from US Vice President JD Vance. We discussed ways to deepen IndiaUS Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.” The Prime Minister also congratulated Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, on the birth of their son. in manipur, a step towards peace Security personnel stand guard as people hold black flags over alleged killing of Naga civilians, in Imphal on Saturday. In a major step towards restoring peace and normalcy in Manipur, CM Y Khemchand Singh announced that national highways in the state will be reopened for free movement of people from all communities | PTI | P8 India opts for France-led FCAS in 6G fighter race J a v a r i a R a n a @ New Delhi India has begun efforts to join France’s sixth-generation fighter programme, choosing its Future Combat Air System (FCAS) over the rival BritishItalian-Japanese Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), as it seeks a foothold in next-generation combat aviation. In its Action Taken submission to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, the defence ministry said it had “initiated efforts in a concerted manner to co-join” FCAS, a programme spearheaded by the French government. The disclosure, contained in the committee’s Twenty-Fifth Report for 2025-26 tabled in the Lok Sabha on Friday provides , clarity on a choice the ministry had left open in March. It had then told the committee that the Indian Air Force was looking to join one of the two competing sixth-generation fighter programmes. The move comes as major military powers race to develop combat aircraft designed around stealth, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced sensors, electronic warfare and mannedunmanned teaming. Unlike conventional fighter programmes, sixth-generation systems are being developed as a “system of systems”, with the crewed fighter expected to operate alongside unmanned aircraft, remote carriers and other networked assets while receiving and sharing data across the battlespace. The technology has growing relevance for India as China expands its air-combat capabilities. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force operates the J-20 and J-35 stealth fighters and is developing a wider ecosystem involving unmanned systems, longrange weapons, airbor ne sensors and electronic warfare capabilities. It has also flown Different strokes on delimitation in TN, Punjab P r a b h a k a r Ta m i l a r a s u a n d H a r p r ee t B a j w a @ Chennai/Chandigarh number of candidates attempted to participate in the process simultaneously. They repeatedly announced over the public-address system that all eligible candidates would be allowed to apply and get an opportunity to appear for the tests, while appealing for cooperation.  continued on P5 US V-P dials Modi, talks bilateral ties On a day the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) showed its hand on the controversial delimitation exercise, supporting it, as many as 37 Opposition MPs boycotted an all-party meeting in Chennai on delimitation chaired by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Saturday . While SAD has just one MP in the Lok Sabha, the DMK with 30 MPs, AIADMK 4, DMDK 1, MNM 1 and PMK 1 boycotted the allparty meeting. The DMK and AIADMK said their stand on the issue is unchanged. Both parties added that they would not support any move that would affect the state’s representation in Parliament in terms of percentage, emphasising the exercise should not be based on population. In his pushback, TN education minister Rajmohan said those who chose not to participate had displayed “selfish politics” and could be acting in the interests of their new political friends, implying that the DMK is moving closer to the BJP. In the end, 19 other MPs from six parties resolved to oppose the delimitation bill and urged the Centre to retain the existing number of 543 Lok Sabha seats. two prototypes of its sixth-gen fighters. The choice of France also comes against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding bilateral defence ties. FCAS was originally conceived by France, Germany and Spain as a broader combat system comprising a new-generation fighter, unmanned remote carriers, advanced sensors and a combat cloud. The fighter was intended to eventually replace France’s Rafale and the Eurofighter. It was, however, hit by disagreements between French company Dassault Aviation and Airbus over the division of work, development leadership and intellectual property . inside CM assures `5K cr for land acquisition I P4 UAE accuses Iran of tanker attack I P9 PLUS 12 P AGES WITH THIS ISSUE The Brain Game Brigade