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 | P7 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 HYDERABAD l saturday l august 22, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l 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 MEA Rahul: First step towards justice; BJP calls protest diversionary ploy P r ee 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 raidurg land fetches record `264 crore per acre A 5.25-acre parcel fetched a record `264 crore per acre, totalling `1,386 crore in a TGIIC e-auction on Friday, up from `237 crore in May | P3 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 | P8 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 JP Nadda and other BJP leaders called the Congress protest “diversionary” politics. E x p r e s s Re a d Actor Sowcar Janaki passes away at 94 Chennai: Veteran actor S Janaki died on Friday while receiving care for age-related ailments. Known for her work across more than 400 films in many languages, she made her debut in the 1950 Telugu film ‘Shavukaru’ | P5 denies clearance E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad/New Delhi The Telangana Rising delegation led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will return to Hyderabad from the UK after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) denied “clearance from political angle” for the US leg of the visit. The MEA said the programme was not appropriate for the office he holds or for the stated purpose of the visit. The state government had sought Central clearance for the UK and US visits in accordance with “policy and protocol”, but approval was granted only for the UK trip. According to CMO sources, the Centre conveyed its decision after the delegation had reached the UK. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “Let me say that the visit of chief ministers, as indeed of other dignitaries, is assessed by the Ministry of External Affairs to accord political clearance. 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 the United States, and therefore the clearance was denied.” Revanth was scheduled to travel to the US on August 23, with engagements in Boston and New York to explore partnerships with leading American educational institutions. He was also set to attend a “Meet and Greet” organised by the Indian Overseas Congress (USA) on August 26. “This could have been the reason behind the Centre’s decision,” a retired IFS officer told TNIE on condition of anonymity . Following the decision, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said Revanth would return to Hyderabad on August 23 instead of travelling to Boston and New York. Responding to the Centre’s decision, the chief minister said, “The only purpose of the visit was to, as part of the New Education Policy of the Centre, bring the world’s best institutions to India, to Telangana, to Hyderabad. They would have been an answer to our youth’s aspirations to get education, skills, and training from the best Ivy Leagues and top global institutions”.  Continued on p4 We should all think beyond politics when it comes to nation building and future of the youth... the only purpose of the visit was to bring the best institutions to India Treesa-Gayatri assure India a World Championships medal An m o l G u r u n g @ New Delhi Revanth Reddy, CM Not without precedent 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 Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly celebrate after winning the women’s doubles quarterfinal at BWF World Championships | Parveen Negi For Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, Friday brought a comeback to remember and a World Championships medal for India. The Indian pair fought back from a game down to beat China’s formidable Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shuxian 16-21, 21-15, 21-13 in the women’s doubles quarterfinals. The victory also extended India’s record of winning at least one medal at every edition of the World Championships since 2011. India’s last women’s doubles medal came that year, when Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won bronze in London. P11