express illustration hyderabad l Thursday l august 27, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Meta reaches $17 billion deal with U.S. on teen social media addiction Meta will pay $17 billion to US to end a landmark trial on Wednesday over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states | P9 payout one of the biggest in history ‘caused mental health crisis in youths’ California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey were among 29 states that sued the tech giant in 2023, but the deal cuts short the trial, which was expected to see CEO Mark Zuckerberg take the stand before a jury in federal court in California. The agreement is worth $353 million in Virginia alone and one of the biggest in consumer protection history ■ ■ The lawsuit accused Meta of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms and hiding them from the public The lawsuit argued that Meta violated federal laws by routinely collecting data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent $201 bn was meta’s 2025 revenue, and the lawsuit is a small part of it 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 95 dead, at least 133 Indian tourists, 37 NRIs among 750 missing after flash floods hit Nepal’s Rasuwa, Dhading; India steps up relief op, Isha Foundation says 77 members untraceable Gyirong County Landslide site r J AYAN T H J A C O B @ New Delhi ive Tr i s hu li r nepal New border hotlines, meeting points ahead of Xi’s India visit Rasuwa District Kathmandu Map not to scale How the flood originated 1 An ice-rock avalanche originating in a high-altitude area likely triggered the devastating flash floods that hurtled down from Tibet across central Nepal districts on Wednesday, experts at ICIMOD said 2 Researchers said the large volume of ice and rock debris may have entered the Lende Khola, a tributary of the Bhote Koshi river 3 The event could have generated a sudden surge that carried water, sediment and large boulders downstream Bihar, UP on alert after floods in Nepal Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were on high alert on Wednesday after several districts in neighbouring Nepal were devastated by flash floods in the Gandak river system. Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath on the flood situation | P8 A screengrab of a massive mudslide caused by flash floods at Rasuwagadhi border point on the Nepal-Tibet border | X Killer Nepal water wall washes away hundreds in a flash e x p r e ss n e w s s e r v ic e @ New Delhi AT least 170 Indians are among 750 tourists and travellers whose whereabouts remain unconfirmed after devastating flash floods swept through Nepal near the Tibet border, killing at least 95 people and leaving a trail of destruction across several of its districts on Wednesday . The Nepal Tourism Board said its preliminary list includes 291 foreign nationals and 93 Nepali nationals, with Indians constituting the largest identified group of foreign nationals. Another 37 non-resident Indians have also been listed separately as authorities , continue efforts to verify their whereabouts and safety. The flash floods struck the Bhote Koshi River in Nepal’s Rasuwa district on Wednesday sending , torrents of water, mud and de- bris through settlements near the China border. The floodwaters also affected parts of Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts. Visuals from the affected areas showed powerful walls of muddy water sweeping through villages, engulfing buildings and carrying away vehicles and debris. Rescue and search operations are continuing, with authorities warning that the casualty figures could rise as teams reach more affected areas. The large number of Indians caught up in the disaster has prompted an immediate response from New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Nepal counterpart Balendra Shah and offered condolences over the loss of life, while assuring India’s support. “People of India stand in solidarity with their sisters and brothers in Nepal at this difficult time,” Modi said, adding that India was ready to provide “all possible humanitarian assistance.” The Indian Air Force has dispatched a C-130J aircraft carrying 10 tonnes of humanitarian assistance and essential medicines, the MEA said. The floods have also affected pilgrims travelling through the region towards Tibet. Isha Foundation chief Sadhguru said 77 members of the organisation were caught in the flash floods and their whereabouts remained unknown. “A terrible and tragic flash flood has taken place at Gyirong in Tibet, one of our Kailash groups was caught in it,” Sadhguru said. The other missing tourists were from US, Malaysia, the UK, South Africa, Australia and the Netherlands.  P9 HAL, France’s Safran seal deal to make multi-role combat helicopter engines J a v a r i a R a n a @ New Delhi STATE-RUN Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and France’s Safran Helicopter Engines on Wednesday inked a contract to jointly develop a 3,500 to 4,000 shaft horsepower-class ‘Aravalli’ copter engine, which will power HAL’s planned 13-tonne Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) and its naval variant, the 12.5-tonne Deck-Based Multi-Role Helicopter. The contract covers the engine’s design, development, manufacture, supply and lifecycle support. The ‘Aravalli’ will be developed by SAFHAL Helicopter Engines Pvt Ltd, a 50:50 Beyond Mi-17s The IMRH is intended to eventually replace the Indian military’s fleet of over 240 Russian-origin Mi-17 helicopters. The first prototype will be out in 2028 joint venture between HAL and Safran Helicopter Engines, the rotorcraft engine arm of Safran, with the production planned at HAL’s facility in Tumakuru, Karnataka. The signing marks the start of the engine’s development and production phase, with work to be shared equally be- tween the two parent companies. HAL is both a shareholder in SAFHAL and the customer for the engine as the helicopter manufacturer. However, the two helicopter programmes are yet to receive acceptance of necessity and approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security, with HAL funding preparatory work from its own resources. HAL CMD Ravi K said the contract marked a “significant step forward” in India’s pursuit of self-reliance in aero-engine technology. Safran Helicopter Engines CEO Olivier Andries said the programme represented a new chapter in the strategic ties between India and France. Trinamool rebels get notice from Lok Sabha secretariat The Lok Sabha secretariat has given 20 rebel TMC MPs, who merged with the Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens Party of India in June, seven days to reply to a petition seeking their disqualification on grounds of defection | P7 lessons aplenty AHEAD of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to India next month, New Delhi and Beijing have agreed on a fresh set of measures to strengthen communication along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), while keeping negotiations on the boundary question moving. The decisions were reached at the 25th round of talks between India and China’s Special Representatives, held on Tuesday in Beijing, with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval representing India and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi representing China. The talks produced an eightpoint outcome that combines political engagement on the Chinese President Xi Jinping boundary dispute with practical measures aimed at preventing incidents along the LAC from escalating. Among the most significant decisions was an agreement to establish two additional meeting points for General Level Mechanism/Senior Highest Military Commander meetings, an official release said. The two sides agreed to add two new channels for border Bhatti’s B’luru flight adds intrigue to Surekha row I r e d dy S r i n i vas R e d dy @ Hyderabad By the time the sun began setting on Wednesday, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka was on his way to Bengaluru, where AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge was also present and a meeting between the two was expected. Officially, there was little politics attached to the trip — Vikramarka was to visit the Devadurga gold mine in Karnataka along with Singareni officials. But the timing of the journey, coming after a meeting with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and earlier in the day with former MLC Konda Murali, gave the trip a different political reading within the Telangana Congress. The question doing the rounds in party circles was simple: had the Konda Surekha episode found its way into a conversation with the Congress high command? The speculation g ained ground because the party’s Disciplinary Action Committee, headed by Mallu Ravi, had submitted its report on the controversy involving Surekha and Telangana Planning Board Vice-Chairman G Chinna Reddy a day earlier. The report is understood to have recommended action against Surekha, including her removal from the Cabinet, leaving the next move with the party leadership. Murali’s meeting with Vikramarka at Praja Bhavan therefore acquired a relevance beyond the stated reason for the meeting. Murali sought his intervention and is understood to have placed their position before the deputy chief minister.  continued on P4 express read Private bus rams truck in Suryapet, 6 dead Suryapet: Six passengers were killed on the spot after a private bus rammed a stationary container truck near Kodad in Suryapet district in the early hours of Wednesday. The truck was carrying around 50 tonnes of iron pillars, some of which were protruding from its rear. The impact sent the pillars piercing through the bus, killing the passengers and leaving 12 others with severe injuries | P2 AP, TG officials face off over NSP water Nalgonda: Days before the KRMB meets on September, tension prevailed at the Nagarjunasagar project on Wednesday when officials of AP and Telangana confronted each other over drawl of water without approval from the Board. The confrontation reported was a result of officials of AP drawing water from the project. In response, Telangana officials too released water to the Left Bank | P4 military hotlines in the Eastern and Middle Sectors, expanding direct military communication. The agreement comes as India and China continue efforts to consolidate peace and stability along the border following years of heightened tensions. Both sides agreed that situations on the ground would be addressed promptly through existing diplomatic and military channels, including the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination, local commander-level meetings and other agreed mechanisms. The two sides also discussed ways to improve their understanding of the LAC in appropriate areas, with the aim of reducing the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation. SC judge asks CJI to replace Raj HC acting chief justice S U C H I T RA K A LYAN M O H AN T Y @ New Delhi CHIEF Justice of India Surya Kant on Wednesday said that the Collegium is examining Justice Sandeep Mehta’s allegations against Rajasthan High Court Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma. The CJI’s statement came hours after reports said Justice Mehta has shot off three letters to the CJI this month, levelling serious allegations against Justice Sharma, who is due to retire on September 26. In a press statement issued in the evening, the CJI said the contents of the letters cannot be adjudicated in the public domain and that Justice Sharma must be given a fair opportunity to place his response before any conclusion is reached. The fact that allegations have been made cannot by itself be treated as a finding against the judge, he added. The CJI emphasised that the SC cannot allow individual complaints concerning judges to be determined through competing claims in the media. Earlier in the day, reports said Justice Mehta wrote to the CJI on August 2, 10 and 17, seeking the immediate replacement of Justice Sharma with a chief justice from another HC. The letters alleged Justice Sharma, who has been serving as the acting chief justice for the past 10 months, manipulated case listings and misused his administrative powers. Parole in ’83, retired teacher in ’13, arrested in ’24 S-I accused of urinating on man in PS T G N a i d u @ Hyderabad A man sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case in 1983 walked out of prison on parole, never returned and went on to spend four decades as a free man — including receiving a “Best Teacher” award in 2004, before being arrested in 2024. The extraordinary case came before the Telangana High Court, which has dismissed a petition seeking parole for Sandula Veeranna, while directing the prison authorities to put in place a system to ensure that prisoners released on parole do not disappear. Veeranna was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Additional District Judge, Warangal, on June 9, 1983, and lodged in Central Prison, Warangal. He was released on 30-day parole on December 17 that year, later extended until March 17, 1984. He was due to surrender the following day . He never did. According to the high court order which was made public on Wednesday, Veeranna was finally apprehended by a Special Task Force on May 16, 2024 — 40 years, one month and 28 days after he was supposed to return to prison. In the intervening years, he had apparently managed to build an entirely ordinary life. According to his wife’s petition, he remained in Mahbubabad district, secured a government teaching job, received a Best Teacher Award in 2004 and retired in 2013. The state told the court that it had made efforts to trace him, including correspondence with police authorities between 2012 and 2020, before eventually forming a Special Task Force. After his arrest, the prison authorities issued a showcause notice and subsequently forfeited about 27 days of remission earned by him and barred him from parole and furlough for three years. His wife challenged the order, arguing that authorities had failed to act for four decades and that he required parole on medical grounds. The judge, however, refused to interfere, observing that Veeranna had deliberately evaded his sentence and had obtained government employment without disclosing his conviction. Since his conviction had neither been set aside nor overturned, he was required to undergo the remaining sentence.  continued on P5 E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v ic e @ Hyderabad A 35-year-old man from Avancha village alleged that Thimmajipet SI P Srinivasa Rao beat him with a rubber belt and urinated on him inside the police station on Tuesday Nagarkur. nool DSP B Srinivas on Wednesday admitted that the SI had beaten P Mahender, but said the allegation that he urinated on him was not believable. Mahender told TNIE that a constable called him to the station over comments allegedly made about a girl. He reached around 9.30 am. “When I went there, the SI was not there. A few P Mahender shows his swollen feet, and sub-inspector P Srinivasa Rao minutes later, he came to the police station. Later, the girl’s father and several others came to the police station,” he said. Mahender said an altercation followed between him and the girl’s family in the SI’s presence. “ that time, the SI threatAt ened me that he had been part of two encounters and I would be the third one. He also scolded me and used foul language,” he alleged. The girl’s family later lodged a complaint. Mahender said he was taken to the first floor of the station at 2.15 pm, where there was a kitchen, bedroom, toilet and other rooms, and forced to sit against a wall with his legs stretched out. “A constable named Javed sat on my knees and the SI’s driver, whose name I do not know, held my hands tightly The SI . then took a rubber belt and hit me on my palms. After hitting me, the SI asked me to run on that floor. Then they again forced me to sit in the same position and beat me in the same way he ,” alleged.  continued on P5