hyderabad l monday l september 07, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION U.S. peace envoys make first Kyiv visit eyeing end to Ukraine war Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held talks in Kyiv on Sunday in their first official visit to Ukraine, hoping to end Russia’s invasion ukraine trip follows meeting with putin Had meaningful discussion, says witkoff Russia has recently been using fast-flying, jet-powered drones, and the recurring wail of air-raid sirens has become part of daily life in Kyiv. The trip by the Americans follows a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday. Washington’s push to end the war has lost momentum, with US focused for the past six months on the Iran war ■ ■ Following two rounds of discussion with the US officials, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the goal was a “just, fair peace” “We’ve had very meaningful discussion,” Witkoff said. A Ukrainian official said anonymously much of the discussion focused on “how to get through the winter and what can be done before then” | P9 1,250 km long frontline in ukraine where troops are fighting russians 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 session from today Show up in Assembly or KCR to skip House, lead step down: Cong to KCR protest on KLIS neglect E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad Demanding the resignation of BRS president and Leader of the Opposition K Chandrasekhar Rao as an MLA, several Congress leaders, including TPCC president and MLC B Mahesh Kumar Goud, Ministers D Sridhar Babu and Ponnam Prabhakar, staged a protest at Dharna Chowk near Indira Park on Sunday, citing KCR’s absence from Assembly proceedings and failure to raise people’s issues. Addressing the gathering, Mahesh questioned KCR’s absence despite drawing public funds and asked whether his son and nephew were preventing him from leaving his farmhouse. He said KCR, as Leader of the Opposition, should attend Assembly debates and raise issues with the government. If he was unable to discharge his duties, he should step down and hand over the leadership to his son or nephew, the TPCC president said. IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu alleged that the BRS leadership had gone astray, saying that protesting on the Pic: SRI LOGANATHAN VELMURUGAN streets and holding dharnas was not the proper approach in a democracy He advised Opposition . leaders to attend Assembly sessions and raise their queries directly, assuring them that the government was fully prepared to provide answers. Sridhar also pointed to the Congress government’s welfare record, saying it was functioning with accountability and fulfilling its electoral promises step-by-step. He said new ration cards had been issued to all eligible beneficiaries irrespective of political affiliations and alleged that no new ration cards had been distributed during the decade-long BRS regime. Taking aim at the BRS leadership, the TPCC chief said character and culture were more important than formal education and questioned KT Rama Rao’s contribution to the state despite his educational background.  Continued on p4 BRS president and Leader of the Opposition K Chandrasekhar Rao will skip the Assembly session beginning on Monday and launch an agitation after its conclusion, demanding the release of water from the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme and Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme. Announcing the decision after the BRSLP meeting on Sunday , Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao said party leaders had urged KCR not to attend the session, which they described as resembling a “Kaurava Sabha”. Harish Rao objected to the use of language such as “I’ll strip you and beat you, I’ll beat you mercilessly” in the Assembly saying it had left , respectable members of society “hanging their heads in shame” and that KCR need not go to such a “disrespectful Assembly”. He recalled that MGR, Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi, NTR and Chandrababu Naidu had boycotted the House after being humiliated and later returned as chief ministers. “Since the Congress is treating KCR in the same manner, we will take this issue to the people and teach the Congress a fitting lesson,” he said. Finalising the BRS strategy for the Assembly, KCR discussed the issues to be raised in the House. Harish said the party would raise its concerns over power cuts, farm loan waivers, GO 97 on polytechnic colleges, alleged scams in Singareni, PRCs and release of DAs to government employees and fee reimbursement for 30 lakh students. During the BRSLP meet, KCR reportedly expressed disappointment over the state government’s failure to provide irrigation water to farmers and protect the state’s water rights. He directed party leaders to prepare an action plan for the agitation. “The state government is helping Andhra Pradesh utilise Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam waters. Why has it failed to repair the Medigadda barrage and provide water?” KCR questioned.  Continued on p4 5 dead as 50-yr-old Delhi hostel collapses U DAYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi A 50-year-old five-storey building collapsed in south Delhi’s Satya Niketan area in the vicinity of Delhi University’s south campus on Sunday afternoon, leaving five persons dead and several injured. The structure, which was being used as a paying guest accommodation, collapsed at around 1.30 pm. Officials said 10 people were rescued so far. Local residents claimed 50 people could still be trapped under the debris. Prior to the collapse, repair work was underway in the basement of the structure, police said.Victims were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre where some were in critical condition. According to sources, the building was vacated around a year ago over safety concerns. However, a few months back, Rescue work on near the structure in Delhi’s Satya Niketan on Sunday | parveen negi PG accommodation was started in the building. According to police, a PCR call was received at South Campus police station at 1.34 pm on the collapse of ‘Hostel Daze’ near Nanakpura Gurdwara. Many hurt in JH pub brawl; MP’s brother involved C h i t h a l u r i Re v a n t h @ Hyderabad Several persons were injured after two groups clashed at Cara Cara Pub at Daspalla in Jubilee Hills in the early hours of Sunday. Aravind Kumar Yadav, brother of Rajya Sabha MP Mandadi Anil Kumar Yadav, was also reportedly involved in the brawl. However, he told the police that he had not assaulted anyone. According to police, Aravind Kumar Yadav and his friends were involved in a dispute inside the pub with another group that included Wasim Khan, Afsar Khan and others. The disagreement, which initially involved two persons, one from each group, later escalated into a clash between the two groups. The two groups reportedly continued fighting after coming downstairs, damaging several vehicles and pub furniture. The brawl lasted nearly half an hour, police said. Jubilee Hills DCP Ramana Reddy said three cases were registered: a suo motu case against both groups for affray a , complaint by Wasim Khan alleging he and his friend were assaulted and their car damaged, and a case against the pub management for allegedly operating beyond permitted hours without permission. Post-midnight altercation Police are examining CCTV footage to establish the sequence of events and determine whether anyone had come from outside and joined the fight, which occurred around 2 am. While there was speculation that more than 100 people were involved, police said they were yet to ascertain the exact number. Further investigation is on. “This was a 40- or 50-year-old building, comprising a basement and five upper floors, and it was used as a PG accommodation,” a police official said. Locals claimed that the collection of water over days of rain in the basement had weakened the building’s foundation, leading to its eventual collapse. Densely packed buildings, marked by heavy student presence and narrow, congested bylanes, lined with eateries and PG accommodations, often leave the area with little room for movement. Eight fire tenders and multiple rescue teams from various departments were rushed to the spot, officials said. No immediate official confirmation has been provided regarding the total number of people trapped, rescued, or injured. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah expressed condolences and shock at the tragedy. saying, “The collapse of a building at Satya Niketan is distressing. Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured.” A high-level probe has been ordered. express read Metro-RTC joint travel passes on cards Hyderabad: Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju on Sunday directed officials to introduce daily & monthly joint passes for Metro Rail and RTC bus travel. At a coordination meet with HMRL, TGSRTC, Electricity, Metro and other officials, he reviewed elevated corridors and future requirements | P3 India backs UN, draws red line on J&K, Ladakh Says proposed world map must depict the 2 UTs in line with India’s official map J AYA N TH J AC O B @ New Delhi india has drawn a clear line on the depiction of its territory , stressing that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh must be shown in accordance with the country’s official map after it backed a United Nations General Assembly resolution seeking to correct distortions including the relative size of the African continent on commonly used world maps. The External Affairs Ministry on Sunday clarified that India’s vote in favour of the United Nations General Assembly resolution did not amount to an endorsement of any particular map, projection or representation of national boundaries. “Any inaccurate or misleading depiction is unacceptable. Our position on India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is clear, consistent and non-negotiable,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. The clarification assumes significance beIndia’s sovereign cause the UN initiative has prompted a discusterritory, sion over how the world is represented on maps, including the relative size of continents including Union Territories of and the way territories and boundaries are Jammu & depicted. India stressed that the resolution Kashmir and does not seek to settle questions of political Ladakh, must be depicted in cartography . accordance “The resolution neither adopts nor authenwith India’s ticates any particular world map, nor does it official map address political cartography including inter, national boundaries, disputed territories or Randhir Jaiswal place names,” the MEA said. It added that India’s vote “does not constitute endorsement of any specific map, projection, or depiction of national boundaries.” New Delhi’s position follows its explanation of vote at the UN General Assembly earlier, when it supported the broader principle of using equal-area map projections but explicitly distanced itself from endorsing the equal earth projection. Indian diplomat Raghoo Puri said, “The resolution should be understood as supporting the broader use and consideration of equal-area map projections and not as endorsing the Equal Earth projection, or any other specific map projection.” Net gains for Satwik and Chirag in China Indian doubles duo displays grit and experience to beat He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu in three games to clinch China Masters title in Shenzhen Hard-fought victory `11,639 cr push to develop 2,616 border villages RA J E S H K U MAR THA K U R & S U MIT K U MAR S I N G H @ New Delhi ONCE known for being neglected and cut off from the rest of the country, India’s border villages are fast turning into thriving hubs of economic activity . One of the major drivers of the change is the Centre’s decision to turn paramilitary outposts along international borders into buyers of local produce. The move is part of a `11,639 crore push to keep villages populated along sensitive frontiers under the Vibrant Village Programme (VVP). Overall, 2,616 villages situated along the international borders are covered under VVP in , two phases. These include 455 villages in Arunachal Pradesh, 75 in HP 51 in Uttarakhand, 46 , in Sikkim, and 35 in Ladakh. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police, which guards the Himalayan frontier with China, has been directed to procure all daily need items from these model villages. Be it procuring milk, vegetables, eggs and grains, they have to buy directly from the villages. The government’s aim is to make border posts of army and paramilitary a local market wherein the troops deployed will buy every day essentials for local farms and reduce the economic isolation that has driven migration away from frontier areas. The paramilitary forces have started the process, the Centre stated on Sunday The Border . Security Force has also started the process. The Centre is now looking for other forces taking similar steps. Third time is the charm Shot in the arm before Asian games The Indians had finished runners-up on two occasions (2023 and 2025) in the recent years. They finally broke the jinx to get over the line on Sunday Given that this was just their second tournament since their return from injury, it’s a massive shot in the arm for the doubles pair. Now, they will be looking to build on this performance and defend their crown in the upcoming Asian Games in Japan Like their previous three ties in the competition, the World No 5 pair was thoroughly tested but they kept their calm in key moments to come out on top. When the score was 17-17 in the final game, the Indians reeled off four straight points to seal the deal 2 This is SatChi’s second title of the season It feels really special. Going into the Asiad, winning a title is definitely a huge boost. It feels whatever we are working for, we are in the right direction — Chirag Shetty Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy after their win on Sunday | badminton photo | P11 Cloudy Affairs How urbanisation is reshaping rain in Hyderabad S i d d h a r d h a G at t i m i @ Hyderabad Raindrops may look all the same from the ground, but where they fall can influence how they are formed. A new study of Hyderabad has found that urbanisation can influence the development of rain clouds and the size of the raindrops they produce. The study led by researchers , from the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Tirupati, claims to be the first in India to examine how urbanisation affects the microphysics of rain — the processes through which tiny cloud droplets grow into raindrops — across different parts of Hyderabad. To understand how the city influences rainfall, researchers studied rain over Hyderabad’s upwind, downtown and downwind regions and compared the observations with those from a nearby rural location. They found that rain-producing systems tended to develop deeper over the upwind and urbancore areas than over the downwind and rural regions. That difference matters for a city that has expanded rapidly . Hyderabad’s urban area increased by 16.5% over the past two decades, while the city has also seen a rise in rainfall and losses linked to extreme weather. Its annual mean rainfall in- creased from 796 mm during 1971-1990 to 840 mm during 1991-2020. The October 2020 deluge remains a stark reminder of what that vulnerability can look like. Hyderabad received 324 mm of rain on October 12 and 13, with more than 100 people reported killed and economic losses estimated at about USD 1.23 billion, according to the study . So, what exactly is the city doing to the clouds? According to the researchers, the urban environment creates conditions that favour the development of deeper convective clouds. Higher moisture, atmospheric convergence and other local weather conditions contribute to stronger vertical development of rain clouds over parts of Hyderabad. Storms rising beyond 10 km were found to occur about 2-3% more frequently over the upwind and downtown areas than over the downwind and rural regions. But the story does not end with the clouds. The researchers also found differences in the distribution of raindrop sizes across Hyderabad’s urban landscape.  Continued on p3