vijayawada l thursday l february 29, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION BCCI sends message: No domestic cricket, no central contracts Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan dropped from central contracts for ignoring domestic despite repeated calls from board secretary Jay Shah A+ for Rohit, Virat Captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who skipped the ongoing 5-match Test series against England, retained their place in Grade A-plus along with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja hardik finds place in Grade A H ardik Pandya, who hasn’t played for India since 2023 ODI World Cup or his domestic side Baroda, however, retained his place in Grade A along with six cricketers. Senior players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shikhar Dhawan miss out 30 Iyer, Kishan face music over ranji miss Kishan pulled out of two-Test series against South Africa last year while Iyer was apparently dropped after second Test versus England earlier this month. Iyer had said he missed Mumbai quarters match due to injury, which the National Cricket Academy refuted saying he was fit | P11 K ishan has not played Ranji this season while Iyer is in Mumbai squad for semis cricketers named in four Grades for the year 2023-24 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 HP budget passed amid high drama endgame near for ysrc govt, says naidu E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena President Pawan Kalyan launched their poll campaign in Tadepalligudem and addressed a public meeting, ‘Janda’, for the first time after announcing the first list of candidates for the ensuing election. Going hammer and tongs against the YSRC government, Naidu asserted that YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s regime was nearing endgame. He described the Jagan government as ‘utter flop show’ with no sequel. Emphasising that the next 40 days are crucial, Naidu asserted that the ‘super hit’ TDP-JSP express read CM disburses `1,078 cr Rythu Bharosa aid Vijayawada: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday disbursed `1,294.34 crore under the YSR Rythu Bharosa-PM Kisan and YSR Sunna Vaddi Panta Runalu schemes. Of the total sum released, `1,078.36 crore was extended to 53.58 lakh farmers under Rythu Bharosa | P4 combination would put a full stop to the YSRC regime. Calling upon the people to chase the YSRC away from the State, he said, “The aim of our poll pact is to achieve a YSRC Vimukta Andhra Pradesh.” Accusing the government of looting the State, the former chief minister reiterated that the TDP-JSP alliance had been formed to save the future of the State. Recounting the victory of the TDP, JSP and BJP alliance in the 2014 elections, Naidu said, “Post bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh had no capital. The economy was in a disarray, but my gover nment strove to rebuild the State with the help of human and natural P4 resources.” 15 BJP MLAs suspended; Virbhadra’s son quits state cabinet, later softens stand H a r p r ee t B a j w a @ Chandigarh Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan exchange party flags as a show of unity during a public meeting in Tadepalligudem on Wednesday | Express We brought 11 national educational institutions to the State, investments to the tune of `16 lakh crore and 10 lakh jobs. Unfortunately, all those efforts were reduced to ashes by one person The TDP-JSP combine would wage a ‘Maha Yuddham’ (war) against the YSRC regime. Twenty-four seats are no small matter. Just like Vamana, who suppressed Bali Chakravarthi, I will suppress Jagan. N Chandrababu Naidu, TDP supremo Pawan Kalyan, JSP chief RIL, Disney to merge India media biz A r s h a d K h a n @ New Delhi Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and US-based entertainment giant Walt Disney have signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture that will combine the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India and create a media behemoth valued at `70,352 crore. The transaction is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2024 or early next year. The JV will be controlled by the Reliance group, which will have a 63% stake. RIL will also pump in `11,500 crore into the JV to give it the financial muscle to fight rivals such as Japan’s Sony and Netflix. The development comes a month after Sony terminated its merger with India’s Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Nita Ambani will be the chairperson of the JV with ex, Disney executive Uday Shankar as the vice-chairperson. The JV will create the biggest firm in the country’s $28billion media & entertainment sector with 120 TV channels, two streaming platforms, and an estimated 750 million viewers across India. War clouds hovering over Himachal Pradesh dissipated a bit amid high drama on Wednesday as the Sukhu government passed the state budget after Speaker Kuldeep Pathania suspended 15 protesting BJP members. The assembly was later adjourned sine die. The government was in turmoil after six Congress members cross-voted for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections the previous day . There was further anxiety as PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh, son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, put in his papers in the morning saying he was humiliated by the state leadership. By the evening, he softened and said he will not press his resignation. The six rebels — Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Inder Dutt lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma, and Divender Kumar — appeared before the Speaker as part of the disqualification proceedings. They left for Panchkula from Shimla before central Congress o b s e r ve r s — B h u p e s h B a g h e l , Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and D K Shivakumar — reached the state capital. The rebels and three Independents, who supported the BJP in the RS polls, attended the House but abstained from voting on the budget on Wednesday . PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh Speaker reserves his order Speaker Kuldeep Pathania reserved his orders after hearing the six rebel MLAs. Their advocate argued that they were given the showcause notice and the copy of the petition but not the annexures. He added that MLAs must be given seven days to file their replies. He claimed that party whip does not apply for RS polls joint operation Record drug seizure off Gujarat coast D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad In a joint operation, the Indian Navy and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized a record 3,300 kg of narcotics from a fishing boat off Gujarat coast, making it the largest drug haul in recent years. Five foreign nationals onboard the boat have been arrested. The value of the contraband could be `1,300-2,000 crore on the international drugs market, the NCB said on Wednesday. The drugs seized include 3,089 kg of charas, 158 kg of methamphetamine and 25 kg of morphine. The unregistered fishing boat was intercepted on Tuesday morning on the Arabian Sea, around 60 nautical miles from the Indian coast. The packets bore the stamp of ‘Ras Awad Goods Co, produce of Pakistan’, the NCB added. The Navy deployed its P8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, marine commandos and helicopters. The drugs originated from Chabahar in Iran. The boat has been brought to Porbandar. Home minister Amit Shah described the operation as a “historic success”.
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