India and Pakistan players high five before (left) and after the match | ap/screengrab hyderabad l Thursday l august 20, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION India beat pakistan in world cup, advance to next phase of competition Goals flowed as a brace from Harmanpreet Singh and Abhishek helped the men’s hockey team to a big 5-3 win over neighbours, confirm qualification to next pool phase High on intensity and drama teams exchange pre-match high fives India, needing a win to go through, started quickly and caused all sorts of problems with their pressing and intensity. They made it 3-0 in under 30 minutes before allowing the rivals a route back thanks to some errors. The Netherlands will be one of their next opponents in the next phase of the competition. They will also face either New Zealand or Argentina ■ ■ Unlike in cricket, the hockey teams have generally traded customary pre-match pleasantries. Before pushback, both teams exchanged high fives, as is the norm in the sport The women’s team will also seal qualification to the next phase as long as they avoid defeat against England on Thursday 20 india have won 18 and drawn two of the last 20 matches vs. pakistan 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 CWC calls for 25-year freeze in Lok Sabha strength P r eeth a N a i r @ New Delhi The Congress on Wednesday called for a constitutional freeze on the current strength of the Lok Sabha for another 25 years while implementing the 33 per cent reservation for women from the 2029 elections, and decided to launch a nationwide campaign on issues facing students and the alleged corruption at the Ram Temple and the E20 issue. The party’s stand came at a four-hour-long Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting chaired by Mallikarjun Kharge. It was decided that the party will adhere to its historic 1937 position of singing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at party events. Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said regarding delimitation, the Congress is in favour of keeping the current number of Lok Sabha seats— 543—the same for the next 25 years. “At the same time, we demand the implementation of women’s reservation on this very number,” he added. The party will also hold nationwide protests on the alleged corruption surounding the donation to Ram Temple. As for the education reforms, Kharge called for a comprehensive and time-bound “Education-to-Employment Roadmap”. The CWC asked Congress chief ministers to prepare state-specific reports within one month on the reforms required in the education sector. Concer ns were also raised about the rollout of E20 petrol, including questions over fuel contamination and the environmental impact of diverting sugarcane and maize for ethanol production. J&K important part of India: US envoy Is compensation your priority or is it welfare Ambassador Sergio Gor says security situation improved, US travel advisories to be reviewed F AYA Z WA N I @ Srinagar IN a major diplomatic boost for India, US ambassador Sergio Gor on Wednesday described Jammu and Kashmir “an important part of India” and said the US would revise its travel advisory in view of the improved security situation. Gor arrived in Srinagar on a one-day visit in the afternoon and met J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The meeting lasted an hour, during which the duo discussed the economic, developmental and other issues concerning the region. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Gor said Jammu and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor in Srinagar | pti Kashmir is an important part of India and that he is visiting the region for the first time. “It is an incredibly beautiful place... I’m thrilled to be here, thrilled to see this place.” Gor’s statement is significant as it amplifies India’s stand that “J&K is an integral part of India”, dealing a blow to Pakistan’s narrative. On the possibility of Washington revisiting its travel advisory for J&K, Gor said: “I can’t make any big announcements here today, but it is something we’re going to look at.” Noting the steps taken by the Centre and J&K administration to address security concerns, he said: “New Delhi, the chief minister here, the government here… have made some incredible steps to keeping this area safer. So we will be Indian stocks now least preferred in Asia: BofA The Bofa survey said Taiwan is the most preferred market in Asia Pacific for investors in August, with 55% of the respondents being positive, followed by Japan at 50% and South Korea at 23% Among the survey respondents, 32% were ‘underweight’ on India. They also cited lack of reforms and elevated valuations for their bearish view on Asia’s fourth-largest market. In comparison, sentiment towards Indonesia improved, with 27% being ‘underweight’, down from 32% in July . Taiwan and Japan continued to be the most preferred markets among investors. In 2026 so far, Taiwan and Korean equity benchmarks are up more than 50% each while Japan has surged more than 26%. India’s Nifty meanwhile, is down nearly 8%. The last time BofA termed Indian stocks the least preferred was in May, when a sharp rise in crude oil prices due to the Iran war put pressure on the economic outlook. Union ministers get social media scorecard Vigilance starts Inter exam goof-up probe ARS H AD K H A N @ New Delhi INDIA has earned the dubious distinction of becoming Asia’s least-preferred stock market among global fund managers, according to Bank of America’s (BofA) August 2026 survey . In BofA’s July poll, fund managers had indicated Indonesia as the least favoured market. The absence of clear AI exposure and weak growth are the chief reasons why fund managers are ‘underweight’ (having lower expectations) on India, the latest survey notes. The pessimism about the Indian equity market comes as foreign institutional investors continue to dump locally listed shares amid a huge underperformance of BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty, compared to major global indices. RA J E S H K U M AR T H A K UR @ New Delhi At the Union cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, the social media performance of Cabinet ministers was a key point of discussion, with each of them presented with a detailed assessment of their traction as well as efforts to amplify the gover nment’s schemes through online platforms. All the ministers were presented with an assessment card outlining their performance from May 1 to August 15. Taiwan most fav market As part of the Gen Z outreach, it was also decided that one Union minister will visit one university each day to engage with the youth. During these day-long visits, the ministers must communicate to students about the government’s schemes, d eve l o p m e n t p o l i c i e s a n d achievements across sectors as well as gather their perspectives on issues facing the country. Education Minister Pralhad Joshi and Youth Affairs Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will coordinate these visits. E N S @ Hyderabad As announced by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, the Vigilance and Enforcement department has begun a probe into the alleged goofup in the evaluation of Intermediate question papers during the BRS regime in 2019, involving Globarena, the firm that handled major examinations, including CBSE and NEET, after rebranding.  report on P4 a study in horror Two Class 10 boys held for principal’s murder E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Nalgonda Nalgonda police on Wednesday said two Class 10 students had been arrested for the grisly murder of their school principal, who was stabbed 27 times at her home on the evening of August 11. Police said one of the students planned the crime and enlisted the other to carry it out after they allegedly bore a grudge against the principal for reprimanding them in front of their parents. The students had also searched online for ways to commit murder without leaving evidence, police said. The murder of K Roopa Reddy, principal of Nagarjuna Grammar Concept School in Kondamallepalli, came to light the following day August 12. , According to Nalgonda SP Sharat Chandra Pawar, the two students were from Pulsing Thanda and Pilya Thanda in Kondamallepalli mandal and studied at the same school. They also lived in the same hostel room. Police said the murder was preceded by a series of steps taken by the students over a week. They had allegedly been using mobile phones secretly to access social media and YouTube while looking for ways to make quick money . Last month, Roopa Reddy caught the students with money in their hostel room and reprimanded them in the presence of their parents. Police said the incident led to resentment against the principal. The students allegedly believed that Roopa Reddy had a large amount of cash at home and began looking for ways to rob her. After a recce of the area around the principal’s house, on August 11, one of the students brought an orange hoodie and trousers from his home. Nalgonda SP Sharat Chandra Pawar with the money and phones seized from the accused students on Wednesday The two then bought a knife and gloves in Kondamallepalli and went to Roopa Reddy’s house near a water tank. The student who had allegedly planned the crime remained outside as a lookout, while the other entered through an open kitchen door. He allegedly attacked Roopa Reddy with the knife, stabbing her 27 times.  continued on P5 Killed for scolding Police said that the principal had caught the students with money in their hostel room and reprimanded them in the presence of their parents, which led to resentment against her looking at if the travel warning imposed and recommended by the United States is something that should be downgraded.” Terming the meeting with Gor “very good”, Omar said: “We had an opportunity to discuss the relations between our two countries but with specific focus on what the US can do with J&K. There are certain legacy issues that over time we will be working to resolve, but we look forward to taking this conversation further.” Ahead of his meeting with the US envoy, Omar had said the problems of J&K are to be solved by the Central government and not by Washington. express read TG gets `100 cr for Indiramma Towers Hyderabad: The state govt has received a major boost to its plans for constructing Indiramma Towers in the CURE area, with the Centre approving `100.8 crore for the construction of 6,720 flats under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Urban) 2.0 | P2 Ex-MLA booked over ‘missing’ rice Adilabad: Khanapur police have registered a case against former MLA Ajmeera Rekha Naik, who owns the proprietor of ARS Industries at Sattenpally, after Civil Supplies officials found a shortage of 9,639.962 metric tonnes (MT) of paddy allotted to the mill | P4 schemes? HC asks state T G N a i d u @ Hyderabad Questioning the state government’s priorities, the Telangana High Court on Wednesday asked whether payment of statutory compensation to land losers should take precedence over welfare schemes such as Kalyana Lakshmi and Shadi Mubarak. Justice NV Shravan Kumar made the observations while hearing a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the two schemes, as the court sought clarity from the government on their legal framework, funding and statutory basis. The court also pointed to cases of land losers, including families waiting across generations for compensation for land acquired by the government, and asked the state to clarify its plans to clear the pending dues. “We are not telling the state how it has to spend its finances, but is statutory compensation for land losers your priority or welfare schemes?” Justice Shravan Kumar asked. The judge directed Additional Advocate General Mohd Imran Khan to obtain clear instructions from the government on payment of pending land acquisition compensation and said land losers should be given priority in meeting statutory obligations. The court’s observations came with the interim stay on the implementation of Kalyana Lakshmi and Shadi Mubarak, imposed on August 12, continuing. The matter was posted for further hearing on Thursday  . continued on p4 There is a hue and cry in courts regarding land acquisition compensation, while even 50% are not paid. State’s priorities in such circumstances are seriously debatable Justice NV Shravan Kumar, TG High Court Eight GOs stayed The court was hearing a plea seeking vacation of the interim stay on implementation of Kalyana Lakshmi and Shadi Mubarak, imposed on August 12. The court had earlier stayed eight GOs governing the schemes