kalaburagi l sunday l may 31, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l city EDITION GT’s Shubman and RCB’s Rajat have a chance to etch history Gill aims to make statement as captain With two young Indian captains going up against each other in the Indian Premier League final in Ahmedabad on Sunday, a look… Patidar’s chance to enter exclusive list Having been dropped from the Indian T20I team, Shubman Gill has upped his intent and shown why he can be a successful batter and captain in this format. Leading from the front for the Gujarat Titans, the 26-year-old will be keen to dismantle defending champs Royal Challengers Bengaluru and lift the trophy at his IPL home ground. ■ ■ When Rajat Patidar was appointed captain of RCB, the batter from Madhya Pradesh surprised everyone with his captaincy, breaking the franchise’s 18-year IPL title drought, in Ahmedabad last year. Come Sunday, he has a chance to make history by winning back-toback titles, joining the likes of MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma | P13 TWO CSK and MI are the two other teams to win consecutive titles 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 Everybody thought this transition is going to be a trouble for Congress or a big shakeup would happen... But our party is a family, a great family FinMin: India faces headwinds from West Asia, weak monsoon outlook KC Venugopal, AICC General Secretary D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi Cong trying to finalise 11:11:11 ministers formula CM designate DK Shivakumar with Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot and caretaker CM Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Saturday | special arrangement WITH THIS ISSUE Testing Times PLUS 12 P AGES express read 3,765 students miss CUET examination New Delhi: The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) ran into a technical glitch on Saturday, with 3,765 students across the country unable to take up the test. The National Testing Agency said it will make arrangement for affected students on a different date |P9 Rabri Devi refuses to vacate bungalow Patna: A large contingent of police force has been deployed outside the 10 Circular Road bungalow earlier allotted to former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Rabri Devi, hours after she refused to vacate the house and dared Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary to get the building vacated |P10 The Congress high command is understood to have finalised a broad structure for the 34-member ministry with indications of an 11:11:11 formula to accommodate different factions within the party. As per this, 11 berths each are being planned for the high command nominees, loyalists of outgoing CM Siddaramaiah, and supporters of incoming CM DK Shivakumar.  P4 DKS elected CLP leader, to take oath on Wednesday Low-key swearing-in at Lok Bhavan on the advice of Rahul Gandhi D eva ra j B H i r e h a l l i @Bengaluru As expected, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar was on Saturday elected Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader. He will take oath as the 18th chief minister of Karnataka at 4.05 pm on Wednesday with a council of ministers in a ceremony scheduled to be held at the Glass House at Lok Bhavan. Shivakumar fixed the date and time matching his horoscope after consulting his personal astrologers and also his deity Ajjayya Swami, sources said. Gover nor Thaawarchand Gehlot will administer the oath of office to Shivakumar. At the CLP meeting, to make the process hassle-free, outgoing chief minister Siddaramaiah proposed Shivakumar’s name as new CLP leader promptly, following instructions from the party high command. Senior leader Dr G Parameshwara seconded it and party legislators gave their approval unanimously by raising their hands. Though it was not yet confirmed how many legislators would be sworn in along with Shivakumar, sources said the names of 20 MLAs have been finalised. Initially, the swearing-in was planned on the grand steps of Vidhana Soudha, but on the advice of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to keep it lowprofile, the event has been shifted to Lok Bhavan, sources said. After his election as CLP leader, Shivakumar along with Siddaramaiah and other senior party legislators met the governor at Raj Bhavan with the letter to stake claim to form the government. “Congress Legislature Party Karna, taka consisting of 135 Members of Indian National Congress, 2 Associated Members and 1 Raita Sangha MLA has unanimously elected me as Leader of Congress Legislature Party on 30th May 2026. I therefore request your goodself to kindly accord permission to take Oath in the swearing in-ceremony me as Chief Minister and others as the Council of Ministers on Wednesday 3rd June 2026, at 4-05PM at Lok Bhavan, Bengaluru,” the letter stated. In response, the Governor issued a letter of permission to Shivakumar and his probable Cabinet members to swear in. Earlier talking to media persons at Vidhana Soudha after the CLP meeting, AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said, “Everybody thought that this transition is going to be a trouble for Congress or a big shakeup would happen... But our party is a family a great family , .” He said the CLP also passed a resolution commending Siddaramaiah’s eight years of outstanding service as chief minister. “The resolution was moved by Shivakumar himself. This is a proud moment for Congress. This transfer of power has been carried out under the guidance of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, LoP in LS Rahul Gandhi and Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi. Under Shivakumar’s leadership, and with Siddaramaiah’s support, Congress will return to power again in 2028,” he said. P4 Rising costs: IndiGo may increase fares New Delhi: InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which operates IndiGo, may increase airfares further to offset rising costs, CEO Rahul Bhatia said, as a sharp surge in fuel prices continues to hit operations globally. Bhatia said the airline has so far found that passengers continue to book tickets despite higher fares |P12 Phogat fails to qualify Abhishek roughed up Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee wears a helmet after stones, shoes and eggs were hurled at him during a visit to Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Saturday to meet victims of post-poll violence | PTI | p10 for Asian Games Vinesh Phogat was knocked out of the Asian Games selection trials on Saturday after losing to Meenakshi Goyat 4-6 in a tense semifinal bout of women’s 53kg event, dashing hopes for her comeback | P11 INDIA’S economy remains resilient despite escalating global uncertainties triggered by the conflict in West Asia, but rising energy prices, a weakening rupee, mounting inflationary pressures and the prospect of a below-normal monsoon pose significant risks to growth and price stability, the Finance Ministry said in its Monthly Economic Review (MER) for May 2026. The ministry said the nearterm outlook for the economy is one of cautious resilience, with domestic fundamentals remaining broadly intact. Manufacturing and services activity continues to expand, the labour market remains stable and the country’s foreign exchange reserves provide a substantial buffer against external shocks. However, it cautioned that the global environment has become materially more chal- Food inflation risks alive and kicking The report said recent increase in petrol and diesel prices could trigger direct and indirect inflationary effects, while any further rise in global energy prices could erode the inflation cushion. Food inflation risks have risen after IMD projected a deficient monsoon that could compound inflationary pressures lenging since the outbreak of the West Asia conflict, with elevated crude oil prices, tighter financial conditions and slowing growth across major economies creating headwinds that India cannot fully escape. “The near-term outlook for the Indian economy is one of cautious resilience,” the report said, while warning that forecasts of a below-normal monsoon and a likely moderation in economic activity could weigh on consumption demand in the months ahead. The review noted that the conflict has disrupted energy markets, trade routes and supply chains, reviving inflation- Outgoing chief of navy charts the next frontier J a v a r i a R a n a @ New Delhi The Indian Navy’s next frontier of self-reliance lies not in shipbuilding, but in mastering critical technologies, from AI-enabled combat systems and autonomous platforms to quantum-secure networks and sovereign design capability, outgoing Navy chief Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi told this newspaper in one of his final interviews before demitting office on Sunday . He said the Navy is currently steering about 140 major R&D projects across 25 Defence Research and Development Organisation laboratories. “The next frontier of indigenisation lies in critical technologies and sovereign design capability The Indian . Navy’s modernisation story is increasingly being written in Indian shipyards and Indian laboratories,” he said. On the subsurface domain, he said the Navy is in the final stages of procuring six next-generation conventional submarines equipped with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) under Project-75(I). Also, a contract for 31 MQ-9B Sky/Sea Guardian high-altitude long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft has been placed, with deliveries beginning in 2029. “The undersea domain remains central to maritime deterrence. It is not just about having submarines but about having underwater domain awareness and the ability to respond faster than any potential ad- I leave with immense confidence that the Indian Navy is stronger, more capable, more indigenous, more networked, and better prepared than ever before Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi versary,” he said. On carrier aviation, Tripathi identified the Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter as the cornerstone of India’s long-term indigenous carrier air power roadmap. “The future must be shaped by an indigenous carrier-borne fighter ecosystem to secure our national maritime interests, anytime, anywhere, anyhow,” he said. The strategic necessity of Carrier Battle Groups was aptly demonstrated during Operation Sindoor, when their deployment forced the adversary’s navy to remain confined to ports and the Makran coast, he said. Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan will succeed Tripathy as the next Navy chief.  Q&A: P9 ary pressures globally. Brent crude averaged $120.4 per barrel in April before easing to $108.3 in May, while supplychain disruptions intensified. The ministry flagged a growing divergence between retail and wholesale inflation. Consumer price inflation rose marginally to 3.48% in April, remaining below the Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term target of 4%. In contrast, wholesale price inflation accelerated to 8.3%, a 42-month high, driven by elevated energy prices, rupee depreciation and favourable base effects. The inflation outlook, it said, warrants close monitoring. Cash in Soudha Lokayukta cops suppressed evidence: Court Yat h i r a j u @ B e n g a l u r u The Special Court for Lokayukta cases made a startling revelation that the Lokayukta police made all possible efforts to suppress crucial evidence that prima facie disclosed the involvement of then Backwards Classes Welfare Minister C Puttarangashetty in a case related to the arrest of a person with Rs 25.76 lakh cash on Vidhana Soudha premises in 2019. The arrested person later revealed that the money was a cut from the contractors to be handed over to the minister. Judge KM Radhakrishna made the scathing remarks against the Lokayukta police, saying that deciding the quality of an investigation, giving a goby to true culprits, filing of B reports, or the chargesheets, etc., depending on the background and societal status of culprits, is most unfortunate. This court has directed further investigations in many cases of this nature for similar lapses and defects. The investigating agency is in the habit of being reluctant to further investigations, justify their defective conclusions without attending to the lapses and ignoring the required investigation and crucial evidence, the court said. The arrested person, Mohan Kumar, after accepting the amount from contractors with the help of dropouts, accused No 2 to 6, was carrying Rs 25.76 lakh from the secretariat on the evening of January 4, 2019, to hand it over to the minister (Puttaranga Shetty). The Vidhana Soudha police took him into custody at the instance of a reporter. P7 g r e e n f a ll o u t Iran conflict’s positive side: India Inc goes for recycled plastic J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi The ongoing Iran conflict has had an unexpected positive spinoff for the environment. The beneficiary: India’s plastic recycling industry . Before the conflict began, virgin polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was the go-to packaging product for India Inc. This was despite the fact that the government had mandated adding 40% of recycled PET or r-PET to their procurement. Two important ingredients for virgin PET were imported from countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. With the conflict disrupted that critical supply chain, it gave the recycled plastic industry a huge breakthrough. From a pre-conflict monthly sourcing of about 5,000 tonnes of rPET, orders has now surged to Call for strong deterrent If a company does not meet its recycled plastic usage target, it faces either no penalty or a mere `2.90/kg penalty. In contrast, penalties in the EU exceed `50/kg, serving as a strong deterrent, said Deepak Rungta, an r-PET manufacturer around 15,000 tonnes a month. Goutham Jain, Director General of the Association of PET Recyclers (APR) Bharat, said, “If the war crisis persists, production capacity could reach 180,000 tonnes annually .” Significantly, the cost of manufacturing virgin PET has shot up from `90/kg to `135/kg, while that of food packaginggrade r-PET climbed from `95/ kg to `115/kg. The Food Safety Standards Authority has approved r-PET production capacity of around 300,000 tonnes, which represents 40% of the total PET consumption in the country This approval is based . on new regulations from the environment ministry, which mandates the inclusion of at least 40% r-PET in food packaging. However, the usage of rPET at present in food packaging is only about 20%. Experts say the regulations are slanted towards virgin plastic consumers as they allow industries to defer their recycling targets without immediate penalties or minimal penalties.