kochi l wednesday l august 19, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION nO KHEL RATNA, PRUNED LIST FOR NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS The 2025 National Sports Awards will not have a Khel Ratna as the sports ministry on Tuesday came up with a pruned list after revaluation Tejaswin Shankar | AFP heartbreak for shooter Mehuli TEJASWIN, DIVYA AMONG 17 ARJUNA AWARDEES As many as 24 names were recommended for Arjuna Awards by the selection panel more than six months ago but the ministry struck out seven names. Prominent among them was shooter Mehuli Ghosh, the 2024 Paris Olympian and former World Championships medallist. The 10m air rifle shooter from West Bengal expressed shock on her exclusion ■ ■ Among those who were named for the Arjuna Awards are World Cup winning chess player Divya Deshmukh, decathlete and high jumper Tejaswin Shankar and shuttler Gayatri Gopichand It was learnt that no name was recommended for the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award by the selection panel 2014 The last time khel ratna award was not given to any athlete 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 on 394 Expert panel today on police excess I-T heatsending entities SC to announce committee to examine violence; protest hijacked by anti-socials, say cops Bihar govt transfers SPs of Siwan, Bhojpur s u c h i t r a ka lyan m o h an t y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will constitute a high-powered committee to examine allegations of police excesses against student protesters on July 20 in Delhi. A bench of CJI Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said an order constituting the committee, comprising retired judges, a former DGP an ex-CBI director , and others, will be passed on Wednesday after getting suggestions from political parties on additional members to be included. The court said it will direct that video footage and CCTV recordings of the violence during the July 20 Parliament march be handed over to the panel for examination. The matter relates to allegations of excessive force used by Delhi Police during the protest at Jantar Mantar. During the hearing, CJI Kant said the committee can submit interim reports on urgent issues instead of waiting for a final report. The bench also indicated that states can submit a list of FIRs involving only students/ protesters. The court had sought the list of FIRs so File photograph of police action on protesters in Delhi on July 20 | Express Committee to comprise eminent persons. We are considering former senior police/CBI officers among its members ... — Supreme Court-bench led by CJI Surya Kant that it can consider invoking Article 142 to quash them, while cases involving those with serious criminal antecedents can be dealt with separately It asked all parties to suggest . priority issues and terms of reference of the panel. The bench also pointed out that the allegations concerning sexual assault, molestation and online harassment of women and other vulnerable persons will also be examined. The court said constitutional ques- tions concerning facial recognition technology surveillance, , allegations of sexual assault and online harassment of women will ultimately be decided by the court itself, and not by the committee. It will then fix a date for further hearing while the committee begins its work. For its part, the Delhi Police strongly defended the use of force during the Parliament protest on July 20, telling the court that the agitation was hi- Marching orders were issued for SPs of Siwan and Bhojpur districts in Bihar over police action during their stint. While Siwan SP Puran Jha has been kept in waiting at the state police headquarters, Bhojpur SP Raj is now SP of Rohtas district. It was Jha under whose command an AK-47 rifle was used during a student protest in Siwan on July 25, while the encounter of activist Bharat Tiwari in Bhojpur forced a public outcry and Raj’s transfer jacked by “anti-social elements”. In an affidavit filed by DCP Sachin Sharma of New Delhi district, police said the protest “led to a breakdown of law and order in which 240 personnel were injured”. The response justified the use of standard lathis, facialrecognition cameras, and plainclothes spotters, while denying use of nail-fitted batons. The affidavit was filed in response to pleas alleging excessive use of force against protesters. Constitutional Question PIL on death penalty by lethal injection rejected e x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi Chief Minister V D Satheesan interacts with Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone CEO Ashwani Gupta and Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd MD Geromic George before the inauguration of EXIM operations of the port on Tuesday | Albin Mathew ‘Mission Samudra’, EXIM ops at Vizhinjam launched E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Marking a new chapter in Kerala’s development, Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Tuesday launched the state g ove r n m e n t ’s a m b i t i o u s project, Mission Samudra, and the export-import (EXIM) operations at Vizhinjam International Seaport. Mission Samudra seeks to integrate Kerala’s 600-km coastline, two international seaports and 17 minor ports into a unified maritime zone, with the aim of turning the state into a global logistics and manufacturing hub. The move puts Kerala on the global maritime logistics map and opens a new gateway between India and the world, Satheesan said after the launch. Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, who was scheduled to deliver the keynote address, was conspicuously absent. Calling Vizhinjam the country’s first automated, algorithm-driven port using artificial intelligence, the chief minister said Kerala should leverage its strengths, including academics, through Mission Samudra. “With EXIM operations now a reality, we can export our products to hundreds of ports across several countries on six continents,” ● More on P4 he said. IN a significant judgment, the Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a PIL seeking removal of the present mode of execution of death row convicts by hanging from the statute. “We are not persuaded that a case has been made out for reference of the decision of the three-judge bench in Deen Dayal Upadhyay case to a larger bench for reconsideration of the constitutional validity of Section 354(5) of the CrPC/Section 393(5) of the BNSS,” said a two-judge bench headed by justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. The court dismissed the petition filed by lawyer Rishi Malhotra, who sought a judicial direction to the government to adopt the use of lethal injection instead of hanging as the mode of execution in death penalty cases. Section 354(5) says that when any person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that he be hanged by the neck till he is dead. The bench, however, did not treat the dismissal as permanently foreclosing the constitutional question. It clarified that scientific and medical developments could alter the factual foundation on which the earlier judgment proceeded. “Constitutional interpretation is organic and must remain responsive both to the evolution of constitutional opinion and to the advances in scientific knowledge,” the bench said. Girl, 13, and 3 minor boys detained for murder of her grandfather Va r s h a S o ma r a j @Kochi A 13-year-old girl and three minor boys were taken into custody on Tuesday in connection with the murder of a 65-year-old man, who was found dead at his residence at Karuvatta in Alappuzha the day before. Police said the girl, granddaughter of the deceased Sivankutty Chettiyar, planned the robbery-murder and remained on video call with her boyfriend as he and his friends killed him. Sivankutty’s body was found with his hands and legs tied at the back with bedsheets and clothes. As per the autopsy, he was smothered to death. Six sovereigns of gold and cash were stolen from the house. “Sivankutty was found with injuries that caused internal bleeding. However, the cause of death was smothering,” District Police Chief T K Vishnu Pradeep told TNIE. The police said the case initially appeared to be a robbery gone wrong. “However, contradictions in the girl’s statements changed the direction of the probe. Situational evidence and statements helped lead us to the culprits,” said Kayamkulam DySP Rajappan Rauthar. The police have arraigned the girl as the first accused, and her boyfriend, a Plus-II student from Paravur in Kollam, as the second accused. The other two accused are his friends, both aged 17. Preliminary probe points to financial gain as the motive. As per the police, the girl reportedly wanted an iPhone while the boys were in need of money to buy a motorcycle. However, the police are also checking a revenge angle after the boys told them that the girl had complained to her boyfriend that Sivankutty had touched her inappropriately and that she wanted him killed. “The allegation will be looked into,” Vishnu said. The cops said the murder took place between 10.45pm on Saturday and 1.30am on Sunday. “The boys travelled from Paravur to Haripad on Maveli Express on Saturday and reached Sivankutty’s house around 10.45pm on autorickshaw. ● More on P4 money abroad D IPA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi THE income tax department has launched a nationwide campaign against suspicious outward foreign remittances, focusing on shell companies, persons behind them, and professionals associated with them. It has identified 394 entities that transferred large amounts outside India over the past three years, including 117 entities located in states along India’s land borders. It has also identified 36 professionals for scrutiny . The tax department said on Tuesday that it has uncovered a nationwide network of entities engaged in remitting funds abroad during a search operation targeting a group of fictitious charitable trusts involved in providing accommodation entries against bogus donations and contributions. Preliminary ground verification found that many of such entities had either filed no income-tax returns at all or filed returns reporting very small turnovers. “The turnovers had no apparent correlation with the large amounts of money being remitted abroad,” it said, adding that the transactions did not appear to match the stated purposes of the remittances, including payments for freight, software imports and consulting services. EXPRESS READ CM opposes governor summoning police chief T’Puram: Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Tuesday criticised Governor Rajendra Arlekar for summoning the state police chief to the Lok Bhavan, saying an officer should be called by the governor only through the state government. Responding to questions at a press conference, the chief minister said the government had already taken a strong position against the practice and would formally convey its dissatisfaction to Lok Bhavan. P4 Sonia’s memoir to be published on Nov 10 New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoir will be published on November 10. The memoir is expected to reveal why Sonia Gandhi turned down the post of prime minister in 2004, among other things. ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’ is being published by Alfred A Knopf 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express