VIJAYAWADA l wednesday l september 23, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE CITY EDITION GST 2.0 boosts auto demand and affordability, spurs investment The tax cuts following rollout of GST 2.0 a year ago has driven a 20% surge in auto sales with passenger vehicle demand hitting new highs auto industry bosses remain bullish tax rationalisation proves a boon Maruti Suzuki (MSIL) MD and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said that PV sales for them grew about 36% year-on-year during Apr-Aug 2026. Anish Shah, Group CEO & MD, Mahindra Group said since the GST rationalisation, SUVs sale grew 17%, while LCVs and tractors grew 20%. Tarun Garg, MD & CEO at Hyundai India, said 4 lakh-unit monthly sale mark is the new normal | P12 ■ ■ The executives said the reform has helped broaden the customer base, particularly by improving affordability in the entry-level market The GST Council had approved changes to the tax structure effective September 22, 2025, with petrol, LPG and CNG vehicles under 1,200 cc and and diesel vehicles up to 1,500 cc moved to the 18 per cent rate 3 crore vehicles sold between October 2025 and August 2026 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 Vande mataram US Prez claims he has to decide whether to make a deal with Iran or annihilate it; berates the country for stalling an accord on Hormuz until after the midterm polls No criminal Don defends Iran war; says he’ll action on conscientious use Russia tariff tool if required objectors: SC A G E N CI E S @ United Nations SUCHITRA KA LYA N M O HA N T Y @ New Delhi “WE expect no criminal consequences for conscientious objectors to Vande Mataram,” the Supreme Court on Tuesday told the Centre on Tuesday while hearing a plea filed by Carnatic musician and author, T M Krishna. Krishna’s writ petition challenges the constitutional validity of the 2026 amendment to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act of 1971, which extends penal protection to Vande Mataram, read with the Ministry of Home Affairs’ directions mandating singing of all six stanzas of the song at official functions. The last four stanzas of the song, which refer to Hindu deities, violate the secular character of the nation, his petition contended. The Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices V Mohana and Joymalya Bagchi said it will examine whether the right not to sing the song, recognised in Bijoe Emmanuel, is protected under the amended law. The SC added it expects the 1986 precedent to apply ensur, ing no penal action against those who do not sing the Vande Mataram T M Krishna on religious grounds. The court said it is for the state to decide the contours of the song, but religious freedom under Articles 25 and 26 must be safeguarded. The SC judgment in Bijoe Emmanuel versus State of Kerala protected the right of individuals to refuse to sing the National Anthem on grounds of religious conscience. Opposing the challenge, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, argued that the issue should not be viewed narrowly through the lens of secularism. Senior advocate S Muralidhar, who appeared for Krishna, questioned the legal framework extending statutory protection to Vande Mataram. Krishna’s plea argued that the directions and amendment effectively compel citizens to participate in singing the last four stanzas and are violative of fundamental rights. On sanctions against Russia and AI 1 Donald Trump said he will use, if needed, sanctions to end the “disastrous war” between Russia and Ukraine 2 Trump repeated his claim that he settled the war between India and Pakistan last year 3 Signed an agreement with Denmark and Greenland aimed at strengthening Arctic and North Atlantic security 4 Told UNGA that artificial intelligence will be named “super intelligence” in all US govt documents PRESIDENT Donald Trump returned to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, defending his decision to go to war with Iran even as the conflict weighs o n h i s p a r t y ’s m i d t e r m prospects. “I have a big decision to make -- will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly?” Trump said. Trump accused Iran of stalling to make a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and negotiate an endgame to the war until after the US midterm elections. He insisted the tactic would have no effect on how he approaches the conflict. “We will get it (deal) done one way or another. We will get it done and get it done fast,” Trump said. “The terrorist regime is behaving badly because they are weak and desperate,” Trump said. “If we stand united, we will see a world free of the menace of Iranian terror.” Most of Iran’s delegation walked out of the chamber as Trump railed against the Islamic Republic. On Russia, he said he continues to seek an end to the disastrous war with Ukraine. “Last week, in honour of @ Vijayawada/Vizianagaram North Coastal Andhra Pradesh has been placed on high alert as the depression over the Bay of Bengal has intensified into a deep depression, with meteorologists predicting that it will cross the North Andhra–South Odisha coast between Wednesday night and the early hours of Thursday According to the . India Meteorological Department (IMD) Cyclone Warning Centre in Visakhapatnam, the system lay centred near latitude 18.0°N and longitude 85.4°E — about 140 km eastsoutheast of Kalingapatnam, 150 km south-southeast of Gopalpur, 210 km south-southwest of Puri, and 220 km east of P4 Visakhapatnam.  Senator Lindsey Graham, I signed a powerful new law passed by Congress providing me with enormous new tariff authorities - and if necessary I , will use them... “It is time to stop the killing,” Trump said. Referring to the proposal to slow down development of artificial intelligence (AI) and calls for their international supervision, Trump called them a “glo- S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada Emphasising that urban centres serve as the primary growth engines of the State economy, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday virtually launched major urban infrastructure projects worth `11,359 crore spanning 123 municipalities and municipal corporations across And- During the hearing, the S-G’s remark that “law-making cannot be as per Naxalites’ idea,” drew objections from Muralidhar, who sought its withdrawal. Afterwards, Muralidhar again sought a retraction but Mehta said, “I said that is the constitutional way, not what the Naxalite wants. And I am not sorry about it.” E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Donald Trump, US President at UNGA hra Pradesh from Kuppam. Describing the simultaneous rollout of development works as a “golden chapter” in the State’s municipal history, the Chief Minister directed officials to transform and rebrand the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department into an “Urban Prosperity Department” to foster growth.  P4 Y B r a h m a j i @ Vijayawada Registration a must now Payment of the 24th PM-KISAN installment could be delayed for more than 7.34 lakh farmers in Andhra Pradesh if they fail to complete their Farmer Registry as the Centre proposes to make the Farmer Unique ID mandatory for future fund releases. According to the latest Farmer Registry progress report, Andhra Pradesh has 64.71 lakh PM-KISAN beneficiaries against the registration target. Of these, 52.07 lakh farmers The Farmer Registry is intended to create a database of cultivators by linking farmer identities with land and agricultural records. The Farmer Unique ID is expected to facilitate access to various schemes have completed their registration, accounting for 80% of the target, while 12.65 lakh registrations remain pending. More importantly, 7,34,215 active PM-KISAN beneficiaries are yet to be enrolled in the Farmer Registry. Another 1,08,482 cases are pending at various Revenue logins for processing or verification. The Farmer Registry is intended to create a verified database of cultivators by linking farmer identities with land and agricultural records. The Farmer Unique ID is expected to facilitate access to various agricultural schemes and government services. It assumes significance as PMKISAN assistance is a key source of direct income support for laP4 khs of farmers.  Japanese announcer, pamphlets & baseball connect special session of Parliament A special session of Parliament to push the delimitation bill and women’s reservation could be held during Navaratri | P9 N Lokesh sets 94% victory target Anantapur: HRD Minister and TDP national working president Nara Lokesh on Tuesday called upon party workers to work for the alliance’s victory in more than 94% of seats in the upcoming local body polls, and stressed the need for unity among the allies | P4 Clashes at SAAP office: 260 identified Vijayawada: The police have intensified their investigation into the clashes reported at the office of SAAP in Vijayawada during a protest. Special teams are working to identify and apprehend those allegedly involved in the violence. According to the police, around 260 persons have so far been identified in connection with the incident. Digital evidence is reportedly available against more than 220 of them | P4 National honour President Droupadi Murmu confers the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role on Mammootty, during the National Film Awards, at Kevadia | PTI 7.34L ryots yet to enrol for PM-KISAN T’gana HC sets aside CAT order quashing BrahMos boss pick playing to gallery isshin mayor Hiroki Kondo was watching the women’s cricket gold medal match between India and Sri Lanka from the sidelines with Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha for company . “We will continue playing cricket here after the Games,” he told this daily as India went on to secure their first gold at the ongoing Asian Games. “We will have 18 days of cricket here in a year. This is Japan,” he smiled. Cricket is still an obscure sport in this country The venue itself . E x p r e s s Re a d CM launches `11,359 cr infra projects in AP S-G’s ‘Naxalite’ remarks draw objections Depression in Bay intensifies, high alert in North Andhra As president of the most extraordinary nation in history, I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day. I do not believe in letting problems fester balist scheme” to control the new technology He instead an. nounced that the US government would henceforth use the term “super intelligence” instead of AI in its communications. “It sounds much better” and “it’s much more accurate,” he added, wondering whether the rest of the world would adopt the term. He also dismissed warnings about climate change. “The very same people who said we’ll all be dead in 12 years because of global warming... are now saying that AI is going to kill us all, that robots are going to attack us, and that everything is going to be a total disaster.” The president renewed his attack on what he said were “globalist” bodies, including the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, which he urged other countries to boycott. He, however, hailed a deal with Greenland under which he said Washington would build a couple of bases in the Arctic. Later, US and Iranian officials held talks on options to end the war. Trump confirmed the talks but offered few details about how the discussions transpired or the substance of the exchange. “It was a very good meeting ... It’s to their advantage to make a deal,” he said. The Iranian side did not confirm the meeting. Indraneel Das Express @ asian games Nagoya was a baseball practice ground, which also doubles up as a public park with tennis courts as well as a football ground close by. The only permanent structures here are the toilet and the baseball dugouts. To help the crowd, the organisers also distributed pamphlets about the game in Japanese. Naofumi and Chisato are Japanese pamphlet at the venue explaining cricket from the neighbourhood and have never watched cricket. This is their first experience. Mimi Hirayama, the official announcer at the venue, is Japanese who lives in England. Her biggest challenge is engaging the audience who can barely differentiate between bat and ball or pad and helmet. “I was mainly talking about rules, because the Japanese audience is not familiar with this sport,” she said. Apart from the pamphlets, they also had Hirayama for company P13 throughout Tuesday  . J a v a r i a R a n a @ New Delhi The Telangana High Court on Tuesday set aside a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order that had quashed the appointment of DRDO scientist Jaiteerth R Joshi as Director General of BrahMos Aerospace, ending the immediate legal challenge to the leadership of the Indo-Russian missile joint venture. The high court had in January suspended the operative portion of the CAT order, allowing Joshi to remain in the post while the challenge was heard. A division bench on Tuesday allowed petitions filed by the Union government and Joshi against the December order of the CAT’s Hyderabad bench, which had found “manifest arbitrariness” in the selection process, struck down his appointment, diDr Jaiteerth rected the authorities to reconsider the R Joshi candidature of senior DRDO scientist Sivasubramaniam Nambi Naidu and ordered an interim arrangement to head BrahMos that excluded Joshi. Joshi was appointed Director General of BrahMos Aerospace in November 2024 and took charge on December 1. Naidu, a Distinguished Scientist with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), subsequently challenged the appointment, arguing that he had been superseded despite being the senior-most eligible candidate. The dispute centred on the weight to be given to seniority and scientific grade in selecting the head of a strategic defence joint venture, and the extent of discretion available to the competent authority to select a candidate on the basis of overall suitability . This newspaper had reported the CAT order against Joshi issued on on December 29.