hyderabad l monday l october 19, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION Menstrual hygiene: SC pulls up states, UTs over lack of response The court expressed displeasure over states and Union Territories not responding to the Centre on menstrual hygiene judgment’s implementation act soon or face contempt action, Sc warns govt told to get details on steps taken In a major judgment earlier this year, the apex court held that menstrual health is a fundamental right. During a hearing on October 13, the Centre informed the court that it had sought details from states and UTs on the judgment’s implementation but received no response. The court warned of contempt action if states and UTs don’t respond by the next hearing ■ ■ “We fail to understand that once the Union calls for the necessary information, why the states/UTs do not respond,” a bench of justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said during the hearing It directed the Centre to get the information in writing as to what steps have been taken so far for giving effect to the judgment Dec 14 When the matter will be heard again 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 7 held in Kolkata stampede case, toll rises to 19 Pandal organisers among arrested; SIT led by sitting HC judge to probe tragedy; govt offers compensation of `25L to each victim’s family 15 killed as truck rams devotees outside temple A N U R A A G S I N G H @ Bhopal Army officer’s wife from TG booked for espionage Jammu: An Army officer’s wife, who allegedly used artificial intelligence tools including ChatGPT and Claude to write analytical papers on sensitive national security issues for Chinese intelligence operatives, has been booked in Jammu for alleged espionage-related activities, officials said on Sunday . The accused, a well-qualified resident of Telangana who undertook an IT internship with the United Nations in 2023, is currently working as a freelance researcher. Although she has not been arrested, she has been questioned following the registration of the FIR and is cooperating with investigating agencies, officials said. The woman was allegedly tasked with writing analytical papers on sensitive security, defence, and geopolitical issues, specifically covering Line of Control (LoC) dynamics in Jammu and Kashmir, critical infrastructure projects in Arunachal Pradesh, and drone deployment, they said. According to the officials, the case was registered at Gandhi Nagar police station in Jammu on Friday under relevant provisions of the Official Secrets Act, concerning espionage and the unauthorised handling of protected official information, alongside provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to criminal conspiracy and offences against national sovereignty . A deputy superintendent of police has been assigned to lead the probe. Acting on a tip-off, a joint team comprising personnel from the central intelligence agency and police intercepted the woman at Jammu Tawi railway station on October 14 when she was reportedly preparing to board a train to Pathankot. She was stopped and taken to a nearby military station for questioning, the officials said. Her mobile phone was seized and sent for a detailed forensic analysis. The accused married a serving Army officer holding the rank of Major in October 2023. PTI A speeding truck headed to Punjab with paddy crushed 15 devotees to death and injured another 26 outside the Sheetla Mata temple, 17km from Gwalior city in the wee hours of Sunday The Cir, . cle Superintendent of Police and eight other cops were suspended after the heavy vehicle sped through a no-entry zone. The devotees had queued up for early morning prayers on Navratri’s most auspicious Mahashthami day . Among those injured, the condition of at least four persons is critical. Police said the victims are from Gwalior and neighbouring Shivpuri, Morena and Sheopur districts. Fiftyyear-old Sarla Tomar was the sole woman among the deceased. Of the other 14, nine were aged between 13 and 18 years. The tragedy occurred at around 1.30 am, when truck driver Dilbag Singh, taking paddy from Gwalior’s Dabra Anaj Mandi to Punjab, lost A view of the overturned truck control of the vehicle on the sloping, near Gwalior city | X narrow road. A Gwalior police official said that despite entry in the area being barred to vehicles, none of the cops on duty stopped the truck. “Investigation suggests the brakes of the truck failed, causing the vehicle to ram the boundary wall and entry gate of the temple, which was teeming with devotees. The out-of-control-truck ran over the devotees lined up to enter the temple,” the official said. Many were trapped under debris of the temple’s wall due to the crash. Dilbag Singh, from Punjabi Colony in Delhi, and the truck’s owner Harpreet Singh from Ludhiana, were taken into custody . From left: Police personnel produce an accused in court on Sunday; the body of a victim being handed to his family; Union Home Minister Amit Shah visits an injured | PTI su b h endu ma i t i @ Kolkata A day after 19 people were killed in the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durgotsav pandal stampede in north Kolkata, police on Sunday arrested seven persons, including the puja committee’s secretary and vicepresident, even as the state government moved to fix responsibility for the colossal crowd-management failure. Those arrested are secretary Raj Kumar Sewda alias Raja; vice-president Santanu Dubey; Kaushik Saha, in charge of verifying passes and crowd management; Biplab Mukhopadhyay, involved in the pandal’s bamboo structure; Pintu De; Suman Chakraborty; and Rajesh Pal. Fourteen people have been detained so far and suo motu FIRs have been registered. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who visited the injured late on Saturday, has announced a special investigation team headed by a sitting Calcutta High Court judge, with senior STF and CID officers. “No one, including committee members and police, would be spared if found negligent,” the CM said. The probe is set to be politically sensitive. The committee’s chairman is BJP MLA Bijoy Ojha of Jorasanko, while the CM’s nephew Debdeep Adhikari is a member. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday visited the injured at Kolkata Medical Col- TMC targets Suvendu bearing treatment costs. A separate team of Rajesh Singha,secretary of the disaster management department; Anuj Sharma, D-G (fire) and Javed Shamim ADG (STF) have been tasked with inspecting infrastructure, fire safety and crowd management at bigbudget pandals. A helpline, 18003455678, is operational, said an official. The tragedy occurred around 7.30 pm on Saturday, when a downpour sent thousands rushing into the pandal on a narrow stretch off Central Avenue. Those inside could not get out as people outside pushed in, and many lost balance on a makeshift staircase. A part of the iron structure gave away, leading to the stampede. The Mamata Banerjee faction of the Trinamool Congress accused the police and administration of failing to ensure crowd control. The party’s MP Abhishek Banerjee demanded accountability, asking CM Suvendu Adhikari, “When will you put your nephew in jail?” lege and Hospital, where several remain critical, and postponed other programmes, including a visit to Belur Math. Two more victims died on Sunday, raising the total toll from 17 to 19. The state government announced `25 lakh compensation and a job to one member of each victim’s family, and `5 lakh to every injured, besides Manipur govt shunts out Gunmen open fire at Tiger Shroff’s Kamjong SP day after car; actor safe, driver among 2 hurt Kuki civilian’s killing S ud h i r sur yawans h i @ Mumbai P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati THE Manipur government on Sunday transferred the Superintendent of Police of Kamjong, a Naga-majority district which witnessed a series of armed attacks over the past few months, even as a Kuki outfit announced a “total shutdown” of National Highway 202 from Sunday midnight till October 22 midnight over the violence. IPS officer Jay Barange replaced Tholu Rocky a Manipur , Police Service officer from the Naga community, as Kamjong SP. Rocky will take charge as additional director of the Manipur Police Training College. The transfer came a day after a Kuki community member was killed while four others were injured in an attack at Chassad village in Kamjong. Hours later, three Nagas were injured in a counter-attack. The transfer also triggered protests with the Manipur Naga Youth Organisation accusing the authorities of doing it under pressure from a Kuki legislator. “The Nagas have long endured the state administrative, law and order failure in the hope of an early return of peace but the government appears appeasing only the troublemakers,” it said. Meanwhile, the Kuki CSO Working Committee, Ukhrul, which announced NH shutdown, threatened to pursue “larger for ms of intense agitation”. The outfit had enforced a similar blockade on NH 202, which connects the state capital of Imphal with Ukhrul, from July 27 till August 11. Unidentified gunmen opened fire at Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff ’s vehicle in the Juhu area of Mumbai on Sunday evening. The actor escaped unhurt, while his driver and a local autorickshaw driver sustained injuries. A viral video on social media showed two bike-borne assailants firing at Shroff ’s car from close range and escaping on a bike. Police said seven shots were fired at the car. The incident took place near Pushpa Park at JVPD Grounds in Juhu when Shroff was travelling in his car. Soon after the incident, an audio file emerged in which an alleged representative of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Shroff had ignored their warning and continued to work with actor Salman Khan. The police said 12 specialised teams have been formed to analyse CCTV footage and track the suspects. The attack drew sharp criticism from the Opposition. “This is very unfortunate that no one is safe in Mumbai. This is a failure of intelligence agencies,” Nationalist Congress Party MLC Zeeshan Siddiqui said. Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad demanded that Maharashtra have a separate home minister, blaming Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the situation. “If actors and political leaders are not safe, what can we say about the safety of ordinary citizens?” she asked. @ Hyderabad Bus and railway stations in Hyderabad witnessed a heavy rush on Sunday as people headed to their native places to celebrate Saddula Bathukamma and Dasara. The rush intensified on Saturday night, with buses and trains packed with passengers and heavy traffic reported on roads leading out of the city . Passengers expressed concern over a 50% hike in fares of special buses operated by the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation, while private bus operators were accused of sharply increasing ticket prices. Some passengers alleged that operators cancelled tickets booked weeks in advance, forcing them to make fresh reservations at significantly higher prices just a day before departure. “After cancelling the tickets, the operators are asking us to contact the booking apps through which we made the reservations. When we contact the apps, they ask us to get in touch with the bus operators. The operators are not responding directly,” said Sirisha, an IT employee. She alleged that fares had risen nearly fourfold, leaving passengers with little choice but to pay more. Railway stations across the twin cities have been recording a daily footfall of more than three lakh passengers since October 9, with the rush expected to continue until Tuesday. Trains departing from Secunderabad, Nampally and Kacheguda were crowded, with general coaches packed with passengers. In view of the surge in demand, the South Central Railway (SCR) arranged around 600 additional trains, including special services from Cherlapally Nampal, ly, Kacheguda, Malkajgiri, Hi-Tec City and Lingampally stations.  Continued on p3 france after violent protests About 5,50,000 people took part in protests across France on Saturday, authorities said | p9 el nino effect Jubilee Hills pub fined `20K for water misuse E N S @ Hyderabad Dasara rush: Steep bus fare hike riles pax S i dd h ard h a G att i m i 2,000 arrested across grand finale Women celebrate Saddula Bathukamma in Warangal on Sunday, marking the culmination of the nine-day floral festival E x p r e s s Re a d Vance says H-1B rhetoric ‘imperfect’ Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has admitted that his rhetoric has been “imperfect” when he referred to foreign professionals holding H-1 B visas as “indentured servants”. India called the terminology “deeply offensive”. “I would say, and to the extent that my rhetoric has been imperfect here, that’s on me,” Vance said. | p9 Kyiv strikes Putin’s hometown moscow: The Kremlin on Sunday said Ukrainian large-scale attacks on Russian cities will not change its war aims as Kyiv hit Saint Petersburg with the biggest drone attack on Vladimir Putin’s hometown since 2022, setting an oil refinery ablaze. Rising smoke was visible from Saint Petersburg’s historic city centre on the banks of the Neva River. | p9 The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) has imposed a fine of `20,000 on Forefathers Pub in Jubilee Hills for allegedly misusing drinking water. Officials disconnected the pub’s water connection and stopped the supply of commercial water tankers from the board’s filling station. The action follows the Water Board’s efforts to prevent the misuse and wastage of drinking water amid the threat of an acute shortage caused by deficient monsoon rainfall and declining groundwater levels attributed to the impact of El Niño. Following a field inspection, officials initiated action against the pub. The Water Board warned that violations would not be tolerated and that offenders would face stringent action, including penalties and disconnection of water supplies. The board has urged citizens to report incidents of drinking water wastage or misuse by sharing photographs or videos, details of the individuals or establishments involved, and the location and complete address.