belagavi l friday l october 23, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION Trump Says Google’s Pichai Rejected Atlantic Ocean Rename President Trump says he called Google CEO Sundar Pichai about renaming Atlantic Ocean as Trump Ocean, but Pichai shot down his idea oceans are different: pichai’s pushback not without name change precedents President Trump said this at at a South Carolina rally on October 21. Trump floated the concept, saying he spoke to Pichai about the proposal. “And I said, Sundar, I’m thinking of the Atlantic Ocean. Can you handle it?” Trump recalled asking. Pichai replied: “No, no, no. This time I’m not doing it. Oceans are different, sir. You know, they cover a lot of countries” ■ ■ President Trump said he will “probably pass” on the idea after Pichai’s pushback to renaming the Atlantic Ocean The comments follow his administration’s earlier renaming efforts. Shortly after taking office in January 2025, Trump signed an executive order changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name to the Gulf of America Aug 2026 was when the u.s. renamed lake ontario as lake america 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 India condemns Pilot project to make India’s 3 crore continued hits undergraduates ready for job market on Saudi infra S LALITHA @ New Delhi Religious edu curriculum for minorities in U’khand n a r en d r a s e t h i @ Dehradun UTTARAKHAND is poised to become the first state to introduce a formal religious education curriculum that combines lessons on faith with Indian history, culture and nationalism. The syllabus has been drafted and is awaiting approval from the state education department. The curriculum is intended for children from minority communities and has been prepared under the state’s minority education framework. Along with religious teachings and beliefs, it will cover India’s cultural heritage, the freedom struggle and contributions of prominent figures to nationbuilding. The curriculum is designed to link religious learning with wider themes of India’s past and identity . The syllabus for Classes 1 to 8 has already been prepared, a top source said. A draft for Classes 9 to 12 has also been completed and will be submitted to the education department for approval. Professor Surjeet Singh Gandhi, chairperson of the Uttarakhand State Minority Education Authority, said the body was awaiting the state’s approval. Indian killed in Houthi attack; PM calls for dialogue and diplomacy in talks with Bibi J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India on Thursday strongly condemned continued attacks by Houthi rebels on civilian and critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, including a strike on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam that killed an Indian national. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated New Delhi’s call for dialogue and diplomacy during a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they exchanged views on recent developments in West Asia and the urgent need to restore peace and stability in the region. The External Affairs Ministry (MEA) said the attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure were “completely unacceptable and must cease immediately”, while expressing solidarity with Saudi Arabia and calling for the early restoration of peace and normalcy in West Asia. “We strongly condemn the continued attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, including the attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield in the Eastern Province on October 21,” the MEA said in a statement. The attack on Dammam airport late Wednesday killed two persons, including an Indian national, and injured eight others, among them two Indians. Separately Modi spoke to Netanyahu and dis, cussed bilateral ties and the escalating situation in West Asia. The two leaders reviewed progress in bilateral ties and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the Special Strategic Partnership. “Prime Minister Modi reiterated India’s call for dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. The government parallelly stepped up efforts to facilitate the return of Umrah pilgrims stranded in Saudi Arabia following flight disruptions triggered by the regional escalation. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Indian missions in Riyadh and Jeddah were working with airlines and tour operators to arrange their return. “Over the past week, about 3,000 stranded Umrah pilgrims have travelled from Saudi Arabia back to India on available flights,” Jaiswal said. More than 10,000 other Umrah pilgrims who had booked available flights had also returned during the same period.  P11 Randhir Jaiswal We stand in solidarity with the people and the government of Saudi Arabia in safeguarding its sovereignty, and hope that peace and normalcy would return to the region at the earliest MEA statement Invite to Modi Netanyahu invited Modi to light a torch alongside Indian pilot Smit Machchhar on Israel’s Independence Day, praising the pilot for his role in foiling an attempt to hijack a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai flight Jowar rates almost double as drought grips districts in North Karnataka Ramakrishna Badseshi @ Kalaburagi Jowar, the staple cereal of North Karnataka, is leaving holes in household budgets. The price of this millet has almost doubled in the past two months, from around Rs 5,500 per quintal in early September to Rs 9,200 per quintal in October. Jowar is among the major crops grown in Kalaburagi and other North Karnataka districts that have been hit by severe drought. The two indigenous varieties of jowar are Maldandi and Gundu Tene. Kalaburagi APMC Assistant Director said the rate of jowar (Maldandi) rose from Rs 5,500 per quintal in August to Rs 5,650 in September, and jumped to Rs 9,000 in the second half of October. According to statistics, this year the price of jowar is highest compared to the past 10 years. In 2015-16, it was selling for Rs 3,850 per quintal, and had touched Rs 8,000 in 2023-24 which was also a drought year for Kalaburagi. APMC wholesale merchant Sangamanath Mukka said while the present price of Maldandi variety is Rs 9,200 per quintal, the price of Gundu Tene is Rs 9,000 per quintal. Other varieties vary from Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,500 per quin- tal, Mukka said. Though jowar has started to arrive in the market in the last 10 days, the quantity is very less compared to previous years. People were purchasing jowar depending on their immediate need, and are hopeful that if the quantity increases, the price might come down. But with the district in the grip of severe drought this year, chances of prices dropping are very low, Mukka said. Jowar rotti is the staple food of North Karnataka and is also popular across Karnataka. A single rotti costs Rs 10-15, and it is feared that the price will go up in the coming days. UNION education ministry’s Review Committee on National Education Policy is on a mission to equip college students with the requisite job skills that will make them stand out in the job market. This will be done by arranging tie-ups with companies and other large employers to provide students industry experience and a taste of real-work pressures, the panel’s chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said on Thursday . Speaking to this newspaper, the former UGC chairman said the NEP review panel’s primary focus is on the nearly 3 crore undergraduates of BA, BSc and BCom courses. “A pilot project is underway press clusive NEP review panel Jagadesh Kumar was roped in as chairman of the NEP review panel in January. Its members include the higher education secretary and vice-chancellors of multiple universities. Its objective is to keep track of the progress made by the state govts in implementing NEP in 30 universities. The All India Survey on National Education 2023-2024 states that there are 4.5 crore students in higher education and 76.8% of them are undergraduates. Our focus is on BA, BCom and BSc students, who constitute the majority The programme will be . extended across all states. The response from workplaces as well as colleges and universities has been encouraging,” said Kumar, who is also the chairperson of the Board of Governors at IIM Calcutta. The Apprentice Embedded Degree Programme (AEDP) permits undergraduate students to spend up to 18 months to gain live industry experience. “It helps Jamboo Savari: 4-year-old in ICU with head injury after police cane crowd E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Mysuru A four-year-old boy, who was watching the Dasara Jamboo Savari procession with his parents, sustained a serious head injury when police resorted to lathicharge to control the crowd at Highway Circle in Mysuru on Wednesday evening. The child, Shishira, is undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a private hospital. One of the family members of the boy, Girish, told TNIE that police personnel resorted to caning during the procession to control the crowd, and a baton struck the boy on the Shishira received stitches on his head and is undergoing treatment in ICU head.The shocked parents rushed the profusely bleeding child to the hospital where doctors provided emergency treatment. The child reportedly required stitches. “We brought our child to watch the Dasara. Was it nec- essary to wield a lathi against a small child?” Girish said, adding that doctors told them that they have to perform a surgery to ensure that there was no blood clot. Former MP and BJP leader Pratap Simha visited hospital and enquired about the boy. Simha said he spoke to the deputy commissioner who promised that the medical costs of the boy will be covered under the CSR funds of the hospital. Meanwhile, a complaint has been registered at NR police station. Police commissioner Seema Latkar issued a press statement saying that a through investigation will be conducted into the issue. them apply their knowledge to real problems. Students who only want to pursue their degree academically are at liberty to do so,” Kumar said. Under AEDP, students will likely be provided apprenticeships at their place of residence so that “they do not have to migrate for the purpose of work and it boosts the local economy too,” he added. Some companies pay the students while others only offer hands-on training. “If it is a government apprenticeship scheme, students get financially compensated,” Kumar said. The panel also plans to take the assistance of local district magistrates who have a thorough understanding of a specific area and can offer invaluable guidance. E x p r e s s Re a d Woman biker dies as manja slits her neck Hubballi: A 38-year-old woman lab technician, Vidhya Manjunath Goudar, was killed when her throat was slit by a manja (kite string) as she was riding her twowheeler to her office on Thursday. The incident happened near Siddharoodha Mutt in Old Hubballi Police station limits. India to host BRICS Parl Forum on Oct 26-27 New Delhi: India will host the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum on October 26-27 at Samvidhan Sadan, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to inaugurate the two-day conference and interact with leaders from 11 BRICS member countries and 11 invited partner countries | P10 Agrarian distress threatens to upend state economy K arnataka i s reeling under an unprecedented drought. The state gover nment has declared 226 taluks of the total 240 as drought-hit, an indication of the severity of the situation. The estimated cultivation and agricultural losses have c r o s s e d ` 6 2 , 4 8 1 c r o r e, prompting the state to seek emergency drought relief from the Centre. The South West monsoon has been a major letdown, with the state receiving around 563mm against the normal seasonal average of 852mm. Water storage across the state’s 14 major reservoirs stands at 540tmcft out of a gross capacity of 895tmcft, driving groundwater extraction past the 70 per cent mark in several areas. Farm- 01 ers, including tenants, are in visible distress and staring at an economic catastrophe with no signs of compensation coming from state and central governments. The agrarian distress has forced many families to migrate to cities in search of livelihoods. In a first of a series, TNIE looks at the increasing spread of hopelessness among the rural population faced with few choices | P4 so long An idol of Goddess Durga being immersed at the renovated ‘kalyani’ at Ulsoor Lake in Bengaluru on Thursday | Vinod Kumar T i m a g e s o f p r o te s t Forced to remove ‘political’ photos from solo show, Raihan Vadra says art is political S r e s t h a S a r k a r @ New Delhi Some of the solo photo exibits that were taken down; and (inset) Raihan Vadra | Special arrangement A day after 75 out of 105 photographs by Raihan Vadra, son of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were taken down from Bikaner House, the artist said art knows no political boundary His family backed him while . the venue, owned by the Rajasthan government, claimed the “photographs breached guidelines” and were against policy . Raihan told TNIE on Thursday that he’d asked what the venue’s policy was but had not received a “logical enough” response. On his mother’s social media post, he said, “My family has been very supportive about the entire issue and asked me to continue my work despite such a fiasco.” In the post addressed to Raihan, the MP said, “When someone with power becomes afraid of the expression of another, he doesn’t know it, but he has already lost the very power he is trying to protect.” Meanwhile, Raihan was looking for a place to display the entire solo show, ‘No Idea Is Fi- No blank frames either Raihan said the team replaced the “political” photos with blank frames but was told that too was unacceptable. “They left one photo of the Tricolour in place but ... removed the other photo of the Indian flag themselves,” he said nal’, with Travancore Palace emerging as an option. Refuting BJP’s charges that he was being positioned for a political role, Raihan said, “This art is my politics... I have no plans to join any party... and anyway, art is political.” Bikaner House in a statement on Thursday said certain of Raihan’s works were found to be inconsistent with its policy, and their removal was requested. The team didn’t clarify what the guidelines were. Raihan said the venue’s management asked him to remove photographs of recent youth movements in India, citing their “political nature”, five hours before the show was to open on Wednesday He said his . proposal, approved on June 30, 2025 by the venue, had said the show would feature images exploring themes of “choice, control and unity”. Raihan said he was contacted by the management at 6 pm on Tuesday and asked to remove the protest pictures. He was subsequently told to remove all works considered “political” by 3.30 pm Wednesday, failing which the exhibition would be cancelled. He added the works had since been removed to allow the show to continue until October 25.