The New Indian Express Wishes its Readers a Our offices and press will remain closed today & there will be no issue of the paper on Sunday bengaluru l saturday l september 07, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION Wrestlers Phogat, Punia join the Congress ahead of Haryana polls Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were at the forefront of the wrestlers’ protest against ex-WFI chief and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh Vinesh may contest from Julana seat Both quit Rlys before entering politics The two star grapplers met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence and later joined the party at the AICC headquarters. Sources said the party may field Phogat from the Julana seat in Haryana while Punia may not enter the fray. Speaking to the media, Phogat alleged the BJP maligned her while the grand old party stood with her during her tough moments ■ ■ Before joining the Congress, Phogat and Punia resigned from Indian Railways. However, it is not clear if the resignations have been accepted Congress leader K C Venugopal said Phogat received a showcause notice from the Railways after she met Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday. Sources said it was for violating service rules on meeting political leaders | P11 October 5 Poll date for 90 seats in Haryana; results will be announced on Oct 8 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 Yettinahole: CM raps netas for ‘doubts’ BJP promises 5 lakh Project will quench thirst of 29 taluks in seven districts B R U D AYA K U M A R @ Hebbanahalli (Sakleshpur) Expressing disappointment over some of his party leaders who had expressed doubts on the success of Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Supply Project, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said that it was not right on their part to do so even before understanding the project’s finer details. Inaugurating the first phase of the project, he said water will reach Chikkaballapur  and Kolar and nobody should have any doubts in this regard. The state government is committed to reaching water to the seven districts coming under the project. Looking at Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa and Narayanaswamy MLA, who were on the dais, , tunnel road Experts for data on B’luru’s UG utilities CM Siddaramaiah and DyCM DK Shivakumar inaugurate the Yettinahole project in Hassan district on Friday | Express the CM said the government will ensure drinking water to Chikkaballapur and Kolar from Yettinahole. These districts will not face any drinking water shortage in future. The CM  questioned Narayanaswamy if he is a technical person or an engineer to speak about the feasibility of the project. The government will express read Maharashtra got 52 pc of country’s total FDI mumbai: Maharashtra DyCM Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said 52% of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that came into the country in the first quarter of this fiscal headed towards the state. Karnataka got FDI of Rs 19,059 and stood in second place Rocket attacks in Manipur leave 1 dead Imphal: Suspected militants fired two rockets in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Friday, killing one person and injuring five others, as tension gripped the Imphal Valley region following high-tech attacks over the past few days provide funds required for the completion of the project, he said. Lauding the engineers and other staff for completing the first phase of the project, the CM said the state government is firm on completing the project by 2027. “I am happy to inaugurate the project for which I laid the foundation P4 stone 10 years ago,” he added.  Praveen’s record jump gives india sixth gold i n dra n ee l da s @ Chennai B o s ky K h a n n a @ Bengaluru With the Karnataka government firm on constructing an 18-km tunnel road from Hebbal to Silk Board Junction in the first phase of the proposed project to ease traffic congestion in the city, experts have expressed apprehension over its implementation, especially in the absence of data on underground utility networks. The experts have stressed the need for data on what lies below the city’s roads before taking up such projects. But officials of BBMP, BMRCL, BESCOM and BWSSB have admitted that there is no consolidated data on underground utility networks. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, stressed this aspect in its report submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General in 2022. Prof Ashish Verma, convenor, IISc Sustainable Transportation Lab, Department of Civil Engineering, IISc, said researchers collectively brought out a lecture series titled ‘Recent Trends in Transportation Infrastructure, Volume 2’. In this, there is a chapter titled ‘Assessing the Impact of Underground Utility Works on Road Traffic and Users: A Study from an Indian City’. The series was funded by CAG. Prof Verma, who is the co-author, said the report was submitted three years ago and nothing has changed since then. The government agencies have not understood its imporP2 tance, he said.  CM Siddaramaiah and DyCM DK Shivakumar inaugurated the first phase of the long-pending Rs 23,251.66-crore Yettinahole project at Hebbanahalli in Sakleshpur taluk on Friday. It envisages supplying 24.01 tmcft of water from Yettinahole, Kudumanehole, Kirehole and Hongadahalla in the Western Ghats to 29 taluks in Hassan, Tumakuru, Kolar, Chikkamagaluru, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, and Ramanagara districts Praveen Kumar jumped 2.08m in the T44 category Silver in Tokyo, gold in Paris In Tokyo, Praveen had won silver to become the youngest Indian Paralympic medallist at the age of 18. The record was later broken by armless archer Sheetal Devi, who won bronze in the mixed team compound open archery a few days ago. The world of sport is unique. The stories it springs up are even more fascinating. Praveen Kumar is no different. He was born with a shorter leg and had battled an inferiority complex because of it as a youngster.Yet, his passion for sport drew him towards volleyball where he needed to jump more and had to rely on one leg (right) to get the lift. He had no idea then that one day he would be competing at the Paralympics and win medals. Praveen’s life took a providential turn in 2018 when he first visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. He met coach Satyapal Singh and he introduced Praveen to high jump. There were quite a few challenges though. Praveen’s height was not ideal for the high jump. At 168cm, he was considered short for a sport that thrives on height. Yet, coach Satyapal felt, he would excel in the sport because of his leg strength. “He used to play volleyball and had exceptional leg strength. He used to cycle 12kms daily from his home to school and stadium, which strengthened his legs,” said the coach. Born to a family from a modest background, in Govindgarh near Greater Noida, Praveen loved sport as it used to be a distraction from his disability. On Friday, after winning gold with an area record jump of 2.08m in the T44 category he said that credit should go to the coach. , jobs, terror-free J&K Article 370 has become history, will never return: Shah F AYA Z W A NI @ Srinagar THE BJP on Friday released its manifesto for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir elections, promising to root out terrorism, create five lakh jobs for youth, facilitate return of migrant Kashmiri Pandits, and bring out a white paper to fix responsibility of those involved in the emergence of militancy . The document, titled Sankalp Patra, was released by Union home minister Amit Shah at a press conference in Jammu. it contains 25 promises that include developing the J&K economy through tourism, construction of 10,000 km of new rural roads, women’s financial security and self-reliance, addressing the illegal Rohingya and Bangladeshi settlements, among others. It also promises steps for the reconstruction of Hindu temples and shrines. Shah arrived in Jammu on Friday for a two-day visit. In a snub to the National Conference, which is seeking restoration of Article 370, Shah asserted that the special provision has become a history and can never be restored. According to the manifesto, abrogation of Article 370 has ensured peace and prosperity . “In the poll manifesto, we have made a lot of promises. Our big promise is creation of a peaceful, secured, developed and prosperous J&K. We are close to the goal. If we get a mandate, I want to tell the people of J&K that its youth will also contribute to the development of country and J&K. Youth will work to make J&K a paradise,” Shah said. Shah also criticised other parties for mindlessly demanding restoration of statehood, noting that he has made a commitment on the floor of Parliament that it would be restored at an appropriate time after the Assembly polls. Home minister Amit Shah releasing BJP’s manifesto | PTI No talks with Pak, says Shah Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday clarified that India is not in favour of talks with Pakistan until it stops supporting terrorism. “Talks and bombs cannot go together,” he emphasised HC relief for TatkalForSure developer E x p re s s New s Ser v i ce @ Bengaluru THE Karnataka High Court has quashed the proceedings initiated by the Railway Protection Force against Gaurav Dahake from Aurangabad, an IIT graduate, who set up a startup a few years ago to help people book Tatkal tickets within 40 seconds. The court noted that the petitioner neither procured nor supplied tickets. All that he did was create an extension to the IRCTC website, which speeded up the process of getting Tatkal tickets confirmed. The process is said to have reduced the 7-minute confirmation time to just 40 seconds. It would benefit the public. Unless the ingredients of Section 143 are met, the crime itself could not have been registered, Justice M Nagaprasanna said. The petitioner set up buyhatke.com to help people save money during online transactions. In August 2017, he developed TatkalForSure software, which auto-fills details of travellers. All was well for three years when the petitioner was doing it for free. He began to charge `30 per ticket from February 2020, following which a case was registered.