mangaluru l thursday l january 23, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l city EDITION 20 cheetahs to arrive from Kenya between February and September The third batch of 20 cheetahs will arrive at Madhya Pradesh’s Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary between February 25 and Sept 25 File Photo 15-day quarantine at Gandhi Sagar sanctuary ■ 1952 Kuno National Park now has 25 cheetahs The cheetahs will undergo a 15-day quarantine before their release into the wild, officials said. A separate enclosure has been created at the sanctuary to house them during the quarantine period. A team of wildlife scientists will inspect the facility. Efforts will be made to pair male and female cheetahs, Dr Abhijeet Pawde, a senior wildlife scientist, said ■ Twenty cheetahs—eight from Namibia in 2022 and 12 from South Africa in 2023—have been brought to India under ‘Project Cheetah’, the Centre’s initiative to reintroduce the species to India Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park now hosts 25 cheetahs, including the 12 from South Africa and their 13 cubs born here when cheetahs were declared extinct in India 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 12 jump off train after false alarm, run over by another S u d h i r s u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai At least 12 rail passengers were killed and 55 other injured after they jumped off their train reportedly over a false fire alarm and were hit by another speeding train around the same time while crossing the tracks in Maharshtra’s Jalgaon district on Wednesday . Reports said someone on the Pushpak Express, which was traveling from Lucknow to Mumbai, pulled the chain, raising a false alarm. As the locopilots applied break to slow down the fastmoving train, sparks either from the hot axle or brakejamming and the smoke spread into the cabin. It triggered panic among passengers who assumed a fire had broken out on the train. Dhule Jalgaon In an attempt to save themselves, some passengers jumped off the Pushpak Express unaware that the Buldhana Karnataka Express was fast approaching from the Nashik opposite direction. Aurangabad A crowd at the site of As they tried to cross the track, many of them the accident, near Maharashtra were mowed down by the Karnataka Express. Pachora railway station | PTI The accident took place between Maheji and Pardhade stations near Pachora, more than 400 km from Mumbai. Both trains later reached their respective `5 lakh ex-gratia announced next stations and the accident site has been cleared, a Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced police official said. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, ex- a B5 lakh ex-gratia for the next of kin of pressing grief over the incident, said, “The tragic inci- those killed and said the government will dent of the loss of lives in a very unfortunate incident bear the cost of treatment for the injured near Pachora in Jalgaon district is deeply distressing. I pay my heartfelt tributes to them,” he said. “We are Toll could increase monitoring the situation and all necessary assistance is being provided immediately I am in touch with the dis- The Jalgaon district administration said . trict administration,” Fadnavis said, adding, Jalgaon 12 bodies were recovered from the track. General Hospital and nearby private hospitals are being It said the toll could go up as some of the kept ready for treating the injured passengers. passengers have sustained serious injuries 14 killed, 29 hurt in Yellapur, Raichur road accidents Subhash Chandra NS &  B a s a v a r a j B h o g a v at i @ Yellapur/Raichur Fourteen people were killed and 29 injured in two road accidents in Uttara Kannada and Raichur districts on Tuesday night and early Wednesday . Ten people were killed and 19 injured when a vegetable-laden truck in which they were travelling overturned at Gullapura village near Arbail Ghats in Yellapur taluk of Uttara Kannada around 4am on Wednesday . The truck was proceeding to Kumta with vegetables for weekly shandy Police said the . driver lost control of the speeding truck, which overturned. Three of the five people, who were in the truck’s cabin, died, while two escaped miraculously. Those sitting behind suffered injuries and were found The truck that overturned near Arbail Ghats on Wednesday IMD ISSUES Fog alert The IMD forecast fog or mist over most parts of North Karnataka from January 23 to 28 and cautioned motorists to regularly check highway fog alerts. P5 buried under vegetable sacks. Some of them might have died due to suffocation. Those sitting behind were thrown out of the truck after it overturned, said a police source. The deceased have been iden- tified as Fayaz Jamkhandi, Wasim Mudigeri, Ejaz Mulla, Sadiq Paras, Ghulam Hussain Gudusaab, Imtiyaz Mudigeri, Alfaz Mandakki, Gilani Gafar Jakathi, Aslam Benni and Jalal Savanur, all aged between 21 and 35. They were vegetable vendors from Savanur taluk in Haveri district and had hired the truck to Kumta to sell their produce. @Bengaluru The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) dispatched the crew module for the first uncrewed Gaganyaan (G1) mission after successfully integrating it with the liquid propulsion system on January 21, 2024. The crew module was dispatched to Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). The liquid propulsion system, called the Crew Module Propulsion System (CMPS), is a bi-propellant-based Reaction Control System (RCS) and is meant for pitch, yaw and roll (a precise three-axis control) of the crew module. The control will be initiated following separation of service module during the descent and atmospheric re-entry phase until the deployment of parachute-based deceleration system. The system employs twelve 100N thrusters, pressur- isation system with high pressure gas bottles and the propellant feed system along with the associated fluid control components, ISRO said. The Crew Module Uprighting System (CMUS), designed by VSSC, was also integrated with the crew module at LPSC. The crew module will undergo further integration operations at the VSSC before it is sent to the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru for the final phase of integration of the orbital module. Gaganyaan-G1 — expected to be launched in early part of this year — and the subsequent two uncrewed missions Gaganyaan-G2 and G3 will lead to India’s maiden human spaceflight. These uncrewed missions will mimic the actual crewed mission right from liftoff to the end of mission to validate the mission capabilities, safety parameters and critical technologies, including that of the Human-rated Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (HLVM3). Rubio’s first bilateral meet of his tenure with Jaishankar indicates trajectory of India ties JAYANTH JA C OB @ New Delhi IN his first bilateral meeting after taking charge as US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio told External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar that the Trump administration is keen to strengthen the US’ strategic partnership with India and urged him to address concerns of ‘irregular migration’. Jaishankar-Rubio meeting was held at the headquarters of the State Department on Tuesday. That Rubio, a China hawk and an ardent advocate of India-US relationship, chose to have his first bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart is seen as a signal that the Trump administration is keen to bolster ties with India. During the meeting, they discussed ways to expand the strength and scope of their relationship and a possible meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a ‘mutually convenient, earliest date’. In a post-meeting briefing, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said both sides vowed to strengthen the bilateral relationship. “Secretary Rubio also emphasized the Trump Administration’s desire to work with India to advance economic ties and address concerns related to irregular migration,” he said. Illegal and irregular migration was a key issue Trump raised during his campaign. In October last year, the US Department of Homeland Security deported over 1,100 Indian nationals as part of its efforts to target unauthorised migration. Across the globe, 495 repatriation flights returned 1,60,000 peope to 145 countries, including India. India has long maintained that it supports legal migration. “We have regular dialogues with the US on migration and mobility. And the idea behind that is to create more avenues for legal migration,” the external affairs ministry said. The latest meeting indicated continuity in the bilateral cooperation. The Trump administration is also keen to build on the cooperation in emerging and critical technologies, a high point of India-US relationship in Biden-Modi era. After the meeting, Jaishankar said he and Rubio “exchanged views on a wide range of regional and global issues.” Four killed Four people, including three students of Guru Sarvabhouma Sanskrit Vidyapeetha of Mantralaya  in Andhra Pradesh, were killed and 10 others injured when the vehicle in which they were traveling overturned near Sindhanur in Raichur district on Tuesday night. The deceased have been identified as Hayavadana, 18, of Ballari, Sujayeendra, 22, from Mantralaya, Abhilash, 20, of Koppal and driver Kamsali Shiva, 20. P5 Gaganyaan crew module integrated with propulsion E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i ce In first meet, US flags irregular migration issue qUAD HAS A MESSAGE FOR CHINA In a signal to China, foreign ministers from Quad countries opposed any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion | P9 tRUMP NUANCES h-1b STAND Trump said he likes ‘both sides of the argument’ on H-1B foreign guest workers’ visa, noting that he likes “very competent people” coming into the country Diversity STAFF SENT ON LEAVE Trump administration directs that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on leave. Agencies told to develop plans to lay them off | P12 Darknet operator pardoned External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a meeting, in Washington DC | PTI Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life for running Silk Road darknet marketplace that allegedly facilitated sale of drugs Prelim list Speculation rife on Bharat Ratna picks RAJ E S H K U M AR THA K UR @ New Delhi It’s that time of the year when speculation mounts over the possible recipients of the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour. Among the awardees this year could be towering politicians. There could also be a surprise element on the list that is released around Republic Day . While all sorts of names are doing the rounds, sources said industrialist Ratan Tata and former prime minister Manmohan Singh are in the preliminary shortlist for the most coveted award, albeit posthumously The demand for confer. ring it on Tata picked up pace after his demise in October. The Maharashtra cabinet, too, passed a resolution recommending it. The demand for honouring Manmohan Singh came from the Congress and a few NDA partners, after he passed away on December 26. The government in its outreach offered two plots within the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal to build his memorial. Before or after Another legacy could be up for Republic Day grabs if Dalit icon and BSP founder Kanshi Ram figures on the list. The government could BSP chief Mayawati has repeatrecommend threeedly pitched for his recognition four names for the with a Bharat Ratna. Bharat Ratna before Among the other names that are Republic Day or after doing the rounds are Samajwadi February 5, when Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Delhi is scheduled to Yadav, freedom fighter and Hingo for polls dutva ideologue V D Savarkar, educationist couple Jyotirao Govindrao Phule and Savitribai Phule, Bihar’s first chief minister Shri Krishna Singh, B P Mandal, whose Mandal Commission report triggered social engineering and gave reservations to OBCs, and former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik. The BJP has the highest regard for Savarkar, who is a lightning rod for criticism by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Interestingly, senior BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh recently suggested the Bharat Ratna for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his former Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik. BJP gen secy spoke rudely to me, says Sriramulu E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i ce @ Bengaluru Differences within BJP came to the fore again as senior BJP leader and former minister B Sriramulu openly expressed his displeasure over BJP General Secretary Radha Mohan Das Agarwal’s accusation against him at the party core committee meeting on Tuesday that he did not for work the party candidate dur- ing the Sandur bypoll. The Core Committee meeting was attended by former chief ministers Basavaraj Bommai, DV Sadananda Gowda, senior BJP leader CT Ravi, Sriramulu, former Deputy CM Dr Ashwath Narayana and others. Sriramulu told The New Indian Express, “At the meeting, Agarwal spoke to me rudely in front of all and alleged that I did not work in the recent Sandur bypoll that led to the party’s loss. But I worked for our party candidate Bangaru Hanumanthu right from filing nomination. How can someone even make an allegation without any proof ?” Sriramulu further said BJP state president BY Vijayendra, who had Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) across the state are facing a crisis in issuing smart card driving licences (DLs) and vehicle registration certificates (RCs). In some RTOs, the pendency has increased to around 15,000 cards. This has left applicants in the lurch, with many of them clearing their driving tests way back in November. Sources said, “Karnataka is facing, perhaps, the worst crisis in dispatching DL and RC smart cards. Applicants have been waiting for DL and RC cards for more than 50 days. RTOs across the state have to issue 7 lakh cards and some estimate, the number could be around 8 lakh. Driving licence seekers complain that officials at RTOs tell them to wait as there is a problem in getting smart cards from the head office.’’ Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, who acknowledged that there is a problem in dispatching DL and RC smart cards, said, “Smart cards were being supplied by ‘Rose Mart’, a service provider, and the agreement with it ended in December last. We have invited fresh ten-  CONTINUED ON: P4 They (party leaders) had assured me that I would be made a deputy chief minister, but they did not. Even then, I worked for the party —B Sriramulu, BJP leader and former minister Delay in supply of DL/RC smart cards hits RTOs B a n s y K a l a p pa @ Bengaluru seen him work for the party candidate, did not defend him. “I have been honest with the party I had contested from two . places and even gave a tough competition to Siddaramaiah in Badami [2018]. I contested from Molakalmuru after party leaders told me to contest. ders for supply of smart cards. The department is scrutinising the tenders. It is an administrative process and procedures have to be followed. It will take some time. We are trying to expedite the process.’’ On when the issue of pendency will be sorted out, he said, “We issue about 20,000 cards daily and we will sort it out in about 10 days from now.’’ P4 express read SEBI: Sachet-sized mutual fund SIPs will help poor New Delhi: To facilitate participation from low-income groups in mutual funds, regulator SEBI on Wednesday floated a consultation paper on ‘sachetisation’ of mutual funds. In its consultation paper, Sebi has proposed a sachetized mutual fund product — small ticket systematic investment plan (SIP) of Rs 250 | P13