kalaburagi l tuesday l june 17, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION India women to kick-start ODI World Cup against Sri Lanka The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Women in Blue will be playing the opening match of the tournament in Bengaluru on September 30 Kaur & Co to play Pak in Colombo on Oct 5 Home advantage for India and Sri Lanka With the ongoing agreement between India and Pakistan cricket boards, the latter will not travel to India and will be camped in Colombo for their league-stage games. India and Pakistan are scheduled to play each other in Colombo on October 5. It will be the first match between the neighbouring countries after the recent cross-border tensions. ■ ■ Apart from hosts India, Sri Lanka will play five of their league games in Colombo. Their two games in India are in Bengaluru and Guwahati. If Pakistan advance past the round-robin stages, they will play the semifinal and final in Colombo. If they don’t, Guwahati will host that semifinal. Bengaluru will host the other semifinal and final | P11 2013 The last time India hosted the Women’s ODI World Cup 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 Census-2027 notification finally out M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday | AP/PTI Israeli Missiles hit Iran’s state tv hq iaea WARNS OF contamination Israel on Monday struck Iran’s state TV while a live broadcast was underway, forcing the anchor to rush out as debris started falling in the studio The International Atomic Energy Agency warned of both radiological and chemical contamination at Iran’s nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz India moving its citizens from Iran Students to be evacuated via Armenia, UAE Israel, Iran RAMP UP ATTACKS civilian CASUALTIES RISE J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi AS hostilities between Iran and Israel intensify India has , begun relocating its nationals from high-risk zones in Iran and is mulling on evacuation plans via both land and sea routes through Armenia and the United Arab Emirates, sources said. The first batch of 110 students has reached the Armenian border, from there they will be evacuated by air. The external affairs ministry on Monday said Indian nationals, including 1,500 students—from Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, and other states—are being moved to safer areas within Iran. Embassy officials are in constant touch with local leaders and the Indian community. An estimated 10,000 Indian nationals are in Iran. Tehran, where a majority of Indian students are enrolled in institutions such as Tehran University of Medi- cal Sciences and Iran University of Medical Sciences, has seen heightened risk amid Israeli strikes. Some students are being relocated to Qom, 148 km from Tehra. Sources said land evacuation via Armenia and a sea route through the UAE are being explored as viable options. “It’s an evolving situation and we are exploring every ways and means to ensure the safety of our nationals as we have done in the past,” said a source. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has spoken to his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss the situation. It’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war. They should talk before it’s too late US President Donald Trump express read Our fresh survey is as per law, says Siddu A woman holds her baby as residents evacuate downtown Tel Aviv on Monday | AP/PTI Tehran said despite the closure of Iranian airspace, “all land borders are open for crossing” and has requested India to share details of those intending to leave. The Indian Embassy in Tehran urged all nationals to stay indoors, avoid non-essential movement, and follow advisories. As the war entered the fourth day on Monday, Iran confirmed 224 deaths while the toll in Israel rose to 24. India, which maintains diplomatic ties with both nations, reiterated its call for de-escalation. “Existing channels of dialogue and diplomacy should be utilised,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. However, with neither side showing intention to dialing down tensions, the region is bracing for more strikes. On Monday, Israel ordered residents of Tehran to evacuate the district immediately, warning that lethal strikes were coming.  P9 119 bodies IDed, 64 handed over D i l i p S i n g h K shat r i ya @ Ahmedabad The process to identify victims of the June 12 AI-171 air crash picked up pace on Monday as officials said DNA samples of 119 of them have been successfully matched. Ahmedabad Civil Hospital Superintendent Dr Rakesh Joshi said 64 bodies have already been handed over to the respective families. Another 24 families are expected to collect the mortal remains in the coming days, while 11 families await confirmation of DNA matches. Twelve families are still awaiting final DNA results. Among the bodies identified on Sunday was that of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani. He was cremated in Rajkot with full state honours on Monday . Probe teams recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), the second black box. The CVR, along with a wire trailing from the aircraft’s rear section, was handed over to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).  P8 Maravoor dam overflows as heavy rain lashes Dakshina Kannada district on Monday Excess pre-monsoon rain improves groundwater level A sh w i n i M S r i pad @Bengaluru With excessive pre-monsoon rain and good southwest monsoon showers, there has been a substantial increase in the groundwater table across the state, besides improved water quality . The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) stated that this year, 28 districts witnessed large excess rainfall between March and May (pre-monsoon ), while one district recorded excess rainfall and only two districts received normal The Centre on Monday formally notified the much-delayed National Population Census 2027, which was due way back in 2021, but had to be put off after the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. The Gazette notification said, “the Central Government hereby declares that a census of the population of India shall be taken during the year 2027.” The notification added that the reference date for the Census shall be 00.00 hours of the 1st day of March, 2027, except for Ladakh and snow-bound rainfall. The state normally gets 117 mm of rain during these three months, but this year, it received over 320 mm, reveals data. GS Srinivasa Reddy, former director, KSNDMC, said premonsoon was exceptionally good this year and the state has received over 200 mm of excess rainfall. This has been followed by a good monsoon, especially in north-interior Karnataka and other places. With the excess rainfall, catchment areas of reservoirs have been saturated and there is a good inflow into dams in May itself, he added. P4 Davanagere: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday claimed that his government’s upcoming socio-educational and caste survey is different from the Centre’s caste enumeration. The CM said his government’s caste census is driven by the imperative of social justice. “The Centre is only doing a caste census. We are conducting a comprehensive socio-educational and caste survey,” he added | P4 This is not an era of war: PM in Cyprus Nicosia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he and Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides “expressed concern” over the ongoing conflicts in West Asia and Europe, and they both agree that “this is not an era of war”. The PM made the remarks after wide-ranging talks with Christodoulides, covering the full range of bilateral relations. Caste enumeration definitely on, says govt The Union home ministry rubbished Congress apprehensions on caste enumeration as the notification did not mention it. “The census will include caste enumeration... It has already been mentioned in press releases dated 30 April, 4 June and 15 June, that the census will also have caste enumeration,” the govt said non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.” As for the rest, the reference date shall be 00:00 hours of October 1, 2026. The notification was issued by Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, Registrar General and Census Commissioner. The census exercise will be held in two phases — House Listing Operation (HLO) and Population Enumeration (PE). While HLO will involve collecting data on assets and amenities in each household, the PE exercise will capture the demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household. Also, caste enumeration will Panel to standardise health scheme rates reconstituted E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i ce @ Bengaluru IN a move aimed at bringing uniformity and transparency to state-run health assurance schemes, the Karnataka government has reconstituted an expert committee to recommend standard package rates for medical services offered at participating establishments. The committee’s primary task will be to evaluate healthcare costs and recommend uniform rates to be applied across public and private hospitals under government-supported insurance and assurance schemes. The effort is expected to reduce pricing disparities, improve access to quality care, and streamline reimbursements under schemes like Ayushman Bharat and state-run insurance programmes. “The committee has been In rare move, FATF condemns Pahalgam attack J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi AS India intensifies its diplomatic push to put Pakistan on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, the global anti-terror financing watchdog has issued a rare, strongly worded condemnation of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, flagging the financial lifelines that sustain such violence. “The FATF expresses grave concern and condemns the brutal terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir, India, on 22 April 2025,” it said, noting the brutality of the incident in which 26 tourists were killed. Victims were executed after being forced to reveal their religion—an act FATF described as a targeted and horrifying assault on civilians. Only twice in the past has FATF publicly condemned a specific terrorist attack, in 2015 and 2019. This underscores the gravity of the Pahalgam incident in the eyes of the international community “This, and other . recent attacks, could not occur without money and the means to move funds between terrorist supporters,” the FATF said, highlighting the central role of terror financing in enabling such operations. FATF will soon release a comprehensive report on terrorist financing risks, which, for the first time, will acknowledge ‘statesponsored terrorism’ as a financing threat. The condemnation of the Pahalgam attack signals a shift in international willingness to call out state-linked financing of terrorism. LEAGUE clears ashwin of ball-tampering TNPL dismissed the ball-tampering allegations made by Madurai Panthers against Dindigul Dragons skipper R Ashwin. They have given one day to submit material evidence | P11 formed and the latest proposal highlights the need to revisit and update the existing package recommendations. Based on this, the government has formally amended the relevant rule and reconstituted the committee accordingly,” an order dated June 10 said. The newly formed panel will be chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary or Principal Secretary or Secretary to the Department of Health and Family Welfare. The committee includes key health administrators such as the Executive Director of Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), the Health Commissioner, the Medical Education Director, and a representative from the Finance Department not below the rank of Deputy Secretary A . senior official from Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology will re present tertiary public healthcare institutions. P5 be done for the first time after Independence as part of the Census, which is in its eighth edition. Overall, this is the 16th edition of the Census since its beginning in 1881. As many as 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors and around 1.3 lakh census functionaries will conduct the operation with cutting-edge mobile digital gadgets, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Sunday after chairing a high-level meeting to review the preparations for the Census exercise. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan and other senior officials participated. Lokayukta cops search IPS officer’s house Yath i r aj u @ Bengaluru Lokayukta police searched the house of their former Superintendent of Police (Bengaluru City Division-1) Srinath M Joshi, following the lead obtained in the ongoing investigation against dismissed head constable G Ningappa from Chitradurga district. Ningappa was arrested for allegedly collecting crores of rupees from several state government officials by leaking information of possible raids against them, after obtaining information from his ‘sources’ within the Karnataka Lokayukta. During a search conducted at the IPS officer’s residence in southeast Bengaluru, Lokayukta police recovered Rs 32,000 in cash, a few gold ornaments and documents. Police issued notice to Joshi to appear before them for inquiry and Joshi is said to , have sought 2-3 days time. P5