bengaluru l friday l july 11, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 40 l late city EDITION all government offices to display ‘oil and sugar boards’ Under the initiative of the health ministry, these informative boards will list the amount of sugar and oil in food items and their health hazards fssai, icmr roped in for model healthy meal limits daily sugar intake to 25 grams The ministry has asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN), which have prepared these ‘sugar and oil boards’, to suggest a model healthy meal that can be served in canteens and eateries of public institutions, instead of the greasy, oily and sugary meals ■ ■ The boards recommend that people consume only 27-30 gm of fat every day and that their sugar intake should not exceed 25 gm per person per day for adults and 20 gm for children | P9 The fiat comes after CBSE directed all its schools to establish ‘sugar boards’ to educate students about perils of excessive sugar or oil 20% of adults in urban areas are overweight or obese as per NFHS-5 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 No SC stay on Bihar electoral roll revision Apex court asks ECI to consider Aadhaar, voter ID, ration card as documents for proof S U C H I T RA K ALYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider Aadhaar card, voter ID card and ration card as acceptable documents in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in the state. Refusing to stay the voter list revision, a bench comprising justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagch called the SIR a “constitutional mandate” and permitted the ECI to continue the exercise. The court took on record the poll panel’s submission that the list of 11 documents it put out on June 24 to prove citizenship in Bihar was illustrative, nor exhaustive. “In our prima facie view, since the list is not exhaustive, it will be in the interest of justice if the ECI will also consider the Aadhaar card, Electoral Photo Identity Card issued by the Election Commission and the ration card,” the bench said. This, the court said, was a suggestion, not a direction. “If you have good reason to discard Aadhaar, you do it, but give reasons,” it added. While asking the ECI to file its counter-affidavit by July 21, the court fixed the case for further hearing on July 28. The bench was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the SIR in Bihar. It observed that the petitions raised an im- e x p r e ss r e a d 30% heart attack deaths were of auto, cab drivers Bengaluru: Around 30 per cent of the individuals who died suddenly due to suspected heart attacks in Hassan district during May and June this year were auto or cab drivers, revealed a stategovernment appointed investigation | P3 Strays in B’luru may get chicken, rice once a day Bengaluru: In a first-of-its kind initiative, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike plans to feed around 4,000 stray dogs chicken and rice once a day to avoid aggression in the animals. It will spend Rs 2.88 crore annually for the initiative | P2 portant question which goes to the root of the functioning of democracy — the right to vote. “We are of the prima facie opinion that three issues are involved in this case: (a) The very powers of the Election Commission to undertake the exercise; (b) The procedure and the manner in which the exercise is being undertaken, and (c) The timing, including the timings given for the preparation of draft electoral roll, asking objections and making the final electoral roll etc, which are very short, considering the fact that the Bihar elections are due in November 2025 and notifications for this elections will come in advance weeks earlier,” the bench said. While questioning the ECI on the timing of the SIR, the court rejected the argument of the petitioners that the poll panel did not have any power to carry it out. When senior lawyer, Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI said Aadhaar wasn’t a proof of citizenship, the bench rebutted, saying the ECI had nothing to do with citizenship, as the matter is in the domain of the home ministry The court asked the . ECI why it started the SIR so close to the Bihar polls. There is nothing wrong with SIR but it should have been done months before the election, it said. Senior lawyer Gopal Sankarnarayanan, appearing for one of the petitioners, argued that the SIR drive was completely arbitrary and discriminatory . No power transfer, will complete full term: CM D e v a r a j B H i r eh a l l i @ Bengaluru CM Siddaramaiah at a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday | PTI It is not correct that there was a pact on power transfer, but the high command told us we should abide by whatever decision is taken Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday asserted that there is no question of a leadership change, and reiterated that he will remain chief minister for the full five-year term. Speaking to the media in New Delhi, he dismissed as “incorrect” reports that there was a pact at the high command level on power transfer but also the party high command on the leadership issue, his statement proved otherwise. “It is not correct that there was a pact on power transfer (to Shivakumar), but the high command told us we should abide by whatever decision is taken,” he stated. Siddaramaiah downplayed Shivakumar as a contender, saying “of course he is one of the aspirants and nothing wrong with it. He did his duty as KPCC president like anybody would have done (during 2023 polls)”. He stressed that when he stated he would be the CM for five years, on the sidelines of the cabinet meeting held in Nandi Hills on July 2, Shivakumar was there, and had also said the CM’s post is not vacant. He categorically rejected the probability of switching to national politics, saying, “I will remain CM of Karnataka.”  P4 Coimbatore blast Indian officials to visit US to resume trade talk key accused held in V’pura after 27 yrs D IPA K M O N D AL @ New Delhi E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Coimbatore/ Vijayapura Nearly 27 years after the 1998 Coimbatore serial bomb blast, which claimed 58 lives and injured 250 people, the Coimbatore city police and the Coimbatore unit of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Wednesday arrested one of the key accused in the case from Vijayapura district in Karnataka. The suspect, ‘Tailor’ Raja (48), had been on the run since 1996 after he was booked in a petrol bomb attack case against a jail warden in Coimbatore. Raja, who was from Bilal Estate at Ukkadam in Coimbatore, has multiple aliases, including Sadiq, Valarntha Raja, Shahjahan Abdul Majid Makandar, and Shahjahan Shaik. The investigation to trace Raja, one of the four suspects declared as wanted by the CB-CID police in the case, was taken over by the ATS after its formation in 2023. Raja, who managed to evade police surveillance, had been hiding in Vijayapura since 2002, where he married a woman and now has two children. He was working as a load man in a local vegetable market and identified himself as Shajahan. He had also worked in Bengaluru and Hubballi. | P5 ‘Tailor’ Raja was apprehended from Vijayapura in Karnataka Urgent hearing to save Nimisha Priya on July 14 needed to be explored at the earliest. He submitted that the option of payTHE Supreme Court on Thursday ment of blood money to the family of agreed to hear on July 14 a plea seeking the deceased can be explored. The famimmediate direction to the Cenily of the deceased may pardon tre to use diplomatic channels the Kerala nurse if blood money to save Indian nurse Nimisha is paid, he submitted. Priya, 38, who is likely to be exThe bench asked the counsel ecuted in Yemen on July 16 for to serve a copy of the petition to murder charges. the Attorney General and sought The petitioner, Save Nimisha his assistance. Priya Inter national Action Quoting media reports, SubCouncil (SNPIAC), moved the Nimisha Priya hash said since Priya’s execucourt seeking its immediate tion is scheduled for July 16, the intervention. Centre should immediately intervene to A bench of justices Sudhanshu save her life. Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi listed the Priya, who hails from Palakkad in matter for hearing on July 14 after Sub- Kerala, was found guilty by a court in hash Chandran K R, counsel for SNPI- Yemen of murdering Talal Abdo Mahdi AC, argued that diplomatic channels in 2017. S U C H I T RA K ALYAn M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Visually impaired fans go app, mobile at Lord’s F i r o z M i r z a @ London Imagine an app cloning the whole stadium, compressing data of every corner, stairs, balconies and concourse for a visually impaired person to use and wander about more relaxingly All the information in the . palm of their hands (mobile phones to be precise) with a guiding voice in the ears. That’s how Lord’s has become more disabled-friendly when it introduced the visually-impaired apps this Summer. Now, the fans can not just listen to commentary but can feel and soak in the atmosphere of a game with more ease. At a time when even basic amenities for fans at stadiums across India seem to be a far cry Lord’s, the Home , of Cricket, in London has introduced this novel feature to make it more after completing two-and-half years, and added that the post was not vacant. His statement boosted the morale of his supporters back home, with PWD minister Satish Jarkiholi stating the “match is over” on leadership change. Zameer Ahmed Khan also said there was no pact over power sharing. Though it appeared that Siddaramaiah had posed a challenge not only to Shivakumar Sachin Tendulkar rings the bell before the third Test on Thursday | AFP disable-friendly. The Marylebone Cricket Board (MCC), which runs the stadium, in collaboration with Waymap has installed a personal navigation system to help speciallyabled fans to their seats and other amenities. The technology was tested ahead of the third Test between England and London last month and is now operational. The MCC also runs ball by ball commentary that allows fans to follow the game. “We hope that the introduction of Waymap at the home of cricket breaks down some of the barriers currently being faced by visually impaired fans,” Celso Zuccollo, the chief executive of Waymap, told this daily “Our . partnership with Lord’s cricket ground is improving the match-day experience for all visitors and we’re extremely proud of the positive impact this has on accessibility for all within our first sporting venue.” He said the wayfinding app is a highlyaccurate personal navigation system which offers step-by-step audio and on-screen instructions. The company mapped the venue using Lidar technology . ‘no deal is better than bad deal’ Sources close to the government say no deal is better than a bad deal. For the record, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India is in no hurry to seal a deal with the US unless it is mutually beneficial for both countries With the Trump administration’s deadline for imposing higher import tariffs on its trading partners shifted to August 1, Indian trade negotiators are likely to visit the US again to iron out the differences and seal a deal, government sources said. India was expecting to sign an interim trade deal with the US ahead of the earlier deadline of July 9 but could not, due to differences over tariff rates on agriculture, dairy, and automobiles. The government decided to send the trade negotiators again after the earlier team led by Rajesh Agrawal, special sec- retary, Department of Commerce, returned without a deal in hand. The dates for the team’s next US visit have not been finalised, but it could be sometime next week. According to sources, the Indian government is trying to negotiate a “complete deal” and it is not differentiating between an interim deal and the first phase of the Bilateral Trade Agreement. “Whatever will be finished, we can package it as an interim deal and for the rest, talks will continue,” said an official. While US President Donald Trump has been claiming that a deal with India would be signed soon, finance ministry sources say talks so far have hit a deadlock. Officials say the Indian side has been guarding against any tariff reduction on agriculture and dairy products. Tariff on automobiles is also said to be one of the contentious issues. Initially, India appeared to relent on agriculture tariffs, but after pressure from the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, the government seems to have hardened its stand. ‘rejecting deal won’t hurt India’ India may refuse to ink a trade deal and accept US reciprocal tariffs, said sources. “US is imposing higher tariffs on other countries too. So, our export competitiveness may not get impacted at all,” the sources reasoned