bengaluru l Monday l July 21, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION UIDAI to start biometric update of kids via schools The UIDAI said it is working on a project to start biometric updates of children through schools in a phased manner Project depends on consent of parents will help students avail many benefits According to UIDAI, over 7 crore children have not updated their biometrics for Aadhaar, which is mandatory after attaining the age of 5 years. “The project will be done only after parental consent. We are at present testing the technology and it should be ready in 45-60 days,” PTI quoted UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar as saying ■ ■ Updating biometrics will ensure seamless usage of Aadhaar in availing services such as school admissions, registering for examinations, availing benefits of scholarships, DBT schemes, etc Under the project, the UIDAI will send biometric machines to each district which will be rotated from school to school AADHAAR Can be deactivated if biometrics UPDATE IS NOT DONE BY AGE 7 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 Bihar poll roll revision, Op Sindoor top House agenda SIT to probe Dharmasthala mass grave allegations V i n c e n t D ’ S o u z a @ Mangaluru In all-party meet, govt agrees to discuss all issues raised by Oppn 100 MPs sign petition calling for Varma’s impeachment R A J E S H K U M A R THA K U R @ New Delhi From left: Minister of state Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and J P Nadda and MoS L Murugan chair the all-party meet in New Delhi on Sunday | PTI R A J E S H K U M A R THA K U R @ New Delhi AMID persistent demand by the Opposition for debates on multiple pressing issues in the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament, the BJP-led government on Sunday signalled its willingness to engage in discussions—particularly on the success of Operation Sindoor— provided all opposition party leaders adhere to Parliamentary traditions. The government dropped the hint during an all-party meeting, chaired by Union Minister J P Nadda, a day before the start of the Monsoon session. As many as 54 leaders of different parties and independent MPs attended the meet on Sunday . The Opposition demanded a statement from the PM on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls currently underway in poll-bound Bihar. There was also a strong call from the Opposition for a clarification from the government on the alleged US mediation during Operation Sindoor resulting in a ceasefire. According to sources, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju affirmed that the govern- in 4.5 years B’luru sees 3k fatal accidents, conviction 7% R a ks h i t h G o w d a @ Bengaluru IN the last four-and-a-half years, 3,536 fatal accidents were reported in the city, but only 7% of these cases resulted in conviction. Due to compensation settlements, the accused often go scot-free. On average, 11 accidents are reported daily in the city, including two fatal ones. The number of accidents increased by one-third from 2021 to 2024. Experts said that the low conviction rate in fatal accidents is due to poor investigation, lack of eyewitnesses and out-ofcourt settlements. According to the data from 2021 to July 2025, a total of 3,536 fatal accidents and 15,349 nonfatal accidents were reported, while 250 fatal and 9,811 nonfatal cases resulted in conviction. Meanwhile, 407 fatal and 199 non-fatal cases were disposed. In cases involving drunk driving and resulting in death, cases are registered under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder ) of the BNS and previously booked under Section 304 of the IPC. A senior police officer said nearly 70–80% of fatal accident cases are compromised out of court between the accused and the victim’s family, leading to low conviction rates and accused go free hand. Most accidents involve two-wheeler riders from economically weaker backgrounds. P5 ment would respond appropriately when discussions take place on US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire assertions concerning the India-Pakistan conflict. Rijiju told reporters after the meeting: “There should be government-opposition coordination in running Parliament smoothly; not confrontation. The government is open to discussions within rules, conventions.” Many Opposition leaders also demanded a debate on the intelligence failure behind the Pahalgam attack. On these demands, Rijiju said the matters raised at the meeting would be taken up at the Business Advisory Committee of both houses, where a final decision would be taken. After the meeting, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi told reporters that his party sought Prime Minister Modi’s statement on Trump’s claims, “lapses” which led to the Pahalgam attack and SIR in Bihar. “We hope that the PM will fulfil his moral duty he said. ,” CPI(M)’s John Brittas and Supriya Sule of NCP-Sharad Pawar demanded that the PM respond on Pahalgam attack and Bihar’s SIR. P10 taking appears to be no further doubt regarding the move to impeach Justice Yashwant Varma. The Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said over 100 MPs have already signed a notice to bring a motion in Parliament for the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma, crossing the threshold of support required for tabling the impeachment exercise in the Lok Sabha. “The signature (exercise) is underway and it has crossed 100 already Rijiju told report,” ers after the all-party meeting, while adding that it is for the Business Advisory Committee, a group of parties which finalises the agenda in their respective House, to decide when the motion will be moved. A motion for the removal of a judge has to be signed by not less than 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 50 in the Rajya Sabha. The motion is likely to be brought in the Lower House. With Parliament’s Monsoon Session beginning from Monday, the government has made it clear that it will bring the motion during this sitting of Parliament and has been receiving support from all parties. Varma, who has been kept off judicial work, has protested his innocence and has moved the Supreme Court against the in-house committee’s findings. SIT not to handle Soujanya case Bengaluru: Home Minister G Parameshwara on Sunday said the 2012 Soujanya rape and murder case would not be included in the newly constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT). Parameshwara told reporters that they wanted a preliminary inquiry to be conducted based on the complaint in the Dharmasthala case. “We had stated that after this, if needed, we would hand over investigation to a higher agency | P4 The state government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a comprehensive and impartial probe into a series of alleged crimes, including murders, sexual assaults, and disappearances of women and girls spanning over two decades in the Dharmasthala region of Dakshina Kannada district. The decision comes on the heels of a chilling testimony by a former sanitation worker employed by the Dharmasthala temple administration, who told the police he was forced to burn and bury the bodies of hundreds of women, including schoolgirls, between 1998 and 2014. He claimed the victims were raped and murdered before being disposed of in secret. The SIT will be led by Dr. Pranav Mohanty DGP Internal , , Security Division. The team also includes senior IPS offic- ‘Probe will put speculation to rest’ Meanwhile, Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala spokesperson K Parshwanath Jain while welcoming the SIT investigation said it would bring facts to light and put speculation to rest. Calls for an SIT had been growing from multiple quarters, including the sanitation worker himself. For mer Supreme Cour t Judge V Gopala Gowda also had urged the government to arrest those responsible without delay and ensure a transparent investigation through the SIT. R i s h i ta K h a n n a @Bengaluru sunday showers Though the weather was gloomy throughout the day, the burst of rain in the evening hours caught many people off-guard on their weekend outing near Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on Sunday | Shashidhar Byrappa M U K E S H R AN J AN @ New Delhi Cloudburst aftermath at Thunag of Seraj valley, in Mandi on Wednesday | ANI floods, 22 cloudbursts, and 19 landslides. Estimates put the financial loss to the state at over `1,200 crore. According to the State Emergency Operation Centre, 146 roads are blocked, 28 power transformers out of worker as deeply concerning and indicative of possible systemic criminal activity . The SIT is required to provide regular updates to the Director General and Inspector General of Police, and submit a detailed investigation report to the government at the earliest, he said. Tunnel Rd will spike jams, add 16 gridlocks as per DPR Expert panel to assess recurring natural disasters TAKING note of the frequent, high-intensity natural disasters in Himachal Pradesh, the Centre will form a team of experts from various disciplines to assess the situation in the hill state and suggest measures to deal with cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides, and torrential rainfall. Confirming the development, officials said on Sunday that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has directed the formation of a multi-sectoral central team to visit Himachal Pradesh, which witnessed nearly 120 deaths and widespread damage to infrastructure, houses, and crops in the ongoing monsoon season. In the past month alone, the state has witnessed 33 flash ers MN Anucheth, Soumya Latha and Jitendra Kumar Dayama. The SIT will operate out of the Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police’s office and will have access to all district resources. It has also been granted the authority to bring in additional personnel and officers as needed. The team is tasked with investigating the FIR registered at Dharmasthala Police Station, but also any related cases of unnatural deaths, sexual assault, murders and disappearances reported or discovered during the course of the investigation across other police stations in Karnataka. In a post on ‘X’, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the move follows a request from the Karnataka State Commission for Women, which has taken a serious note of the allegations and demanded an unbiased probe. The Commission cited both the media reports and the court statement of the sanitation service, and 58 water supply schemes affected. The central team will comprise experts from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roor- kee, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune, a Geologist, and the Indian Institute of Technolo g y (IIT) Indore. “The home minister’s direction came following a recent meeting in which he was apprised that Himachal Pradesh has witnessed an increase in the frequency and intensity of cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides and torrential rainfall, causing widespread loss of life, damage to infrastructure, livelihoods and environmental degradation,” a senior official of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said. The Centre has already deputed an inter-ministerial team for on-the-spot, first-hand assessment of the damages in the state. The team is currently visiting the affected areas. express read Veerashaiva-Lingayat seers unite after decades Davanagere: For the first time in three decades, five VeerashaivaLingayat seers will come together for the ‘Shrunga Sammelan’ on Monday. The convention, which is expected to adopt a resolution on the caste census, will unite heads of Balehonnuru, Kedara, Ujjain, Rambhapuri and Srisailam peethas | P5 Odisha teen critical, airlifted to AIIMS Delhi Bhubaneswar: The 15-year-old girl who was set afire by a group of miscreants in Odisha’s Puri district was airlifted to the burn ICU in the Burns and Plastic Surgery block of AIIMS Delhi on Sunday. She sustained 75 per cent burns and her condition remains critical and she is on oxygen support, a medical bulletin said | P5 BILLED as a solution to Bengaluru’s traffic crisis, the estimated Rs 22,000-crore tunnel road between Hebbal and Silk Board will create more traffic snarls than it claims to fix. The project, backed by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar as a flagship intervention against the city’s chronic congestion, would create “16 new gridlock” points at just eight entry and exit ramps — where U-turns and merging traffic are expected to worsen surface-level bottlenecks. As per the illustrations in the final Detailed Project Report (DPR) accessed by The New INdian Express, the already congested areas such as Hebbal Flyover, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Maharani College Junction, Freedom Park surroundings, Wilson Garden junction near Ashoka Pillar and Hosur Road, where the proposed entry and exit points are planned, may see additional traffic woes. The DPR (Volume-V) by Rodic Consultants Private Limited also makes no estimate of how much of the city’s total traffic the tunnel will absorb. Further, it does not mention the average distance that tunnel users will be compelled to travel. Based on BBMP’s feasibility data, prepared by Altinok, a commuter using the Bengaluru tunnel will not just travel the tunnel’s core length of 16.68 km, but will also cover an average additional distance of 2.23 km due to entry and exit ramps - 1.14 km at the entry and 1.09 km at the exit. P2 manchester test Injury dampener for India; Reddy, Akash Deep latest concerns TNIE in England Firoz Mirza @manchester It has been drizzling even on Sunday. Though sporadic, it rained too. The pitch in the middle of Old Trafford cricket ground is covered and is expected to be damp. The India team that reached here by train on Saturday evening had a closed door practice session but indoors. It was gloomy and overcast, ideal conditions for pacers. However, for India, inside the dressing room it is less than ideal even after a fun-time spent at Manchester United’s training centre at Carrington. If the suspense over Jasprit Bumrah’s appearance in the fourth Test was not enough, India suffered a huge blow as Nitich Reddy is likely to be ruled out of the remaining two Tests on Sunday This is after Akash . Deep’s availability came under scanner due to injury Though . the nature of Reddy’s ailment is not known, Akash Deep ap- Ravindra Jadeja, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah and Shubman Gill at the Man United training centre | BCCI X parently has groin issue. With the fast bowling all-rounder seems unlikely to take the field, India would be worried right now. He lent stability to the lower order and also chipped in with wickets. Reddy claimed three wickets (all at Lord’s) in the two Tests he has played. Arshdeep Singh, another pacer, has already sustained a cut in his bowling hand in Beckenham a few days ago and is unlikely to make his debut here. They do have Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna yet the team management has flown in Haryana speedster Anshul Kamboj as a cover. Calling up a back-up bowler in the middle of a series usually don’t paint a very rosy picture. What makes it more intriguing is Manchester weather. The Met Department issued yellow warning for Sunday and Monday for heavy and perhaps thundery spells. There is forecast of light rain throughout the match as well. With the surface expected to be damp, India would be in a huddle to find their best possible combination before Wednesday  . P13 Jagan may be questioned by sit on liquor scam Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy is likely to be summoned for questioning in connection with the alleged multi-crore liquor scam during his regime, to trace the money trail | P5