tadepalligudem l tuesday l august 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION MEA slams munir, says India will not give in to nuclear blackmail Nuclear sabre-rattling is Pakistan’s “stock-intrade”, the MEA said on Monday, in a strong response to the Pak Army Chief’s nuclear threat Rude remarks from ‘friendly 3rd country’ iNDIA TO TAKE UP THE matter with THE u.S. Munir, currently on a visit to the US, made the threat while addressing the Pakistani diaspora in Florida’s Tampa. “We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us,” Asim Munir said. In an apparent message to the US, the MEA said it is regrettable that these remarks were made from the soil of a friendly third country ■ ■ Munir’s remarks reinforce the well-held doubts that the Pak military is “hand-in-glove” with terrorist groups, the MEA said in its statement Later in the evening, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told the Shashi Tharoor-led Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs that the government will take up the matter with the US 2nd This is Munir’s second visit to the U.S. in a span of one-and-a-half months 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 High Court upholds polling center changes Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e This fight is not political; it is aimed at saving Constitution... We want a clean, pure voter list Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress president BJP’s cowardly dictatorship will not work! This is a fight to protect people’s right to vote, a struggle to save democracy @ Vijayawada Sushmita Dev (left) and Mahua Moitra (second from left), both Trinamool Congress, scale a police barricade during a protest march by INDIA bloc MPs from Parliament to the Election Commission of India’s office in Delhi on Monday; and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attends to TMC’s Mitali Bag after she fainted at the protest venue | PTI High drama as Bihar SIR stir spills onto Delhi’s streets Opposition members of Parliament barred from reaching the ECI office, briefly detained Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief It’s not the first time fingers have been raised at the EC. In UP polls, the SP raised issues multiple times M K Stalin, Tamil Nadu CM The BJP has turned the poll panel into its election rigging machinery. We will not watch it happen in silence Dharmendra Pradhan , Union minister You can’t adversely impact PM Modi’s leadership, people’s mandate, constitutional system via fear P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi In a day of high drama, the Opposition’s protest against the ongoing voter roll revision in Bihar spilled onto the streets with the Delhi Police detaining several top leaders of INDIA bloc, including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, during their march to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) headquarters in the capital. While the march led by Rahul began from Parliament House at noon, the MPs were stopped midway as the police had placed multiple barricades on Parliament Street to block them from moving forward. While the police asked the MPs not to proceed further and made an announcement through a loudspeaker that they should send only 30 representatives forward, many MPs sat on the road and raised slogans against the alleged ‘vote theft’ and poll rigging. In the melee, some MPs including SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, TMC’s Mahua Moitra, Sagarika Ghose and the Congress’ Sanjana Jatav and Jothimani, scaled the barricades raising slogans. The protesting MPs were later whisked away by police in buses to the Parliament Street police station. TMC’s Moitra and Mitali Bag fainted while being detained. All of them were released after a brief detention. Later speaking to the media, Rahul said the Opposition is protesting for the right to vote for every Indian and demanding a “clean and pure” voter list, asserting that the issue of alleged irregularities pointed out by him will ‘explode’ soon as it is not related to a single constituency but the whole country . Indicating that he would not submit a signed affidavit as sought by the Election Commission, Rahul asserted that the data analysed by the Congress to provide proof of ‘vote theft’ was taken from the EC’s website. “They cannot talk as the truth is before the entire nation. This fight is not political; it is aimed at saving the Constitution,” said Rahul. Meanwhile, a war of words broke out between the EC and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who said that he had written to the EC requesting a meeting to collectively handover a memorandum. The ECI said Jairam had acknowledged its invitation for a meeting with 30 MPs but later “changed his tone”. The EC rebutted Jairam’s claimed that he has urged the panel to allow Opposition MPs to collectively hand over a memorandum and not for just a delegation. K’taka min sacked for embarrassing Cong 8 bills get nod sans debate Parliament passed 8 bills without discussion, including the National Sports Governance Bill, the National Anti-Doping (Amend) Bill and the I-T (No 2) Bill and Taxation Laws (Amend) Bill | P7 poll row: BJD set to go to HC Eight months after complaint to the ECI about irregularities in 2024 Assembly and LS polls in Odisha, the BJD will escalate the matter to the Orissa High Court | P7 Ban s y Ka l a p pa @ Bengaluru On the surface, it seemed like a routine resignation. But behind the calm façade of Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna’s sudden exit from the Karnataka cabinet lies a web of controversy high-stakes power struggles , and whispers of betrayal that have set the state’s political corridors abuzz. The 74-year-old minister, a close confidant of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, part of the latter’s core support group and a key face of the ST community, suddenly resigned on the first day of the legislature session. The timing couldn’t have been more telling. The tipping point was a seemingly offhand comment. A few days ago, he had said that the controversial voter K N Rajanna list in the Mahadevapura assembly constituency which is central to the , Congress’ “vote theft” offensive, had been prepared during the Congress rule. This gave an impression that Congress too did not do anything on the very issue the party is fighting against. For the Congress brass, it was appalling. For Siddaramaiah, it was an embarrassment. Even before Rajanna sent in his resignation, the Chief Minister’s Office forwarded its recommendation for his ouster to Raj Bhavan. The message was clear: it was a purge. ‘P4 focused on long term benefits, not immediate politics’ Mega DSC 2025 results announced E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The state government announced the final results of the Mega DSC-2025 recruitment exam for 16,347 teaching posts in state schools. Out of 5,77,694 applicants, 3,36,307 candidates appeared for the exam, with an attendance rate of 92.90%. Candidates can check their results and scorecards on the School Education Department’s official website. Candidates with errors in their Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) details can make corrections online through https:// apdsc.apcfss.in using their hall ticket number. This correction facility will be available for two days, until August 13, 2025. Amit Shah assures FCRA renEWal for RDT E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Anantapur E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada With criticism emerging from various quarters about the forceful adoption of ‘Bangaru Kutumbams’ by ‘Margadarshis’ (mentors) under the P4 program, Swarna Andhra P4 Foundation Vice Chairman C. Kutumba Rao clarified that P4 is a strategic, people-centric movement launched with the sole objective of improving lives across Andhra Pradesh. Strategic “It is a mission for the people, Value by the people, and to the people - cutting across political lines, Govt stated communities, regions, or ecothat the nomic status. The program is depth and built on participation, not polistrategic value tics,” Rao said in a release isof P4 may not sued on Monday He stated that . yet be fully the P4 (Public-Private-People visible from Partnership) initiative aims to the outside. enhance people’s participation for the progress and prosperity of Andhra Pradesh. CM Naidu is fully aware that P4 may not bring immediate political dividends, yet he has chosen to lead this initiative with full commitment because the well-being of the people comes first, not politics. The program demands significant effort, coordination, and energy, but its focus remains clear: to create a platform where citizens, businesses, P4 NRIs come together in service of society . The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday refused to intervene in multiple petitions related to the Pulivendula Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) by-elections in YSR Kadapa district, dismissing challenges to polling center changes and other electoral issues. Justice Gannamaneni Ramakrishna Prasad rejected petitions filed by YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leaders, noting that the election process had already commenced and 97% of voters were informed about the new centers via voter slips. In the first case, YSRCP leaders Tummala Hemanth Reddy and others contested the relocation of polling centers from Erraballi and Nalagondavaripalli villages to Nallapureddipalli, alleging violations of State Election Commission (SEC) guidelines, including lack of newspaper notifications and an increased distance from 2 km to 4 km. Senior advocate P Veera Red. dy and others argued on behalf of the petitioners. The SEC’s counsel countered that guidelines were followed, with de- TDP MP’s and leaders met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, submitted a representation seeking renewal of FCRA for RDT | Express Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured a delegation of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders from Anantapur that their plea to restore the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of the Rural Development Trust (RDT) will be considered positively with a decision expected within a week. , The TDP group, led by Union Minister K. Rammohan Naidu, met Shah at his Parliament office on Monday to urge immediate action to revive RDT’s ability to collect foreign donations, which is critical for its 55-year legacy of serving the poor in Anantapur. The delegation highlighted RDT’s non-partisan efforts in alleviating poverty across caste and religious lines in one of India’s most economically disadvantaged regions. They highlighted that FCRA restrictions have disrupted RDT’s operations since 2021, despite a renewal application subP4 mitted three months ago. tails displayed at ZPTC and MPTC offices, though no newspaper ads were published. Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas, representing the state government, stated that the relocation process began on July 11 with a draft notification inviting objections, followed by a final one. He emphasized that voter slips compensated for any lapses, and judicial interference post-process initiation was unwarranted. Justice Prasad criticized the SEC for not adhering to its circular on newspaper publications, but ruled that voter slip distribution addressed the shortfall. He dismissed the petitions, declining intervention. In a related ruling, a Division Bench upheld a single judge’s directives for conducting the elections smoothly, freely, and impartially, ensuring no disruptions to law and order. YSRCP Requests Rejected YSRCP requests for observers and CCTV rejected. The Bench clarified that the single judge’s orders were appr opriate and noted the SEC’s compliance with the petition, resolving the appeal. US trade talks on track; India draws red lines PUSHPITA D E Y & J ayan t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Amid growing uncertainty over the future of trade negotiations with the US, this newspaper has learnt that the visit of the US delegation in the last week of August is on schedule. “There has been no change in the plans of the US delegation visit to India as scheduled on August 24,” confirmed two persons from the Ministry of Commerce. There was speculation about the fate of trade talks after US president Donald Trump recently ruled out talks with India till the tariff issue is resolved. “There has been no communication from the US so far (regarding the cancellation). Their visit is scheduled on August 24 and the meeting has been scheduled in the third week of August,” said an official. The next round of negotiations is to take place in Delhi on August 25—just before an additional 25% tariff on India kicks in, apart from the existing 25% levy . A query sent to the US Trade Representative re- Donald Trump mained unanswered till the time of filing of the report. Meanwhile, the government on Monday told members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs that India has certain ‘red lines’ that can’t be crossed in the negotiations with the US. Senior officials, including Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal, briefed the panel. Sources said the government asserted its uncompromising stance on core sectors, especially agriculture and dairy while outlin, ing a strategy to cushion the economic blow through export diversification. “Red lines were clearly flagged,” a source said, “particularly against the US demand to open India’s agri and dairy sectors. There will be no compromise on these.” OMG! SC orders Delhi-NCR purge of all stray dogs in eight weeks SUCHITR A K A LYA N M OH A N TY @ New Delhi the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Delhi government and the civic authorities of Delhi-NCR to round up all stray dogs at the earliest and put them in dog shelters to be set up by the civic authorities of Gurugram, Noida and Ghaz- iabad within eight weeks. The ruling by a bench of justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan came on a suo motu case initiated by it over the spike in incidents of dog bites leading to rabies. The bench also directed that the dog shelters should have sufficient person- nel to sterilise and immunise the dogs, aside from looking after them. The centres would be under CCTV surveillance to ensure the dog remains in the facility, the court added. The bench held that the situation is so grim there is no room for sentiments. It warned of strict ac- tion against individuals and organisations in case of obstruction, which might also prompt the court to initiate contempt proceedings. The court said while the order is clear about what should be done, it is for the civic bodies to decide how to implement it. “For this, if they have to create a force they shall do it at the earliest,” the bench said. The court had initiated suo motu proceedings on July 28 following media reports highlighting the tragic death of a six-year-old girl in Delhi due to rabies following a dog bite. The bench posted the matter for hearing after six weeks and asked the authorities to file a status report. All these animal activists, will they be able bring back who have fallen prey to rabies?