chennai l THURSday l AUGUST 14, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l vellore EDITION Indian refinery ships diesel to China for first time since 2021 Indian refiner Nayara Energy, backed by Russian oil giant Rosneft, has shipped diesel to China amid European Union sanctions over its Russia link Cargo loaded from Vadinar, Gujarat India-China relations on the mend? According to reports, Nayara Energy loaded the cargo at Vadinar terminal on July 18 and the shipment departed hours before the European Union announced new restrictions on the refinery. The vessel was initially bound for Malaysia but made a U-turn in the Strait of Malacca and was anchored for 12 days. It has since updated its destination to Zhoushan, China ■ ■ After facing backlash from the US and European Union, India has taken various steps toward re-engagement with China. It has resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals after a five-year suspension, and is set to resume direct flights between the two countries soon For its part, China has eased curbs on urea shipments to India | P11 4,96,000 Barrels Of ultra-low sulfur diesel in Nayara’s cargo bound for China 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 100 STREET DOGS relocated: MCD The Municipal Corporation of Delhi said it has picked up 100 stray dogs so far and converted 20 animal birth control centres into shelters Amid pushback, spl bench to hear stray dogs issue Matter to be heard today; CJI B R Gavai acts after uproar against two-judge bench order SU C H I TRA K ALYAN MOHANTY @ New Delhi CHIEF Justice of India B R Gavai on Wednesday evening constituted a special bench comprising justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria to hear the stray dogs issue, after a two-judge bench’s order for blanket removal of stray dogs from Delhi-NCR led to a nationwide uproar. The larger, three-judge bench will hear the matter on Thursday . Earlier in the day the , CJI said he would look into it after a pending Special Leave Petition that also dealth with the stray dogs issue was mentioned before him by lawyer Nanita Sharma. Referring to a May 2024 order passed by an SC bench relegating petitions relating to stray dogs to the respective high courts, the laywer said the stray dogs issue needs clarity because two benches of the apex court passed conflicting orders in the matter. “There is an earlier judgment of this court, of a bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol, which says there cannot be indiscriminate killing of canines and that compassion for all living beings has to be there,” Sharma, appearing for the Conference for Human Rights (India), told the CJI-led bench, also comprising Justice K Vinod Chandran. The lawyer brought to the court’s attention the overlapping nature of these matters and the possibility of conflicting directions. The recent order to permanently relocate all stray from streets to shelters was passed by a bench comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan on August 11 on a suo-motu case. The order said dog shelters would have to be augmented over time and directed civic authorities in Delhi and NCR to start with creating shelters of around 5,000 canines within six to eight weeks. The two-judge bench also warned of strict action against individuals and organisations that may try to create any obstruction in the relocation drive. It said contempt proceedings would be initiated against those concerned, in case of any such move. commonwealth games set for india return ioa approves 2030 bid i n d r a n e e l d a s @ Chennai The 2026 Glasgow CWG is a scaled down Games because of circumstances. If we get 2030 CWG, it will be full fledged one just like we did in 2010 PT Usha, IOA president The Special General Meeting was short but very fruitful. Now that we have the go ahead of the General Body, we will be putting in the proposals R Iyer, IOA CEO Twenty years after 2010, India is set to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030. The Indian Olympic Association formally approved the bid during its Special General Meeting on Wednesday . With Canada, the other contender, backing out, the possibility of India hosting the event brightens. This will also help elevate its image as a capable host for multi-discipline events and improve its chances of hosting Olympic Games in 2036. The nod from the IOA general body was required because IOA is the governing body of the Commonwealth Games Association in India with IOA president PT Usha as its chief. As reported by this newspaper in March, the CGA president had sent a formal letter of intent showcasing India’s strong ancient cultural and historical heritage and technology-driven future to reimagine the Games for a new generation. The expression of SU C H I TRA K ALYAN MOHANTY @ New Delhi T h e S u p re m e C o u r t o n Wednesday said the electoral rolls cannot be static and were bound to be revised periodically disagreeing with the sub, mission of a petitioner that it had no basis in law, while hearing challenges to the validity of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, in his submission, said the Election Commission of India (ECI) had surprisingly invented a new document requirement for eight crore voters. “Even if I’m in jail, I can’t be removed from the roll without due process. Here, 65 lakh removed voters Amid massive pushback, ICICI Bank on Wednesday reduced the minimum balance to `15,000 from `50,000 for new customers in urban areas | P12 Residual powers of ECI on special roll revision The bench pointed to the ECI’s residual power to conduct any exercise as it deemed fit. It referred to Section 21(3) of the RP Act, which says “the EC may at any time, for reasons to be recorded, direct a special revision of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in such manner as it may think fit.” were not disqualified on any such grounds. The ECI has carried out mass exclusions. Who gave the ECI the authority to do this?” he asked. A bench comprising justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, said, “But the electoral list cannot remain static. A one-time exercise is only for preparing the original list and it must be revised.” Sankaranarayanan added that the ECI has begun the process in West Bengal, too, without consultation. “I appear for the state and for main petitioner ADR. Four constitutional provisions on electoral rolls haven’t been addressed yet. The right to be on the roll is sacrosanct.” To this, the court observed that the expansion of the number of documents by the ECI is voter-friendly “Look at . the number of documents by which you can prove your citi- zenship — up from seven to 11,” the bench said. The bench added that despite arguments that non-acceptance of Aadhaar was exclusionary, it appeared the large number of documents was “actually inclusionary”. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for a petitioner, alleged malafide intent on the part of the ECI, alleging it removed the searchable feature of draft rolls just a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s press conference on Karnataka elections. But the court refused to entertain it saying it was are not aware of any such press conference. The arguments were inconclusive and would continue on Thursday . Remove protesting sanitary workers from outside Ripon Building, says HC R s i v a k u m a r @ Chennai G a u t h a m S e lv a r a j a n @ Chennai The SUV’s damaged front end | express ICICIdown minimum balance bank blinks scales Poll rolls can’t be static, says SC bench No barricades, three of family die in car crash Three of a family including , a nine-month-old infant, were killed and three others hurt in a car crash at a road-widening project site near Pallipattu in Tiruvallur district on Tuesday morning. Initial inquiry by police found there was neither proper signage nor barricades at the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project site, which may have precipitated the tragedy . According to Pallipattu police, the six-member group, hailing from Govindareddipalle village in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh, was on a pilgrimage to the Tiruttani Murugan temple. S Chittamma was travelling with her daughter Keerthi, infant grandson H Saanvik, brotherin-law Vishwanatha Reddy (who was driving the SUV) and his wife Rekha, and Padma, wife of one Venkatasalu who works in Chittamma’s house, police said. In a bid to reach the temple quickly, Reddy took the Thachur-Chittoor highway which , is being widened to a six-lane road by NHAI, police said.  P7 interest was supported by letters from various ministries of the Gujarat government. Usha confirmed the news after the meeting at the IOA Bhavan in New Delhi and said that the house approved the bid unanimously at the SGM which met after the CEO’s appointment was ratified last month. However, unlike the letter of intent that said Ahmedabad would be the host city she said that there are , places like Bhubaneswar and Delhi. August 31 is another deadline by which India should submit various documents for bidding. The letter of intent submitted in March specified Ahmedabad as the host city and a delegation from the Commonwealth Sport had visited Gujarat last month where the IOA Chief Executive Officer too was present. If India gets to host the CWG, it will be bigger than the Glasgow Games next year. IOA CEO Raghuram Iyer said that SGM was very cordial and decision unanimous. The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered the state government to take action to remove the sanitation workers staging a protest in front of the Greater Chennai Corporation’s headquarters, the Ripon Building, by occupying the roads and pavements without permission. However, the court held that the right to peaceful protest cannot be denied to them and ‘Let them leave in peace’ The AAG said, “The government does not want to create a confrontational situation. I make a request through the HC, let them disperse peacefully.” they can hold the stir at designated venues by obtaining proper permission. The workers have been staging the protest since August 1, demanding the civic body to give up privatising sanitation works in Zone 5 (Royapuram) and 6 (Thiru Vi Ka Nagar) in the city . The first bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Sunder Mohan, while disposing of a PIL filed by D Thenmozhi seeking action to remove the protesters, said, “While the right of the second respondent (workers) to peacefully protest can’t be denied, they are also obliged to ensure that the agitation is peaceful and without violating the laws of the land.”  P7 express read Farmer injured in boar attack dies in govt hosp Rain march Students heading to their destinations amid steady drizzle in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Several flights to and from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hydrabad were cancelled or diverted due to unfavourable weather | Vinay Madapu Will directly monitor formation of BLCs: CM ‘Honour killing’: CB-CID arrests one more person Tiruchy: One of the two farmers injured in a wild boar attack on Monday died at a government hospital on Wednesday. The CPI(M) has called for a stir in front of the GH on Thursday | P7 Chennai: On Special Intensive Revision of poll rolls in Bihar and alleged ‘vote theft’, CM Stalin said, “I will directly monitor the formation and functioning of the booth level committees.” | P4 TIRUNELVELI: CB-CID police on Wednesday arrested a third person in Kavin Selvaganesh’s murder case. The arrested person is K Jayapal, cousin of prime suspect S Surjith | P4 Tammy Bruce, US Department of State Relationship with India, Pak unchanged: US J AYANTH J A C O B @ New Delhi AMID its deepening strategic salience with Pakistan, the US on Wednesday said there is no change in its relationship with either India or Pakistan. “Our relationship with both nations remains unchanged, and our diplomats are committed to both countries,” said US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce while responding to questions about the growing US-Pakistan security engagement. The comments came in the wake of Pak Army chief Asim Munir’s recent visit to the US and concerns over his reported nuclear rhetoric during closed-door meetings. Munir’s trip, his second in less than two months—featured a series of high-level meetings with senior US military and political officials. It followed a private luncheon with President Donald Trump in June and reflects growing US-Pakistan security alignment, particularly in counterterrorism. Referring to the conflict between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, the State Department spokesperson said: “We had an experience with Pakistan and India. When there was a conflict that could have developed into something quite horrible.” Bruce added it is good news for the world that the US is working with the two nuclear-armed nations. Global plastics treaty O India backs ‘weak’ plastic treaty draft with no cap on production n the eve of the penultimate day of negotiations for a legally binding global plastics treaty, talks are in deadlock — and India has thrown its weight behind the petrochemical-producing Like-Minded Countries (LMC), accepting a weakened draft text that drops production caps and chemical controls as merely a “starting point” for talks. “We have some serious concerns on the text proposed by you, as we see many fundamental elements (scope) missing from the text,” said Naresh Pal Gangwar, Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and head TNIE in Switzerland S V Krishna Chaitanya @ geneva of India’s delegation. “Having said this, we consider this as a good enough starting point to further our work… We also urge other member states to have trust in your leadership and express their concern during the consultation process.” The new draft, released by Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso, ahead of THE scheduled plenary on Wednesday retains voluntary measures , on product redesign, recycling, and waste management but deletes a previous article on production limits and omits all reference to chemicals of concern. The only nod to production appears in the preamble — a symbolic gesture far from the binding commitments sought by more than 100 countries. India’s alignment with the LMC, led by Kuwait and includ- ing Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Malaysia, places it firmly in the camp resisting upstream measures that target the root cause of plastic pollution — the sheer vo l u m e o f p l a s t i c b e i n g produced. The bloc has consistently opposed any global phaseout list, production caps, or trade restrictions on plastic products.