vijayawada l saturday l august 16, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION high-stakes Trump-Putin meet kicks off in Alaska The summit in Alaska on Friday could determine the fate of European security as well as the war in Ukraine Pic: afp zelenskyy’s exclusion a body blow to europe alaska summit a validation for putin The exclusion of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already dealt a heavy blow to the West’s policy of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.” For Putin, the summit with Trump is an opportunity to negotiate a deal that would cement Russia’s gains, block Kyiv’s bid to join NATO alliance and eventually pull Ukraine into Moscow’s orbit ■ By bringing Vladimir Putin onto US soil, president Donald Trump is ■ Trump (pic) greets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska on Saturday giving Russia’s leader the validation he desires after his ostracization following his invasion of Ukraine 3 1/2 years ago | P9 25% chance that the summit could fail, donald trump said in an interview 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 J&K cloudburst toll 60, at least 80 others missing; rescue on That generation sacrificed itself for ‘Swatantra Bharat’. This generation should dedicate itself to ‘Samriddh Bharat’ - Narendra Modi, Prime Minister faya z wa ni @ Srinagar India’s own iron dome PM announced Mission Sudarshan Chakra, a national security initiative to build a comprehensive, indigenous defence shield by 2035. It is designed to protect both strategic and civilian infrastructure praise FOR ‘GLORIOUS’ RSS Showering praise on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Modi hailed 100 years of RSS as a “very proud and glorious” journey of the “world’s biggest NGO” and lauded all its volunteers for their dedicated service to the nation Nari shakti in every sector Modi said every sector now “proudly acknowledges” the strength of nari shakti. “From start-ups to the space sector, from the playing fields to the armed forces, our daughters are making their mark” 10x nuclear energy by 2047 PM said India is rapidly building 10 new nuclear reactors and the plan is to raise nuclear energy capacity tenfold by 2047. Opening it to the private sector will increase the share of green energy in the electricity generation capacities, he added Prasant Madugula Study soon on alteration of demographic fabric: Modi ‘Bearing the flood losses, why not benefit?’ Naidu R A J E S H K U M A R THA K U R @ New Delhi E xpress N ews S ervice @ Vijayawada Amid concerns over the US President Donald Trump’s tariff action on India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday signalled that India would not succumb to pressure to open up its agriculture sector. Delivering his national address on the 79th Independence Day from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort, Modi sent a strong message that his government would not do anything that goes against the interests of farmers. He also called for making India self-reliant in every field while announcing a slew of reforms for ease of doing business, simplifying GST, and a state-of-the-art defence shield. Modi said a task force would be set up to push ‘next-generation reforms’ including revision of GST laws. The task force will complete the work within a set timeframe. He launched the PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana to generate 3.5 crore jobs in the next two years. Of these, 1.92 crore beneficiaries will be first timers, entering the workforce. “India will always protect the interest of its farmers, livestock-keepers, and fishermen unmindful of what may come. Farmers have a huge contribution to the economy of India. The hard work of the farmers of India is paying off,” he said. Modi also flagged attempts to alter the demographic fabric of the country by ‘infiltrators’, adding that a ‘demographic mission’ will be set up to study dramatic changes in population. “When demographic changes take place, especially in the border areas, a national security crisis emerges,” he said in his record 103-minute address. “Under a well-thought out conspiracy, the demography of the country is being changed. Seeds of a new crisis are being sown. These infiltrators are snatching the livelihood of the youth...” Just two slabs in next-gen GST reforms by Diwali P U S H P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the GST rates would be brought down by ushering in the ‘next-generation GST reforms’ by Diwali. Confirming the move, sources said GST regime will move away from its multiple-rate structure to a simplified one with just two rates—a lower ‘standard’ slab of 5% and a higher ‘merit’ slab of 18%. Plus, there will be a category for ‘sin goods’ such as tobacco, which is likely to be fixed at 40%. Under the new regime, 99% of the items currently taxed at 12% will move to the 5% slab. Finance ministry officials said the Centre has adopted a three-pillar approach— addressing inverted duty structures, rationalising rates to eliminate multiple tax slabs, and simplifying compliance, particularly for small and medium businesses. “Most aspirational goods like televisions and refrigerators may now fall under the 5% or 18% slabs. The restructuring is designed to benefit the middle class,” an official said. The finance ministry said the reform will boost core sectors such as agriculture, textiles, renewable energy healthcare, and in, surance. Lower GST on health and life insurance is expected to expand coverage for vulnerable groups, while reduced rates on medicines and medical products aim to strengthen the public health system. talks collapse Amid deep divisions, plastic treaty bombs of Friday. The Chair’s revised draft in the morning lacked consensus. By AFTER three years of negotiations, dawn, weary delegates conceded the United Nations’ effort to craft the there was no deal. world’s first legally binding treaty to The fault lines had been visible all end plastic pollution ended in a “no week. More than 100 members of the agreement” here on Friday. Nearly ‘High Ambition Coalition’ — includ180 countries failed ing the EU and Afrito agree on a draft ca nations— pushed text during the final for binding measTNIE in Switzerland week of talks, with ures to cut plastic S V Krishna deep divisions over production, phase Chaitanya the treaty’s scope, out single-use plastic @ geneva how decisions should and adopt reuse and be made, and whethrecycling. They also er the deal should target plastic pro- demanded a provision for majority duction itself. voting at the future Conference of the The collapse followed night-long Parties (COP), arguing that without consultations and a chaotic closing it the treaty risked being paralysed plenary stretching into early hours by a small minority . S V K ris h n a c h a i ta n ya @ Geneva Three killed, 25 injured in bus accident in Nandyal District E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kurnool A devastating collision between two private travel buses near Allagadda on the national highway in Nandyal district on Friday resulted in the deaths of three people and injured at least 25 others. The victims who lost their lives were identified as Kusa Raju (25) from Anakapalli, Battula Venkata Sai (22) from Rajahmundry, and Ananta Gautam (23) from Hyderabad. According to the police, the acci- dent occurred when one bus slowed down and was hit by another bus traveling at a high speed, causing widespread panic. A team of police personnel, including Allagadda DSP K. Pramod, rushed to the scene and quickly shifted the injured to hospitals in Allagadda, Nandyal, and Kurnool for medical treatment. The police confirmed that 25 people sustained minor injuries and took prompt action to restore traffic flow on the busy highway, minimizing disruptions. Oil-producing states — led by Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia (LikeMinded Group) — rejected these demands. They insisted the treaty focus on plastic waste management rather than upstream production, and that all decisions must be by consensus. India backed this bloc. Neelesh Kumar Sah, joint secretary in Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and part of India’s delegation, spelt out New Delhi’s stance at the plenary “The instrument . we are negotiating has very wide scope. We must ensure the mandate is drawn from the UNEA 5/14 resolution. The scope of the new instrument should be limited to plastic pollution, without overlapping with other environmental pacts.”  continued on: p5 e x p r e s s r e a d CM launches free bus travel for women Vijayawada: CM Chandrababu Naidu launched the Stree Shakti Scheme at Pandit Nehru Bus Station in Vijayawada on Friday, fulfilling another poll promise of free bus travel for women. Earlier, Naidu, along with Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, HRD Minister Nara Lokesh, BJP State president Madhav, travelled in an RTC bus with women from Undavalli village to Vijayawada city bus station | P4 Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu strongly reacted to the recent water issues related to the Banakacharla project, where the Telangana government has been continuously raising objections. During his speech at the 79th Independence Day celebration held at the IGMC Stadium in Vijayawada, the CM said, “When floods occur, if the upstream states release water, we, as the downstream state, bear the losses and difficulties. Why are there objections to using the same floodwater as the downstream state? We have to bear the flood, but how can we cope if we do not benefit from the floodwater?” He questioned the objections raised by the neighboring state, clarifying that the government decided to divert the river Godavari wastewater from Polavaram to Banakacherla to transform Rayalaseema into an agrarian region. P4 BRAVING inter mittent rains, rescuers intensified their search for survivors in a cloudburst-hit village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Friday even , as Chief minister Omar Abdullah put the death toll at 60, with 80 people still missing. Over 100 people have been injured. Among the dead are mostly pilgrims, local residents and two CISF personnel, who were on duty at the site. An official said the condition of 37 people, among the injured, is critical. Disaster struck Chisoti, the last motorable village on the way to the Machail Mata temple, around 12.25 pm on Thursday, leaving a trail of death and destruction. Rescuers pulled out 46 bodies on Thursday. Thirty bodies have been identified and handed over to the victims’ families. A large number of people had gathered in Chisoti for the annual Machail Mata pilgrimage that began on July 25 and was scheduled to end on September 5. The 8.5km trek to the 9,500-foot shrine begins from Chisoti, which is located about 90 km from Kishtwar town. The yatra remained suspended for a second day on Friday . A local resident said the disaster struck during lunch time when yatris were having lunch at a langar setup for Machail Mata Yatra pilgrims. “The langar was full of people. About 300-400 people were present at the langar camp when the cloudburst struck. Nothing is known about those trapped in the debris,” he said. Rescue-and-relief operation was suspended late on Thursday night. It resumed on Friday with with the rescuers — from police, Army, NDRF, SDRF and local volunteers — sifting through the rubble to find survivors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with the CM and J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday and assured them of all help.