hyderabad l saturday l september 06, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION rain in Punjab, J&K damages fence along 110 KM of Indo-Pak border Approximately 110 km of the fence along the zero line of Indo-Pak international border has been damaged, defence sources said on Friday 65 bsf posts in punjab get inundated beating retreat ceremony cancelled Of the 110 km of damaged fencing, around 80 km is in Punjab and 30 km is in Jammu sector. The fence in these areas has been submerged, uprooted, or tilted. Additionally, around 65 BSF posts in Punjab have been inundated across Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Pathankot, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, and Fazilka districts along the international border, with 20 posts affected in Jammu ■ ■ Due to the submerged border fencing, the BSF has deployed its water wing, equipped with motorboats and surveillance drones, to secure the international border. Searchlights and drones are also being used Sutlej River has inundated joint check post at Hussainiwala, leading to the indefinite cancellation of the ‘Beating Retreat’ ceremony | P8 10 Days in last 10 days, BSF has nabbed drug smugglers on the border 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 Messaging across geographies Don’s drivel: Lost CDS: China biggest Russia & India to China challenge to security j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi N a m i ta B a j pa i @ Lucknow US President Donald Trump has sounded a stark warning about shifting geopolitical allegiances, claiming the United States has “lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China,” just days after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit where images of camaraderie between President Vladimir Putin, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made global headlines. In a post on Truth Social, Trump shared an image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying: “Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, India deal darkest, China. May they have a long and soon: US prosperous future together!” The SCO summit has sparked concerns in Terming India Washington about the trilateral alignment as the ‘vowel’ between Asia’s largest powers, all of whom in BRICS, US currently have strained relations with the commerce West. secretary When pressed on Trump’s comments, Howard MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, Lutnick said “We share a comprehensive global strategic India will be at partnership anchored in shared interests, the talks table democratic values, and people-to-people with US soon ties... We remain focused on our substantive agenda with the US.” The MEA also dismissed recent comments made by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, calling them “inaccurate and misleading.” However, Trump’s rhetoric reflects mounting trade tensions. Earlier, he slammed the US-India economic relationship as a “one-sided disaster,” citing trade imbalances and India’s continued oil imports from Russia. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Friday identified India’s unresolved boundary dispute with China as its main security challenge, closely followed by Pakistan’s ongoing proxy war. Coming as it did amid New Delhi’s efforts to improve ties with Beijing, and US President Donald Trump’s meltdown following the recent bonding of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Chinese and Russian presidents at the SCO summit in Tianjin, China, the CDS’ statement appeared intriguing. Speaking at two events in Gorakhpur, he stressed the inseparable link between geoRegional politics and conflict, noting that war is a meinstability dium to achieve political ambitions. “The boundary dispute with China is InRegional dia’s biggest challenge and will continue to instability is remain so,” General Chauhan told a gatheranother ing. “The second major challenge is Pakichallenge, stan’s proxy war, with a strategy of ‘bleed especially the social, political India by a thousand cuts.’” The CDS underlined that the nature of warand economic fare has expanded into new domains, making unrest in the it more complex for nations like India. “It neighbournow includes cyber and space. Both of our hood, CDS said opponents are nuclear powers, and it will always remain a challenge to decide what kind of operations we want to undertake against them,” he said. He also noted that after the 2020 Galwan clash in Ladakh with China and India’s Balakot strikes in Pakistan, the government permitted all three services to undertake emergency procurements. “India focused on long-range precision strikes while Pakistan likely focused on air defence,” he remarked. Tata Motors 1st off the blocks to pass GST cut to customers AR S HAD K HA N @ New Delhi TATA Motors on Friday said it would pass on full benefit of GST rate cut to customers buying its cars and SUVs from September 22, when the revised rates come into effect. With this, prices of Tata Motors’ most affordable model Tiago will be cheaper by up to `75,000 and prices of sub-4 metre SUV Nexon up to `1.55 lakh. Among other top-selling models, Altroz will be cheaper by up to `1.10 lakh. Punch will see a cut of up to `85,000, Harrier price will come down by up to `1.40 lakh, and Safari will see a reduction of up to `1.45 lakh. “The reduction in GST on passenger vehicles is a progressive and timely decision that will make personal mobility more accessible for millions Advantage buyers Model Price drop Nexon Up to `1,55,000 Safari Up to `1,45,000 Harrier Up to `1,40,000 Altroz Up to `1,10,000 Punch Up to `85,000 Tigor Up to `80,000 Tiago Up to `75,000 Curvv Up to `65,000 across India,” said Shailesh Chandra, managing director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles & Tata Passenger Electric Mobility . Tata Motors is the first automaker to pass on the GST benefit to consumers. This is expected to put pressure on other carmakers to follow suit. The GST Council on Wednesday reduced levies on small cars and mass-market motorcycles (engine size below 350cc) from 28% to 18%. However, premium cars will now attract a 40% GST. The Council made no changes to the GST rate for electric vehicles (EVs) across segments. At present, small cars are taxed at 28% plus cess, while large cars (above 4 metres in length and 1200CC engine capacity) face a combined rate (GST plus cess) of 43-50%. Under the new regime, large cars will be taxed at flat 40% with no cess. Ever since the GST refor ms were announced on August 15, buyers have been delaying purchase in anticipation of price cuts, impacting automobile sales. OLF 2025 begins today CM Mohan Charan Majhi will inaugurate the Odisha Literary Festival, eastern India’s flagship annual literary event organised by this newspaper today | P5 Women mounted cops to saddle up for nimajjan C h i t h a lu r i R eva n t h @ Hyderabad For the first time, women constables will saddle up as mounted police in Hyderabad, joining security duties during the Ganesh idol immersion procession on Saturday . As many as 10 women constables, recently inducted into the Mounted Police wing, will be discharging their first official duty on Saturday . The constables, drawn from the Armed Reserve (AR), underwent two months of intensive training at the Goshamahal Mounted Unit before being for mally drafted into the mounted police force. Hyderabad City Police Commissioner CV Anand told reporters on Friday that the women constables would, henceforth, be deployed for various duties including security arrangements, VIP movement, and patrolling. Anand said that introducing women constables to horse-riding was aimed at encouraging them to step forward in one of the toughest and most demanding disciplines of policing. “For the first time, women 8 am Khairatabad idol procession to start A woman police constable showcasing horse-riding skills at the Goshamahal Mounted Unit on Friday while fellow cops appreciate her mounted police will also be part of regular patrols,” he added. One of the newly trained constables, who was recruited on January 9, said the journey was not easy. “Initially, we struggled, but under the guidance of Prudhvi Singh we learnt a lot. He taught us how horses move and how to handle them. We are now confident of con- trolling both the crowd and the horses,” she said. The constable explained that training focused not just on riding, but on managing horses in crowded situations. “It is not simply about riding a horse in the middle of a crowd. We had to learn to control the horses while also managing the people. But we are excited for tomorrow’s immersion assignment,” she said. Over 30,000 police personnel on duty to ensure security Metro services to run till 1 am More than 60,000 idols are expected to be immersed CBI director in city to discuss Kaleshwaram project probe I r e d dy S r i n i vas R e d dy @ Hyderabad CBI Director Praveen Sood is likely to chair a meeting of the agency’s joint directors of the southern states in Hyderabad on Saturday where he is expect, ed to review the recent developments regarding alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme. Sources said the meeting will be held at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy between 1.30 pm and 3.30 pm, where teams are likely to be for med to take up the investigation. CBI sources said Sood reached Hyderabad on Friday evening and then left for Srisailam, where he will have a darshan at the Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple on Saturday morning before returning to the city. They added that the CBI’s Hyderabad Zonal Unit has collected the Justice PC Ghose Commission, NDSA, and state Vigilance and Enforcement reports along with Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau FIRs, remand reports and other documents related to cases where engineers have been booked for possessing disproportionate assets. It may be recalled that after Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s announcement in the Assembly in the early hours of Monday, the state government on Tuesday gave its consent to the CBI and formally asked the agency to investigate the alleged irregularities in the Ka- press clusive leshwaram project “in view of the NDSA report, the findings of the Commission of Inquiry , the Assembly’s decision on the construction of the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram project, and the sinking of piers resulting in huge financial loss to the state exchequer”. Agency sources expect the director to discuss the future course of action and permission-related matters from the Ministry of Home Affairs to move forward after the state government’s request. The over 600-page Justice PC Ghose Commission report on Kaleshwaram, which was discussed in the Assembly, held former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao directly responsible for the execution of the project. The Commission also faulted the then irrigation minister T Harish Rao, the then finance minister Eatala Rajender and others, including IAS officers and engineers. After KCR and Harish approached the Telangana High Court, the court granted them interim relief, restraining the state government from taking any coercive action against them based on the findings of the report until the next hearing. Agency sources said the director is also likely to discuss the court’s direction with the legal team and how to proceed in filing an FIR over the irregularities. Meanwhile, the CBI director’s Hyderabad visit has triggered a heated debate in political circles, especially within the BRS, over the implications of his visit and the action plan that may emerge in connection with the Kaleshwaram irregularities.