tirupati l tuesday l september 16, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION three ministers inducted by nepal’s new PM Karki sworn in Nepal’s interim PM unveiled her first ministers on Monday, as the nation seeks to restore order after deadly clashes ousted PM KP Sharma Oli Nepal’s new ministers (from left) Kulman Ghising, Om Prakash Aryal and Rameshwor Khanal after being sworn in on Monday in Kathmandu | PTI seasoned advocate is new home minister parliamentary polls in six months Om Prakash Aryal, an advocate known for cases tackling corruption and human rights, takes the critical home minister post, as well as law, justice and parliamentary affairs. Kulman Ghising, former director of Electricity Authority, has energy, infrastructure, transport and urban development, while Rameshwor Khanal, was handed the finance minister post | P7 ■ ■ The Cabinet, mandated to hold parliamentary polls within six months, now has four members, including Prime Minister Sushila Karki, who will oversee the remaining ministerial portfolios President Ramchandra Paudel administered the oath of office to the new ministers at a ceremony at the President’s Office, Sheetal Niwas 10.5% is the most recent unemployment rate of nepal, as per an estimate 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 Hospitals halt OPD services over unpaid NTRVS dues field visits over file work cm asks collectors to set new admin benchmarks E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The Andhra Pradesh Speciality Hospital Association (ASHA) has voiced grave concerns over the financial and operational hurdles faced under the NTR Vaidya Seva scheme, cautioning that hospitals can no longer sustain outpatient (OPD) services without immediate government intervention. ASHA member hospitals have stopped OPD services effective Monday . In a letter to NTR Vaidya Seva CEO Dinesh Kumar on Monday, ASHA President Dr. K. Vijay Kumar pointed out that hospitals have been awaiting clearance of dues exceeding `2,000 crore for over 18 months. Despite multiple appeals and meetings, a concrete payment schedule remains elusive. The association objects to unforeseen pressures, including directives to convert regular OPDs to free OPDs and offer cost-free consultations and investigations. “These requirements were never part of our agreement nor sustainable for hospitals to absorb,” the letter stressed, emphasizing financial strain shouldn’t be misconstrued as weakness. ASHA also highlighted audit mechanism issues, alleging IVRS calls and patient feedback foster patient-hospital mistrust. The association laments its exclusion from policy talks on pricing, payments and systemic reforms. Speaking to TNIE, ASHA’s Secretary confir med OPD services were halted Monday, with other NTR Vaidya Seva services proceeding as usual. He warned protests would escalate if the government doesn’t respond promptly . CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu and CS K Vijayanand during the Collectors Conference at Secretariat in Velagapudi on Monday | Express E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed district collectors to adopt a humanitarian approach to enhance people’s satisfaction levels. He emphasized giving more preference to field visits to understand ground realities rather than relying solely on office files. Addressing the fourth collectors’ conference at the State Secretariat on Monday Naidu said district collectors play , a pivotal role in implementing public policies and welfare schemes, and they must demonstrate their effectiveness through performance. He urged collectors to set new administrative benchmarks. The Chief Minister stressed that meeting people’s expectations and aspirations through improved performance is a collective responsibility of elected leaders and district collectors. “Complacency is not an option,” he said, advising collectors to strive to deliver public policies to the last mile. Naidu suggested collectors leverage technology while prioritizing field visits to grasp realities on the ground. He highlighted the government’s achievements, including the highest satisfaction levels in pension distribution. The recently introduced Stree Sakthi - free travel facility for women in RTC services - is a significant success, he said, paving the way for women’s economic upliftment. “This free travel facility is set to transform women’s energy levels and economic activity Naidu remarked.  P4 ,” MBBS-BAMS proposed integrated course PUT OFF The proposed integrated medical course, combining MBBS and BAMS at JIPMER in Puducherry, has been put on hold following strong protests | P7 US team arrives for trade talks today PUSHPITA D E Y @ New Delhi US TikTok deal done, Trump-Xi talks on Friday US chief negotiator and Assistant Trade Representative for south and central Asia Brendan Lynch arrived in Delhi on Monday night to revive the trade talks that were stalled after the Trump administration waged a tariff war on Indian goods ostensibly to penalise India over its trade ties with Russia. Lynch and his team of negotiators will hold formal talks with Indian officials on the India-US bilateral trade agreement on Tuesday, confirmed US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that Washington has reached a ‘framework’ deal with China on the ownership of TikTok’s American operations. US President Donald Trump will speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday to finalise the deal, he added | P9 Rajesh Agarwal, India’s chief negotiator and a special secretary commerce ministry , . This will be the first in-person discussion between the representatives of the two countries after the US levied a 50% tariff on several Indian goods. While the exact agenda of the meeting has not been disclosed, the visit makes it clear that both sides want the talks to resume at the earliest. Negotiations were put on hold after US President Donald Trump announced higher tariffs on several Indian goods and India termed the move a ‘unilateral’ decision. The resumption of talks SC stays a few provisions of Waqf Amendment Act Abolition of ‘waqf by user’ prima facie not arbitrary: Interim order SUCHITRA K ALYA N M OHA N TY @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the operation of the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, in its interim orderbut stayed the implementation of certain parts of the law to ‘balance the equities’ and ‘protect the interests of parties’, including the criteria of fiveyear practice of Islam for dedicating property towards waqf. “Section 3 of the Amended Waqf Act (AWA), which says, ‘any person showing or demonstrating that he is professing Islam for at least five years’ shall stand stayed” until rules are framed on how to determine whether a person has been practicing Islam for at least five years, a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih ruled. However, it is nondescriminatory the court said. , The bench stayed a provision on the District Collector adjudicating on the rights of individual citizens, saying it would violate the principle of separation of powers. Till a tribunal adjudicates on the matter, no What ’s in, what ’s out SC says law can be stayed only in the rarest of rare cases Says number of non-Muslims in central waqf councils cannot exceed 4 out of 22 third party rights can be created against any parties, the court said. As for appointing nonMuslims to manage waqf properties, it allowed the Centre to nominate not more than three of them into the 11-member Central Waqf Council constituted under Section 14 of the AWA, and four non-Muslims out of 22 under Section 9 of AWA. The court refused to stay an amendment allowing the appointment of a non-Muslim as a CEO for the board, but suggested that every effort should be made to appoint a Muslim to the post. Refusing to stay the provision abolishing the concept of Provision on five-year practice of Islam for dedicating property as waqf stayed for want of rules, but it is not arbitrary or discriminatory Provision barring declaration of tribal lands as waqf properties upheld Deletion of ‘waqf by user’ provision prima facie not arbitrary ‘waqf by user’, the court said, the requirement of registration came in from the Waqf Act of 1923. If waqfs were not registered since 102 years, they cannot raise their grievance now, the court said. “If the legislature, on noticing misuse of the waqf properties, finds that after the enactment of the impugned Act all such applications should be accompanied by a copy of the waqf deed, the same cannot be said to be arbitrary the court observed. ,” If ‘waqf by user’ is abused to encroach government properties, the legislature can take steps to delete it. It approved the provision to abolish ‘waqf by user’ prospectively . ‘Right to dignity violated’: HC slams Govt over unkept job promise for land E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The Andhra Pradesh High Court has strongly criticized the state government for failing to honor a three-decade-old promise of offering employment to those who surrendered l a n d fo r a p u bl i c project. A bench comprising Justice Battu Devanand and Justice Avadhanam Hari Hara Nath Sharma observed that governments exhibit enthusiasm in acquiring land but lack zeal in fulfilling promises to displaced families. The court stressed that denying jobs after acquiring land with such assurances violates constitutional rights. “Every individual has the right to live with dignity. How can land losers survive with dignity if the gover nment refuses to provide jobs as promised?” the bench questioned. The remarks were made while hearing a petition filed by E Ramasubbiah from Muddarur village, who gave 60 cents of agricultural land for the Rayalaseema Ther mal Power Project (RTPP) Stage-1 railway track in 1992. The state government had promised employment to 50% of displaced families. Ramasubbiah alleged he was denied employment despite applying and attending an interview soon after receiving compensation. Due to his deteriorating health, Ramasubbiah sought the job for his son, Rajasekhar. After years of government inaction, the family approached the High Court in 2022. In 2023, a single judge directed the government to consider Rajasekhar for the post of Junior P4 Plant Attendant. pole star vaults to the sky Armand Duplantis created history by breaking his world record in pole vault again at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Monday. This is the 14th time the Swede has broken the world mark | AP handshake gate Pakistan threatens to pull out of Asia Cup if match referee not removed F i r o z M i r z a @ Chennai A day after India refused to shake hands with Pakistan after recording a comprehensive win in the Asia Cup match, the issue snowballed into a major controversy . In a letter to the International Cricket Council, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) threatened to withdraw from the Asia Cup if their demand of immediate removal of match referee Andy Pycroft is not met. The letter was written soon after the match. Interestingly former , BCCI secretary Jay Shah is the ICC chair. “The ICC has been told specifically that if the match referee Pycroft will not be changed, Pakistan will not play any more Asia Andy Pycroft Cup match,” a PCB source told this daily Interestingly Pycroft . , was given the similar responsibility by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), which incidentally is headed by PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi, for the second match between Hong Kong and Sri Lanka on Monday . Besides, the PCB has also requested the comes days after Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi exchanged positive assessment about the trade ties. The visit by the US team was originally scheduled for August 25-29, but it was called off amid high tensions over the massive US tariffs. Trump slapped an additional 25% tariff on August 6 and it became effective from August 27, taking the total tariffs on Indian goods to 50%. The US remains India’s largest trading partner with bilateral trade crossing $130 billion last year. ICC not to send the 69-year-old Pycroft, who is a former Zimbabwe player, to Pakistan for the upcoming tour of South Africa. The Pakistan board made the demand through a separate letter sent to the ICC on Monday morning. SA are scheduled to play two Tests, three T20Is and as many ODIs in Pakistan with the series starting with the fiveday match on October 12. The PCB held the match referee responsible for the ‘no handshakes’ fiasco wherein India players refused to shake hands with their Pakistan counterparts after Sunday’s match and alleged that Pycroft violated the spirit of cricket and MCC Laws hence failed in discharging his duties. The PCB alleged Pycroft took Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha to one side be- fore the toss and instructed him that there will be no handshakes at the toss. Pakistan may play India again and the PCB source said they have not decided on the future course of action. “We are waiting for ICC’s response. If that is accepted then we will decide on the future respecting the spirit of the game,” said the source. Final hearing on October 7, SC verdict for pan-India SIR s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Monday said it was presuming that the Election Commission, being a constitutional authority , was following the law during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and cautioned that the entire exercise would be set aside in case any illegality is found at any stage. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi fixed October 7 for hearing final arguments on the validity of SIR in Bihar, and refused to offer any “piecemeal opinion” on the exercise. The bench also emphasized that its “judgement in Bihar SIR will be applicable for pan-India SIR”. The court clarified that it can’t stop the poll panel from conducting a similar exercise for revision of electoral rolls across the country The bench, . however, allowed petitioners against the Bihar SIR exercise to also argue on the pan-India SIR on October 7. The publication of the final electoral roll on September 30 will not make any difference to the adjudication of the case, the bench said. “What difference will the final publication of the electoral roll make to us? If we are satisfied there is some illegality, we can set it aside,” the bench told the petitioners who have challenged the SIR exercise. The top court is currently hearing a batch of pleas — questioning the validity of SIR — filed by NGO ADR, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, RJD MP Manoj Jha, Congress leader K C Venugopal and Mujahid Alam. In another development in the same case, the court, while hearing a plea by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay refused to , modify its September 8 order directing the Election Commission to permit use of Aadhaar as the 12th document for proof of identity as part of SIR in Bihar. The bench said Aadhaar was made acceptable as an interim arrangement.