kalaburagi l sunday l september 21, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l city EDITION actor Mohanlal to be conferred Dadasaheb Phalke Award The Malayalam actor will be honoured with the country’s highest recognition in cinema for his ‘iconic contributions’ to the field His work has set a gold standard: Ministry The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting praised Mohanlal for setting a golden standard in Indian film history through his “unmatched talent, versatility, and relentless hard work”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the actor’s cinematic and theatrical brilliance across mediums is truly inspiring and called him “the leading light of Malayalam cinema” ■ Sep 23 350 films in career spanning four decades ■ In a rich career spanning four decades, he has acted in more than 350 films across Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada Known for his natural acting style and versatility, Mohanlal has won two National Film Awards for best actor and nine Kerala State Film Awards. He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2019 When mohanlal will be presented the Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2023 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 I don’t want you! Historically, the US was letting in the bottom quartile, earning $66,000 a year, often needing government assistance. It was illogical. This programme will now only admit people at the very top. If someone is that valuable, companies can pay $100,000 a year. If not, they can hire an American 2.8L Indian jobs on the line as Trump slaps $1L H-1B fee S a n a l S u d e v a n / D i pa k M o n d a l @ Chennai/New Delhi State forms SIT to probe Aland ‘voter deletions’ E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru The state government on Saturday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged attempt to delete 6,018 names from the voters’ list in the Aland constituency of Kalaburagi district, ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections. This comes after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi flagged the issue in Delhi on Thursday . According to the government order, the team will be led by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), B K Singh. The members include Saidulu Adavath, Superintendent of Police (SP), Cybercrime Division, CID, and Shubhanvita, SP, Special Enquiries Division, CID. The SIT has been vested with police station powers, and the case registered at the Aland police station will be transferred to it. The voter deletion controversy began after former MLA BR Patil filed a complaint with the Election Commission, alleging that 6,670 voters in 256 polling booths of the Aland Assembly constituency had been illegally removed from the electoral rolls. A subsequent inquiry by the Election Commission revealed that applications had been filed through various government online platforms seeking deletion of 6,018 voters. Of these, 24 applications were verified as per procedure, approved, and the names were deleted. However, a scrutiny of 5,994 applications revealed that they had been submitted by unknown persons with malicious intent, using multiple mobile numbers, in a way that the original voters remained unaware that their names were being fraudulently removed from the list. The Trump administration on Saturday imposed a fee of $1,00,000 per year on each H-1B visa holder, dealing a body blow to the 2,83,397 (71%) skilled technology workers from India, as per 2024 data. At 71%, India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B last year, while China was a distant second at 12%. “We need great workers, and this pretty much ensures that that’s what’s going to happen,” Trump said at the Oval Office as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stood by The new rule . would raise the cost of sponsoring an Indian H-1B worker from the current $215 to a staggering $100,000 per year or up to $600,000 over a six-year visa period. The Trump administration says the fee is designed to ensure that only “extraordinary” workers are let in. TCS accounted for over 5,505 H-1B visas granted for fiscal year 2025 (October 2024-September 2025), followed by Cognizant (3,700), Infosys (2,004), LTIMindtree (1,807), and HCL Tech (1,728). In 2025, TCS was the second-largest recipient of H-1B visas after Amazon, which received approvals for 10,000. Pew Research notes that since 2010, a majority of H-1B approvals each year went to workers born in India. It added that since fiscal 2012, about 60% or more of H-1B workers approved each year held computer-related jobs. In 2023, the share was 65%, with these workers reporting a median annual salary of $1,23,600. Nasscom, the apex body of India’s technology industry, said the steep in- crease in H-1B visa fees will have a ripple effect on America’s innovation ecosystem and the job market. “It will also impact Indian nationals working in the US on H-1B visas for both global and Indian companies. India’s technology services companies will face business continuity challenges for onshore projects,” it said. Nasscom also flagged the timeline for implementation as a major concern, since the new rules apply to anyone entering the US after 12.01 am on September 21. “A one-day deadline creates considerable uncertainty for businesses, professionals, and students across the world. Policy changes of this scale are best introduced with adequate transition periods,” it added. IT services exports to the US generate around $100 billion in revenue for India, and Trump’s latest move could disrupt this (see box). Although Indian IT firms have increased local hiring in the US, the revised visa fee is expected to have a short-term impact. Some companies may even consider recalling employees to India. Another concern is wage pressure in India’s IT industry if employees return. Yogeesha Channabasappa, an IT consultant, said, “With more people competing for India-based roles, wage growth may flatten in the short run.” Although the announcement came after Indian markets had closed, it jolted Infosys’ American Depository Receipts (ADRs), which fell 3.41% to $16.97 on the New York Stock Exchange. Wipro’s ADRs declined 2.10%. Analysts expect the ripple effect to spill over when Indian markets open on Monday . —Howard Lutnick, US Commerce Secy Top H1B beneficiaries IT firms 2025 5,005 Cognizant 3,660 Infosys 2,004 LTIMindtree 1,807 HCL 1,728 Wipro 1,523 TCS U.S. revenue for major Indian IT cos % US revenue TCS Infosys HCL Tech Wipro Tech  Mahindra 48% 58% 66% 63% 51% Stunned techies scramble to US, scrap fly out plan s l a l i t h a @ New Delhi THE abrupt announcement by the US to levy an annual fee of `88.13 lakh on H1-B visa holders from September 21, with a mere 36-hour window, stunned Indian techies living in the US as well as those planning to visit the country . Plans to travel outside America or in the return direction have been abruptly cancelled or advanced by hundreds of them and their families. While many cancelled plans to travel at the last minute while waiting to board flights to India, several others already in India are scrambling to return amid lack of clarity as the US fiat comes weeks before Indian professionals and their families travel to India for Diwali and other holidays. Atal Agarwal, founder of OpenSphere, an AI company that offers Global Mobility Services for Immigrants, told this paper from Canada that he was inundated with messages for help from Indians in the US. “Never in modern history has a policy affecting 500K+ highly skilled workers been implemented with a 48-hr notice ... Airports are flooded. Flight prices are skyrocketing.” Airfares from New Delhi to the US were in excess of $4,500 on a private airline’s portal. Communication sent to staff by Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft urged employees to stay put in the US while asking those outside to return before the deadline. Individuals on H-1B visas told a news agency anonymously that the underlying emotion among H-1B visa holders and families right now is “a crazy sense of panic and worry”. Vokkaliga seers want caste survey deferred E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru Even as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stuck to his guns of conducting the Socio-economic and Educational Survey known as caste survey from Monday the Vokkaliga , , , community leadership, including Adichunchanagiri Mutt head Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, here on Saturday issued a warning to the government, saying the survey is being carried out hastily for only fifteen days without addressing grievances Guv writes of the community . to CM Kumaraswamy said if the governGovernor ment continues with the census, it will Thaawarchand create problems in future and trigger Gehlot advised unrest in society. “The new survey Chief Minister will be worse than the previous one Siddaramaiah to conducted by the Kantharaju commistake a relook at sion. It will cause unrest in the state, including Christian and Congress will face the conseidentifiers like quences,” he warned while speaking ‘Kumbara to reporters after taking part in the Christian’ and meeting of community leaders con‘Kuruba Christian’ vened by Sri Nirmalanandanatha in the survey | P4 Swamiji. He said, “We have also discussed the framework for a future struggle under the leadership of seers if the government does any injustice to the community in the survey The government has done every. thing to cause unrest in the state. The consequences of this will be seen in the days to come.” CONTINUED ON P4 express read Has humanitarian consequences: MEA HC tells UP to remove caste references j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi INDIA on Saturday said it is closely studying the full implication of the US decision to impose a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas, warning that the move could cause “humanitarian consequences” and disrupt families. In a measured response, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “The full implications of the measure are being studied by all concerned, including by Indian industry which has , already put out an initial analysis clarifying some perceptions related to the H1B program.”  P9 W I T H T H I S I SSUE Thinking Inside the Bot PLUS 12 PAGES INDIA vs pakistan B’luru’s bane CM takes GBA engineers to task, Sports can no longer sets Oct 31 deadline to fill potholes be a tool of diplomacy? @ Chennai @Bengaluru Enraged over negative media reports highlighting the poor condition of roads, inconvenience to motorists and pedestrians, and protest by residents against the government, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday warned engineers coming under Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) limits and set October 31 as deadline to make Bengaluru pothole-free. He fixed the responsibility of supervising and completing filling up of potholes on chief engineers, and said there is no coordination between BMRCL, Bescom, BDA and BWSSB. “The GBA chief commissioner and heads of these departments should hold a review meeting once a week. Municipal com- ing relations between India and Pakistan nosedived. An Indian cricket team twice boycotted OVER the last few months, Pakistan in a meet in England. there has been a growing cla- The Pakistan hockey team — mour for the Indian cricket usually habitual travellers to team to refuse to play Pakistan India — skipped the Asia Cup and it grew before their first earlier this month; relationmatch in Asia Cup group ships are not the same anystage. India comfortably more. Even in a heightened won the game — there state of tension, sport has Sunday been used as a diplomatic is honestly a noticeable difference in the Special tool to try and put peace at skill levels of both the forefront. From 1987, t e a m s — bu t wh at when Pakistan president, caught the eye was what Zia-ul-Haq, travelled to India happened on the sidelines. In- to watch a Test featuring the dia’s refusal to shake hands or two countries to 1996, when the exchange pleasantries, a kind two teams joined forces to play of c o m m o n s p o r t i n g a game in Sri Lanka to show it brotherhood. was safe. On Sunday, India and After the match, Suryakumar Pakistan will meet again at the Yadav expressed his solidarity Asia Cup. If there’s another with the families affected by the round of snubbing extended attack in Pahalgam in April. hands, it may well be a new norFollowing that attack the sport- mal.  More on P13 s w a r o o p s w a m i n at h a n E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar holds a meeting on traffic issues in Bengaluru on Saturday | Express missioners, chief engineers, superintendent engineers and executive engineers should be on the field and monitor and ensure that the quality of work is not compromised,” he said. Steps have been taken to appoint a technical coordination officer to coordinate with all the five corporations, he added. At the meeting, waterlogging and traffic jams on Outer Ring Road were discussed. A deci- sion was taken to fix traffic at Iblur Junction, Agara, Veeranna Palya, Nagawara and Hebbal at a cost of Rs 400 crore. The officials briefed the CM and DCM DK Shivakumar that of 1,648.43 km of Greater Bengaluru Authority’s road network, 14,795 potholes have been identified in Bangalore Central, Bangalore East, West North and South Municipal Corporations. LUCKNOW: In a landmark judgment, the Allahabad High Court has taken strong exception to the trend of alleged caste glorification in society and directed the Uttar Pradesh government to remove caste references from FIRs, police documents, public records, motor vehicles, and public signboards. The court observed that such glorification of caste is “anti-national”. JeM, Hizbul shifting bases from PoK NEW DELHI: Post Operation Sindoor in which terror infrastructure in Pakistanoccupied Kashmir (PoK) was heavily damaged, sources in security agencies said Pakbased terror outfits Jaish-eMohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen have begun relocating their bases to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the sources, this reflects a significant “tactical adaptation” by terror outfits. Ships now have infra status, says PM Bhavnagar (Gujarat): In a historic decision, the Union government has taken a decision accord large ships with infrastructure status. Disclosing this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Shipbuilding companies will now find it easier to secure loans from banks and will benefit from reduced interest rates.” He said a series of reforms have been initiated in the maritime sector. P10