mangaluru 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 seeking deletion of 6,018 voters. 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 SS U E Thinking Inside the Bot PLUS 12 PAGES INDIA vs pakistan Sports can no longer be a tool of diplomacy? s w a r o o p s w a m i n at h a n @ Chennai OVER the last few months, there has been a growing clamour for the Indian cricket team to refuse to play Pakistan and it grew before their first match in Asia Cup group stage. India comfortably won the game — there is honestly a noticeable difference in the skill levels of both teams — but what caught the eye was what happened on the sidelines. India’s refusal to shake hands or exchange pleasantries, a kind of common sporting brotherhood. After the match, Suryakumar Yadav expressed his solidarity with the families affected by the attack in Pahalgam in April. Following that attack the sporting relations between India and Pakistan nosedived. An Indian cricket team twice boycotted Pakistan in a meet in England. The Pakistan hockey team — usually habitual travellers to India — skipped the Asia Cup earlier this month; relationships are not the same anymore. Even in a heightened state of tension, sport has been used as a diplomatic tool to try and put peace at the forefront. From 1987, when Pakistan pres- ident, Zia-ul-Haq, travelled to India to watch a Test featuring the two countries to 1996, when the two teams joined forces to play a game in Sri Lanka to show it was safe. On Sunday, India and Pakistan will meet again at the Asia Cup. If there’s another round of snubbing extended hands, it may well be a new normal.   More on P13 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. Issuing a series of directives, the court observed that such glorification of caste is “anti-national”. Ships now have infra status, says PM Bhavnagar (Gujarat): In a landmark policy shift, the Union government has taken a decision accord large ships with infrastructure status. Disclosing this, PM Narendra Modi said, “Ship-building 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 and five maritime laws have been introduced in a new form | P10