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 ■ ■ MANGALURU l wednesday l september 02, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l CITY EDITION Pak cricket in disarray Known for its unpredictable nature, Pakistan Cricket Board has made a series of changes after Test series loss to England. A look... Players dropped, coaches released A day after Pakistan lost Lord’s Test, PCB axed seven members of the squad, including Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq and Salman Ali Agha, and released coaches — Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul — off their duties. White-ball coaches Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke have been called to join the team ahead of third and final Test. Selectors served notice, Misbah resigns In the hours that followed, PCB also sent a notice to selectors including former captain Misbah-ul-Haq asking for a written explanation on inclusion of Imam-ul-Haq and Rizwan. Misbah has submitted his resignation since, though it remains to be seen if the letter is accepted by PCB. SC quashes all Confront states FIRs against funding terror, CJP protesters Modi tells SCO No relief for 2,873 persons with criminal history; CJP calls off Sept 5 Delhi march S U CHITRA K A LYA N M O HA N TY @ New Delhi IN a major relief to students who participated in the Cockroach Janta Party-led protests during July 20-25, the Supreme Court on Tuesday invoked its extraordinary powers to quash all FIRs registered against the protesters across the country prompting the outfit to , call off its September 5 march in Delhi. “Participating in a protest per se would not constitute an offence,” observed a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana while invoking Article 142 of the Constitution, which empowers the court to pass any orders to do complete justice. The bench, however, allowed the government to continue prosecution against 2,873 individuals with serious criminal antecedents who were present in the Jantar Mantar protest. For this purpose, the government proposed to register a single, fresh FIR against them. The bench directed that investigation be limited to offences of bodily Invocation of harm or destruction of property Article 142 is during the protests. subject to the Appearing for the Centre, Solicicondition that both tor General Tushar Mehta assured sides shall abide by the bench that the government will the understanding not pursue FIRs linked to the speciarrived at before this court fied protest incidents or file fresh FIRs for the same incidents. He said Supreme Court the government stands by its assurance on compensation to the families of students who ended their lives over the NEET paper leak and other academic issues. He sought three months time to complete the modalities for the same. CJP co-convener Saurav Das appeared before the bench and read out a statement on behalf of the group. “The CJP deems it appropriate to withdraw the call for the march on September 5 and looks forward to compliance with today’s order,” Das said, describing the order as a ‘historic decision’. The Centre had on Monday moved the SC seeking quashing of these FIRs registered over protests that took place across the country on July 2026. In the hearing on Tuesday Senior Advocates Vrinda , Grover and Hariharan, appearing for the protesters, sought transparency with regard to the FIRs and the list of about 2,873 persons identified by authorities. J AYA N TH J AC O B @ New Delhi prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to confront countries that use terrorism as an “instrument of state policy” and reject “double standards” in the fight against terror financing and recruitment, in remarks seen as a direct reference to Pakistan, also the next chair of the grouping. Addressing the annual SCO summit in the presence of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other world leaders, Modi called for a united effort to “dismantle the entire ecosystem” supporting terrorism, including financing, recruitment, radicalisation and safe havens. “Terrorism continues to pose a serious challenge to humanity as a whole. In the fight against terrorism, we cannot remain confined to an action-reaction approach,” Modi said in the meet held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Russian “We must send a President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during SCO Summit | PTI strong messa g e to countries that use terrorism as an instruMessage to China ment of policy and proIn an apparent reference to China’s vide safe haven and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), support to terrorists Modi said such connectivity that terrorism can nevprojects must respect the er be a strategic asset sovereignty and territorial integrity for anyone,” he added. of all countries. India has been Though Modi did not critical of the BRI because a name Pakistan, his reportion of it passes through marks were widely Pakistan-occupied Kashmir seen as a criticism of Islamabad’s support for various militant groups targeting India. The prime minister also expressed concern over the continuing crisis in West Asia, saying conflicts in one region can have consequences far beyond their immediate borders. “In today’s interconnected world, the scope of security has become even broader. The crisis in West Asia has demonstrated that a conflict in one region does not remain confined to that region,” Modi said. “Its impact is felt across the world, affecting energy security, maritime trade, and supply chains. The countries of the Global South bear the greatest brunt of such disruptions,” he added. CM may review Bill to use 5% of parkland the proposal to allocate 5% of park land for other purposes was brought After stiff opposition from variin, what previous governments ous quarters, the state governdid and who was allotted which ment is likely to review the Express land.will get the files and the Karnataka Government Parks “I impact issue can be discussed again (Preservation) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, that was passed in the in the Assembly,” he said. legislative Houses recently . There is a need to check the LalSpeaking to reporters on Tuesday bagh land given for Metro and at in Bengaluru, Chief Minister DK Shi- also at other places across, he said. vakumar said he would examine why  Continued on P7 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ B e n g a l u r u Door-to-door survey to verify Gruha Lakshmi beneficiaries E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ M a n g a l u r u In a bid to plug leaks in its Gruha Lakshmi scheme, the state government will soon launch door-to-door reverification of beneficiaries across the state after it was found that Rs 177 crore had been credited into the bank accounts of deceased beneficiaries. The government has already initiated a drive for Gruha Jyothi to remove ineligible beneficiaries. Karnataka State Guarantee Imple- mentation Authority Chairman HM Revanna said six-member committees will be formed at the gram panchayat and ward levels to assist government officials in the verification process. A government order for the Gruha Lakshmi reverification was issued on August 31 after discussions with CM DK Shivakumar, he said. The committees will not entail any financial burden on the government and will only facilitate the verification process, Revanna said.  P4 Campaign makes mark After an uproar against the state government’s plans to run a tunnel road beneath Lalbagh and passing of the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, TNIE started ‘Target Lung Space’ campaign. Following this, CM DK Shivakumar on Tuesday said the government will revisit the Bill. E x p r e s s Re a d Hyderabad military armoury compromised, arms stolen Hyderabad: Several arms and ammunitions have been stolen from an Army storage facility of the Madras Regiment in Secunderabad. The theft came to light on August 31 morning. P7 Congress MLA writes to CM on corruption in KRIDL Mangaluru: Congress MLA from Puttur Ashok Kumar Rai has written to Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, alleging bribery and intimidation of contractors by two KRIDL officials in Mangaluru. P4 Battered houses in low-lying areas in Nuwakot in Nepal full of slush after the recent flash-flood in Nepal | S V Krishna Chaitanya | Report: P9