tirupati l friday l october 09, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION Canadian poet Anne Carson awarded Literature Nobel Anne Carson won the Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday for her ‘bold and inventive’ works that fuse the classical and the modern Known for modern takes on Greek classics Carson brought a modern twist to ancient myths through her genreblending writings about love, desire and despair. In doing so, she has created new forms for contemporary literature, the Swedish Academy said. For example, her Autobiography of Red (1998) reimagines the myth of Hercules and the monster Geryon as a 20th-century coming-of-age story ■ 3rd Her reaction: They are all crazy ■ “Almost all her literary production has centred upon the intersection between the philologist’s obsession with words and the poet’s desire for new meaning,” the Academy said in a statement When asked about the Academy members’ decision to honour her, the 76-year-old told an Iceland broadcaster, “They’re all crazy” | P9 canadian to win the honour after alice munro and saul bellow 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 INDIA bloc stages Taxman losing arrest power sit-in at Rajghat among GST Council reforms Threshold for prosecution now `10 crore; for issuing notice, it’s `10,000 UDAYA N KISHOR E & A N UP KUMAR V E RMA @ New Delhi INDIA bloc leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, staged a peaceful protest on Thursday at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial at Rajghat against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged election malpractices. The leaders met briefly for lunch, hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, at Connaught Place and then moved in buses towards the memorial, along with a group of supporters, where they paid floral tributes and sat in a peaceful protest. The INDIA bloc leaders said they were praying for “wisdom to the BJP government” as they alleged that the CEC in connivance with the Centre had “hijacked” the country through “a criminal conspiracy by indulging in vote theft”. The opposition leaders said they would continue their pro- P u s h p i ta De y @ New Delhi Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi along with INDIA bloc leaders en route to Rajghat on Thursday | Parveen Negi test till CEC Gyanesh Kumar resigns. They are likely to meet again on Friday in Parliament for a protest. Samajwadi Party Shiv Sena, UBT, and NCP-SCP also attended the lunch. Besides TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee and Menaka Guruswamy, CPI-M leader John Brittas and CPI leader P Sandosh were present. Later in the day, the INDIA bloc request an appointment of the President to make a representation on ‘vote theft’. Won’t stop till CEC quits, says Dipke at B’luru rally E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru cjp founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Election Commission of India of “murdering democracy” and “vote theft”, at a massive protest in Bengaluru. Taking part in a ‘People’s Tribunal’ organised by civil society groups and CJP at Freedom Park against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Dipke said the groups would continue their agitation until CEC Gyanesh Kumar resigns. The agitators demanded that SIR exercise be scrapped and preSIR electoral rolls be restored. Thousands of protesters had gathered at the venue. Voters from Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka shared their experiences of alleged exclusion from the electoral rolls. Video testimonials from people claiming to have been affected by the SIR process were also played. Dipke alleged voter deletions under SIR were aimed at disenfranchising those opposed to the BJP “We will hit the streets, re. claim democracy and continue the agitation till the CEC resigns,” he added. He alleged that the Election Commission of India had deleted votes at the behest of the Central government. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, present at the site, alleged “zero transparency and zero accountability” in the SIR exercise, while actoractivist Prakash Raj demanded that SIR be scrapped, claiming it was a frontal attack on the rights and dignity of citizens. The GST Council on Thursday approved a series of process reforms aimed at easing compliance for businesses, including simplifying registration and refunds, scrapping arrest powers of GST officers and raising the monetary threshold for prosecution to `10 crore from `5 crore. The Council also approved a `10,000 threshold for issuing GST show-cause notices and allowed input tax credit (ITC) on several business expenses, including employee insurance. The decisions were taken at the 57th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and attended by finance ministers from several states. The meeting focused on process reforms to reduce compliance burdens and litigation risks for businesses. The Council also addressed a major pain point for businesses — denial of ITC because of noncompliance by vendors in the supply chain. It said genuine buyers should not lose credit because of supplier defaults. A standing committee of officers will examine the issue and submit its re- Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Karnataka CM D K Shivakumar (R), Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and others at the GST Council meet in Delhi on Thursday | PTI Input tax credit issues “In the spirit of cooperative federalism, it was decided to have an officers’ committee to examine ITC issues. Why should an honest taxpayer face issues in claiming ITC, if the person/business pays the input tax?” Sitharaman said port within three months, after which the matter will be placed before the next Council meeting. The Council also widened the scope of ITC to several business expenses, including outdoor catering, health and life insurance, telecommunication towers and pipelines laid outside factory premises. ITC will also be allowed on free samples and goods destroyed or written off after expiry where such destruction is required by law. It also brought input services within the scope of refunds under the inverted duty structure, where businesses are left with accumulated credit because their inputs are taxed at a higher rate than their output. The benefit will be available for credit availed on or after November 1. The Council also scrapped the power of GST officers to arrest taxpayers. To curb litigation, it proposed that no show-cause notice be issued where the amount involved is up to `10,000. A common standard will govern the issuance and service of notices in cases involving alleged fraud. Free power for Durga pandals across state HRD and IT Minister Nara Lokesh has announced that the State government will provide free electricity up to 3 KW for mandapas set up in rural areas and up to 5 KW for those in urban locations US suspends IT giants from green card process E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru AHEAD of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s expected visit to India this month, the US government has suspended several Indian IT giants, including TCS and Infosys, from the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme, a key step in the employment-based green card process, amid allegations of abuse and fraud in US visa programmes. US Vice-President J D Vance announced the action on Thursday. Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling said Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, HCL and Capgemini were among the companies affected. Microsoft and Adobe were also suspended, with the Labour Department citing multiple federal investigations. Vance accused the companies of using H-1B workers to replace American employees and said the programme had become “rife with fraud”. He alleged that Microsoft had laid off about 6,000 American workers while receiving thousands of H-1B app rova l s a n d f i l i n g P E R M applications. The PERM programme is administered by the US Department of Labour. It generally requires an employer sponsoring a foreign worker for permanent residence to show that there are not enough qualified US workers available for the job and that employing the foreign worker will not adversely affect wages and working conditions. PERM is one of the main stages before an employer can proceed with an employmentbased green card application. Indian firms are particularly affected because Indians account for large share of H-1B workers. NASSCOM downplays the action Indian IT trade association NASSCOM downplayed the action, saying Indian firms had built a strong US workforce. But immigration and skilled talent mobility are distinct issues and must not be viewed via the same lens, it said Microsoft had laid off about 6,000 American workers while receiving thousands of H-1B approvals and filing PERM applications JD Vance, US Vice-President Prioritise Godavari–Cauvery link project, CM urges PM S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada Advocating a transformative water-security roadmap for South India, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prioritise the strategic Godavari–Cauvery river interlinking project to permanently resolve water scarcity across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Meeting the Prime Minister in New Delhi on Thursday evening, Naidu congratulated Modi on completing 25 years in public life, commending his visionary leadership, decisive governance, and unwavering commitment to cooperative federalism in empowering States as equal partners toward achieving a ‘Viksit Bharat’. Proposing the creation of a national ‘Water Grid’ through large-scale river interlinking— drawing a direct parallel with nationwide highway networks and unified power grids built under NDA administrations— Naidu submitted a detailed status report on the Polavaram Ir- rig ation Project. He also requested dedicated Central financial assistance for the upcoming Godavari Pushkarams in 2027, which is expected to attract millions of pilgrims. Addressing agrarian concerns, Naidu informed the Prime Minister that El Niño conditions had triggered a severe 53% rainfall deficit in Andhra Pradesh, severely impacting the farm sector. He detailed the State’s ongoing drought mitigation measures alongside recent agricultural milestones, including the E x p r e s s Re a d Distribution of ‘NTR Baby Kits’ soon Vijayawada: In a major welfare measure targeting newborn care and maternal support across Andhra Pradesh, Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav on Thursday announced that distribution of ‘NTR Baby Kits’ would be launched soon | P3 I&PR App launched for faster govt updates Vijayawada: To provide government information to the public in a faster manner, I&PR Minister Kolusu Parthasarathy launched an integrated mobile and web application in Vijayawada on Thursday | P4 launch of the Global Horticulture Hub at Madanapalle with Central cooperation, and the foundation stone laying for an Indian School of Agriculture, planned on the lines of Indian School of Business (ISB). The Chief Minister also sought the Centre’s support for major infrastructure projects in Andhra Pradesh, including the proposed Outer Ring Road in the capital Amaravati, approval for the Visakhapatnam Metro, and briefed the Prime Minister on the proposed Beach P4 Road project.  Foolproof steps for hassle-free darshan at Durga temple E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam (SDMSD) has made elaborate arrangements for the annual Dasara festivities at the Durga temple atop Indrakeeladri, with hassle-free darshan for common devotees as the priority . Temple Executive Officer VK Seena Naik on Thursday said the arrangements for Devi Navaratri, which will begin on October 11, were made in coordination with various government departments. The Devasthanam will provide free darshan to devotees waiting in queues after cancelling `100, `300 and `500 darshan tickets. A `1,000 quick darshan facility will be available for those unable to wait for long. Devotees who book tickets through official portal or Mana Mitra WhatsApp service will be transported from the TTD premises at Kummaripalem to Om Turning, and allowed through a separate queue. “To provide hassle-free darshan for common devotees, protocol and VIP Darshan will be restricted to 6 to 8 am. Another slot may be provided between 8 and 10 pm after the evening rituals, depending on the devotee rush,” the EO said. The authorities set up a 1,650metre queue system through Vinayaka temple, Canal Road and Tollgate, which can accommodate 8,500 devotees. An alternative route through Kanaka Durga Nagar and Mahamandapam ramp has been arranged in case of rain or emergencies. Three holding centres with 70 compartments can accommodate 18,000 devotees arriving by trains and buses. Authorities have installed CCTV cameras, LED screens and public- address systems. More than 5,000 personnel from the temple, police and other departments will work round-theclock in three shifts, he added. Iconic dialogue delivery Nana Patekar 1 Jan 1951 — 8 Oct 2026 Man of contradictions and fiery, mesmerising monologues N a m r ata J o s h i N ana Patekar was a star sans glamour. If one phrase could capture him succinctly it’d be “son of , the soil”. It didn’t just reflect in his favourite attire of the kurta and the gamcha but also in his rootedness in his Marathi identity and culture, his simple one BHK (bedroom-hallkitchen) life in Mumbai, and his love for farming and all things rural, towards which he fo- cused most of his philanthropic efforts through the Naam Foundation that he jointly set up in 2015 along with actor Makarand Anaspure. His rough-around-the-edges, mercurial, far-from-glitzy personality found an answering reflection in the volatile, capricious, crusty characters he came to be identified with on screen; most of them, like him, driven by fierceness, fervour, outspokenness, and a righteous rage. He first caught the audience’s eye with the grounded way he captured the angst of Intensity, individuality Nana Patekar passed away at his Goa residence on Thursday after suffering a heart attack. He was 75. “Few actors possessed the intensity, individuality and unmistakable presence that Shri Nana Patekar Ji had,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X an unemployed wastrel in N Chandra’s Ankush (1986). His popularity among the masses peaked in the zealous patriotism of films Tirangaa (1993) and Krantiveer (1994). His distinctive voice and unmistakable dialogue delivery added to the appeal. In that aspect, he was a true inheritor of the legacy of legendary Hindi film star Raaj Kumar, also known for his declamatory style. Nana’s iconic monologues were certainly not about mincing words; in fact, they whipped up the crowd and were repeated with the same gusto by his fans. Like the famous line on communal harmony in Krantiveer, which underscores that one can’t distinguish between the blood of a Hindu and a Muslim, and if the creator has treated them equally, humans have no right to drive wedges between the two: “Yeh Musalman ka khoon, yeh Hindu ka khoon. Bata ismein Musalman ka kaunsa hai, Hindu ka kaunsa? Banane wale ne ismein fark nahi kiya, tu kaun hota hai fark karne wala?” Or the sharp barb, in the same film, on how the politicians continue to enjoy power while common people perish: “Ek ek karke sab marenge! Aur yeh neta log kursi par baithkar maza lenge!” Continued on: P8