vijayawada l wednesday l october 14, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION Fee on UPI transactions above `2K postponed till diwali fest In a major relief to UPI users, the decision to levy a Merchant Discount Rate of 0.4 per cent on transactions over `2,000 has been deferred | P12 move follows public backlash timely and pragmatic step: traders The National Payments Corporation of India said on Tuesday that the Merchant Discount Rate on UPI transactions shall be implemented immediately after Diwali on a date to be notified separately. The decision to defer has come amidst protests by the Opposition that termed it a tax, and said the MDR imposition above `2,000 will burden consumers, traders ■ ■ The Confederation of All India Traders said the government’s move to defer the proposed MDR charges on UPI transactions is “timely and pragmatic”, particularly during the crucial festive and wedding season As per NPCI’s circular last month, 0.4 per cent MDR was to be charged on person-to-merchant UPI payments above `2,000 from October 15 `300 is the maximum mdr that can be levied on transactions 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 Ladakh integral part of India, MEA rebuts China J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi LoP Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and other INDIA leaders address a joint press meet | PARVEEN NEGI ‘Resistance’ Introspect, to continue, don’t blame says Rahul SIR: Shah PR E E THA N AIR @ New Delhi RA J E SH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi A mock impeachment of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Ramlila Maidan, Delhi Metro train rides by MPs to challenge travel restrictions, and protest programmes at the denotified Jantar Mantar were among the proposals discussed in the meeting of INDIA bloc leaders, civil society representatives, and student representatives on Tuesday . According to sources, the meeting explored ways to keep the protests going and decided to sustain the agitation for the ‘restoration of democracy .’ Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi told the leaders that they could take Wednesday off to visit their constituencies but should be ready to return to the capital at 24 hours’ notice from Thursday, the sources said. The bloc is planning a mega rally at Delhi’s Ramlila grounds on November 1 and plans to mobilise 5 lakh people. Speaking to reporters, Rahul said the protest will continue. He said those responsible for the alleged ‘vote theft’ would be brought to justice, naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the CEC. “No matter what happens, no matter which institution plays a role or not, political resistance will continue, people’s resistance will continue and it will triumph,” he added. Among those who attended the high tea meeting at Rahul’s residence were Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi; RJD leaders Tejashwi Yadav and Manoj Jha; SP leaders Harendra Malik, Anand Bhadauria and Mohibullah Nadvi; Left leaders M A Baby and D Raja; JMM’s Mahua Maji; and TMC’s Mahua Moitra. AISA chief Neha Bora and CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya were also present. UNION Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to introspect why his party has been losing elections rather than playing negative politics over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. In his first public comments on the ongoing protests, Shah said electoral credibility and public confidence can’t be secured through wild allegations and street protests alone. Instead, he said, opposition parties need to demonstrate their acceptance among ‘Negative voters through suspolitics’ tained public engageShah accused ment and service. the Congress of “I want to ask Raindulging in hul ji: Is this (election “negative defeat) the result of politics” and SIR? Do you dismiss advised the the popularity of the party to try and BJP and Modi ji? The connect with SIR started only after the public to 2024,” Shah said, addwin their trust ing that the Congress and its allies would face a crushing defeat for the fourth consecutive time in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Shah cited the BJP’s performance in Gujarat’s municipal elections as evidence of the party’s continued popularity and electorate’s enduring faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Lighting into Rahul, Shah said the Congress leader is trying to manufacture political momentum through media events and baseless allegations, insisting that such tactics would not help regain public confidence. What the MHA list of Oct 2 covered Reiterating that the Union Territory of Ladakh is an “integral and inalienable part of India,” New Delhi on Tuesday rejected China’s assertion that it has “never recognised” the region. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said “no amount of denial by the Chinese side can change this established fact”. India’s response came amid Beijing’s objection to New Delhi’s decision to standardise the names of 28 geographical locations and features in Ladakh. The strong rebuttal came soon The Ministry of Home Affairs announced the list of 28 locations on October 2, covering a range of geographical features, including 10 peaks, two mountain passes, seven land areas, three mountains, two water bodies, two glaciers, a valley and a river Verbal Abuse AP IAS officer, 3 friends booked at B’luru pub Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay meets his AP counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday | Express A bilateral meeting between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay took place in Vijayawada on Tuesday with discussions cen, tered around inter-state water sharing, regional cooperation, and the Godavari-Cauvery river interlinking initiative. During their hour-long discussion at Naidu’s camp office, Vijay formally requested the AP government to release additional @ Bengaluru/ Tirupati An Andhra Pradesh-cadre IAS officer and his three friends, who were said to be drunk, allegedly created a ruckus and verbally abused police personnel at an upscale pub on Residency Road between 1 and 1.30 am on Saturday . The IAS officer, Vikas Marmat, is the Project Director of the Kuppam Area Development Authority (KADA). The incident occurred on October 9 when police personnel across the city were inspecting pubs and bars following instructions from Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh. Officers from the Cubbon Park police station and the Central Crime Branch (CCB) visited Cavore pub on Residency Road to check the identity cards of customers. When the AP IAS officer and his friends were approached, they got into an argument with the police officers, and Vikas also alle g edly abused the personnel. A video that has gone viral shows a police inspector questioning Vikas, even as the latter’s friend manhandles the officer and threatens him. Vikas also challenges the police officers to take whatever acP4 tion they could.  drinking water to Chennai through the Telugu Ganga Project. In response, Naidu noted that AP has already released 4.08 TMC of water to Chennai this year. He explained that despite reduced Krishna river inflows and seasonal water deficits caused by El Niño impact, the AP government remains prepared, from a humanitarian perspective, to meet drinking water needs based on live storage availability, prevailing weather conditions, and local P4 requirements.  Plugging leaks Nilekani bats for tech to make exams secure P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi INFOSYS co-founder Nandan Nilekani on Tuesday said exam paper leaks can be prevented through a systematic approach that addresses the root causes of the problem, advocating the use of technology to make examinations more secure. Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2026 in New Delhi, Nilekani, who heads the high-powered task The moment you have a question paper, that creates economic incentive for it to be sold Nandan Nilekani, Infy co-founder force on exam reforms, said paper leaks were a solvable problem. “The way to do that is to really have a massive bank of questions. And only at the last minute generate the question paper for that day he said, adding ,” that this would reduce the scope for leaks and eliminate the economic incentive to obtain question papers in advance. He said compu- Randhir Jaiswal, MEA ter-based testing could further strengthen the process. On the impact of artificial intelligence on employment, Nilekani dismissed concerns that AI would lead to widespread job displacement, calling it “hogwash”. While AI is automating tasks such as coding, he said, it would also create demand for new skills and generate more work in enterprise transformation. However, companies would need to reskill their employees, he added. sponse to a media query . Jaiswal, however, said the exercise was administrative and intended to improve the identification of geographical features on official maps. Referring to an Ministry of Home Affairs announcement, he said the 28 sites were identified with standardised names on the official Survey of India map in consultation with the UT and Reshuffle buzz as MoS L Murugan resigns RA J E SH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Release more Telugu ganga water, AP urged S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada UT of Ladakh is an integral and inalienable part of India. No amount of denial by the Chinese side can change this established fact after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning objected to India’s announcement, reiterating Beijing’s refusal to recognise Ladakh as an UT. “India’s move is illegal and invalid; it cannot alter the objective fact that the western sector of the China-India border has always belonged to China,” Mao said, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s re- local stakeholders. “Identifying these places formally on the Survey of India map of UT of Ladakh is aimed at facilitating their accurate recognition and better awareness among the public at large,” he said. The MHA announced the list on October 2. This is the latest incident in a broader contest between India and China over territorial claims and use of geographical names to assert sovereignty . Beijing has repeatedly issued standardised Chinese names for locations in Arunachal Pradesh, which India has rejected. Back to grassroots In his letter to PM Modi, Murugan said there is a lot more that the party can achieve in Tamil Nadu UNION Minister of State L Murugan resigned from the council of ministers and the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, stating he wanted to return to Tamil Nadu to strengthen the BJP’s state unit ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. The move has fuelled speculation of an imminent Cabinet reshuffle. In a four-page letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, re- quested to be relieved of his ministerial duties and allowed to give up his RS seat. “I want to go to every village (in TN), meet our people, stand beside our karyakartas,” he wrote. Recalling his journey as the son of daily wage labourers, he called his five years in government as the “greatest honour” of his life. Murugan was elected to the RS in September 2021 and reelected from Madhya Pradesh in April 2024. His term runs till April 2030. The vacation of his seat set off speculation on who it was meant to accommodate. Murugan is the third MoS to quit in recent months after George Kurian and Ravneet Singh Bittu, who resigned in June and July respectively , . Other possible exits include Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Giriraj Singh and Annapurna Devi. However, there is no official word yet. Those who failed to get an RS berth include Consumer Affairs MoS B L Verma. MoS Pankaj Chaudhary and Harsh Malh o t r a , t o o, a r e h o l d i n g ministerial posts while serving as BJP presidents of UP and Delhi, respectively .