bengaluru l tuesday l april 08, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION LPG cylinder to be costlier by `50, CNG price up `1 per kg from today Hike comes amid crash in crude prices The price hike comes amid a drop in crude prices—from $70 to about $60 per barrel. Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said oil firms are incurring losses and prices could be cut only if international rates stay at low levels. LPG will now cost B553 per cylinder in Delhi for Ujjawala users and B853 for general users. The rates vary from state to state depending on local taxes The increase in cooking gas price, effective April 8, will be for the Ujjawala—poor beneficiaries who got LPG connection free of cost—and general users Excise duty hiked on petrol, diesel ■ ■ The government also hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel by B2 per litre each to raise about B32,000 crore additional tax revenue However, there will be no change in retail prices of either petrol or diesel as the increases will be adjusted against the price cut that was warranted because of falling international oil prices | P14 Mar 2024 LPG prices were last revised a year ago, when prices were cut by `100 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 ASIAN MARKETS CRUMBLE 9.7% 13.22% 7.83% 7.34% 3.24% Taiwan Weighted Hang Seng Nikkei 225 Shanghai Composite ■ 75,364.69 ■ sENSEX Previous close BLOODBATH ON D-STREET BSE marketcap shrinks to `390 L cr Realty and Metal Indices fell 6-7% ■ Trent shares fell 15%, highest in Nifty50 pack 73,325 mONDAY’S close 9:33 AM 0% -5% SC rap: Complete breakdown of the rule of law in UP Suchitra Kalyan Mohanty -10% 3:30 PM 72,794 10:52 AM 72,830 72,760 11:37 AM 2:33 PM Dow -13% -15% 72,378 12:48 PM -20% 72,124 9:20 AM Turning Civil cases into criminal @ New Delhi 73,137.90 73,105 NIFTY (22,161.60) How Don spooked global investors S&P U.S. STOCKS in free fall in Trump era Feb 1 Mar 1 Panic Monday -16.1% Nasdaq -21.1% APR 1 Sensex, Nifty crash 3% each; investors lose `14 lakh crore A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi Indian stock markets on Monday witnessed one of the worst trading sessions in recent times as fears of an escalating trade war and a global economic slowdown—sparked by recent US tariff hikes— rattled investors. The crash is attributed to the reciprocal tax imposed by US President Donald Trump last week. The market tremors are likely to escalate as Trump late on Monday threatened to slap an additional 50% tariff on China and halt trade negotiations if Beijing does not withdraw its 34% retaliatory tariff by Tuesday . Investors’ panic was palpable during early trading hours on Monday as the BSE Sensex plunged 4,000 points to 71,725 while the Nifty 50 tumbled 1,150 points to 21,744. At closing, the Sensex and NSE Nifty50 were down by about 3% each. Investors lost a whopping `14 lakh crore as the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms fell from `404 lakh crore on Friday to `390 lakh crore on Monday . The sell-off echoed across Asian markets. Taiwan’s exchange operators halted trading to pause panic selling. Abhishek Jaiswal, fund manager at Finavenue, said the crash in India is due to global concerns. “The real worry lies in how such policy moves could fuel inflation, disrupt supply chains, and trigger a slowdown or even recession over the coming years,” Jaiswal added. Trivesh, COO of Tradejini, said that the steep correction The real worry lies in how such policy moves could fuel inflation, disrupt supply chains, and trigger a slowdown or even recession over the coming years Abhishek Jaiswal, Fund Manager, Finavenue was sparked by China’s announcement of a 34% import tax on all US goods. Anand K Rathi, co-founder of MIRA Money said it is chal, lenging to predict how each country would respond to tariffs. The market is declining, assuming a global recession, but circumstances can change quickly depending on how and when the tariffs are implemented, added Rathi. Investors are now keenly waiting for the RBI’s monetary policy action. A rate cut may provide short-term support to equities, particularly in rate-sensitive sectors such as banking, NBFCs, real estate, and auto. P9 The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh police for converting multiple civil disputes into criminal cases, calling it a “complete breakdown of rule of law in Uttar Pradesh”. “Converting a civil matter into a criminal case is not acceptable. There is a complete breakdown of the rule of law in Uttar Pradesh. It’s strange that it’s happening day in and day out in UP. Lawyers have forgotten there is some civil jurisdiction also,” a threejudge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan said. The remarks came after hearing a plea filed by accused Debu Singh, who said that his civil case — of cheque dishonour and allegedly failure to return money to the complainants — was illegally converted into a criminal one by the UP police. The appalled bench said, express read RCB defeats MI by 12 runs in a thriller MUMBAI: RCB survived a massive scare from MI to end their six-match winless streak at the Wankhede Stadium with a 12-run win in the IPL match on Monday. Set a target of 222, MI staged a stunning late recovery, but managed 209/9 in 20 overs | P15 New rules to make Kharge: Will send a strong message from PM’s home turf builders pay for AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday hinted that the two-day AICC session to be held in the home state (Ahmedabad) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah from April 8 will send a strong message across the country . “Many issues related to the country will be discussed. An agenda of issues to be discussed and resolutions to be adopted has been prepared,” he told reporters before leaving for Ahmedabad. “Apart from the agenda, we will make the decisions taken in the past official. We will give an official message to the country after the session. It is not right to disclose now what the message would be,” Kharge said. On the delay in appointments to the AICC in the backdrop of Over 75% of state’s population obese, overweight: Report Karnataka logs 15 sexual harassment cases a day E x p re s s N e w s Ser v ice @ Bengaluru E x p re s s N e w s Ser v ice @ Bengaluru Over half of Karnataka’s population screened in 2024 was either obese or overweight, with 56% diagnosed as obese and another 21% as overweight, according to the latest Health of the Nation 2025 report by Apollo Hospitals. The numbers point to a rising public health crisis fuelled by sedentary lifestyles, poor nutrition and undiagnosed chronic conditions — most of which show no visible symptoms. The annual report, based on health data from over 2.5 million preventive screenings across the Apollo ecosystem in India, reveals that symptombased healthcare is no longer sufficient.  CONTINUED ON P5 R a k s hith G o w da @ Bengaluru On an average, 15 sexual harassment cases have been reported daily across Karnataka in the first two months of this year, raising serious concerns about women’s safety. In 2024 alone, 6,319 sexual harassment cases were registered, but only n i n e h av e r e s u l t e d i n convictions. While only one case of eveteasing is reported everyday in the state, experts attribute it to no reporting of such cases by victims. According to data from the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB), 901 sexual harassment cases and 78 eve-teasing cases were reported in the first two months of this year (2025). Among the 6,319 cases reported in 2024, 3,908 are under trial, 1,734 are still under investigation, and 45 cases remain un- the party’s organisation year (2025), he clarified that appointments are being made to vacant posts. “We have done this in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and in Assam. We will do it one by one,” he said. He did not show any keen interest in making an announcement on appointments to KPCC in the wake of speculation of replacing DCM DK Shivakumar as its chief. Kharge did not respond to reporters’ queries in this regard and boarded his car to the airport. IT Happens in big cities: Dr G Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara on Monday stoked a controversy, following his remark that incidents like the April 3 molestation of a woman in Suddaguntepalya “tend to happen” in big cities. P3 traced. Additionally, 180 eveteasing cases were reported last year. Women’s rights activist KS Vimala from Janawadi Mahila Sanghatane told TNIE that the actual number of such incidents could be more as many go unreported due to social stigma, fear, and lack of faith in the police and legal system. “Even when women go to file complaints, police respond insensitively. Victims would be discouraged by asking why they were out at night or why they were alone,” Vimala said. P3 “This is wrong. What is happening in UP? Everyday civil suits are being converted to criminal cases.” The court directed the DGP and the station house officer of a Gautam Budh Nagar police station to file affidavits on the case details in two weeks. It warned that it could initiate c o n t e m p t p ro c e e d i n g s against the probe officer. In an earlier Sharif Ahmad vs State of UP case, the Supreme Court had held that the investigating officer must complete entries of all columns in the chargesheet so that it is clear which crime has been committed by which accused and what is the material evidence available in the case. “This is missing in this case,” the bench pointed out. The court directed the compliance of the Sharif Ahmad case order in the present one. It asked the DGP to explain what steps had been taken towards compliance of the Sharif Ahmad order, and fixed the matter for further hearing in May . disposal of debris J I T E N D R A C H O U B E Y @ New Delhi in a bid to mitigate construction dust, a byproduct of building activities and a major air pollutant, the Union environment ministry has notified the Environment (Construction and Demolition) Waste Management Rules, 2025. The new rules, which will become effective on April 1, 2026, will replace the extant regulations and put the onus of collecting, storing, and transporting debris on the bulk waste generators including builders. The rules provide detailed guidelines for the management, utilisation, and monitoring of processed waste, as well as procedures for the storage of processed construction and demolition waste. Notified on April 4, the new nor ms aim to bring environmentally sound management of construction and demolition waste throughout the country through proper se g re g ation, collection, recycling, treatment, and disposal practices. In a first, the notification also introduces a financial mechanism to support extended producer responsibility This means, waste . generators will now be accountable for paying recyclers to provide tradable credits as set by the Central Pollution Control Board. Under the guidelines, credits gained from in-situ (on site) disposal will carry more weight than those from ex-situ (off site) management. The existing rules were found ineffective as they promoted ad-hoc waste management and failed to create a robust market for recycled products among construction agencies. II PU results to be declared today BENGALURU: The results of II PUC Exam-1, held in March, will be declared on Tuesday. Students can access their results on the official website of KSEAB by logging in with their roll number and registration number from 1.30 pm onwards | P2 SC declines urgent hearing of petitions on Waqf Act Suchitra Kalyan Mohanty @ New Delhi A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna on Monday declined urgent hearing in a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the recent Waqf (Amendment) Act. “There’s a robust system of listing in place. The matter will come up in due course,” the CJI told senior lawyers Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and others appearing for various petitioners. These senior advocates had mentioned the matter and sought early hearing. At least 10 petitions have been filed so far challenging the Act. When Sibal, appearing for Maulana Arshad Madani, the president of Jamiat Ulemai-Hind, sought early hearing, the CJI asked why he was making an oral mention when there is a robust system in place to seek urgent listing through email. Sibal said the email has already been sent. The CJI then assured Sibal that he would do the needful after examining the plea in the afternoon. In a related development, the DMK and Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi on Monday filed petitions challenging the constitutionality of the Waqf (Amendment) Act. In his plea, Madani said the Act were destructive of wakf administration and jurisprudence in India and an effort to redefine the nature of waqfs existing in the country “Madani not only chal. lenged the various provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act but also filed an interim petition in the court to prevent the law from coming into effect,” his plea read. Manipur issue comes here here here Chandigarh: Reti red CBI director an d former gover nor of Nagal and As hwani Kumar alle gedly comm itted suicide by hanging on Wed nesday. Police sources said he was under wani Kumar alle gedly comm itted suicide by hanging on Wed nesday. Police sources said he was underdepression and took the Chandigarh: Retireurces said he was under depression and took the Chandigarh: Retired CBI director exstep d CBI director extrem Shimla | P10