bengaluru l saturday l june 07, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION Elon Musk’s Starlink gets India licence for broadband internet Elon Musk’s Starlink has bagged a licence for satellite internet services, a milestone towards launching commercial operations in India licence hours after trump-musk spat strict security rules await foreign co Starlink is the third company after Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications to get a licence from the Dept of Telecommunications to provide satellite internet services in the country. A fourth applicant, Amazon’s Kuiper, is still waiting for approvals. Notably, the licence came hours after an ugly, public spat between Musk and Donald Trump | P16 ■ ■ TRAI last month recommended that satcom companies like Starlink pay 4% of their adjusted gross revenue as spectrum charges to govt—a rate steeper than what these firms had lobbied for India’s rules mandate satcom firms to demonstrate capabilities with respect to security aspects, including monitoring, before operations 550 km above earth is world’s largest low Earth orbit used by starlink 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 Double delight: RBI cuts repo by 50 bps, CRR 1% Signals pause in rate cut cycle for the time being; releases `2.5L cr into banking system sense of certainty to the market with a 50 bps cut. The Reserve Bank of India Malhotra said the Monetary (RBI) has ‘frontloaded’ the dose Policy Committee’s decision of relief for borrowers. On Fri- was taken in view of durable day the central bank’s rate-set- disinflation and the need to , ting panel surprised the Street boost private consumption and with a 50 basis point cut investment. “Inflation in the repo rate—the has softened, with headbenchmark lending line CPI falling to 3.2% in rate—to 5.5% against the April—below the 4% tarexpectation of a 25 basis get,” he said. “We now point reduction. The project inflation for FY26 panel also shifted its polat 3.7%, down from our icy stance from ‘accomearlier forecast of 4%.” modative’ to ‘neutral’, On reverting to the signalling an end of rate ‘neutral’ stance from ‘accut cycle for now. With commodative’, he clariMPC will Friday’s cut, RBI has carefully assess fied this change indicates data to chart lowered the repo rate by a “very limited space” out future a cumulative 100 basis for further monetary polcourse of points (bps) in 2025. icy action. A neutral monetary policy To ease liquidity constance will mean rates in ditions, RBI also an- Sanjay Malhotra, future can go either way . RBI guv nounced a 100 bps cut in “It will depend on how the cash reserve ratio the data comes in. If (CRR) from 4% to 3%, to be im- growth is weaker, it can mean it plemented in four tranches will go down. If growth is good, starting September 6. This is ex- inflation is going up, the repo pected to release `2.5 lakh crore rate can go up,” he said. into the banking system. Meanwhile, real GDP growth Speaking to the media, RBI for FY26 has been retained at Governor Sanjay Malhotra said 6.5%, with Q1 projected at 6.5% the move was aimed at ensuring and Q2 at 6.7%. The governor policy certainty. He said RBI said the domestic economy recould have done the rate cut in mains resilient, supported by tranches, but it wanted to give a several positive factors.  P16 D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi 7 Highs and lows 6 5 4 3 40 50 50 50 35 Repo Rate (%) 25 0 Change (bps) -25 4.4 4.9 5.4 5.9 6.25 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.25 may ’22 june aug sep -25 6 dec feb ’23 june sep ’24 dec feb ’25 apr express read SC cancels bail to Cong MLA Kulkarni New Delhi: In a major setback to Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni in the 2016 murder of BJP worker Yogeshgouda Goudar, the Supreme Court on Friday cancelled his bail and directed him to surrender before the trial court within one week | P3 Yunus announces B’desh elections in April 2026 DHAKA: Bangladesh will hold elections in early April 2026 for the first time since a mass uprising last year, interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Friday. Political parties jostling for power have been repeatedly demanding Yunus fix a poll timetable. Supreme Court allows NEET-PG on August 3 New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the National Board of Examination (NBE) to conduct the NEET-PG 2025 examination on August 3 in one shift in line with the top court’s directions | P11 -50 5.5 june All 4 were flying to Mumbai 2 more FIRs registered against RCB, DNA Entertainment, KSCA RCB marketing head, three from dna arrested at KIA E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e R i s h i ta K h a n n a @Bengaluru @Bengaluru Four persons, including the marketing head of the RCB franchise, were arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport in a joint operation by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) and Cubbon Park police when they were reportedly flying to Mumbai. Their arrest was in connection with the death of 11 persons in a stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium during the IPL title triumph celebration of RCB on Wednesday . Nikhil Sosale, the marketing head of RCB franchise, DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd director and vice-president Sunil Mathew, manager Kiran Kumar and Sumanth, working in the ticketing section, were arrested while they were allegedly trying to escape. The arrests were made in the early hours of Friday after the Cubbon Park police registered three FIRs, including a suo motu FIR, against the RCB franchise, DNA Entertainment Networks and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) A d m i n i s t r a t i v e Committee. The FIRs were based on complaints, accusing them of being responsible for the deaths of 11 people in the stampede at different gates o f t h e C h i n n a sw a m y Stadium. All the four arrested were reportedly flying to Mumbai. After the arrest, they were taken to Bowring Hospital for medical tests at 11.05 am on Friday. They Cops proposed city-wide rally, but state govt junked plan RCB marketing head Nikhil Sosale (black T-shirt) and three employees of DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd at the Cubbon park police station in Bengaluru after their arrest from the Kempegowda International Airport on Friday | Vinod Kumar T were produced before a local court in the evening and were remanded in judicial custody till June 19. The police searched the houses of KSCA Administrative Committee officebearers in the early hours of Friday . Searches were also conducted at the house of DNA Entertainment Networks founder and managing director Dr T Venkat Vardhan, who is also the grandson of former Chief Minister Kengal Hanumanthaiah, on Thursday night. INSIDE Siddu’s political secretary Govindaraju removed Senior Congress leader and MLC K Govindaraju was on Friday removed as political secretary to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with immediate effect following the death of 11 people in the stampede during the victory celebrations of Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. The notification on Govindaraju’s removal was issued by the undersecretary (protocol), Department of Personnel and Administrative Reform (DPAR). The notification stated that the MLC was appointed to the post on June 1, 2023 and he will be relieved with immediate effect. The decision was taken on Siddaramaiah’s directions, sources said. This comes a day after five senior police officials, including Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayanand, were suspended for not taking action to prevent the stampede. Earlier in the day, Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy alleged that Govindaraju put pressure on Siddaramaiah to hold the RCB event at Vidhana Soudha. ENS State intel chief Nimbalkar shunted out KSCA challenges FIR in K’taka high court P2 Siddu, Shivakumar should go, say BJP, JDS P4 The state government on Friday shunted out chief of the state intelligence wing, ADGP Hemant Nimbalkar following allegations that intelligence failure was the reason for the stampede. Nimbalkar has been posted as ADGP, Commissioner, Department of Information and Public Relations, Bengaluru. A full city victory parade covering major stretches of Bengaluru - from Vidhana Soudha to MG Road and beyond - was originally suggested by the city police to mark RCB’s IPL win. The idea was to keep the team moving through different areas so fans could celebrate from the roadsides instead of overcrowding and flooding one location but this suggestion was flatly rejected by the organisers and the state government, despite warnings of the chaos it could lead to. Via multiple informed sources, TNIE learnt that the police had reportedly said no to holding a grand event at such a short notice as the police force had spent the night on the ground till 4 am controlling heavy celebrations in the central business district on Tuesday, June 3, after the RCB win and were stretched thin. The police had also assessed the public mood after the trophy win and communicated to the organisers that massive turnout is certain and that crowd control would require careful preparation. The organisers also failed to provide details of how exactly they are planning the event, expected crowd size and how exactly passes would be distributed, a police official said, adding that most of the details were verbally communicated as it was done in a hurried manner. The police also mentioned that they didn’t have the time to arrange even the barricades which they usually source from private event managers.  P7 Op Sindoor will haunt Pakistan forever, says Modi in J&K RA J E S H K U M AR THA K UR & F AYA Z W ANI @ Katra / Srinagar Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lit into Pakistan, accusing the ‘unfortunate neighbour’ of conspiring to derail the economy and empowerment of Jammu and Kashmir through the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22. “Pakistan attacked both insaniyat (humanity) and Kashmiriyat (Kashmir’s social harmony) in Pahalgam. It wanted to spark communal riots in India and rob Kashmiris of their livelihood,” Modi said in his first visit to J&K after the April 22 terror attack. His comments came while addressing a rally after inaugurating the world’s highest single-arch rail bridge over the Chenab river, India’s first cable-stayed Anji bridge, and flagging off Vande Bharat trains to mark the completion of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway link that providies direct train connectivity to the Kashmir Valley . In all, Modi inaugurated de- velopment projects worth `46,000 crore for the region. “On the night of May 6, doom was let loose on Pakistan’s terrorists,” Modi said, adding that Pakistan will be reminded of its shameful defeat whenever it hears the name Operation Sindoor. “The edifice of terror that Pakistan built over the years was reduced to rubble in minutes. Development and peace of J&K is the Modi guarantee which nothing can hamper,” he said. He also lauded the people of Jammu and Kashmir for standing firm against terrorism. Reaffirming the Centre’s commitment to J&K’s all-round development, he said improved railway connectivity would transform the region with allweather connectivity . Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was present on the occasion, praised the successful completion of the rail link—a feat he said even the British attempted but failed.He also used the occasion to reiterate his demand for restoration of statehood to J&K. Carney invites Modi to attend g7 summit New Delhi: IN a major signal of improving ties between India and PM Narendra Modi with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, MoS Jitendra Singh, J&K L-G Manoj Sinha and CM Omar Abdullah during inauguration of Chenab rail bridge | PTI Canada following erosion of diplomatic relations under former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday confirmed his participation in the G7 Summit, to be held in Kananaskis, Alberta, from June 15–17. Modi said he looks forward to meeting the newly elected Canadian PM Mark Carney. He posted on X: “Glad to receive a call from Prime Minister @ MarkJCarney of Canada. Congratulated him on his recent election victory and thanked him for the invitation to the G7 Summit in Kananaskis later this month. As vibrant democracies bound by deep people-to-people ties, India and Canada will work together with renewed vigour, guided by mutual respect and shared interests. Look forward to our meeting at the Summit.” Pre-feasibility study on to divert Chenab water J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi INDIA has launched a pre-feasibility study for the construction of the Chenab-Ravi-Beas-Sutlej link canal project aimed at diverting water from the Chenab currently flowing into Pakistan under the currently inactive Indus Water Treaty (IWT). The project proposes to channel 15-20 million acre-feet (MAF) of water from the Chenab to Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, as part of a broader effort to strengthen domestic water infrastructure and assert greater control over Indus basin resources. The move follows the effective suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty under which India was permitted to use 20% of the basin’s water. Additionally, a team has begun assessing the existing canal structures across Jammu, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. An officer involved in planning the study at the Ministry of Jal Shakti stated, “We need to evaluate if the water diverted from the Chenab through these canals is being delivered in proper condition and determine investment re- quired for restructuring the canal system.” India is also fast-tracking several new storage and run-of-river projects to support these initiatives. Under the IWT, India was allowed to use up to 20% of the water for non-consumptive purposes, and plans to demand permission to use up to 40% of the water in case of renegotiations, an officer said.