bengaluru l tuesday l june 24, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION Kirsty Coventry: First female IOC president takes charge Out-going International Olympic president International hands over key of Olympic House to Coventry Olympic Committee in Lausanne during Handover Ceremony breaking glass ceiling, ushering in new era troubled times but promise in horizon Coventry has quite a few first on Monday after taking charge of the IOC. Besides being the first female, she is the first African, youngest at the age of 41 and first from a developing nation (Zimbabwe). The multiple Olympic medallist is supposed to bring in freshness and usher in a new progressive era in IOC. She also served in Zimbabwe govt as sports minister ■ ■ She will walk into a world that’s politically charged with war and conflict raging in quite a few regions. Hosting 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles in Trump era will be a challenge as well She said she would collaborate and govern. “I believe you get more collective if everyone feels that they’ve at least had a say...” Eight the number of years she will be in office 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 First Iranian strike on U.S. base in Qatar Cong MLA says BR Patil effect a G E N CI E S IRAN fired multiple missiles against a US military base in Qatar on Monday, a day after the US hit its nuclear sites. This is the first time that Iran has launched a direct attack against US assets. However, US media reports said Iran had informed Qatar in advance to minimise casualties, suggesting that the retaliatory attacks were a symbolic move. Reports said multiple explosions were heard in Doha as missiles flew and interceptors fired, lighting up the sky. Qatar’s airspace was closed amid fears of an Iranian attack. The US air base in Iraq was also reportedly targeted. Qatar is home to a large Israel Syria Iraq Iran Saudi Arabia Qatar US military bases in the Middle East number of expatriates, many of them Indians. “In view of the ongoing situation, Indian community in Qatar is urged to be cautious and remains indoors,” an advisory by the Indian embassy in Qatar read. The Al Udeid Air Base, located near Doha, is the largest US military installation in the re- gion, which is also the home to US Central Command’s forward headquarters. It hosts around 10,000 US troops and also includes UK military personnel on rotation. Qatar condemned the attack, saying it “reserves the right to respond directly in a manner equivalent with the nature and scale of this brazen aggression”. The Foreign Ministry of Qatar issued a statement late on Monday saying Qatari air defences “thwarted the attack and successfully intercepted the Iranian missiles,” with no injuries or deaths reported. Meanwhile, Israel continued to strike multiple sites in Iran on Monday, including Fordo, which the US claimed to have ‘obliterated’ on Sunday  . P12 B-SMILE dir: Tunnel road will be 120 ft below ground M o h a mme d Ya c o o b @ Bengaluru The 16.68 km tunnel road between Central Silk Board and Hebbal near Esteem Mall will be built 120 ft below the ground. Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE), a special purpose vehicle created to execute big-ticket projects in the city will start the tender proc, ess for the much-debated project in a day or two. B-SMILE Director BS Prahallad said advanced tunnel boring machines will be used for the work. The toll for the road has been fixed at Rs 19 per kilometre. But the toll could vary because of inflation and project cost. “The work is expected to be completed within four years. But everything depends on geological factors. Homes and other structures on the surface will be safe,” he said. On groundwater supply and borewell points getting impacted due to tunnelling, he said the government has given permission for owners to dig borewells and it does not mean they have a right over it as it still belongs to the government. “Some borewell points may be impacted,” he added. Tenders will be called in two packages and files have already been sent to the Finance Department. “The government gave the approval on June 9 and tendering will begin in a day or two,” he said. The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 42,000 crore, which will include Rs 800 crore for acquiring land.  CONTINUED ON P2 Over 2,000 Indians evacuated 290 more Indians were evacuated from Iran on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs said. With this, 2,003 Indians have been rescued. The first batch of 161 Indians from Israel will reach Delhi at 1:20 am on Tuesday Id verification For US visa, set social media to public visibility E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Toll for cars on the tunnel may reach Rs 330. Autos and twowheelers aren’t allowed. Rs 7,100 cr subsidy plus Rs 10,700 cr loans, all from public funds. Congestion at exits and rising pollution are inevitable PC Mohan, MP Flight with nose damage: ‘Pilots had no clear plan’ s l a l i t h a @ New Delhi IndiGo pilots on a Delhi to Srinagar flight last month, which suffered extensive nose damage due to a heavy hailstorm, did not have any clear plan to handle the situation, aviation regulator DGCA said in its report. The Air Traffic Control, too, faulted the pilots for their decisions. On May 21, 227 passengers on board had a miraculous escape. The pilots managed to land the flight in Srinagar. In its 29-page report, the DGCA pointed out that the forecast presented in the brief to pilots did not specify any significant weather changes. But the whether changed enroute. “The crew started taking deviations from the planned route to avoid weather in co-ordination with the three ATCs — the one at Delhi Airport, the Alpha Control for J&K and the Northern Control of the Air Force just before it reached the waypoint ASARI,” it said. “The cockpit crew were proactive in indentification of the weather. However, the actions and decisions which preceeded it indicate that the crew were not having a clear plan on the next course of action.” On convective weather systems, it said, “Pilots are advised to navigate such areas laterally than climbing or descending.” The DGCA advised pilots to take a conservative approach to decision making during adverse weather conditions. The probe said that the cockpit crew (pilots) had valid licences and the flight duty times of both the crew members was within the specified time limit. India braces for Strait choke state admin has collapsed double impact KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant score hundreds and share 195-run stand in the second innings of first Test England on Monday. India are in command after taking 370-run lead | AP | P15 In a major overhaul of its visa screening process, the US embassy has advised all applicants for F, M, or J nonimmigrant visas to set their personal social media accounts to public visibility ef, fective immediately . T he policy, aimed at strengthening national security protocols, is designed to enhance identity verification and assist consular officers in determining applicants’ admissibility under US immigration law. F visas are intended for academic students attending US colleges, universities, or langua g e training programmes; M visas cover nonacademic or vocational study; and J visas are reserved for individuals participating in exchange prog rammes, including, research scholars, and cultural exchange participants. The US Embassy in India posted on X: “Every visa adjudication is a national security decision.” Making social media accounts public became mandatory for vetting processes since 2019. Officials reiterated that all available information, including online presence, is used in visa screening to detect potential threats. The US State Department temporarily paused the issuance of student visas as it developed new social media screening guidelines on May-end. Cong wrests seat in Kerala, AAP holds its ground in Guj, Punjab P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi In the first set of bypolls to be held after Operation Sindoor, the Opposition bagged four out of five assembly seats, in which elections were held across four states. The ruling BJP in Gujarat retained the Kadi constituency . While the AAP received a shot in the arm in Punjab and Gujarat after its recent setbacks in Delhi, the Congress romped home with a convincing victory in Kerala ahead of assembly polls in the state next year. In bengal, the TMC retained its hold on Kaliganj in Nadia district. After the Congress-led UDF wrested Nilambur from the ruling LDF in Kerala in the by- polls with Aryadan Shoukath’s win over CPI (M) state secretariat member M Swaraj, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said working as a team with pointed focus, is the most important lesson of success. While the AAP’s Gopal Italia won from Gujarat’s Visavadar seat, his party also retained the Ludhiana West seat. The Congress which is seeking to strengthen the organisation in Gujarat by appointing new district party chiefs, suffered a setback with state party president Shaktisinh Gohil stepping down, taking moral responsibility for the loss on the two constituencies. Both Gujarat and Punjab will face assembly elections in 2027.  P10 Big margin of victory The Trinamool Congress retained Kaliganj by a massive margin of 50,049 votes over BJP’s Ashish Ghosh. In a post on X, TMC’s Derek O’Brien that since the 2024 LS elections, the TMC has won all 11 bypolls held in Bengal with a vote share higher than that registered in the 2024 LS elections R a ke s h K u m a r @ New Delhi India is staring at a possible energy crisis if Iran goes ahead and closes the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. Even though the government has said oil supply to India remains intact and that it will take all necessary steps to ensure the stability of crude oil supply energy , experts and analysts think otherwise. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India has enough oil supplies to last for weeks. He said India has diversified sourc- es of crude oil, and out of the 5.5 million barrels of crude oil that India consumes daily, 1.5-2 million come through the Straits of Hormuz. However, data sourced from Kpler SAS—a global trade intelligence provider —shows 85% of India’s oil supplies come from the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has repeatedly threatened to close if attacked by the US. Meanwhile, oil prices fell as Iran spared energy assets and did not disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent oil futures dropped 6.4% to $72.07 a barrel on Monday . express read Road rage: FIR against ex-Union min Hegde Govt, aided schools to have e-attendance Bengaluru: The Dabaspet police on Monday registered an FIR against former Union minister Anantkumar Hegde, his gunman and driver over an alleged road rage incident near Bengaluru. The police said Hegde’s group has been accused of assaulting a family traveling in an SUV for not giving way to their vehicle | P3 Bengaluru: The Karnataka government is implementing a mobile-based facial recognition attendance system in all government and aided schools starting this academic year. The AI-driven attendance system will help generate real-time attendance records of over 52 lakh students across 52,686 schools | P2 N a u s h a d B i j a p u r @ Belagavi Just days after Aland MLA BR Patil expressed outrage over rampant corruption in the Housing Department, another senior Congress leader and Kagwad MLA Raju Kage on Monday went a step further and alleged that the administration has completely collapsed in the state. He warned that he might resign from his position after meeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in a day or two. Kage said he is frustrated with development works coming to a complete halt in his constituency . He claimed that the government’s control over bureaucracy has eroded so much that senior engineers are ignoring official directives with impunity. “What Patil said about corruption in the government is entirely true. The administration is unwilling to clear even essential development proposals. Two years ago, we submitted a plan to build 72 community halls under the CM’s Special Fund, with an estimated budget of Rs 13 crore. But to date, not a single work order has been issued,” he complained. “Assistant executive engineers and executive engineers are not implementing government orders, leading to a complete breakdown in governance. There’s nothing left for me. My constituency has been neglected, and I see no alternative but to resign,” he added.  REPORTS: P4