tirupati l sunday l july 06, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l anantapur EDITION On the eve of his 90th birthday, Dalai Lama says he’s not done yet The Dalai Lama on Saturday put to rest rumours surrounding the announcement of his successor, saying he hopes to live for another 30-40 years 15,000 Rijiju to attend birthday celebrations Speaking at a prayer ceremony ahead of his 90th birth anniversary on Sunday at the main Dalai Lama temple in McLeodganj, Tenzin Gyatso said that he has “clear signs and indications” that the blessings of the Avalokiteshvara are with him. The Dalai Lama’s birth anniversary celebrations on Sunday will be attended by cabinet minister Kiren Rijiju | P8 The Dalai Lama at a prayer ceremony in McLeodganj on Saturday | PTI people expected to join the birthday celebrations on sunday 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 ADR knocks SC’s door over Twenty years on, Bihar spl poll roll revision Thackeray cousins Calls ECI order impractical, flags possible disenfranchising of lakhs Fight goes to top court SUCHITRA K ALYA N MOHA N TY @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE Desi Cool The Age of Authenticity and Cultural Nationalism is here PLUS 12 P AGES Amid mounting concerns, the Association For Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Saturday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. It claimed that the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s exercise was violative of Articles 14, 19, 21, 325, 326 of the Constitution, provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. “The SIR order, if not set aside, can arbitrarily and without due process disenfranchise lakhs of voters from electing their representatives, thereby disrupting free and fair elections and democracy in the country the petition said. ,” It pointed out that the documentation requirements, lack of due process as well as the unreasonably short timeline for the electoral roll revision would result in removal of names of lakhs of genuine voters from the poll rolls. The petition charged that the Spl Summary Revision already over between Oct 29, 2024 and Jan 6, 2025. Why fresh iteration with new parameters? 1 Exclusion of Aadhaar or ration cards as id proof makes the poor vulnerable to exclusion from poll roll, says ADR 2 The petition claims that the ECI shifted the onus of being on the voters’ list from the state to the citizens ECI shifted the onus of being on the voters’ list from the state to citizens. It excluded identification documents such as Aadhaar or ration cards, which makes marginalised communities and the poor more vulnerable to exclusion from voting. “The Declaration as required under the SIR process is violative of Article 326 in so far as it requires a voter to provide documents to prove his/her citizenship and also citizenships of his/her mother or father, failing which his/her name would not be added to the draft electoral roll and can be deleted from the same,” the ADR said. It termed the ECI’s order as unreasonable and the timeline 3 4 Over 3 crore people could be excluded from voting due to the the requirements as mentioned in the SIR order Petition says ECI fiat lacks recorded reasons supported by evidence or transparent methodology impractical to conduct SIR in Bihar where elections are due in November 2025. There are many who may be able to procure the documents but the short timeline mentioned in directive may preclude them from being able to supply the same within the time period, the ADR said. “Bihar is a state with high poverty and migration rates where many lack access to documents like birth certificates or parental records. As per estimates over 3 crore voters and more particularly from marginalised communities could be excluded from voting due to the stringent requirements as mentioned in the SIR order.” On Neeraj’s big night, Chopra wins S w a r o o p S w a m i n at h a n @ Bengaluru IN sport, there are no satisfaction guarantees. This truism, though, has had several exceptions. From an Indian context, the one modern athlete who has come closest to shattering this maxim has been Neeraj Chopra. The 27-year-old guarantees wins or podium places. Since June 2021, 24 meets ago, he has only known two sporting pincodes. First or second. Whatever the magnitude of the competition — Olympic Games, World Championships, top-tier invitations or low-key season openers — the Indian has risen to the occasion. Shortly after 7.30 pm on a cool but windy evening at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, Chopra, already a two-time Olympic medallist, added another line to an already glittering CV As soon as . Sahil Silwal hurtled down the runway to mark the beginning of the NC Classic, the javelin ace entered into the history books for the sheer scale and ambition of conceptualising, ideating and organising a world-class athletics event in India. And Chopra’s role in this shouldn’t be understated — Saturday ushered in the birth of Chopra the administrator. It was all about putting in place the building blocks towards securing a legacy off the field. Moving forward, the NC Classic could see multiple disciplines. At least that’s what he hopes. With chief minister Siddaramaiah and 1000s of others in attendance, the competition belatedly caught fire when the familiar frame of Chopra stood at the top of the runway for his third throw of the night. Batting a bit of a crosswind, he cut across seven of the eight lanes and past the timer before launching the spear into the Bengaluru night sky . A few seconds later, ‘86.18m’ had flashed on the screen. After two below par throws, the titular character had finally grazed the occasion. His occasion. It stayed that way for the rest of the night. ‘A satisfaction guarantee’. Handri-Neeva project works at brisk pace Vijayawada: The State government’s sustained efforts to improve irrigation in the droughtprone Rayalaseema region has started yielding results, with `3,890 crore sanctioned for works under the Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS) and the project execution now underway | P4 Shed collapses at Simhachalam temple Visakhapatnam: A major accident was narrowly avoided after a temporary shed under construction near Tholipavancha along the Giri Pradakshina route at Simhachalam Temple collapsed on Saturday. No one was injured in the incident. bury the hatchet Nirav Modi’s brother held in US on charges of laundering s u d h i r s u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai MU K E SH RA N J A N @ New Delhi SHIV Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said he and his cousin, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, have joined forces in the interest of ‘Marathi pride’ while sharing a political stage with him after nearly 20 years. Uddhav sounded bullish when he said he and Raj will capture power in the Mumbai civic body elections and Maharashtra together. “We have come together to stay together,” he asserted. At the public rally titled ‘ waj Marathicha’ to celebrate A the rollback of two government resolutions on introducing Hindi as a third language from Class 1 in state schools, Uddhav said, “We won’t let the government impose Hindi on us.” MNS leader Amit Thackeray, Raj’s son, was seen sharing a hug with Uddhav’s son Aaditya on the stage. Uddhav alleged that the people who are in power in Maharashtra, are “slaves of two Gujaratis. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde are in power, not to serve the interest of Maharashtra and Marathi manoos, but of their bosses in Delhi. We will never tolerate Hindi in Maharashtra. We will fight to safeguard our culture and language.” On the rollback of the threelanguage formula in Maharashtra, both brothers said the BJP-led government had no other option. “The government US authorities have arrested fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi’s younger brother, Nehal Modi, following extradition requests from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), officials said on Saturday . Nehal, who is the subject of a Red Notice issued by the Interpol, was taken into custody on Friday US officials told In, dian authorities. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for July 17, during which Nehal Modi, a Belgian national, may seek bail — a move expected to be contested by U S p ro s e c u tors, officials Nehal Modi said. The arrest stems from a joint extradition plea submitted by the ED and the CBI. The proceedings, led by US federal prosecutors, are based on two charges — one count of money laundering and one count of criminal conspiracy under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (disappearance of evidence) of IPC. Nehal (46) is an accused in the `13,000 crore Punjab National Bank fraud. He was arrested a day after he walked out of a US prison after serving a nearly three-year sentence in a cheating case following India’s request. Congress takes a dig, says ‘joint effort’ After Uddhav and Raj Thackeray hosted a joint rally claiming credit for the government’s climbdown on the “imposition” of Hindi, the Congress reminded them that the move was opposed by various parties rolled back the decision on the three-language formula due to the strong unity shown by Marathi people. This decision was a precursor to the plan of separating Mumbai from Maharashtra,” the MNS chief said, with Uddhav seated next. Raj, in a lighter vein, credited Fadnavis with bringing him and Uddhav together, a feat even Balasaheb Thackeray could not accomplish. “Your power is in the legislature, ours on the streets,” Raj said to thunderous applause. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada 86.18 Neeraj Chopra won NC classic with a 86.18m throw Two-time Olympic medallist & World No 1 javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra lets out a roar at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru on Saturday | vinod kumar T The 50th meeting of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday, approved seven major proposals, giving a thrust to the construction of capital Amaravati. The CRDA gave approval for the acquisition of an additional 20,494 acres of land in four villages of Amaravati and three villages of Thullur mandals in the capital region. It also cleared the proposal to call for RFPs (Request for Proposals) for high-density residential zones, and mixed-use development projects in 58 acres in Finance City and Sports City in, cluding Mandadam, Rayapudi Transparency saves `63.80 cr in Vidya Mitra K K a lya n K r i s h n a K u m a r quality kits @ Vijayawada The State government has saved `63.80 crore through transparent tendering and three-tier quality check system in implementing the Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Vidyarthi Mitra (SRKVM) student kit scheme for the academic year 2025-26. At the initiative of HRD Minister Nara Lokesh, for the first time in the State, the Quality Council of India (QCI) was brought on board to monitor and certify the quality of each item under the Vidyarthi Mitra scheme. The inspection was MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray | PTI CRDA gives nod for acquisition of 20,494 acres more in Amaravati e-procurement express read PNB fraud case 35,94,774 (Class 1 to 10) students covered `175.03 crore carried out at three phases, which included verification of raw material, monitoring during production, and final inspection of finished products before dispatch. `953.71 cr cost of the scheme `778.68 cr State’s spending Centre’s contribution Cost per kit `2,279 The government had floated tenders worth `676.15 crore (ECV), and received bids for `612.35 crore, resulting in a savings of `63.80 crore. The entire process was conducted through the AP e-procurement platform to ensure transparency and competition. To create awareness among beneficiaries about the quality of kits, ‘Quality Walls’ were set up at mandal stock points displaying all items. Students, parents, and teachers could directly inspect the kits, and provide feedback. Under the Vidyarthi Mitra, 35.94 lakh students from Class 1 to 10 in government and aided schools are receiving kits worth `2,279 each. The total allocation for the scheme stood at `953.71 crore. Of the total sum, the State’s spending was `778.68 crore, while the Centre’s contribution was `175.03 crore. P4 and Pichukalapalem. To boost civic infrastructure, the proposal to build convention centres near five-star hotels in Amaravati was cleared. Four convention centres, each spread across 2.5 acres, will be developed at Mandadam, Thullur and Lingayapalem on a QBS (Quality-Based Selection) basis. Later addressing the me- dia, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister P Narayana said the construction of Amaravati will be completed within three years. “The previous delay was due to the late finalisation of the master plan in 2018, but this time, all processes have been streamlined, and there is no room for doubt,” he asserted. He said objections raised by YSRCP leaders in some villages regarding land acquisition were politically motivated. “There is no need to worry about Jagan’s return to power. This time, he will not win even 1 1 A s s e m b l y s e a t s, ” h e remarked. The CRDA also ratified the decisions taken by the Cabinet Sub-Committee on land allotment, approving 65 acres of P4 land for 16 institutions. Rectify errors in Jagananna land resurvey: Dalit farmers E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Visakhapatnam Sixteen Dalit families from Garnikam revenue village in Ravikamatham mandal of Anakapalle district have demanded that errors in land records be rectified to enable them eligible for farmer welfare schemes. They staged a protest in their village on Saturday to press for their demand. The Dalits said they were allotted 20 acres of D-Patta land by the government, where they have developed mango orchards, and have been cultivating for several years. They had also availed bank loans based on these lands. “However, during the resurvey under the Jagananna Saswitha Bhoohakku -Bhu Raksha Scheme, the cultivated D-Patta lands were marked as government land in the webland records. This error has resulted in the removal of our names from of ficial land records, affecting our access to welfare schemes and bank credit,” they said. The Dalit families alleged that some revenue officials, in collusion with local vested interests, had tampered with the P4 land records.