bengaluru l sunday l august 03, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 30 l late city EDITION 18K organ transplants last year, but shortage persists As many as 18,911 organ transplants were performed last year in India, but acute shortage of organs remains, a report said on Saturday low organ donation rate a concern Delhi, tn lead in organ transplants The report, released by Union Health Minister J P Nadda, said although the number of transplants in India has significantly increased from 4,990 in 2013 to 18,378 in 2023 and 18,911 transplants in 2024 from January to December, the organ donation rate remains at less than 1 per million. This contrasts with the highest at 48 per million population in Spain | P11 ■ ■ India is the third highest in the world, after US and China, in total organ transplantation and first in total living donor organ transplant In 2024, there were 13,476 kidney transplants in the country, the most in Delhi, followed by TN, Maharashtra, Kerala, and West Bengal; similarly, there were 4,901 liver transplants, with Delhi and TN on top 63,000 individuals in india need kidney transplant at present 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 Prajwal gets life imprisonment for raping domestic help R a k s h i t h G o w d a @Bengaluru The special court to try criminal cases against present and former MPs and MLAs on Saturday sentenced former JDS Member of Parliament Prajwal Revanna to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 11.60 lakh for raping his former domestic help. The court also directed that Rs 11.25 lakh be awarded as compensation to the survivor. Prajwal, grandson of former PM HD Deve Gowda, broke down in court during the sen- tencing arguments and requested the court to reduce punishment. After the proceedings ended, he was taken to another courtroom for the trial in another case. Prajwal was sentenced to imprisonment till death under Sec 376 (2) for raping the victim, who is from KR Nagar taluk of Mysuru. Special Court Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat awarded the sentence to Prajwal. The victim, who worked as a domestic help at Prajwal’s farmhouse at Holenarasipura, had filed a complaint stating that she was raped at his farmhouse and family’s residence in Basavanagudi. She filed the complaint at the Cyber Crime Police Station in the CID on May 5, 2024. After the arguments, Prajwal, visibly emotional, told the court that no one had made rape allegations against him while he was the MP. “If I had raped so many women, why did no one come forward to complain? These allegations surfaced only during the Lok Sabha elections. But I will accept the court’s decision. My only File photo of Prajwal Revanna being taken to a hospital in Bengaluru | PTI mistake was that I grew fast in politics,” Prajwal said. When the judge asked about his educational qualifications, Prajwal replied that he had been a merit student and a mechanical engineer. He began shedding tears, saying it had been six months since he last saw his parents. Special Public Prosecutor BN Jagadeesh told the court that the crime was brutal, premeditated and aggravated by the fact that Revanna had filmed the sexual act without the victim’s consent and later blackmailed her. P4 How forensic tools nailed former MP The Special Investigation Team probing the rape charge against former MP Prajwal Revanna was able to establish his culpability owing to the leaked video of his sexual aggression against his employee and her statement, said BK Singh, CID ADGP and the SIT chief. The SIT chief said the video had Prajwal and the victim’s voice. Forensic tools helped identify the perpetrator from his body parts shown in the leaked video, he said. P4 PM says India on track to become the third-largest economy Modi gives it Don claim on back to Trump Russian crude on economy rubbished N a m i ta B a j pa i @ Lucknow cop in the dock Head constable Mahadev Swamy (extreme left) oversees the removal of a tree at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, allegedly for better surveillance during the Congress protest to be led by LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on August 5. Following this, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike filed a complaint against Swamy for a forest-related offence. Karnataka BJP chief BY Vijayendra demanded that Rahul and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah apologise to the people of Karnataka | express | P4 For first time, organ carried on Metro train E x p re s s N e w s Ser v i c e @Bengaluru NAMMA Metro is the breath of Bengalureans: safe, predictable and reliable. But on Friday night the Metro broke away from its routine for a life-saving mission. The Metro facilitated its first-ever organ transport, becoming the second Metro in India to undertake such an initiative. A donated liver was transported from Vydehi Hospital in Whitefield (East Bengaluru) to Sparsh Hospital located in Rajarajeshwarinagar (South Bengaluru) via Metro, covering 31 kilometres and 32 stations along the Purple Line in a mere 55 minutes. “The initiative showcased how a public transit system can also serve critical medical emergencies. Regular services remained unaffected as the operation was conducted at 8.42 pm, when Whitefield Station was relatively less crowded. Only the last coach of the train was reserved for the medical team, and passengers were asked to shift to other coaches,” said the BMRCL Chief Public Relations Officer Yashwant Chavan. “The operation was meticulously planned, with the last coach cleared for the mission Dharmasthala case New witness claims he saw body buried E x p re s s N e w s Ser v i c e @Mangaluru Medical staff transport the donated liver in a Metro train in Bengaluru on Friday and station elevators kept free for emergency use. Chief Security Officer Selvam supervised the transfer along the Purple Line,” he added. The organ was first transported via a 5.5-kilometre ‘green corridor’ from Vydehi Hospital to Whitefield Metro Station, where it arrived at 8.38 pm under escort by a doctor and seven medical staff. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) then dedicated the last coach of a regular service train for the mission. Metro security teams cleared elevators and ensured uninterrupted movement at all stations. Metro personnel, along with an Assistant Security Officer (ASO), coordinated security checks and documentation before the team boarded the train.  CONTINUED ON P2 express read After nine days, Kerala nuns get bail from NIA court Durg/Bilaspur: Two nuns from Kerala and a co-accused arrested for alleged human trafficking and forced conversion were released from Durg Central Jail in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, after an NIA court granted them bail holding that the case was based on “mere suspicion” | P7 4 cops in HP CM’s escort buy liquor, suspended Chandigarh: Four Himachal Pradesh police personnel, including a subinspector, who were part of the escort of CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukho, have been suspended after being caught on camera buying crates of liquor from a shop wihle in uniform | P12 At a time when the investigation into the Dharmasthala mass burial case is under way , a new witness appeared at the Special Investigation Team (SIT) office in Belthangady on Saturday evening to file a complaint and submit evidence related to an alleged suspicious death of a teenage girl that occurred more than 15 years ago in Dharmasthala village in Belthangady taluk. Jayan T, a social activist, arrived at the SIT office around 7 pm. “I saw that girl’s body and it was buried without following any legal procedures. I know the spot where her body was buried in Dharmasthala village and I’m a witness to it. P3 US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he had heard about India stopping purchasing Russian crude, adding it would be a good step, a claim the government denied. Trump made the remark after announcing 25% reciprocal tariff on Indian imports, along with additional penalties linked to Russian crude imports. “I understand that India is no longer going to be buying oil from Russia. That’s what I heard, I don’t know if that’s right or not. That is a good step. We will see what happens,” Trump said. The petroleum ministry, however, clarified that India has not stopped importing Russian crude. A ministry official said Indian oil marketing companies (OMCs) continue to buy Russian oil, with supply decisions based on factors such as price, crude I understand grade, inventories, logistics, and other economic consid- that India is no erations. “These are long- longer going to buy oil from term oil contracts. It is not so Russia. That’s simple to just stop buying what I heard, I overnight,” the official said. don’t know if The official also emphathat’s right or not. That is a sised that Indian OMCs do good step not import crude from Iran or Venezuela — both sanctioned by the US. Russian oil, however, is not sanctioned by the US or the EU. Instead, it is subject to the G7-EU price-cap mechanism, which aims to restrict Russia’s revenue while ensuring global oil supplies continue. India has consistently complied with the US-recommended price cap of $60 per barrel on Russian oil. Recently, the EU proposed a lower price cap of  $47.6 per barrel, to be enforced from September. The official said India’s purchases remain legitimate and fully within international frameworks. All Quiet on the Northern Front R a k e s h K u m a r @ New Delhi In his first public response to US president Donald Trump’s recent barb that the Indian economy was dead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that the country was on its way to become the third-largest economy amid global instability . “There is an atmosphere of instability across the globe. Every country is focused on its individual interests. India is set to become the third biggest economy in the world, and that is why India will have to stay alert as far as its economic interests are concerned,” Modi said. The PM’s statement without naming Trump came at a public rally at Banauli village in Sevapuri area of Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency. Modi advocated economic self-reliance, urging the people to take the pledge towards adopting swadeshi (made in India) as Those who want much as they could so as to India to become support nation’s farmers, the 3rd-largest economy in the small industries and youth. world should Modi added that the citiawaken the zens and the business comspirit of munity could support indigswadeshi among the enous production through a masses renewed commitment to the ‘vocal for local’ movement. “We will buy only those things that are made by Indians. We need to become vocal for local,” he urged the crowd. “Those who want the best for the country and want to see India as the third biggest economy in the world, be it any political party, should leave their differences aside and resolve to awaken the swadeshi spirit among the masses,” he added. Modi also appealed to the business community to prioritise the sale of domestic products in the wake of global disruptions. W I TH TH I S I SS U E INSIDE Oil imports from russia: crude facts & figures I P15 Trump tariff a blow to gems, handicraft I P12 PLUS 12 P AGES 3 villagers poison water in school to target Muslim HM E x p re s s N e w s Ser v i c e @ Belagavi In a shocking incident, three villagers from Hulikatti of Saundatti taluk in Belagavi taluk poisoned the drinking water tank at the village government school recently, only to target the school’s headmaster, who is a Muslim, the Belagavi district police said. All the three perpetrators have been arrested. The incident occurred on July 14 at the school, where 41 students study The headmaster . — Suleman Gorinayak — has been serving at the school for the last 13 years. Superintendent of Police Dr Bhimashankar Guled said on Saturday, “Sagar Patil of Hulikatti village hatched the plot to get the headmaster removed, purely because of his religion. He coerced another villager, Krishna Madar, to execute this plan by threatening to expose his inter-caste relationship.” Krishna and his associate Naganagouda Patil allegedly procured pesticide from Munavalli town. CONTINUED ON P7 dominant day Sun shines for India as Jaiswal-Akash deep cut for England TNIE in England Firoz Mirza @london M ake hay when sun shines. India literally lived those words in both letter and spirit, with a little help from England fielders on Saturday Till tea, England had . dropped 20 catches across India’s 10 innings in the fivematch Test series. Six of those chances were spilled in the last 24 hours helping India surge ahead in the fifth and final Test here at the Oval. Centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal got three reprieves while B Sai Sudharsan, Akash Deep, who went on to hammer his maiden Test half-century and Karun were also grassed once by the English fielders. Without Ben Stokes, the home team, led by Ollie Pope, gained upper hand when they dismissed India for 224 in their first innings. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley then gave them a flying start further tightening their grip over the contest. The dropped chances three on Friday and as many on Saturday - however, meant they let the game slip away from their hold. Struggling for form of late, Jaiswal made the most of the chances as he struck 118 off 164 including 14 fours and two sixes to punish the English bowl- India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates his century while Akash Deep bats on the applause after his maiden Test fifty on Day 3 of the fifth Test | pti/afp | P17 ers. Having miserably failed with the bat in the last five innings barring that fifty in Manchester Test, Jaiswal needed both runs and luck to get back to his groove. The generosity from his opponents offered him that chance and he grabbed it with both hands. Once India set a target of 374, England started well but Mohammed Siraj gave a crucial breakthrough, removing Zak Crawley They still need . 324 runs to win but it might be a hard task on this surface. Earlier at Leeds, India dropped at least five catches and went on to lose the contest despite being in a position of strength for the first four days. England may endure the same fate on Sunday .