bengaluru l THURSday l AUGUST 14, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 22 l late city EDITION Indian refinery ships diesel to China for first time since 2021 Cargo loaded from Vadinar, Gujarat According to reports, Nayara Energy loaded the cargo at Vadinar terminal on July 18 and the shipment departed hours before the European Union announced new restrictions on the refinery. The vessel was initially bound for Malaysia but made a U-turn in the Strait of Malacca and was anchored for 12 days. It has since updated its destination to Zhoushan, China Indian refiner Nayara Energy, backed by Russian oil giant Rosneft, has shipped diesel to China amid European Union sanctions over its Russia link India-China relations on the mend? ■ ■ After facing backlash from the US and European Union, India has taken various steps toward re-engagement with China. It has resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals after a five-year suspension, and is set to resume direct flights between the two countries soon For its part, China has eased curbs on urea shipments to India | P15 4,96,000 Barrels Of ultra-low sulfur diesel in Nayara’s cargo bound for China 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 commonwealth games set for india return 100 STREET DOGS relocated: MCD ioa approves 2030 bid The Municipal Corporation of Delhi said it has picked up 100 stray dogs so far and converted 20 animal birth control centres into shelters E x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai Amid pushback, spl bench to hear stray dogs issue The 2026 Glasgow CWG is a scaled down Games because of circumstances. If we get 2030 CWG, it will be full fledged one just like we did in 2010 PT Usha, IOA president The Special General Meeting was short but very fruitful. Now that we have the go ahead of the General Body, we will be putting in the proposals Matter to be heard today; CJI B R Gavai acts after uproar against two-judge bench order S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi CHIEF Justice of India B R Gavai on Wednesday evening constituted a special bench comprising justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria to hear the stray dogs issue, after a two-judge bench’s order for blanket removal of stray dogs from Delhi-NCR led to a nationwide uproar. The larger, three-judge bench will hear the matter on Thursday . Earlier in the day the , CJI said he would look into it after a pending Special Leave Petition that also dealt with the stray dogs issue was mentioned before him by lawyer Nanita Sharma. Referring to a May 2024 order passed by an SC bench relegating petitions relating to stray dogs to the respective high courts, the lawyer said the stray dogs issue needs clarity because two benches of the apex court passed conflicting orders in the matter. “There is an earlier judgment of this court, of a bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol, which says there cannot be indiscriminate killing of canines and that compassion for all living beings has to be there,” Sharma, appearing for the Conference for Human Rights (India), told the CJI-led bench, also comprising Justice K Vinod Chandran. The lawyer brought to the court’s attention the overlapping nature of these matters and the possibility of conflicting directions. The recent order to permanently relocate all stray from streets to shelters was passed by a bench comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan on August 11 on a suo-motu case. The order said dog shelters would have to be augmented over time and directed civic authorities in Delhi and NCR to start with creating shelters of around 5,000 canines within six to eight weeks. The two-judge bench also warned of strict action against individuals and organisations that may try to create any obstruction in the relocation drive. It said contempt proceedings would be initiated against those concerned, in case of any move to defy the order. R Iyer, IOA CEO Twenty years after 2010, India is set to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030. The Indian Olympic Association formally approved the bid during its Special General Meeting on Wednesday . With Canada, the other contender, backing out, the possibility of India hosting the event brightens. This will also help elevate its image as a capable host for multi-discipline events and improve its chances of hosting Olympic Games in 2036. The nod from the IOA general body was required because IOA is the governing body of the Commonwealth Games Association in India with IOA president PT Usha as its chief. As reported by this newspaper in March, the CGA president had sent a formal letter of intent showcasing India’s strong ancient cultural and historical heritage and technology-driven future to reimagine the Games for a new generation. The expression of S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi T he S u p re m e C o u r t o n Wednesday said the electoral rolls cannot be static and were bound to be revised periodically disagreeing with the sub, mission of a petitioner that it had no basis in law, while hearing challenges to the validity of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. S e n i o r a dvo c at e G o p a l Sankaranarayanan, in his submission, said the Election Commission of India (ECI) had surprisingly invented a new document requirement for eight crore voters. “Even if I’m in jail, I can’t be removed from the roll without due process. Here, 65 lakh removed voters were not disqualified on any such grounds. The ECI has carried out mass exclusions. Who gave the ECI the authority to do this?” he asked. A bench comprising justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Relationship with India, Pak unchanged, says US Rain march New Delhi: Amid its deepening strategic salience with Pakistan, the US said there is no change in its relationship with either India or Pakistan. “Our relationship with both nations remains unchanged, and our diplomats are committed to both countries,” said US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce | P12 Global plastics treaty India backs ‘weak’ plastic treaty draft with no cap on production O n the eve of the penultimate day of negotiations for a legally binding global plastics treaty, talks are in deadlock — and India has thrown its weight behind the petrochemical-producing Like-Minded Countries (LMC), accepting a weakened draft text that drops production caps and chemical controls as merely a “starting point” for talks. “We have some serious concerns on the text proposed by you, as we see many fundamental elements (scope) missing from the text,” said Naresh Pal Gangwar, Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and head of India’s delegation. TNIE in Switzerland S V Krishna Chaitanya @ geneva “Having said this, we consider this as a good enough starting point to further our work… We also urge other member states to have trust in your leadership and express their concern during the consultation process.” The new draft, released by Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso, ahead of the scheduled plenary on Wednesday retains voluntary measures , on product redesign, recycling, ICICIdown minimum balance bank blinks scales Amid massive pushback, ICICI Bank on Wednesday reduced the minimum balance to `15,000 from `50,000 for new customers in urban areas | P15 Poll rolls can’t be static: SC bench Min: Social media a reason express read Students heading to their destinations amid steady drizzle in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Several flights to and from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad were cancelled or diverted due to unfavourable weather | Vinay Madapu interest was supported by letters from various ministries of the Gujarat government. Usha confirmed the news after the meeting at the IOA Bhavan in New Delhi and said that the house approved the bid unanimously at the SGM which met after the CEO’s appointment was ratified last month. However, unlike the letter of intent that said Ahmedabad would be the host city she said that there are , places like Bhubaneswar and Delhi. August 31 is another deadline by which India should submit various documents for bidding. The letter of intent submitted in March specified Ahmedabad as the host city and a delegation from the Commonwealth Sport had visited Gujarat last month where the IOA Chief Executive Officer too was present. If India gets to host the CWG, it will be bigger than the Glasgow Games next year. IOA CEO Raghuram Iyer said that SGM was very cordial and decision unanimous. and waste management but deletes a previous article on production limits and omits all reference to chemicals of concern. The only nod to production appears in the preamble — a symbolic gesture far from the binding commitments sought by more than 100 countries. India’s alignment with the LMC, led by Kuwait and including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Malaysia, places it firmly in the camp resisting upstream measures that target the root cause of plastic pollution — the sheer volume of plastic being produced. The bloc has consistently opposed any global phaseout list, production caps, or trade restrictions on plastic products.   Continued on: P7 Residual powers of ECI on special roll revision The bench pointed to the ECI’s residual power to conduct any exercise as it deemed fit. It referred to Section 21(3) of the RP Act, which says “the EC may at any time, for reasons to be recorded, direct a special revision of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in such manner as it may think fit.” Bagchi, said, “But the electoral list cannot remain static. A one-time exercise is only for preparing the original list and it must be revised.” Sankaranarayanan added that the ECI has begun the process in West Bengal, too, without consultation. “I appear for the state and for main petitioner ADR. Four constitutional provisions on electoral rolls haven’t been addressed yet. The right to be on the roll is sacrosanct.” To this, the court observed that the expansion of the number of documents by the ECI is voter-friendly “Look at . the number of documents by which you can prove your citizenship — up from seven to 11,” the bench said. The bench added that despite arguments that non-acceptance of Aadhaar was exclusionary, it appeared the large number of documents was “actually inclusionary”. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for a petitioner, alleged malafide intent on the part of the ECI, alleging it removed the searchable feature of draft rolls just a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s press conference on Karnataka elections. But the court refused to entertain it saying it was not aware of any such press conference. The arguments were inconclusive and would continue on Thursday . BESCOM assistant engineer molested, robbed at B’luru PG E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru A 30-year-old BESCOM assistant engineer was molested and robbed of her two mobile phones by an unidentified knife-wielding miscreant at her room in a ladies paying guest accommodation at Judicial Layout on Monday The incident happened between 3 . pm and 3.30 pm, when the victim was in her room on the third floor of Shivas Ladies PG in Judicial Layout. After hearing somebody knocking on the door, she opened, assuming it to be somebody from the PG. The man pushed her inside threatening her at knife point and closed the door. After molesting her, he asked her to remove her gold bangles. As she was unable to remove, the accused asked her to give him money . She asked him to take money from her vanity bag that was on the bed. When the accused turned to take the bag, she pushed him and ran inside the bathroom and locked herself. When she started screaming for help, the accused took her two mobile phones that were on the bed and fled. The victim had joined the PG a fortnight back. The victim informed the matter to the police immediately and filed a complaint. “The police found both the mobile phones of the victim in a bush next to the PG. We suspect that the accused had thrown the phones and escaped. The accused must have observed the movements of the victim. The phones, including one iPhone, are worth about `1.05 lakh. We are checking the CCTVs of the PG and in the vicinity to get leads,” said the police. “The accused is yet to be arrested,” VJ Sajeeth, DCP (North East) said. The Yelahanka police have registered a case. for rising teen pregnancies E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru K’taka saw 2,544 POCSO cases this yr 1,104 cases were registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act in Karnataka in three months — April, May and June. Between January and July this year, the number stood at 2,544, as per Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara KARNATAKA Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar on Wednesday blamed social media for increasing number of teenage pregnancies in the state. Replying to a question in the Assembly she said in the last three years, , the state has reported 1,799 underage pregnancies, and one of the reasons is social media. In all, 405 cases were reported in 2022-23, 709 in 2023-24 and 685 in 2024-25. The increase is because of children’s excessive use of social media and their tendency to fall in love at a tender age. Changing family dynamics and child marriages too are to be blamed, she said. JDS MLA Suresh Babu demanded that the state government have some control over social media. “Many a time, unsavoury advertisements pop up while children are using social media. Children should be provided proper sex education,” he said. When he said over 26,000 minor girls have become pregnant in the last 10 months, Hebbalkar said the number looks alarming, but she did not know whether it is correct. But the MLA said many cases go unreported. He alleged that in the last four months, over 900 girls have been raped.  P4