Cargo loaded from Vadinar, Gujarat Indian refinery ships diesel to China for first time since 2021 Indian refiner Nayara Energy, backed by Russian oil giant Rosneft, has shipped diesel to China amid European Union sanctions over its Russia link Kottayam l thursday l august 14, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION 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 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 100 STREET DOGS relocated: MCD The Municipal Corporation of Delhi said it has picked up 100 stray dogs so far and converted 20 animal birth control centres into shelters Amid pushback, spl bench to hear stray dogs issue 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 DelhiNCR 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 dealth 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 laywer 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 JK 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. 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. commonwealth games set for india return ioa approves 2030 bid in d ran e e l d as @ Chennai 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 s h o w c a s i n g I n d i a ’s strong ancient cultural and historical heritage and technology-driven future to reimagine the Games for a new generation. The expression of 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 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 there are , places like Bhubaneswar and Delhi. August 31 is another deadline by which India should submit various documents for bidding. IOA CEO Raghuram Iyer said that SGM was very cordial and decision unanimous. Govt asks colleges to ignore guv’s Electoral rolls bound to be ‘Partition Horror Day’ directive revised periodically: SC E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v ic e @T’Puram Signalling another showdown with Governor Rajendra Arlekar, the state government has instructed colleges not to implement the Raj Bhavan’s directive to observe ‘Partition Horror Day’ on August 14. Higher Education Minister R Bindu told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday that the state government was against observance of ‘Partition Horror Day’ on campuses across the state on the eve of Independence Day as it would lead to “communal polarisation”. Bindu said the government has instructed the Director of Collegiate Education and the Director of Technical Educa- Min: Move will lead to communal polarisation’ Minister R Bindu said government was against observance of ‘Partition Horror Day’ on campuses on the eve of Independence Day as it would lead to “communal polarisation”. tion under the Higher Education department to convey the government’s decision to colleges under their respective jurisdiction. In a circular issued by the Raj Bhavan last week, universities were asked to organise seminars and commemorative events, including street plays and dramas that highlight the “trauma” of India’s partition. It directed V-Cs to submit action plans for the observance. The government’s intervention came after a few universities, such as APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, issued directions to its affiliated colleges to conduct the programmes as directed by the governor. Meanwhile, Raj Bhavan sources chose not to react to the government’s directive. “We have never mentioned that the observance of the event is compulsory,” said a source. However, the Raj Bhavan had sent a reminder to the V-Cs about the ● More on P4 programme.  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 submission of a petitioner that it had no basis in law, while hearing challenges to the validity of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, in his submission, said the Election Commission of India (ECI) had 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 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 said 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.” To this, the court observed that the expansion of the number of documents by the ECI is voter-friendly .