S&P S&P upgraded India’s to sovereign credit rating UPGRADES BBB INDIA RATING ‘BBB’ (investment-grade) with a ‘stable’ outlook The New Indian Express wishes its readers a S&P commended India’s robust economic growth, political commitment for fiscal consolidation, and conducive monetary policy to check inflation S&P said India is among “the best performing economies in the world” hyderabad l friday l august 15, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 40 l late city EDITION The impact of US tariffs on India is “manageable” and won’t drag economy, the rating firm said BBB rating will cut India’s borrowing costs in int’l markets 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 Massive cloudburst in J&K’s Kishtwar Flash floods kill 46 J&K Kishtwar 400 Sources said 300-400 people were in the area 167 People have been rescued, according to officials Muted I-Day celebration J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah cancelled the At Home tea party and cultural programmes on Friday People move through the debris after a massive cloudburst at Chositi village, Kishtwar district, J&K | pti F AYA Z W A N I @ Jammu AT least 46 people, mostly pilgrims, were killed after a massive cloudburst struck Chositi village in the mountainous Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday between 12 noon and 1 pm, triggering flash flood and mudslide along the route of the ongoing Machail Mata Yatra. The toll may rise as many are still trapped under the debris. The authorities have suspended the yatra and rescue operation is on. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah assured all possible Central assistance to J&K while Chief Minister Omar Abdullah decided to scale down the Independence Day celebrations planned for Friday . Chositi is the last motorable village en route to Machail Mata temple in Kishtwar district. Sources said 300-400 people were present in the area when the cloudburst occurred. The flash floods damaged over a dozen houses, four temples, four government buildings, and a bridge that was crowded with pilgrims. Deputy Commissioner of Kishtwar Pankaj Sharma told this newspaper that relief and rescue operation was on to find the missing persons. NDRF, SDRF, police, and civilian administration personnel have launched rescue operation and the locals are helping in the effort. “There was a parking lot and langar (community kitchen) in the area. Besides, there was a paramilitary camp in the area. Locals had also set up shops in view of the yatra,” Kishtwar District Developoment Council Chairperson Pooja Thakur told this newspaper. The langar camp was washed away while vehicles in the parking lot were swept by the flash flood and mudslide some distance away . The Army pressed over five columns of 60 personnel each as well as medical detachments of Jammu-based White Corps into service to assist NDRF, SDRF, police and civilian agencies in the rescue operation. An official said over 160 people could be rescued. Many of them had sustained injuries and they were provided medical treatment in hospitals. Some of the injured were referred to other hospitals for specialised treatment. Butcher gets death for rape, murder of minor E x p ress N ews S er v ice @ Nalgonda A fast-track court for POCSO Act cases at Nalgonda on Thursday sentenced 34-year-old Md Mukarram to death by hanging for the rape and murder of a 11-year-old girl on April 28, 2013. According to the prosecution, Mukarram, a butcher from Nalgonda town, coerced the victim into his home on that fateful day raped , and murdered her, and dumped the body into a nearby nala. The court held the accused guilty of offences punishable under Sections 376-A, 302, and 201 of the IPC and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. Accordingly, he was convicted under Section 235(2) of the CrPC for the said offences. Besides the death sentence, the convict was fined a total of `1,10,000 which would have to be paid to the mother of the victim. According to the chargesheet, the heinous crime occurred on April 28, 2013 at Hyderkhanguda street in Nalgonda. The victim, a Class VI student, had gone to meet her friend when the atrocity was committed.  Continued on P7 SC directs EC to upload list of 65L SIR deletions with reasons S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to publish the list of about 65 lakh proposed deletion of voters in Bihar, with reasons, by Tuesday. The orders came during a hearing on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive of poll rolls ahead of state elections. The court also directed the ECI to add Aadhaar card as an acceptable document for establishing identity going beyond , its earlier suggestion to do so. The order drew widespread cheer from the petitioners. A bench of justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said, “Transparency is needed about the 65 lakh deleted voters to enable people to seek clarification or correction.” It directed the Bihar poll body to publish the detailed list of proposed deletions on the websites of the District Electoral Officers and the Chief Electoral Officer. “It must specify the reasons for deletion such as death, migration, or double registration and be searchable by EPIC numbers.” The bench also directed the ECI to put out public notices stating that individuals excluded from the rolls may sub- mit their Aadhaar cards when filing claims for inclusion in the final list. The ECI must ensure wide publicity of this information i n n at i o n a l n ew s p ap e r s (print), television, and social media, the court said and asked the Commission to ensure compliance of all the booth level and district level officers and file a compliance report by Tuesday The court . fixed the matter for further hearing on August 22. The ECI told the court that it was operating in an atmosphere of political hostility. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi argued that the ECI will contest everything on reasonableness and rationality . Supreme Court reserves order on stray dogs S uchitra K alyan M ohanty @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Thursday castigated the local authorities for doing nothing to address the stray dog problem, while reserving its order on a batch of petitions seeking stay on the directions by a two-judge bench to round up and shift all strays in Delhi-NCR to shelter homes. A bench of justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria said, “The whole problem is because of inaction of the local authorities. Rules are framed but no implementation is carried out... On the one hand, humans are suffering and on the other, the animal lovers want the animals also to be treated with dignity .”