S&P S&P upgraded India’s to sovereign credit rating UPGRADES ‘BBB’ (investment-grade) The New Indian Express wishes its readers a BBB INDIA RATING with a ‘stable’ outlook S&P said India is among “the best performing economies in the world” BHUBANESWAR  FRIDAY  AUGUST 15, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 18  LATE CITY EDITION S&P commended India’s robust economic growth, political commitment for fiscal consolidation, and conducive monetary policy to check inflation 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 Our offices will remain closed today on account of Independence Day and there will be no issue of the paper on Saturday. 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 Kish- twar 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. Top court raps local bodies, reserves order on stray dogs 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 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 three-judge special bench of justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria said, “The whole problem is because of inaction of the local authorities. You frame rules in Parliament. The government acts, rules are framed but no implementation is carried out creating problem which is standing today On the one hand, humans are suf... fering and on the other hand, the animal lovers want the animals also to be treated with dignity .” It faulted the Animal Welfare Board of India, local authorities and the government for doing nothing to address the issue. “NGOs make a lot of noise but they don’t know what they should actually be doing. They should have been here earlier for implementation of those rules. Nothing is happening,” it rued. Take measures to control population instead: RSS chief E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Cuttack AMIDST the raging controversy over the Supreme Court order, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said stray dog crisis can be resolved by regulating the canine population, and not by sending the animals to shelter homes. All animals have the right to live, said Bhagwat speaking at the birthanniversary celebrations of Srila Prabhupada and centenary celebrations of Sri Sachchidananda Math organised by the Gaudiya Vaishnava Sammilani at Cuttack. He emphasised the fine equilibrium between man and CONTINUED ON P7 nature. COUPLE FOUND DEAD IN HOTEL AT PURI, SUICIDE SUSPECTED A West Bengal couple was found hanging from the ceiling fan of their room in a hotel at Chakratirtha Road under Sea Beach police limits in Puri on Thursday | P4 Upload list of 65L SIR deletions with reasons: SC to EC 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 accept- able 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 submit their Aadhaar cards when filing claims for inclusion in the final list. The ECI must ensure wide pub- licity of this information in national newspapers (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 advo. cate Rakesh Dwivedi argued that the ECI will contest everything on reasonableness and rationality .