hubballi l friday l august 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l city EDITION State govts can’t move SC against Prez AND guv on Bills, SAYS Centre sc: How can Assent be withheld forever? The Supreme Court’s five-judge Constitution bench hearing a Presidential Reference seeking clarity on whether timelines could be imposed on the President and governors for deciding on bills passed by the State legislatures, said the term ‘as soon as possible’ used in Article 200 of the Constitution will serve no purpose if consent is withheld for “eternity” State governments cannot file such writ petitions by claiming to be a repository of the rights of the people, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told SC Prez, Guv not bound by timeframe: s-g ■ ■ Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Tamil Nadu, said governors and the President are ‘titular heads’ who have no discretion on executive decision-making, except a very few ones S-G Mehta said the Constitution does not envisage judicial directions binding the President or Governors to act within a timeframe Art 200 Deals with guv’s Assent, withholding, returning, or referring bills to prez 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 Important step India, Canada thaw as both name envoys J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India and Canada on Thursday named senior diplomats Dinesh K Patnaik and Christopher Cooter as their new high commissioners, filling posts that had remained vacant for over 10 months amid one of the most serious diplomatic crises between the two countries in recent decades. Patnaik, a 1990-batch Indian Foreign Service officer and currently India’s ambassador to Spain, will take up his assignment in Ottawa shortly, the Ministry of External Affairs said. Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand confirmed the appointment of Cooter as high commissioner to India, calling it an “important step towards restoring necessary diplomatic services to citizens and businesses in both countries.” The appointments mark a cautious step toward normalising ties that had sharply deteriorated following allegations by then Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau in September 2023 that Indian government agents were involved in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey British Columbia. India , had dismissed it as “absurd and politically motivated”. In the aftermath, both countries halted trade talks, expelled diplomats, and downgraded the functioning of their missions. Though Canada follows a 120day process to finalise the agrément—a formal diplomatic approval process—for incoming foreign envoys, in Patnaik’s case, the process was expedited. While the deeper political tensions remain unresolved, the restoration of high-level diplomatic representation suggests both sides are now seeking to stabilise the relationship and move toward normalcy . sindhu stuns world no 2 in Round of 16 Storms into Worlds quarters after beating China’s Wang Zhi Yi Page 15 Bhagwat clears the air on retiring @ 75 R A J ESH K U MA R T HAK U R @ New Delhi Clearing the air over his recent remark on retirement at 75, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said it wasn’t aimed at himself or anyone else, alluding to the speculation on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I never said that I will retire or someone else should retire... We are ready to retire anytime in life and ready to work for as long as the Sangh wants us to do so,” he said on the final day of the Sangh’s three-day lecture series to mark the centenary celebrations of the RSS. Reacting to ongoing attempts to reclaim Hindu sites of worship in Kashi and Mathura, he denied the Sangh’s participation in it, but added that its volunteers (swayamsevaks) were free to make their own decisions. Bhagwat also suggested that every Indian family should have three children to keep the population sufficient and under control. “To keep a civilisation alive, India’s population policy suggests 2.1 (average number of children), which basically means three. But resources have to be managed too, so we must restrict it to three,” he said. Centenary event On the issue of Hindu Rashtra, Bhagwat said there is no need to declare Bharat a Hindu Rashtra. “It already is. Rishis and munis have already declared it. It does not need any official proclamation,” he said, adding the Sangh cannot change its stance that revered river Hindustan is a Hindu nation. Addressing concerns over foreign funding, he said that there should be no issue if they are used for service work. “But they should be used for that purpose alone. The problem arises when such funds are used for religious conversions. That is why restrictions became necessary .” Commenting on the language debate, Bhagwat said that all of Bharat’s languages are national languages. “All the languages of Bharat are national languages. But, there should be one common link language and it should never be a foreign language.” If Indians don’t budge, I don’t think President Trump will: Hassett Trump’s top Talks still on aides double at multiple down on India levels: Govt J AYAN T H J ACO B @ New Delhi An aerial view shows people gathered to watch the Tungabhadra Aarti (right), performed on the lines of the Ganga Aarti, on the banks of the river in Koppal’s Huligi village on Wednesday night | express F I R F I L ED express read Class 9 student delivers baby in hostel washroom Two road mishaps claim eight lives in state R a m a k r i s h n a B a d s e s h i @ Yadgir, Kalaburagi A 17-year-old girl studying in Class 9 of a residential school in Shahapur taluk of Yadgir district, delivered a baby boy in the washroom of the hostel on Wednesday The residential school . is run by the social welfare department. Executive Director of Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society Kantharaju suspended two teachers — Narasimha Murthy the Science teacher, and Sridhar, the physical , education teacher, with immediate effect. The suspension order stated that the girl’s attendance was only 10 per cent in Class 9, and it was the duty of Narasimha Murthy as class teacher, to report on her attend, ance, and Sridhar to report on her physical condition to the principal. As they failed to perform their duties, based on a report by the deputy director of the social welfare department, Murthy and Sridhar have been kept under suspension, the order said. Police registered an FIR based on a complaint by District Child Protection Officer Nirmala against five persons, including an unknown accused (A1), Geeta Salimani, the warden of the school hostel (A2), school principal Basamma (A3), staff nurse Basamma Patil (A4) and Sharanabasavva for not informing officials about a Class 9 student becoming pregnant. According to the complainant, the girl was not giving any information about A1. CONTINUED ON P5 Bengaluru: Eight people died in two accidents on Thursday. Six people were killed when a KSRTC bus hit two autorickshaws and pedestrians near Mangaluru, and two passengers were killed when the bus they were travelling in overturned in Belagavi West Bengal readies for poll body’s SIR rollout Kolkata: In an indication of the SIR of poll rolls kicking in soon in Bengal, the state administration on Wednesday instructed the appointment of all electoral registration officers and assistant electoral registration officers within 24 hours | P10 IndiGo lease of Turkish planes extended New Delhi: In a significant development, DGCA has given a six-month extension till February 28, 2026 to IndiGo to operate two leased Boeing 777 aircraft from Turkish Airlines with certain conditions P U SHPI TA DEY @ New Delhi Hardening their stance against India over New Delhi’s energy trade with Russia and refusal to open up its markets for American corporations, US President Donald Trump’s two top economic advisers, Kevin Hassett and Peter Navarro, have issued sharp warnings against India. Hassett, director, National Economic Council, tied Washington’s steep tariffs on Indian goods to New Delhi’s stance on Russia. “If the Indians don’t budge, I don’t think President Trump will,” he said, calling trade negotiations with India complicated and criticising India’s ‘intransigence’ in opening up markets. White House Trade Advisor Navarro bluntly accused India of enabling Russia’s war. In an interview to Bloomberg, Navarro dubbed the Ukraine conflict ‘Modi’s war’, Peter Navarro blaming India for prolonging the fighting by continuing to buy Russian oil. The duo’s sharp remarks signal a renewed hardline posture from the Trump administration as it links trade policy with geopolitical alignment. Kevin Hassett “This isn’t just about trade,” Hassett said. “Part of it has been tied to the pressure we’ve been trying to put on Russia in order to secure a peace deal and save millions of lives. Then there’s the Indian intransigence about opening their markets to our products.” Taking a more provocative line, Navarro said: “Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing… Consumers lose, businesses lose, workers lose because of high Indian tariffs. And the taxpayer? They fund Modi’s war.” Navarro also lashed out at India’s insistence on sovereign decision-making in energy policy calling it “arrogant,” and accused the , country of siding with authoritarians. “India, you’re the biggest democracy in the world. Act like one. Side with the democracies,” he said, lumping India’s Russia and China ties into a broader critique of its foreign policy alignment. WITH the 50% tariffs officially coming into force, New Delhi has intensified efforts to mitigate the fallout. According to a senior commerce ministry official, discussions are on with exporters as well officials of the Trump administration. “Engagements with exporters are going on. Official-level engagements between the two countries are also on,” the official said. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Ministry of Exter nal Affairs (MEA), and the Ministry of Commerce are jointly coordinating efforts to cushion the impact on exporters. Speaking to this newspaper, an official said the government is trying to find a way out of the tarUnwavering and iff mess and seriously unequivocal pursuing engagements at support for the multiple levels – diplomatgovernment’s ic, political and commerstance on not cial. The official said the yielding to the unreasonable and strategies include putting unethical pressure pressure on the Trump of the reciprocal administration using the tariffs imposed on Democrats and businessIndia by the United es there. “Businesses are States the ones who are suffering even in the US,” said —Sudhir Sekhri, chairman, AEPC the official. Meanwhile, separate meetings between ministries and industry representatives are being held. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated dialogues with key trade bodies to address liquidity and financial concerns triggered by the new tariffs. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra had earlier promised exporters that all measures would be taken to deal with the emerging situation. On Thursday a delegation from the Federa, tion of Indian Export Organisations met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. According to the federation, Sitharaman assured them that the government would safeguard workers’ livelihoods and urged industry leaders to reassure employees about job continuity despite global turbulence. Exporters, despite being concerned about the impact on their businesses, have largely backed the government’s stance of dealing with tariff pressure from Washington. Should Bescom look for a pied piper No place to bury dead, an islet the final resting place to tackle frequent power cuts? Express News Service @ Chikkamagaluru Around 150 families hailing from Shillekytha fishing community (Scheduled Caste) living at Menasuru Ravuru Camp in NR Pura taluk have no place to bury their dead. These families have been deprived of a burial ground although they have been living in the camp near the backwaters of the Bhadra river for nearly two decades. The community members are forced to bury the dead in an is- let a few kilometres away from their camp. The body of an aged man, who died on Sunday, was taken to the islet on a coracle to perform the last rites. One of the community members told TNIE that they struggle to bury the dead during monsoon. “We find water as we start digging a pit. We cover the pit with leaves to prevent water from seeping in before burying the body there. We faced this problem on Sunday too,” he said. “Sometimes, pits are dug in places where bodies were bur- A man’s body being ferried on a coracle in the Bhadra backwaters on Sunday ied earlier. During summer, the Bhadra backwaters recede and the bodies are buried on the shore,” he said. Another member of the community said, “Our appeals to the gram panchayat, taluk administration, local MLA and other elected representatives to provide us houses, electricity, burial ground and other amenities have gone in vain.” Meanwhile, a local leader said members of the Shillekytha fishing community are basically nomads and they won’t live in a particular place for long. It is because of this reason that they have been deprived of basic amenities. B o s k y K h a n n a @ Bengaluru BENGALURU might be in need of a pied piper. Frequent power cuts in the city do not seem to be merely a result of routine maintenance work but a concerted sabotage by a mischief of rats. Linemen working with the Bangalore Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (Bescom) say they have been coming across numerous instances of rats nibbling on power cables. “Many a time when we open AI-generated image up the ducts we find rats that have been electrocuted. Incidents of rats nibbling upon the wires are on the rise in recent times,” said a lineman working near Palace Grounds. Another lineman from Nagarbhavi said: “Every time there is a power cut complaint, the first thing we check is if the power line is damaged because of rats. We immediately switch off power supply for a large stretch to ensure there are no untoward incidents and then take up repair works.” As per Bescom data, a total of 7,367.45 km of high tension underground cables have been added to the network in BESCOM limits from July 2019 till July 15, 2025. Also, 6,707.63 km of low tension underground cables have been added in the same period.
Express Network Private Limited publishes thirty three E-paper editions of The New Indian Express newspaper , thirty two E-paper editions of Dinamani, one E-paper edition of The Morning Standard, one E-paper edition of Malayalam Vaarika magazine and one E-paper edition of the Indulge - The Morning Standard, Kolkatta.