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 ■ ■ BELAGAVI l thursday l september 04, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE CITY EDITION Rained-out north pleads for mercy Jammu and Kashmir PUNJAB DELHI HIMACHAL PRADESH Heavy rain led to the deaths of a woman and her daughter, while 40 people were left trapped in a flooded village in Akhnoor. Major rivers, including the Chenab and the Jhelum, are flowing above the danger level. Thousands of people have been evacuated Punjab was officially declared a disaster-affected state on Wednesday, with 37 deaths reported and 3,55,000 people affected across 1,655 villages. Approximately 4,32,000 acres of farmland have been submerged, causing a severe loss of crops and livestock | P10 A man gingerly walks over a makeshift bridge in a low-lying area at the Yamuna floodplain in Delhi on Wednesday. Delhi was lashed by intermittent showers for the third consecutive day. The city is predicted to receive more rain over the next few days | Photo: Parveen Negi In Kullu, two persons, including a National Disaster Response Force jawan, are feared dead after two houses collapsed 5% & 18%: Just two GST Peace talks with Kuki-Zo inconclusive slabs from September 22 outcome” and that a fresh round of talks would take Ahead of Prime Minister place, with the date and venue Narendra Modi’s expected vis- to be decided later. Sources said it to the ethnic violence-hit the ministry’s Northeast advisstate of Manipur later this er, A K Mishra and Intellimonth, the Union home gence Bureau officials PM’s ministry held a meeting held discussions with Manipur representatives of on Wednesday with representatives of the Kukithe Kuki-Zo insurvisit Zo insurgent groups and gent groups. the Manipur government It is worth noting to finalise terms for renewing that the SoO pact, origithe Suspension of Operation nally signed in August (SoO) pact, sources said. 2008, has been a corHowever, they maintained nerstone in rethat there was “no concrete ducing hostiliM U K E S H RAN J AN @ New Delhi 5% tax for daily use items; no GST for health, individual life insurance PU S HPI TA D E Y & DIPA K M O NDA L Not just GST rate rationalisation, this is structural reform, easing compliance — Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman @ New Delhi THE 56th GST Council meeting held here on Wednesday cleared all the proposed changes in the Goods and Services Taxes (GST), including the two-rate tax structure. Taxes on most daily use items, which were earlier in the 18% and 12% slabs, have been cut to 5%. Many goods in the 28% slabs were also brought down to 18%. All these rates will come into effect from September 22. Addressing the media after the GST Council meeting that went past 9 PM, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said efforts have been made to not just reduce the rates on items for the common man but also ease the compliance burden for businesses. “We have corrected inverted duty structure problems, resolved classification-related issues, and ensured stability and predictability in GST. There has been a rationalisation of rates—slabs have been reduced to just two. We are also addressing issues of compensation cess, simplifying registration, return filing, and refunds,” the finance minister said. Goods which have moved to the 5% slab from 18% or 12% rates include hair oil, toilet soaps, shampoos, toothbrushes, toothpaste, bicycles, tableware, kitchenware, and other household articles. Many food items including namkeen, bhujia, sauces, pasta, instant noodles, chocolates, coffee, preserved meat, cor n flakes, butter, ghee, etc have Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, J&K CM Omar Abdullah, and others at the 56th GST Council meeting | pti What gets cheaper Basic food items have been exempted from GST: paneer, ultra-high temperature milk, and all Indian breads—roti, chapati, and paratha—will attract a nil rate. Life-saving drugs too will remain exempt from tax, the FM said Hassan: International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq on Wednesday received an invitation from the Mysuru district administration, on behalf of the state government, to inaugurate the Dasara festivities on September 22 | P4 Ex-GP president killed in daylight attack Vijayapura: Bloodshed returned to the Bhima river belt as unidentified assailants killed former gram panchayat president of Devar Nimbargi village of Chadchan taluk, Bhimanagouda Biradar (43), in broad daylight on Wednesday. He was shot dead by four masked men near the GP office. Premium on individual health and life insurance have been cut to zero from 18%. Rates on 33 life-saving drugs and medicines have also been cut to zero; several others medicines have been reduced from 12% or 5% to zero. There will be a special rate of 40% for sin and super-luxury goods, including caffeinated or flavoured carbonated beverages with added sugar, fruit drinks, and other specified beverages. The overall revenue loss to the government is calculated to be around `47,700 crore. Starlink SC quota: DPAR clears decks for recruitment Banu gets official invite to open Dasara Before the Council meeting, opposition-ruled Himachal, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, TN, Telangana and Bengal had their own meeting to formalise their strategy to demand revenue protection also been put under 5% slab from the existing 12% or 18%. The rates on middle-class aspirational goods such as washing machines, TVs (all sizes now at 18%), small cars, motorcycles up to 350cc have been reduced from 28% to 18%. The FM said the labour-intensive industries have received strong support. “Farmers will benefit.” Taxes on agriculture goods such as tractors, horticultural and forestry machines, harvesting/threshing machines, composting machines, etc have been cut from 12% to 5%. express read Bengaluru: The Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) has issued an order to fix the revised reservation for the direct recruitment to fill vacancies in the state civil services, clearing the deck for implementation of internal reservation for 101 SC communities | P4 oppn states wary of revenue loss gets provisional spectrum The Elon Musk-led company has received provisional spectrum to begin trial satellite broadband services in India, ahead of a full-scale commercial launch | P12 Road rage kills Elderly man in B’luru, 2 held @ Uttara Kannada/Bengaluru One of the senior-most Congress MLAs, RV Deshpande, created a controversy when a woman journalist questioned him about a long-pending demand of setting up a multi-speciality hospital in Utt a r a K a n n a d a , by telling her that she need not worry as they will get her delivery done elsewhere. His statement drew sharp criticism from opposition parties and jou r n alis t ass ociations, demanding that he apologise. Uttara Kannada BJP president NS Hegde said, “District women’s wing members are staging a massive protest at Haliyal on Friday . Party workers from Bengalu- ru too will take part.” The incident occurred recently when a Joida-based Bengaluru woman TV journalist questioned Deshpande about the hospital, to which the senior leader allegedly replied, “We will ensure you a safe delivery .” When contacted, Deshpande said his statement has been misunderstood by people. “I know the lady journalist for several years. What I said was in lighter vein. I am the last person to disrespect a woman. She is from Ganeshgudi. I know her very well. I have spoken to her with respect,” he said. When pointed to the BJP protest on Friday, he said the opposition party is trying to politicise the issue.  B a l a C h a u h a n @ Bengaluru In a road rage incident in Bengaluru, a 61-year-old man, who was being rushed to a hospital by his family died of a pos, sible heart attack after he was pushed by two people, who had parked their twowheeler on the road, blocking the way for the car carrying him to the hospital. The incident occurred outside a private hospital on Devegowda Road in the RT Nagar police limits around 1.30 am on Wednesday The two accused, a man and . his female friend, were arrested by the police later in the day on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The deceased, Syed Nisar Ahmed (61), was a resident of Kauser Nagar. In the incident, his son sustained a ligament injury The accused are Abdul Shariff (30), . a resident of Hebbal and a delivery executive, and his friend Tehreen Fathima (26), a resident of JC Nagar. Ahmed, who was unwell, was being taken to the hospital by his son and sonin-law around 1.30 am on Wednesday. Just 100 metres away from the hospital, Shariff had parked his two-wheeler, allegedly blocking the road. He and Fatheema were talking on the roadside. When Ahmed’s son asked them to move the vehicle, a quarrel broke out. As the heated argument escalated, the duo allegedly assaulted Ahmed and his son. Shariff is said to have placed his hand on Ahmed’s chest and pushed. Ahmed collapsed on the road and was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The doctors said Ahmed might have died of a heart attack, but the exact reason would be known after the postmortem. As the BJP prepares to elect its new president, names of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and former Union minister from Gujarat, Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala, emerged as top contenders for the hot seat along with that of Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan. According to informed sources, who didn’t wish to be named, Fadnavis has been given a headsup that he may be asked to step down as CM after the Bihar elections. “The message has been conveyed but there is no discussion yet on his future role. He is likely to be considered for the BJP chief post. He is young, has the support of the RSS and the confidence of the party leadership,” said sources. Though Rupala is a new entrant into the list, his candidature gained traction as he too is backed by the RSS and is said  CONTINUED ON P4 FIR against BJP MLA for remark against SP E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i ce @ Davanagere An FIR was filed against Harihar BJP MLA BP Harish at the KTJ Nagar police station on Wednesday for his controversial statement against Superintendent of Police Uma Prashanth on Tuesday . During a press conference, Harish said that even if MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa’s family arrives an hour late, the Davangere Superintendent of Police waits at the gate like a pomeranian dog. SP Uma Prashant on Wednesday considered the issue serious and filed a complaint at the KTJ Nagar police station against Harish. Uma Prashanth alleged in her complaint that Harish made derogatory remarks against her during a press conference on September 2.  CONTINUED ON P4 Manipur in the second or third week of this month, the renewal of the SoO pact could signal a significant outreach to the tribal Kuki-Zo community and is viewed as a step towards restoring normality . The ministry resumed talks with the Kuki-Zo SoO groups on June 9 this year after a twoyear hiatus to renegotiate the SoO pact under stricter ground rules. One of the conditions includes reducing the number of SoO camps from 14 to seven, relocating them away from Meitei-dominated areas. Fadnavis, Rupala lead race for BJP national president’s post E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i ce @Bengaluru RVD’s comment on woman journo slammed Subhash Chandra NS ties between Kuki-Zo armed groups and security forces. However, its renewal was halted after ethnic violence erupted between the Kuki and Meitei communities in May 2023, leaving Manipur deeply fractured. Many in the corridors of power believe that extending the SoO pact could be one of the most important confidence-building measures in the troubled state. Sources indicated that if the prime minister visits Fadnavis (top) and Parshottam Rupala Nadda on extended tenure The BJP chief’s election has been delayed beyond a year, with incumbent J P Nadda on an extended tenure since June 2024 to be trusted by the party top brass. His proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he was Gujarat chief minister, is well known. Rupala’s anti-Kshatriya comments during Parliament elections in 2024 did cast a cloud on his political career but he is a “loyalist, and a trusted conduit between the Sangh and the party leadership”, said sources. The name of Dharmendra Pradhan continues to be among the contenders. His late father Dr Debendra Pradhan was a life member of the RSS and had joined the BJP in 1980. The party needs to undergo an organisational overhaul in at least 50% of its 37 organisational state units to constitute the electoral college before it can begin the process of electing its national president. Since its inception, the BJP has always chosen a consensus candidate as its president in ‘coordination’ with the RSS.