BHUBANESWAR l friday l september 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late CITY EDITION Trump ally shot at utah college ceremony, dies shortly after Charlie Kirk, who played a huge role in rallying young Republicans, was assassinated while speaking at a campus early on Thursday utah governor: a political assassination Kirk was speaking on gun violence Authorities say Kirk was killed with a single shot from a rooftop. The killer then slipped away amid the hubhub of screams at Utah Valley University campus. Utah governor Spencer Cox said, “This is nothing but a political assassination.” Authorities did not identify a motive. The FBI announced a bounty of $1,00,000 and released images of the killer, who’s still at large ■ ■ Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence Trump announced he’ll posthumously award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Charlie Kirk, co-founder and CEO of Turning Point, while blaming the rhetoric of the ‘radical left’ for the killing | P11 3,000 people were in attendance at the university when kirk was shot 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 Nepal talks stuck on new govt head Gen Z wants Sushila Karki, Army favours pro-monarchy Durga Prasai to lead interim govt C I am consulting and making every effort to find a way out of the current difficult situation in the country within the constitutional framework Ramchandra Paudel, Nepal President SC, banks to resume functioning Nepal’s Supreme Court and banks are set to open in Kathmandu with the relaxation in curfew for a few hours Visa power for foreign nationals Foreigners with valid visas up to Sept 8 and who want to depart shall be granted exit nod without more fee, the govt said urfew remains in effect across much of Nepal, particularly in the Kathmandu Valley as the Gen , Z protests enters the fourth day Life is becom. ing increasingly difficult for ordinary citizens, especially those who depend on daily wages to sustain themselves. “We are leaderless at the moment, but we are not without a country. As long as we have our Constitution, we are secure,” Tanuja Pandey a Gen Z pro, tester, told this reporter. She explained that multiple reasons had been presented against their choice of Sushila Karki as prime minister of the Interim Government. How- Protesters outside Nepal’s army headquarters during a curfew in Kathmandu on Thursday | AFP ever, Gen Z had united in support of Karki because of her corrup- seems to be coming primarily from calm and patient, emphasising retion-free reputation. the Army which reportedly spect for the current Constitution. , Pandey added that Gen favours Durga Prasai, a Meanwhile, under repeated presZ had repeatedly requestpro-monarchy figure. sure from Army Chief to propose a ed the Army to facilitate a The President also ap- new candidate, Gen Z may now meeting with President pears to prefer another hold another virtual discussion. Ramchandra Paudel, candidate from among One potential alternative being though so far, all meetings the current parliamen- considered is Santosh Pariyar, have been conducted only tarians rather than Su- Chief Whip of the Rastriya Swawith the Chief of Army shila Karki. This push to tantra Party (RSP) and a proporAshok Raj Sigdel. Namrata Sharma nominate someone from tional representative from the Dalit The determination of the existing parliament, category elected in 2022. Senior journalist and Gen Z to establish the In- women rights advocate. rather than Karki, is An excellent choice, nonetheless, terim Government with Sharma can be reached at causing friction with the majority of Gen Z remains Sushila Karki as PM is namrata1964@yahoo.com Gen Z. united in supporting Sushila Karki, growing stronger by the A press release signed preferring a leader outside of exist@NamrataSharmaP day. Karki agreed and reby the President stated ing political parties to guide the ceived widespread support that he is seeking a solu- Interim Government and oversee from the public. However, some tion based on constitutional provi- elections under the cur rent Continued on: P9 backlash has emerged. Opposition sions and urged citizens to remain constitution.  road rage IAF officer, gig worker bury the hatchet e x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ Bengaluru THE Karnataka High Court on Thursday quashed criminal proceedings against an Indian Air Force (IAF) officer and a food delivery worker, after both arrived at a mutual settlement in a road rage case on April 21 this year. The two had clashed when the officer’s wife was going to drop him to a bus stop near Gopalan Mall on Old Madras Road in Bengaluru. Ju s t i c e S a ch i n Shankar Magadum quashed the proceedings in a case filed by Wing Commander Shiladitya Morning Bose’s wife Madhufracas mita Dutta against The altercation biker Vikas Kumar between the IAF SJ, and a case filed officer and Kumar by Vikas Kumar took place on against the officer. Although Bose April 21. CCTV faced charges under footage showing Section 109 of BNS the officer (non-compoundalanding mighty ble), complainant punches on the Kumar was present biker had in court to give a gone viral statement that no injuries were sustained, and that he was willing to give a quietus to the dispute. Dutta said the incident was verbal, and settled with well-wishers’ intervention. The court deemed continuing the case as futile, and let off both parties with a warning. HC seeks response from govt on Lokayukta appointments E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Cuttack pointment process at least three months prior to the expiry of any The Orissa High Court on Thurs- member’s term. “The Governor day took cognisance of a PIL filed shall take or cause to be taken all by lawyer Prabir Kumar Das, high- necessary steps for the appointment lighting a complete defunct state of of a new Chairperson and Memthe Odisha Lokayukta since August bers.,” the section stipulates. 8, 2024, due to vacancies in key posiDespite this statutory requiretions including that of the chairment, the government has failed to person and members. make fresh appointments, Das The division bench of alleged, adding that the deChief Justice Harish Tanlay reflects administrative don and Justice MS Raman, apathy towards the functaking serious note of the tioning of a critical instituinaction, directed the state tion meant to combat corgovernment to file an affiruption and ensure davit within two weeks deaccountability in tailing the steps taken so governance. far towards making the apAccording to data sourced pointments. The petitioner The chairperson, by the petitioner under the one judicial has been granted one addiRight to Information (RTI) tional week thereafter to member, and two Act, the Lokayukta had regother members file a rejoinder, if necesistered 444 cases in 2024, sary. The matter has been completed their out of which 149 were disposted for further hearing 5-year tenures in posed of. In 2025 (up to May 2024. Since then, after three weeks. 31), 83 fresh cases were regthe antiThe PIL sought urgent in- corruption body istered, all of which remain tervention for filling up the pending due to non-funchas become vacant posts in accordance tioning of the panel. “The defunct with Section 4 of the Odisfunctioning of the LokayPrabir Das, ha Lokayukta Act, 2014. ukta is a matter of colossal petitioner Das, appearing in person, public importance. Its role informed the court that the in promoting transparency chairperson, one judicial member, and ensuring probity in public life and two other members of the cannot be overstated,” the petition Lokayukta completed their five- stated, urging the government to year tenures between March 19 and act without further delay . August 7, 2024. Since then, the antiThe Odisha Lokayukta was forcor ruption body has become mally established on February 28, defunct. 2019, with the aim of probing allegaQuoting Section 6 of the Act, Das tions of corruption against public emphasised that the state govern- servants, including those in high ment is mandated to initiate the ap- office. 31L MV rule violation challans pending in state A s i s h M e h ta @ Bhubaneswar A staggering 31 lakh e-challans issued for motor vehicle rule violations are awaiting settlement in Odisha. Official sources said about 59 lakh e-challans were issued till July 31. Of them, about 31 lakh e-challans, constituting 52 per cent of the total, were pending at the regional transport officer (RTO) levels. Another 18 lakh e-challans are under process in the courts. The remaining 10 lakh have been disposed of. The state government on Wednes- day approved the Commerce and Transport department proposal for a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme to encourage violators to settle their dues. The OTS scheme will be in effect for six months from the date the government issued a formal notification. Many of the challans were issued for driving without valid driving license or in contravention of age restrictions (under section 181), dangerous driving, over-speeding, jumping red lights and using mobile phones while driving (section 184), offences relating to licences (section 182) and using vehicle without registration (section 192), general provision for punishment of offences (section 177) and disobedience of orders (section 179) of the Motor Vehicles Act. Thousands of e-challans and fines amounting to crores of rupees are pending at RTOs across the state. For instance, about 87,808 challans and fines amounting to a whopping `30.42 crore are pending at RTO-I in Bhubaneswar from January 1, 2021 Continued on P5 to July 31, 2025.  Voter list entry Protocol violation E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi PR E E TH A N A IR @ New Delhi A Delhi court on Thursday rejected a petition that sought directions to initiate a probe against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi over her inclusion in electoral rolls prior to becoming an Indian citizen in 1983. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasia dismissed the plea saying the court has no jurisdiction over matters of citizenship and electoral rolls. “The authority to determine the eligibility of a person to be included in or excluded from the electoral roll… is vested solely in the Election Commission of India,” the court said, adding that it was not empow- Sonia Gandhi ered to adjudicate upon questions relating to citizenship, which fall within the domain of the Central government. The complaint, filed by advocate Vikas Tripathi, claimed Gandhi’s name was added to the New Delhi constituency voter list in January 1980, three years before she officially became an Indian citizen. During the hearing, the complainant’s counsel senior advocate Pavan Narang said Gandhi’s name was deleted in 1982 and re-entered in 1983, coinciding with her citizenship. Terming the charges beyond the court’s authority the judge said: “Such a stratagem con, stitutes nothing but an abuse of the process of law, which this court cannot countenance.” The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has written to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi about security protocol violations during his travel within India and outside. The letter, also addressed to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, drew a sharp reaction from the Congress, which questioned the timing of the communication and wondered whether it was a ‘veiled attempt’ to intimidate its leader who just announced ‘another imminent disclosure’ on the alleged ‘vote theft’. In the letter, the VIP security unit of the paramilitary force Rahul Gandhi flagged several instances of Gandhi’s “unscheduled movements without intimation” during his travel. The letter also referred to his trips to Italy Vi, etnam, Dubai, Qatar, London, and Malaysia. An official said the CRPF had sent similar letters to Gandhi in the past too. The official added that the politician violated the protocols mentioned in the Yellow Book of the CRPF. The CRPF VIP security wing provides the top category Z plus (ASL) armed protection to Gandhi, while 10-12 armed commandos give proximate security cover during his travel. The force carries out reconnaissance of the locations to be visited by Gandhi, but his unannounced movements pose a risk to his security , official sources said. Court junks CRPF mail on plea for probe Rahul security against Sonia annoys Cong