mangaluru l tuesday l september 16, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION three ministers inducted by nepal’s new PM Karki sworn in Nepal’s interim PM unveiled her first ministers on Monday, as the nation seeks to restore order after deadly clashes ousted PM KP Sharma Oli Nepal’s new ministers (from left) Kulman Ghising, Om Prakash Aryal and Rameshwor Khanal after being sworn in on Monday in Kathmandu | PTI seasoned advocate is new home minister parliamentary polls in six months Om Prakash Aryal, an advocate known for cases tackling corruption and human rights, takes the critical home minister post, as well as law, justice and parliamentary affairs. Kulman Ghising, former director of Electricity Authority, has energy, infrastructure, transport and urban development, while Rameshwor Khanal, was handed the finance minister post ■ ■ The Cabinet, mandated to hold parliamentary polls within six months, now has four members, including Prime Minister Sushila Karki, who will oversee the remaining ministerial portfolios President Ramchandra Paudel administered the oath of office to the new ministers at a ceremony at the President’s Office, Sheetal Niwas 10.5% is the most recent unemployment rate of nepal, as per an estimate 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 SC stays a few provisions of Waqf Amendment Act Guv returns amendment bill on lakes E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru IN a setback to the state government, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has returned the Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2025, objecting to the government’s proposal to reduce the buffer zone around lakes from the existing 30 metre to between 3 and 24 metre, depending on the lake’s size. The governor has directed the government to re-submit the file along with proper clarification. He has stated in his note that as per experts’ opinion, the present lake buffer zone of 30 metre itself is insufficient and the requirement is nearly 300 metre to achieve a balance in the ecosystem. The state government has not consulted any expert committee or public on the implications of the amendment, he pointed out. According to the governor’s note, the state government has proposed to amend Section 12 of the KTCDA Act to introThawaarchand duce area wise Gehlot buffer zones for water bodies and permit construction of certain public utility activities such as roads, bridges, electrical lines, water supply lines, underground drainage lines, jack well or pump houses or sewage treatment plants, intermediate sewage pumping stations, wet wells, aqueducts and allied works with prior approval of the authority . “The Governor’s office has received objections. As per experts’ opinion, the existing buffer zone of 30 metre itself is insufficient. If anything to do, the buffer zone should be increased and not decreased,” the Governor noted. The Governor’s note says it is in violation of the Constitution and settled law. He stated that it is harmful to every citizen, and affects the citizens’ right to water security and a healthy environment. Abolition of ‘waqf by user’ prima facie not arbitrary: Interim order SUCHITRA KALYAN MOHANTY vaults to GREATNESS Armand Duplantis created history by breaking his world record in pole vault again at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Monday. This is the 14th time the Swede has broken the world mark | AP | P13 dereliction of duty? Officer surrenders unspent crores, thwarts move to suspend her D e v a r a j B H i r e h a l l i @Bengaluru IS financial probity a crime for this government? The Karnataka State Women’s Development Corporation’s move to suspend its former managing director Pushpalatha H for alleged dereliction of duty in surrendering Rs 101 cr accumulated in the corporation’s kitty over the years to the State Finance Department has backfired. With the Finance Department finding no dereliction of duty, the Department of the Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) has scuttled the government’s move to suspend Pushpalatha H, a KAS officer, now serving as chief manager with Karnataka State Tourism Development Cor poration (KSTDC). Two other officers who were suspended, G Indiramma and Puspalatha KS, have secured a stay from Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT). For a government which has been losing sheen over various corruption charges, including resignation of minister B Nagendra in the alleged Rs 187 crore scam in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation Limited (KMVSTDL) and resignation of Bhovi Development Corporation chairman over bribery allegations, this is an another blow. Sources say that the suspension drama was initiated at the instruction of Minister of Women and Child Development, and Disabled and Senior Citizens Empowerment Lakshmi Hebbalkar. On Aug.1, disciplinary action was initiated by the Women and Child Welfare Department against G Indiramma, former chief manager, administrative officer Puspalatha K S and Pushpalatha H. P4 The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the operation of the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, in its interim orderbut stayed the implementation of certain parts of the law to ‘balance the equities’ and ‘protect the interests of parties’, including the criteria of fiveyear practice of Islam for dedicating property towards waqf. “Section 3 of the A m e n d e d Wa q f A c t (AWA), which says, ‘any person showing or demonstrating that he is professing Islam for at least five years’ shall stand stayed” until rules are framed on how to determine whether a person has been practicing Islam for at least five years, a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih ruled. However, it is nondescriminatory the court said. , The bench stayed a provision on the District Collector adjudicating on the rights of individual citizens, saying it would violate the principle of separation of powers. Till a tribunal adjudicates on the matter, no Deletion of ‘waqf by user’ provision prima facie not arbitrary Final hearing on pan-India SIR on Oct 7: SC s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi third party rights can be created against any parties, the court said. As for appointing nonMuslims to manage waqf properties, it allowed the Centre to nominate not more than three of them into the 11-member Central Waqf Council constituted under Section 14 of the AWA, and four non-Muslims out of 22 under Section 9 of AWA. The court refused to stay an amendment allowing the appointment of a non-Muslim as a CEO for the board, but suggested that every effort should be made to appoint a Muslim to the post. Refusing to stay the provision abolishing the concept of ‘waqf by user’, the court said, the requirement of registration came in from the Waqf Act of 1923. If waqfs were not registered since 102 years, they cannot raise their grievance now, the court said. “If the legislature, on noticing misuse of the waqf properties, finds that after the enactment of the impugned Act all such applications should be accompanied by a copy of the waqf deed, the same cannot be said to be arbitrary the court observed. ,” If ‘waqf by user’ is abused to encroach government properties, the legislature can take steps to delete it. It approved the provision to abolish ‘waqf by user’ prospectively . US chief negotiator and Assistant Trade Representative for south and central Asia Brendan Lynch arrived in Delhi on Monday night to revive the bilateral trade talks that were stalled after the Trump administration unveiled a tariff war on Indian goods ostensibly to penalise India over its trade and defence relations with Russia. Lynch and his team of negotiators will hold formal talks with Indian officials on the bilateral trade agreement on Tuesday, confirmed Rajesh US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that Washington has reached a ‘framework’ deal with China on the ownership of TikTok’s American operations. US President Donald Trump will speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday to finalise the deal, he added | P13 Pak threatens to pull out of Asia Cup if match referee not removed A day after India refused to shake hands with Pakistan after recording a comprehensive win in the Asia Cup match, the issue has snowballed into a major controversy . In a letter to the International Cricket Council, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) threatened to withdraw from the Asia Cup if their demand of immediate removal of match referee Andy Pycroft is not met. The letter was written soon after the match. Interestingly former , BCCI secretary Jay Shah is the ICC chair. “The ICC has been told specifically that if the Provision barring declaration of tribal lands as waqf properties upheld US TikTok deal done, Trump-Xi talks on Friday Maoist with `1cr bounty among 3 shot dead play two Tests, three T20Is and as many ODIs in Pakistan with the series starting with the fiveday match on October 12. The PCB held the match referee responsible for the ‘no handshakes’ fiasco wherein India players refused to shake hands with their Pakistan counterparts after Sunday’s match and alleged that Pycroft violated the spirit of cricket and MCC Laws hence failed in discharging his duties. The PCB alleged Pycroft took Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha to one side before toss and instructed him that there will be no handshakes. Pakistan may play India on Sunday again. P11 Says number of non-Muslims in central waqf councils cannot exceed 4 out of 22 Provision on five-year practice of Islam for dedicating property as waqf stayed for want of rules, but it is not arbitrary or discriminatory PUSHPITA D E Y @ New Delhi express read match referee Pycroft will not be changed, Pakistan will not play any more Asia Cup match,” a PCB source told this daily Interestingly Pycroft was . , given the similar responsibility by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), which incidentally is headed by PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi, for the second match between Hong Kong and Sri Lanka on Monday . Besides, the PCB has also requested the ICC not to send Pycroft, who is a former Zimbabwe player, to Pakistan for South Africa series. The PCB made the demand through a separate letter sent to the ICC on Monday SA are scheduled to . SC says law can be stayed only in the rarest of rare cases THE Supreme Court on Monday said it was presuming that the Election Commission, being a constitutional authority, was following the law during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and cautioned that the entire exercise would be set aside in case any illegality is found at any stage. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi fixed October 7 for hearing final arguments on the validity of SIR in Bihar, and refused to offer any “piecemeal opinion” on the exercise. The bench also emphasized that its “judgement in Bihar SIR will be applicable for pan-India SIR”. US team arrives for trade talks today handshake gate F i r o z M i r z a @ Chennai What ’s in, what ’s out @ New Delhi Jharkhand: Three Maoists, including one carrying a Rs 1 crore bounty on his head, were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jharkhand’s Hazaribag district on Monday. Two security personnel were also injured in the encounter but are said to be out of danger | P8 PM hails def reforms, reviews battle readiness New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the security situation and the operational preparedness of the Armed Forces as he inaugurated the 16th Combined Commanders’ Conference (CCC) in Kolkata on Monday. He also reviewed the reforms implemented in the last two years, and the plan for the next two years | P7 Agarwal, India’s chief negotiator and a special secretary in the commerce ministry . This will be the first in-person discussion between the representatives of the two countries after the US levied a 50% tariff on several Indian goods. While the exact agenda of the meeting has not been disclosed, the visit makes it clear that both sides are eager to resume the talks. Negotiations were put on hold after US President Donald Trump announced higher tariffs on several Indian goods—a move India termed ‘unilateral’. The two sides have so far held five rounds of talks. The revival of talks comes days after both sides signalled a reset in the trade talks, with Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi exchanging positive assessment about the trade ties. The visit by the US team was originally scheduled for August 25-29, but it was called off amid high tensions over the massive US tariffs. Trump slapped an additional 25% tariff on India on August 6, which became effective on August 27, taking the total tariffs on India to 50%. The US remains India’s largest trading partner with bilateral trade crossing $130 billion last year. Karnataka HC junks 3 pils against Banu inaugurating Dasara festivities E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru “We are not persuaded to accept arguments that an invitation to a person of a different faith violates constitutional or legal right,” the High Court of Karnataka said on Monday while dismissing three public interest litigations (PILs) against the state government’s invitation to writer Banu Mushtaq, winner of 2025 Booker Prize, to inaugurate Mysuru Dasara festivities on September 22. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi passed the order after hearing the arguments of petitioners Pratap Simha, former BJP MP Girish , Kumar T and Sowmya R from Bengaluru, and HS Gaurav also from Bengaluru. Simha’s counsel argued that Dasara is predominantly a Hindu festival and certain protocols have to be followed while inviting a person to inaugurate it. Banu, who has no faith in the Hindu religion, has been invited, that too ignoring her alleged anti-Hindu and anti-Kannada statements at a literary event in 2023. Also, she has been invited without consulting the representatives of the royal family of Mysuru, he said. The counsel argued that Banu’s remarks state that she has no faith in worshipping a Hindu goddess. How could the state government invite such a person to inaugurate Mysuru Dasara, which commences after offering pooja to the goddess as per Hindu rituals? If she withdraws her remarks and apologises to the people of the state, then the petitioners would not object, he said. P5