Colour photos on EVMs starting with Bihar polls File photo mangaluru l thursday l september 18, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION New Delhi: Photos of candidates will be printed in colour on the EVM ballot paper starting with the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar. The candidate’s face will now occupy three-fourths of the photo space on the EVM ballot paper. Additionally, the names, serial numbers of all candidates, and the NOTA option will be printed in larger, bold fonts | PTI | P7 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 `21 cr robbed from SBI branch, 10 held hostage E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayapura In a high-profile robbery crim, inals stole cash and gold worth Rs 21.04 crore from the SBI branch at Chadchan town in Vijayapura district on Tuesday evening. This is the second major bank heist in Vijayapura district in recent months. As per preliminary assess- ment by bank officials, robbers have taken away Rs 1.04 crore in cash and around 20 kg of gold ornaments, worth around Rs 20 crore, Superintendent of Police Laxman Nimbargi said on Wednesday . The jewellery was pledged by customers for taking loans, the police said. The SP said that one of the accused arrived at the bank around 4.30 pm under the pretext of opening a bank account. “He sat in the bank till 6.30 pm. When the bank staff was about to close the branch for the day he called two of his ac, complices. After they arrived, all the three held some ten people at the bank — six staffers and four customers — hostage at gunpoint and lethal weapons,” Nimbargi said. P5 S L A L ITHA @ New Delhi Curious onlookers outside the SBI branch at Chadchan town in Vijayapura district FTA with India by year-end: EU Strategic framework evolved for enhanced ties on trade, security, climate, tech J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi The European Union set a firm target to conclude its longpending Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India by the end of 2025 and unveiled a new sweeping strategic framework aimed at expanding the bloc’s ties with New Delhi. The New Strategic EU-India Agenda, adopted through a Joint Communication by the European Commission and the EU’s High Representative on Wednesday outlines a broad vision for enhanced cooperation spanning trade, security, climate, technology, and global governance. “Europe is already India’s biggest trading partner, and we are committed to finalising our Free Trade Agreement by the end of the year,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Now is the time to focus on reliable partners SIT resumes op in D’sthala, finds human remains E N S @ Mangaluru The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing alleged mass burials in Dharmasthala village, reportedly recovered human remains at five locations in the forest patches of Banglegudde, near the bathing area of Dharmasthala temple, during a search operation on Wednesday . Sources said a rope, walking stick, identity card and poison bottle were recovered during the search. This follows a recent video statement by Vittal Gowda, the uncle of Sowjanya — the 17-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in 2012. P4 Pak flip-flop delays match E N S @ Chennai THE Asia Cup continues to deliver drama. On Wednesday Pakistan were seemingly , on the verge of conceding their group stage game to UAE before they belatedly played their opponents at 7.30 pm local time, one hour after the scheduled start. The episode goes back a few days after their game against India. They had alleged that match referee, Andy Pycroft, had asked the two captains to not shake hands at the toss. They wanted Pycroft removed but the organisers and the ICC were unmoved. PCB relented after some furious backchannel lobbying on an incidentpacked Wednesday . Europe is open for business. And we are ready to invest in our shared future with India — Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President and double down on partnerships rooted in shared interests and guided by common values. With our new EU-India strategy, we are taking our relationship to the next level — advancing trade, investment and talent mobility, strengthening joint economic security and deepen, ing industrial cooperation in defence.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the new agenda, calling it a forward-looking initiative to strengthen bilateral ties. “…Delighted to know about the ‘New Strategic EU-India Agenda’ adopted today he post,” ed on X. “India is ready to take the India-EU relationship to the next level. It is our shared commitment, shared goal, and shared responsibility .” The announcement marks a key policy priority for the EU, which comes amid a changing geopolitical landscape of growing push for resilient supply chains and diversified trade partnerships. The Joint Communication talks about untapped potential in trade and investment and sets out measures to reinforce supply chain resilience, enhance cooperation in critical and emerging technologies, and deepen engagement through the EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC). Expanding security, def ties The strategy significantly advances security and defence ties, proposing a dedicated EU-India Security and Defence Partnership. Areas of focus include maritime security, cyber defence and counterterror. A Security of Information Agreement will be negotiated to facilitate the exchange of classified info In a first, pvt firm vets NIRF rankings birthday bonding Narendra Modi holds a child as he tours the Health Kiosks and the PM MITRA Park Pavilion in Dhar on Wednesday | PTI INDIA Rankings 2025 released by the Union education ministry a fortnight ago was vetted by a private consultancy firm— the first such instance since the inception of the prestigious rankings in 2015. Global consulting firm EY, currently associated with various government projects, was entrusted with the task. Multiple sources privy to the matter told this newspaper that the decision to rope in EY for double verification of data was taken in the backdrop of an inexplicable surge in rankings by some institutions and the shocking slump registered by a few others. “It was heartening to note that the firm (EY) endorsed the rankings made by us and did not find even a single error,” claimed an official with the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) team. The rankings were delayed Rankings’ parameters The parameters assessed for the rankings are teaching, learning & resources; research and professional practice; graduation outcome; outreach and inclusivity, and perception by six weeks this year due to the additional verification process. “Post-Covid, we were releasing the rankings by July and August. It was done in June since 2015 when we commenced the ranking process. Our original plan was to release by mid-July this year. But due to the third-party verification, we were able to release them only by the first week of September,” said an official. NIRF is a part of the National Board of Accreditation, an autonomous body set up in 1994 to evaluate the qualitative competence of the professional courses offered in India.