kalaburagi l saturday l october 25, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION MODI obliquely endorses Nitish as Bihar Chief Minister candidate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the National Democratic Alliance under the leadership of Nitish Kumar will script a record win in Bihar polls PM’s statement comes after Tejashwi jibe Modi’s statement indirectly endorsing Nitish as the NDA’s CM face comes a day after RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Opposition INDIA bloc’s CM candidate had claimed that the BJP would not let Nitish become CM again. Modi’s stance is different from Union home minister Amit Shah’s recent remark that the NDA would decide on CM after the elections | P10 ■ Nov 14 20 yrs of nda rule did NO GOOD: RJD leader ■ Modi said people can’t expect the RJD-Congress to solve any of their problems. “They (RJD-Cong) are a problem by themselves,” he said Meanwhile, Tejashwi alleged there is widespread unemployment and rampant corruption. “Despite 20 years of NDA rule in Bihar, the state’s per capita income is the lowest and farmers remain poor,” he claimed When Bihar Assembly election results will be announced 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 India-US trade deal to be inked very soon: Govt Taliban to build dam to limit water to Pak J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi IN a move that could have farreaching consequences for Pakistan’s already strained water and energy security, Afghanistan’s Taliban government has said it will build a series of dams on the Kunar River. Taliban’s announcement comes on the heels of India’s decision in April to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack and signals Kabul’s determination to assert its ‘water sovereignty’. According to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Information, Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada has ordered the Ministry of Water and Energy to begin dam construction on Kunar “as fast as possible” and award contracts to domestic firms. “The directive reflects Afghanistan’s right to manage its natural resources for the benefit of its people,” Deputy Minister of Information Muhajer Farahi said in a post on X. The decision comes just weeks after deadly clashes along the Durand Line between Afghan and Pakistani border forces, which left several dead and heightened diplomatic friction. Relations between the two countries deteriorated in recent months, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of harbouring Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants. The Kunar River, known as the Chitral in Pakistan, originates from the Chiantar glacier near the Gilgit-Baltistan-Chitral border. It flows into Afghanistan at Arandu before merging with the Kabul River in Nangarhar Province, which eventually joins the Indus River near Attock in Pakistan. This network is vital for irrigation, hydropower, and drinking water across Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces. Any reduction in flow could have cascading effects across Pakistan’s agricultural and energy sectors. Negotiations concluded, both sides working on the language of the bilateral agreement P U S H PI TA D E Y @ New Delhi Despite geopolitical challenges, India and the US are close to concluding a bilateral trade deal, a commerce ministry official said on Friday add, ing major differences have been ironed out and both sides are now on the same page on most matters. “We are very near as far as the deal is concerned,” said the official while disclosing that both countries are now working on the language of the trade deal. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who is in Germany for the Berlin Global Dialogue, had on Thursday said the trade talks were progressing well with both the sides working towards a fair and equitable deal. Speaking to Doordarshan in Berlin, Goyal said, “We are in dialogue with the US; our teams are engaged. We recently had the commerce secretary visit the US and meet his counterparts. We continue to engage with them and talks are progressing. We hope to work towards a fair and equitable agreement in the near future.” However, he reiterated that India “does not do deals with deadlines or with a gun to its head”. So far, India and the US have completed five rounds of talks. A team of Indian delegates from headed by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal visited Washington last week. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump met in February a tar, get was set to negotiate a bilateral trade deal by November. However, relations soured as Trump announced a 50% tariff on Indian goods from August onwards as a penalty for buying Russian oil. A US delegation’s visit to India was also cancelled. However, both sides continued talks. The momentum was restored when Brendan Lynch, assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asia, met Indian officials in New Delhi. The proposed pact aims to double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. While the US remained India’s largest trading partner, merchandise exports to the US fell 20% to $5.43 billion in September from $6.87 billion in August. Reliance to comply with US sanctions Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s largest buyer of Russian oil and most impacted by the latest US sanctions, on Friday said it will comply with all applicable restrictions and will adjust its refinery operations to meet compliance requirements. A company spokesperson said RIL is “currently assessing the implications” of the latest sanctions on two Russian oil giants—one of which has a crude oil supply agree-ment with RIL P12 Maha doctor names cops in palm note, ends life Sudh i r Su r ya w an s h i @ Mumbai A 28-year old woman doctor working at a government hospital in Phaltan in Satara district of Maharashtra died by suicide late on Thursday night and left a sevenline note on her palm, blaming two police inspectors for her harassment, torture and sexual exploitation. In the note, the doctor accused police sub-inspector Gopal Badane of raping her five times while police inspector Prashant Bankar harassed and mentally tortured her for four months. The note that was spotted during autopsy has been sent for forensic analysis. The victim had briefed her seniors about the harassment but could not get justice; hence she allegedly hanged herself in a hotel room near the Phaltan hospital. District police superintendent Tushar Doshi said a case has been registered against Badane and Bankar, and both placed under suspension. They are absconding. The victim’s relatives accused Badane and his associates of pressuring the doctor to alter medical reports on unnatural deaths and modify reports when arrested persons were brought to the hospital for a medical test. 20 killed as B’luru-bound bus catches 6 from state fire after collision with bike in Kurnool perish in `2 lakh compensation E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kurnool Nineteen people, including two children, were charred to death, and several others sustained burn injuries when an AC sleeper bus travelling from Hyderabad to Bengaluru caught fire on the National Highway 44 near Chinnatekuru village in Kurnool district in the early hours of Friday . The bus belonging to Vemuri Kaveri Travels caught fire around 3 am after hitting a motorcycle, and dragged it for some distance, generating sparks which ignited its fuel tank, triggering the blaze. The biker also died in the incident, taking the toll to 20. In all, 46 people, including four children, and two drivers, were in the vehicle. As the flames spread rapidly passen, gers were trapped inside the burning vehicle. Locals and police acted swiftly, rescuing several passengers despite the intense blaze, and heavy rain. Rescue operations continued for hours, and with the joint efforts of fire service PM Narendra Modi said he was extremely saddened by the incident, and announced a compensation of `2 lakh each for the families of the victims, and `50,000 for the injured. A video grab of the bus engulfed in flames after colliding with a bike in Kurnool district on Friday | PTI personnel, police, revenue, and medical teams, the fire was brought under control. Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha said of the 19 victims, six each hailed from Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Telangana, two each from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and one each from Odis- DCM sets ball rolling for new master plan for B’luru E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday said that he has given directions to the Urban Development Department (UDD) to prepare a new master plan for Bengaluru Urban district, as the area is growing leaps and bounds. The DCM, after a meeting with stake holders at the Panchayat, City Municipal Council, and Outer areas of GBA, said that road- widening will be the top priority as construction , activity is gaining pace, widening of roads will be a difficult task later on. Shivakumar suggested to conduct a survey of the areas on the outskirts of Bengaluru Urban District, as it will be in- cluded in the Greater Bangalore Authority (GBA) jurisdiction in the future. After the progress review meeting of the local bodies under Bengaluru Urban District, the DCM said, “A meeting of officials of 12 local bodies of Bangalore city district was held. Bangalore will grow in the future. The areas covered by Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (BMRDA) will become part of Bangalore city in the coming days,” he said and added, “As outside areas are witnessing development, a master plan will have to be prepared.” Shivakumar’s statements come on the backdrop of his tour of the city in outer areas near Anekal and observations on Thursday . ha and Bihar. The identity of a person, who boarded the illfated bus at Aramghar in Hyderabad, is yet to be established. Some of the bodies were charred beyond recognition, prompting officials to deploy forensic teams to collect DNA samples of the deceased. deadly fire E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru At least six people with links to Karnataka died in the bus inferno that claimed 19 lives in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district in the early hours of Friday . Officials said Philomen Baby (64) and Kishore Kumar (41), both residents of Karnataka, were killed in the blaze, while four members of a family living in Kammanahalli in Bengaluru were also killed in the fire. They have been identified as Ramesh (35), his wife Anusha (30) and their children Manish (12) and Manvitha (10). Hailing from Nellore, Ramesh had been working in a private company in Bengaluru for nearly 15 years. Though there were reports that four more people working in the IT sector in Bengaluru were also killed in the tragedy, no official confir mation was available. P7 express read RSS rally: HC seeks peace meet before October 28 Yathindra spoke only on ideological grounds: CM Kalaburagi: The Kalaburagi bench of Karnataka High Court, which on Friday commenced its hearing on allowing RSS to hold its Patha Sanchalana (route march) at Chittapur, directed the Kalaburagi district administration to conduct a ‘Peace Committee meeting’ before October 28 and decided to resume the hearing on October 30 | P4 Bengaluru: With Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s MLC-son Dr Yathindra stating that PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi deserves to be the ideological heir to his father, creating ripples in political circles. Siddaramaiah on Friday clarified, “I asked Yathindra and he clarified that he spoke on the ideological ground and not as to who should become the next CM” | P4 Flood alert issued as KRS maintains full reservoir level, outflows increased Adman who spoke to India in its own language Everyone’s man G u r b i r S i ngh @ Mumbai With the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) reservoir continuing to remain at its maximum level of 124.80 feet for over a week, the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited (CNNL) officials are releasing higher amounts of water downstream and issued a flood warning for low-lying areas of Mandya district. The dam has been receiving sustained inflows because of heavy rainfall in the Cauvery catchment areas in Kodagu and surrounding regions over the past several days. The dam currently holds its maximum capacity of 49.452 tmcft of water. Officials said that as of Friday, inflow into the dam was around 37,000 cusecs, prompting authorities to increase outflows from 25,000 cusecs to 40,000 cusecs since Thursday night. iyush Pandey was the odd man out at a RedInk Awards panel discussion soon after Prime Minister Modi was voted in for the first time in 2014. As an advertising creative executive, he didn’t fit into a panel of popular news anchors Rajdeep Sardesai and Arnab Goswami, and Star chief Uday Shankar. Not surprisingly he drew fire , for his catch line: Aab ki Bar, Modi Sarkar — a slogan that moved the anti-incumbency wave. He laughed it off. “We have to deliver the message of our clients. We have nothing to do with politics.” Pandey’s creative campaigns for Ogilvy — the ad agency he started with in 1982 and ended his career and life with at 70 as P Water being released from the Krishna Raja Sagar reservoir on Friday, following increased inflows after heavy rain in the Cauvery catchment areas | EXPRESS CNNL officials said that while there is no report of crop damage so far, precautionary measures have been taken. People residing in low-lying and vulnerable villages along the river have been advised to move to safer places. Authorities, including the district administration and police, have been alerte d t o b e re a dy fo r a ny emergency  . P6 Chief Creative Officer — grew it to an industry leader even as his creative skills dominated advertising in India for over three decades. He carried his walrus mustache, his broad grin and infectious sense of humour everywhere; but it was his pioneering effort in changing Indian advertising from borrowed Western idioms to campaigns rooted in the language of our streets and villages that made him a legend. Remember the Mile Sur Mera Tumhara in 1988? It was a jingle for national integration written by him. It took the country by storm as it worked up a pride for unity in diversity . He also made some big brands daily household names. , Like his 1993 Cadbury’s campaign, Kuch Khaas Hai ham Mandar Pardikar E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Mysuru Piyush Pandey 5 Sept 1955-24 Oct 2025 Sabhi Mein, which used local imagery to convince adults there is no sin in enjoying chocolates. The power of ‘gifting’ is another tack Pandey used successfully. He pushed Cadbury (now Mondalez) chocolates as a way to say thank you — Kuch Meetha Ho Jai; as he did with Titan timepieces — ‘The Joy of Gifting’. But who can ever forget Pandey’s incredibly creative Hutch (now Vodafone) campaign with the pug ZooZoo from 2010? The pug was used when ‘Hutch’ was transitioning to ‘Vodafone’; and in a quirky, simple manner the dog symbolised loyalty and connection. The pug campaign became so popular that for years the Chinese ‘pug’ breed became a favourite in India! For his contribution to advertising, Piyush Pandey was awarded the Padma Shri in 2016. He made his mark in advertising using a simple, storytelling style. As a person, he was never the corporate bigwig. An unkempt, easygoing guy he was everyone’s man. ,