hubballi l tuesday l october 28, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION CJI Gavai recommends Justice Surya Kant as successor Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, who is retiring on November 23, has recommended Justice Surya Kant as successor justice kant to have 14-month tenure Was part of article 370 verdict Justice Surya Kant, the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court after Justice Gavai, will become the 53rd CJI. He will have a tenure of 14 months before retiring on February 9, 2027. The retirement age for Supreme Court judges is 65 years. Kant was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2019 and has been part of several landmark verdicts ■ ■ He was on the bench that upheld the Central government’s decision to abrogate the special status of Jammu and Kashmir Kant headed the bench that asked the Election Commission to disclose the details of 65 lakh names excluded from the draft electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar Nov 24 when Justice kant is due to take charge as the chief justice of India 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 SIR of electoral rolls in 9 states, 3 UTs from Nov 4 Poll-bound oppn-ruled states TN, Kerala, Bengal under its ambit M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi plainspeak West doesn’t practise what it preaches: Jaishankar J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday took a swipe at the Western nations, accusing them of selectively applying global principles and distorting the international energy market through restrictive practices. Speaking at the East Asia Summit in Malaysia, Jaishankar said the world is going through “complicated times” marked by shifting global alignments, competition over technology, resources and supply chains. “Energy trade is increasingly constricted, with resulting market distortions. Principles are applied s e l e c t ive l y and what is preached is Foreign minister not necessarS Jaishankar ily practiced,” he said, in remarks seen as directed at Western-led sanctions regimes and certain protectionist policies. The comments came hours after he met US Secretary of Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the summit. His public remarks underscored New Delhi’s willingness to call out perceived Western hypocrisy while asserting an independent foreign policy stance. Jaishankar argued that the global order must evolve to reflect a more multipolar reality “Multipolarity is not . just here to stay but to grow,” he said. On terrorism, he said: “The world must display zero tolerance; there is no room for ambivalence.” The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and three Union Territories in two phases — door-to-door enumeration forms distribution and collection — from November 4 to December 4. The final voters’ list would be published on February 7. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the draft rolls would be published on December 9; claims and objections can be filed from December 9 to January 8; and hearing and verifications from December 9 to January 31. The nine states are Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and the UTs are Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Puducherry Tamil Nadu, . Pondy Kerala and West Bengal , will go to the polls in 2026. As for Assam, where polls are due in 2026, the revision of rolls will be announced separately, as a separate provision of the Citizenship Act was applicable to the state. “Under the Citizenship Act, @ Bengaluru The state government on Monday removed RSS activist Dr Sridhar from the ‘Yeshasvini cooperative members’ health protection Trust’ after an uproar from within the ruling Congress. KPCC General Secretary CB Shashidhar had written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for the revision of draft electoral roll Any identity cards, pension payment order issued to regular employee/pensioner of any Central government/State govt/PSU SC summons almost all chief secretaries S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Birth certificate issued by competent authority Matriculation/ Education certificate issued by recognised Boards/Univs Forest Rights Certificate Any identity cards/ certificate/ documents issued by Indian govt/ banks/local authorities/PSU Passport Permanent resident certificate issued by State authority OBC/ST/SC or any caste certificate National Register of Citizens (wherever it exists) Family register prepared by state/ local authorities Any land/ house allotment certificate by govt Aadhaar as an option proof of identity, but not as a proof of date of birth or citizenship there are separate provisions for citizenship in Assam. Under the supervision of the Supreme Court, the exercise of checking citizenship is about to be completed. The June 24 SIR order was for the entire country. Under such circumstances, this would not have applied to Assam,” Kumar said. He ruled out any confrontation with the Bengal govern- ment, where the ruling TMC has expressed reservations about the SIR. As for Kerala’s local bodies elections, due in November-December, Kumar said, “The notification for the same was yet to be issued. The state governments are bound by Constitution to provide personnel for the preparation of electoral rolls and conduct of polls.” The Supreme Court on Monday directed the chief secretaries of almost all states and Union Territories to appear before it on November 3 to explain why no compliance affidavits have been filed yet in the stray dogs case. “Your officers don’t read newspapers? They don’t read social media? They want a formal notice to be issued to them?” three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria said. It said all chief secretaries, except those of Telangana and West Bengal, should be present before it on November 3, otherwise “we will hold the court in auditorium”. The court had, on August 22, reversed an earlier order directing authorities to move all stray dogs to shelters and said they can be released to the same area from where they were captured after proper sterilisation and immunisation, except those infected with rabies or exhibiting aggressive behaviour. It barred the feeding of the dogs in public places. The August 22 order expanded the scope of the stray dogs case beyond the Delhi NCR and directed that all states and Union Territories be made parties in the matter, and instructed them to file compliance affidavits. smart alecs Plumber, 3 others hire hackers, steal `47cr from B’luru NBFC E x p ress N e w s S er v ice @Bengaluru security for cafe Monica Wright and Ashleigh Gardner were given a police escort on their way to a cafe in Mumbai. Wright shared the pic on her Insta handle. Security was beefed up in Mumbai too after the ‘stalking and molestation’ incident in Indore ShrEYas in icu after injury India vice-captain had a fall while diving to take a catch in the third ODI. He suffered a spleen laceration P13 Govt removes RSS man from trust after protest E x p ress N e w s S er v ice Required indicative documents stray dogs case on Sunday, asking him to rescind the order appointing Dr Sridhar from Tiptur as the trustee. The government modified the earlier order to drop the doctor’s name from the list. Shashidhar had mentioned in his letter that Dr Sridhar had taken part in an RSS route march on October 12 and had also offered an ambulance for the rally . In a financial fraud belying their education, an eighth pass plumber and 10th pass digital marketing employee, along with two other accused from Dubai, hired hackers from Hong Kong and stole around Rs 47 crore from a non-banking financial company (NBFC), operating from Bengaluru, recently . Of the four accused, Sanjay Patel, 43, a plumber from Udaipur in Rajasthan, and Ismail Rasheed Attar, 27, from Belagavi who is the digital marketing employee, have been arrested. The Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths are now searching for the two other accused who are in Dubai. Of the Rs 47 crore, Rs 10 crore that was in mule accounts has been frozen. The gang had sent money to over 650 mule accounts. The senior manager of the NBFC, located on Outer Ring Road in Marathahalli, had filed a complaint at the Cyber Crime police station on August 9, stating that between August 6 and 7, 2025, several unauthorised and suspicious money transfers had been done from the company’s bank accounts. The company investigated internally and found that the transactions had not been carried out from its official systems or registered IP addresses. CONTINUED ON: P7 The money was transacted within two-andhalf-hours. The two accused in Dubai are Indians and we have got their details. The finance company was giving loans up to Rs 5 lakh through the app, which was hacked Seemant Kumar Singh, Bengaluru Police Commissioner SC allows Centre to reassess, settle AGR dues of Vi E x p ress N e w s S er v ice @ New Delhi IN a major relief for Vodafone Idea (Vi), the Supreme Court on Monday allowed the government to reassess the demand for adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues raised against the telecom operator. AGR is the income figure used to calculate the licence fees and spectrum charges that telcos must pay . While passing the order, a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran observed that the decision on any relief to the telco is a policy matter and the court need not interfere. The matter pertains to a plea by Vi against the Department of Telecommunications’ demand for an additional `9,450 crore towards AGR. Vi, the country’s third-largest telco, also sought a waiver of interest and penalties. Welcoming the order, Vi said: “We look forward to working closely with the Department of Telecommunications to resolve this matter in the interests of our nearly 200 million subscribers.” During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, informed the court that the government now holds 49% equity in Vodafone Idea. He said the Centre was willing to examine the issues to ensure consumer interests are safeguarded. At present, Vi owes the government around `76,000 crore in AGR dues with annual payments of `18,000 crore until 2031. It also owes `1.19 lakh crore in deferred spectrum payment to the government. express read Andhra braces for Cyclone Montha Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh is bracing for Cyclone Montha, which is rapidly advancing toward the Kakinada coast at a speed of 17 kmph. As part of proactive measures, 787 pregnant women have been shifted to safety | P7 UK-Indian woman racially attacked London: A 20-year-old woman, identified as being of Indian heritage, was attacked in a ‘racially aggravated’ rape in England. A 32-year-old man was arrested on Monday. KSPCB chief: Untreated wastewater polluting Cauvery, Kapila E x p ress N e w s S er v ice @ Mysuru Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Chairman and MLA PM Narendra Swamy on Monday expressed concern that Cauvery and Kapila rivers, the lifeline of Mysuru and Bengaluru, are increasingly getting polluted because of discharge of untreated waste water, including industrial effluent and household sewage, into these water bodies. At the golden jubilee celebra- tions of KSPCB at Maharaja’s College Grounds here on Monday he said the board has sub, mitted a technical report to the Mysuru district administration and Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), recommending urgent measures to prevent pollution of rivers. “Both Cauvery and Kapila are vital to Mysuru and Bengaluru, but sadly both have be, come polluted. The KSPCB has set up several water-monitoring stations to track river water quality. The district administration and MCC must take responsibility and initiate action to prevent further contamination,” he said. According to the KSPCB report, untreated sewage, indus- trial waste and UGD water are being directly released into the rivers without proper treatment at Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) set up by the board. Swamy said that protecting rivers is not only the duty of local authorities, but also a shared responsibility of citizens. “Every individual must contribute. People should begin by segregating waste at source,” he said, adding that nearly two lakh small pieces of milk packet cov- ers enter the soil every day in Mysuru. “Every household buys milk daily, and when we cut open the packet, that small plastic piece ends up in the soil, posing a threat to the environment. Citizens and organisations must cooperate with the administration to make Mysuru the cleanest city in the country again,” he urged. He also raised concern over coffee estates in Kodagu discharging wastewater into rivers. CONTINUED ON: P7