kozhikode l tuesday l november 18, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION 16th Finance commission submits report to President murmu The 16th Finance Commission on Monday submitted its report on devolution of taxes between the Centre and states to the President Fiscal roadmap for next five years Report closely watched by states Members of the commission, led by chairman Dr Arvind Panagariya, handed over the report to President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The 16th Finance Commission was constituted on December 31, 2023, with a mandate to determine the formula for the states’ share of central taxes and the grants-in-aid for five financial years from 2026–27 ■ A majority of states had asked the commission to increase their share of central taxes to 50% from the current 41% ■ The commission has also reviewed the present arrangements for financing disaster management initiatives with reference to the funds constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 Four Members in the 16th finance commission 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 45 Indians killed in Saudi bus crash The trial in absentia is a farce orchestrated by a kangaroo court controlled by opponents — Sheikh Hasina Ba l a k r i s h n a VV & Jaya n t h Ja c o b @ Hyderabad/New Delhi The conviction affirms a fundamental principle: no one, regardless of power, is above the law Md Yunus, Interim adviser Protesters outside Mujibur Rahman’s home in Dhaka after the verdict | PTI It’s death for Hasina Bangladesh seeks extradition of ex-PM from India after conviction j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi BANGLADESH’s de posed prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity committed during last year’s July Uprising, a student-led revolt that culminated in her ouster. Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, now a fugitive, received the same sentence, while former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah AlMamun, who turned approver was handed five years prison. The tribunal also ordered the confiscation of properties belonging to Hasina and Kamal. The three-member bench, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, began delivering the 453-page judgement shortly after noon amid sweeping security measures across Dhaka. Hasina, 78, was tried in her absence. She is living in exile in India. Prosecutors filed five counts against the trio including failure to prevent murder and sought the maximum punishment. Hasina, represented by a lawyer, denied all charges and earlier dismissed the proceedings as a “foregone conclusion.” Her son and adviser Sajeeb Wazed told news agency Reuters they would not appeal unless a democratically elected government took office with Awami League participation. The judgment is appealable in the Supreme Court, though Hasina’s absence might complicate the legal process ahead. In her first response to the sentence, Hasina dismissed the verdict and said the death sentence exposes the “murderous intent” of extremist elements within the interim government. “The verdicts announced against me have been made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate. They are biased and politically motivated ... they reveal the brazen and murderous intent of extremist figures within the interim government to remove Bangladesh’s last elected prime minister, and to nullify the Awami League as a political force,” Hasina said in a statement. Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry has requested that India hand over former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, describing her as a “fugitive accused”. India on Monday said it noted the verdict and that it will engage constructively with all stakeholders considering peace, democracy and stability in the neighbouring country.. ”As a close neighbour, India remains committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including in peace, democracy inclusion and stabili, ty in that country it said. ,” New Delhi: Amid pressure from the US to fix the imbalance in bilateral trade, India’s stateowned oil companies have finalised a one-year contract to import 2.2 million tonnes of LPG from the US. Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said 10% of India’s annual LPG imports in 2026 will be sourced from the US Gulf Coast. This is the first structured contract for US LPG in the Indian market. BLO was under pressure from CPM, alleges Cong Kannur: The Congress has alleged that booth level officer (BLO) Aneesh George, who died by suicide on Sunday, was pressured by the CPM. DCC president Martin George said the CPM put pressure on the BLO not to take the Congress booth level agent along with him on house visits. The CPM has dismissed the allegation. Party local secretary T Thamban termed it politically motivated. P5 Muslim League moves Supreme Court against SIR Malappuram: The IUML has approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list in Kerala ahead of the local body elections. Rajya Sabha MP Haris Beeran will present the party’s plea before the court, making the IUML the first political party in the state to legally challenge SIR. P5 plea in HC Attingal trans man fighting historic legal battle to preserve egg cells P R A M D A S @ Kochi ‘Matter of policy’ A 28-year-old from Attingal who was assigned female at birth, identifies as a transgender man and has undergone gender-affirming treatment — including hormone therapy and double mastectomy in 2023 — is currently involved in a landmark legal battle. Hari Devageeth is seeking the right to cryo-preserve his gametes (egg cells) for use at a later stage in life. In a petition filed before the Kerala High Court, Hari stated that he has not yet completed sex-reassignment surgery . Once he undergoes the procedure, he will lose all remaining feminine reproductive features and will have to undergo a complete hysterectomy, including removal of the ovaries. Before taking that irreversible step, An affidavit filed by the central health and family welfare ministry said that whether transgender persons should be allowed to avail ART services is a matter of policy, and it is for experts to determine the impact of the same, particularly from the perspective of the welfare of the children that would be borne through the process. Hari said he wishes to preserve his gametes to keep open the possibility of having a biological child in the future. However, the situation is not in his favour. The central government has informed the court that under the Assisted Re productive Technolo g y (ART) Act, the procedure can only be accessed by a “commis- sioning couple,” defined as a married man and woman, or a single woman. Single men and transgender persons are not covered under the ART Act or its Rules, leaving Hari’s request outside the existing legal framework. The court will consider the issue on December 1. In his plea, Hari said he approached a private clinic in Thiruvananthapuram for freezing and storing his eggs. The clinic advised him to undergo an abdomen and pelvis ultrasonography which did not indi, cate any significant abnormalities. A f t e r t h e t e s t s, h e approached the clinic again with a request for cryo-preservation. However, the private facility relayed its inability to do so, on the grounds that there is no provision under ART Act or the Rules which enables it to cryo-preserve the gametes of a transgender person.  ● More on P5 Syed Naseeruddin with family at Hyderabad airport. Eighteen of the family, including Naseeruddin, died in the accident | x saudi arabia Accident took place ~25 km before Madinah Madinah Makkah PM expresses grief Narendra Modi conveyed condolences to the families of the deceased. “My thoughts are with the families who have lost their loved ones. I pray for the swift recovery of all injured,” he wrote helpline: 8002440003, 00966122614093, 00966126614276, 00966556122301 has announced an ex-gratia payment of `5 lakh to the kin of the deceased. The Consulate General of India in Jeddah said it is committed to ensuring the swift han- dling of the remains in accordance with the wishes of the families, who will have the option of repatriating the bodies of their loved ones or opting for burial there itself. SIT collects gold plate samples from Sabarimala E x pr e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ P’thitta The special investigation team’s (SIT) probe into Sabarimala gold theft has entered a decisive phase, with officers carrying out scientific examination at the Sannidhanam on Monday . The team, led by SP Sasidharan, removed the gold-clad plates from the sanctum sanctorum as part of the scientific examination to determine the purity and quantity of gold. The process, suggested by the Kerala High Court, was carried out in compliance with court directives. Officials said the process began at 1.15pm Gold-clad plates being removed from the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala temple on Monday for scientific examination | Shaji vettipuram after the ‘deva anujna’ (divine permission) rituals and the temple’s closure following terror plot probe express read India to source 10% of LPG imports from US As many as 45 Umrah pilgrims from Hyderabad, including 18 from one family, were charred to death near Madinah in Saudi Arabia when a diesel tanker collided with the bus in which they were travelling, triggering a massive fire. A group of 54 pilgrims flew from Hyderabad to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on November 9 and was to retur n on November 23. Forty-six of them were on the bus and only one survived. Of the remaining eight, four chose to travel separately to Madinah, and the other four stayed in Makkah. The victims include 18 members of a family across three generations. Of the 18, nine were children. The accident happened at around 1.30 am near Mufrihat, about 25 km from Madinah. The bus had stopped on the side of a road when an oil tanker rammed into it, resulting in an explosion and a fire that engulfed the bus, sources said. The one pilgrim who survived the crash is currently receiving treatment at a hospital. The Consulate General of India in Jeddah has established a 24×7 emergency helpline (See box). Telangana Minority Welf are Minister Mohd Azharuddin met the families of the victims. “We are in constant touch with Saudi authorities and are extending all possible assistance to the families. Our priority is to help the relatives in every way he said. ,” As the bodies were charred beyond recognition, the Saudi authorities are likely to conduct DNA tests. A team led by Azharuddin will fly to Saudi Arabia soon along with relatives of the victims. The Telangana government Another Umar aide planned drone attacks e x pr e ss n e w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi/Chandigarh/Srinagar THE conspirators of the Red Fort blast in Delhi were planning to weaponise drones with explosives and rockets, officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Monday a day af, ter arresting a key associate of alleged suicide bomber Dr Umar un Nabi. Red Jasir Bilal Wani aka fort Danish, a Kashmiri resattack ident, was ar rested from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday NIA officials found . during investigations that Jasir had allegedly provided technical support for carrying out terror attacks by modifying drones and attempting to make rockets ahead of the deadly blast near Red Fort that killed 15 people in total, as of Monday . “The accused, a resident of Qazigund in Anantnag, was an active co-conspirator behind the attack and had worked closely with Umar un Nabi to plan the carnage,” NIA said. The agency told a Delhi court that another key accused, Amir Rashid Ali, arrested on Sunday, arranged a safe house and provided logistical support to the bomber. Meanwhile, Delhi Police summoned Javed Ahmad Siddiqui, chairman of Al Falah University for questioning. , U-turn donald Trump now ready for release of Epstein files The US President said House Republicans should vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case | P9 ‘ucha pooja’, and continued till 3pm when the temple was reopened for rituals. The sculptors of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) assisted the team in removing the gold-clad plates from the pedestals of dwarapalaka idols, side pillars and the door frames of the sreekovil. The removed plates will be reinstalled after the scientific tests are completed. The entire procedure was videographed and photographed. Sources said the weight of the gold plates will also be measured as part of the investigation. The plates were transferred to another room, where their weight was recorded and samples collected for forensic analysis.● More on P5