belagavi l Tuesday l January 06, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION COAI flags concerns over Prasar Bharati’s direct-to-mobile Test The public broadcaster did not involve telecom operators and mobile device companies for the test, the telecom industry body said on Monday iit Kanpur Test rules out harmful effects Prasar Bharati had roped in IIT Kanpur in 2019 to verify concerns over interference of direct-to-mobile (D2M) broadcast service with telecom services and heating of mobile devices. IIT Kanpur conducted the test in collaboration with technology partners Aracion Technology and Tejas Networks. Its report refuted the concern raised by some stakeholders terrestrial broadcast towers without an active internet connection or a SIM card. It has significant implications for spectrum usage ■ COAI has sought a fresh D2M test by taking on board all stakeholders including telcos, whose spectrum resources are directly impacted | P12 COAI Industry body demands fresh evaluation ■ D2M broadcasting allows smartphones to receive live TV directly from Claims d2m could IMPACT the spectrum bands for existing and future 5G use 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 Can raise tariffs on India very quickly, warns Trump AP villagers evacuated after gas leak, fire at ONGC well Claims Modi knew he wasn’t happy over India’s Russian oil purchase Express news service @ Kakinada JAYAN T H JA C O B @ New Delhi A major gas leak followed by fire at an ONGC well at Andhra Pradesh’s BR Ambedkar Konaseema district on Monday forced authorities to evacuate all people from nearby villages. There were no casualties. The incident occurred during re pair operations by ONGC’s contractor Deep Industries Ltd. Officials said there was a blowout when the drilling work was underway and large volumes of gas mixed with crude oil were released. The gas spread across the site in a thick, fog-like cloud, initially mistaken for mist by workers. Soon, the leaked gas ignited, producing flames and dense smoke that engulfed surrounding areas. District Collector Mahesh Kumar Ravirala, Superintendent of Police Rahul Meena, and other senior officials rushed to the site. Around 10 fire tenders were deployed, while disaster management teams worked to contain the situation. Videos circulating on social media showed police and workers fleeing as flames rose amid paddy fields and coconut groves, with thick smoke visible across the Godavari delta. ONGC said the well is located in a remote area with no habitation within a 500-600 metre radius, adding that cooling operations have begun. Renewing his pressure tactics on India over its trade with Russia, US President Donald Trump warned that Washington could raise tariffs on New Delhi “very quickly”. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while flying from Florida to Washington DC on Sunday (local time), Trump said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aware of his displeasure over India’s continued purchase of Russian oil. “They (India) wanted to make me happy, basically. Modi is a very good man; he is a good guy . He knew I was not happy and it , was important to make me happy. They do trade and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly It would be very bad for . them,” Trump said. Trump’s remarks came during a press briefing on the US’s future plans for Venezuela after capturing its president Nicolas Maduro in a military operation on Saturday. India on Sunday reacted cautiously to the development, urging dialogue but Hindu bizman killed, widow raped in B’desh Dhaka: In separate incidents in crisis-hit Bangladesh, a Hindu businessman and acting newspaper editor was shot dead in Jessore district while a 40-yearold Hindu widow was allegedly gang-raped, tied to a tree, and her hair cut by two men following a dispute over property. Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro taken to the Manhattan Courthouse in New York City for his first appearance in a narco-terrorism case | X | P11 Khalid, Imam fail to get SC bail, barred from appeal for a yr UAPA into play the bench said. , 43D(5) mandates that an accused cannot be released if The Supreme Court on Mon- there are reasonable grounds day refused to grant bail to ac- to believe prima facie that the tivists Umar Khalid and Shar- charges are true. jeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi “The expression “prima facie riots case, noting that the mate- true”, which lies at the heart of rial against them atSection 43D(5), does tracted a prima facie not invite a detailed excase under the Unlawamination of evidence, ful Activities (Prevennor does it require the tion) Act. They were Court to assess the also barred from filing probability of convica fresh petition for bail tion. Equally, it does for a year. not reduce the judicial Khalid and Imam role to a mechanical Umar Khalid stand on different footacceptance of the prosing as compared to the ecution’s assertions. other five who had The statutory standard sought bail, which contemplates a threshcan’t be ignored in old inquiry of limited terms of “parity and but real content,” the culpability”, the bench verdict said. comprising justices It went on to observe Aravind Kumar and N that “Article 21 occuSharjeel Imam V Anjaria ruled. The pies a central space in other five — Gulfisha the constitutional Fatima, Meera Haider, Shifa Ur scheme. Pre trial incarceration Rehman, Mohd. Saleem Khan cannot be assumed to have the and Shadab Ahmed — were character of punishment.” It granted conditional bail. further said the Constitution did The charges against Khalid not conceive liberty as an isoand Imam suggest a central and lated or absolute entitlement, formative role in the violence, detached from the security of which brings Section 43D(5) of the society in which it operates. S U C H I T RA K ALYAN M O H AN T Y @ New Delhi Ahinda strongman Siddu to become longest-serving CM, break Urs’ record D e v a r a j B H i r e h a l l i @Bengaluru As Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is all set to equal the record of former CM late D Devaraj Urs as the longest-serving CM on Tuesday it is a big , milestone for him personally and for the state. Though Siddaramaiah and Urs are seen as most prominent leaders who contributed to the uplift of oppressed communities, political analysts say the latter’s achieve- ments were more remarkable as he executed the land reforms and also established the first state-level backward classes commission headed by LG Havanur. While Urs could pick new faces from humble backgrounds, Siddaramaiah has not been able to do so because of constraints under the current situation. But Siddaramaiah can be termed the torchbearer of Urs’ legacy as he has effectively im- plemented the right for food (Anna Bhagya), the five guarantees and also commissioned the socio, educational and economic survey to give social justice to all communities, said senior Congress leader HM Revanna. On the political front, some call his rise to the top post mere “luck”, but one should not forget his persuasive skills and Machiavellian moves that made him stake claim to power and retain it, political analysts pointed out.  P4 Narendra Modi Donald Trump without explicitly naming the US or condemning its action. South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who was also present in Air Force One press gaggle, said the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration were the “chief reason” India is now buying less Russian oil. Graham has been the driving force behind a proposed tariff bill that seeks to impose up to 500% tariffs on imports from countries that continue to buy Russian oil. Linking energy trade directly to the Ukraine war, Graham claimed the conflict can only be ended by targeting Russia’s customers. “Pressure must be put on President Vladimir Putin’s customers,” he said and added that India and China Cong workers throw chairs at Somanna Express News Service @ Koppal Congress workers threw chairs at Union Minister V Somanna at a foundation stone laying ceremony for a railway under bridge work at Hitnal village of Koppal taluk. Angry party workers alleged that etiquette was not followed for the ceremony The minister’s . security men blocked the chairs and brought the situation under control. Supporters of MLA Raghavendra Hitnal said they were protesting as the names of local representatives were missing from the invitation. Tranquilizer dart for maneater hits Guj forest spotter, kills him HOW IT HAPPENED D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad Tragedy struck twice within 24 hours in Gujarat’s Junagadh district after a tranquilizer dart meant for a maneater lioness accidentally hit a forest tracker who was part of a team to trap the animal, killing him on Monday Earlier on Sunday, . the animal mauled a fouryear-old boy to death on the ourskirts of Nani Monpari village of Visavadar taluka. It all happened in a flash. When a cage was being set up in a field in the village on Sunday the lioness suddenly , jumped onto it taking all by surprise. In the resultant melee, a tranquilizer gun was fired with the dart hitting the left hand of tracker Ashraf Alarkhan instead of the beast. Since the dart had thrice the amount ofsedative than is safe for humans, Ashraf passed out. He was hospitalised but could not be saved. The lioness continues to be on the loose. “This is probably the first incident in history where a forest staffer died due to a misfired tranquilizer gun,” an official admitted, calling it a “dark and shocking day” for the department. 1 Lioness kills boy, 4, on the outskirts of a village in Junagadh district on Sunday morning. By afternoon, a team from Sasan Gir arrives, armed with cages and tranquilizer guns. “She became aggressive and was hiding in nearby agri lands. A quick capture was critical,” a senior forest official said Ashraf Alarkhan 2 By 4 pm, lioness spotted in a field near the village. Over 30 forest officials reach the spot to set up a cage, sedate the animal. While positioning the cage, the lioness suddenly climbs onto it. In the melee, a tranquilizer gun goes off with the dart piercing tracker Ashraf Alarkhan’s left hand 3 Ashraf collapses almost immediately as the sedative quantity was safe for the beast but not humans. Colleagues abandon operation, rush Ashraf to the Visavadar Civil Hospital and later to the Junagadh Civil Hospital, where he succumbs to the sedative overdose around 7 am on Monday MANDAR PARDIKAR express read Maduro in court play a decisive role in sustaining Moscow’s war effort. Trump echoed this positioning and said that US sanctions were “hurting Russia very badly before specifically mention,” ing India. Referring to his recent engagement with Indian officials, Graham said: “I was at the Indian Ambassador’s house about a month ago, and all he wanted to talk about was how they are buying less Russian oil.” According to Graham, the Indian envoy had urged him: “Would you tell the President to relieve the tariff ?” There were no immediate comments from Indian officials on Trump’s statement. Last month, Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra hosted several US senators at India House in Washington DC, including Graham, as New Delhi sought to press its case against punitive tariffs. According to data analytics firm Kpler, India’s crude imports from Russia fell to 1.2 mn barrels per day (bpd) in December 1.84 mn bpd in November. Shivaji’s man, not British, introduced teak in India 26, including private gunman, B o s k y K h a n n a @ Bengaluru At a time when many parts of Indian history are being altered, experts and retired forest officials have sought a change pertaining to teak plantation, saying it was not the British, but legendary Maratha leader Shivaji’s admiral who first started a teak plantation in India. Teak is one of the primary trees found in many Indian forests, including Karnataka’s tiger reserves. It is considered an essential species for commercial forestry as it is in much demand because of its durability . In textbooks for forest, agri- culture and horticulture students, it is mentioned that the British introduced teak in India and the first treated teak was sowed in May-July 1884 in a plot in Nilambur, Kerala by Henry Valentine Conolly, the then Malabar district collector. “But ecologist Madhav Gadgil in the report -- Towards an ecological history of India -noted that that Shivaji’s (founder of Maratha Kingdom of Bhonsle dynasty) admiral Kanhoji Angre started special teak plantations to build ships in the coastal district of Ratnagiri. Angre had planted them in 1680, nearly 164 years earlier to Conolly’s plot,” Brijesh Kumar Dikshit, retired Head of Forest Force, told TNIE. But British foresters ignored this record -- which was also described in the Campbell’s Gazetteer of Ratnagiri District, also called the Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency in VolumeX, Ratnagiri and Sawantwadi. The Madhav Gadgli report notes that Kanhoji’s plantations were raised around 1680 and were of seed origin. “The book - This Fissured land -- an ecological history of India -- written by historian Ramachandra Guha and ecologist Gadgil, states that the British saw destruction of forests as a symbol of political victory . In the early 19th century, after defeating the Marathas, the East India Company razed Kanhoji’s teak plantations in Ratnagiri. That is why it is now not possible to find this teak plot,” Dikshit said.  P7 arrested in Ballari clash case K i r a n B a l a n n a n a v a r @ Ballari In a breakthrough in the banner clash case reported outside the residence of former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy Bal, lari police arrested 26 accused, including a private gunman who allegedly shot at Reddy’s house on Thursday night. The gunman, Gurucharan Singh, is attached to Satish Reddy -- an aide of MLA Bharat Reddy Police sources said that . of the arrested, 13 are BJP workers and 10 Congress workers, reflecting the politically sensitive nature of the inci- The police take the accused into custody after medical examination at the Ballari Institute of Medical Sciences | Express dent. Six separate complaints and counter-complaints have been registered at the Brucepet police station. All the accused were subjected to medical examination at the Ballari Institute of Medical Sciences. The police took action after video footage and photographs surfaced, allegedly showing gunfire aimed at Janardhan Reddy’s house. Based on these visuals and a complaint filed by family members of the deceased youth, Singh was taken into custody Investigators sus. pect that he discharged his weapon during the clash. P4