BELAGAVI  SUNDAY  JANUARY 11, 2026  `12.00  PAGES 26  LATE CITY EDITION PROTESTERS WILL BE DECLARED ‘ENEMY OF GOD’, WARNS IRAN Iran’s attorney general Mohammad Movahedi Azad warned on Saturday those taking part in protests will be considered ‘enemy of God’ NEW MASS RALLIES GRIP MAJOR CITIES ACTIVISTS WARN OF INTENSIFYING CRACKDOWN “Prosecutors must carefully and without delay prepare the grounds for the trial and decisive confrontation with those who seek foreign domination over the country,” a statement read. ‘Enemy of God’ is a death penalty charge in Iran. The two-week-old protests showed no signs of slowing, with major cities hit by new mass rallies on Saturday ■ ■ The toll has gone up to 65, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Activists said they fear the authorities are intensifying their suppression under cover of internet blackout The attorney general’s statement comes a day after the US reiterated its warning against violent crackdown on protesters | P11 2,300 THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE DETAINED BY IRANIAN FORCES AS PER U.S. SOURCES 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 ED goes to SC against Didi on I-PAC, WB files caveat UNSUSTAINABLE Don wants to cap credit card rate at 10% from Jan 20 Supreme Court on Saturday seeking to , ensure that no order is passed without THE Enforcement Directorate giving it an opportunity to be (ED) on Saturday moved the heard. Supreme Court against the The ED on Thursday raided West Bengal government in the the premises of I-PAC and its I-PAC money laundering case. director Pratik Jain in Kolkata Alleging that its series of as part of a money laundering raids foe the probe was obprobe into an alleged coal pilstructed by Chief Minister ferage scam. Mamata has acMamata Banerjee, the ED cused the ED of overreach. sought a CBI probe into the inThe ED on Friday had apcident, claiming its “right to Mamata Banerjee proached the Calcutta High conduct a fair and independent Court, alleging that the CM investigation has been curtailed by the took away incriminating documents state machinery”. from the agency’s custody Amid high . In a swift counter-move, the West courtroom drama, the HC adjourned Bengal government filed a caveat in the the case to January 14. E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi/Kolkata Banks say it would cut credit access to retail customers in a big way B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai R A S H M I PAT I L @Bengaluru i Nationa str lM ha em Jai Jawan Jai Kisan orial Trust “IT is estimated that in the next decade, China will have over half of the new cases of Parkinson’s disease diagnosed,” said Nobel Laureate Prof Randy Schekman. Optimistic about his current research on the disease, the cell biologist was confident that he will leave behind breakthroughs that will make a difference in the lives of those afflicted. He was speaking at the presentation of Infosys Science Foundation’s Infosys Prize 2025, in Bengaluru on Saturday . l Bahadur La S China to have over half new Parkinson’s cases: Laureate AMID plunging popularity ratings, US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a cap on interest rates on credit card dues at 10% for a year. The new rate will be effective from January 20, which coincides with completion of Trump’s one year as president. Making the announcement, the president said he will no longer let Americans be “ripped off ” by credit card companies, which charge about 20-30% annually on credit card debts. While economists and analysts globally called it unsustainable, banks said it would lead to massive pullback of credit access to retail customers. US hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said: “My concern about capping rates at 10% is that doing so will inevitably cause millions of Americans to have their cards cancelled as credit card companies lose the ability to adequately price subprime credit risk. Consumers denied credit cards will be forced to turn to loan sharks whose rates and terms will be vastly worse for borrowers.” The move comes amid rising household debt in the US, which jumped by by $197 billion to reach $18.59 trillion in the third quarter. As for credit card balances , they rose by $24 billion from the previous quarter and stood at $1.23 trillion. Though no Indian card issuer chose to react, analysts this newspaper spoke to rubbished the idea as “a wild call that strikes at the very root of free markets and markets-driven interest rate regime”. In India, credit cards charge anywhere from 36-40% annually . “If you don’t charge a risk premium on a completely risky loan/unsecured product like credit card, how can a bank continue to be in business? Even in the US, the effective interest rate is around 7% now and with addition of staff cost, interest cost on the money being lent through credit card, a pricing of 10% is simply not sustainable,” an analyst said. From Apartheid-era township to top of tree G O M E S H S @ Paarl JUST about 25km North of Durban, KwaMashu township holds a historical significance in South Africa. It was established under Apartheid to house relocated Black South Africans from Cato Manor. A neighbourhood that is steeped in history — the Mahatma Gandhi House is close by — and houses close to 175,000 people (2011 census) who continue to struggle with poverty, unemployment and crime. For the last few weeks, the localWITH THIS ISSUE A SOBERING EFFECT PLUS 12 P AGES ``JAI JAWAN JAI KISAN " CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Interior K’taka sees cold wave, B’luru drizzle EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @Bengaluru PEOPLE in Karnataka on S a t u r d ay e x p e r i e n c e d unique weather for this season of the year. While parts of interior Karnataka and north Karnataka experienced severe cold wave conditions, most parts of Bengaluru received a light drizzle. IMD on Saturday issued a cold wave alert for interior and north Karnataka with temperatures dropping by 3-6 degrees Celsius in many regions, including Bidar, Kalaburagi and Bagalkot. IMD Director, Bengaluru in-charge, N Puviarasan, said Karnataka is experiencing different weather conditions and it is a rare phenomenon. North easterly and north western winds are blowing over north and interior Karnataka and they are experiencing severe cold wave conditions. Some parts of coastal Karnataka and south-interior Karnataka are receiving easterly winds P7 from Bay of Bengal. Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi pays homage to the 2nd Prime Minister of India Bharat Ratna Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri (October 02, 1904 - January 11, 1966) on his 60th Punyatithi "The basic idea of governance, as I see it, is to hold the society together so that it can develop and march towards certain goals" Lal Bahadur Shastri ^^esjh le> ls ç'kklu dk ewy fopkj ;g gS fd lekt dks ,dtqV j[kk tk;s rkfd og fodkl dj lds vkSj vius y{;ksa dh rjQ c<+ lds** yky cgknqj 'kkL=h LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, DELHI Plot No. 11/7, Sector - 11, Dwarka, New Delhi - 110075 Phone : 011-25307700 | Email : director@Lbsim.ac.in www.Lbsim.ac.in ity has been cherishing a rare mo- dream seemed impossible. “Buying ment of joy. One of their sons — cricket gear was difficult. My sisNqobani Mokoena — has turned ters were assisting me, and they into a symbol of hope not just for were too expensive,” Princess rethe locality but the whole councalls. “Kids in the township try Raised by a single mother, . don’t focus on school, don’t foPrincess Mokoena, with help cus on their talent, and don’t from a joint family the 19-year, respect their family .” old pacer has lit up the ongoThe teenager found a ing SA20 for Paarl Royals. new life through It was not easy as a child. cricket. Only in its fourth year, just Princess worked as an aslike IPL, SA20 is sistant in a firm and strugmaking cricket gled to make ends meet a viable career and at times supporting P13 option. Nqobani’s cricketing Nqobani Mokoena EXPRESS READ Six killed in Mississippi, suspect in custody Authorities say a person was in custody Saturday after six people were killed in a series of related shootings in eastern Mississippi, United States. Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said in a Facebook post that ‘multiple innocent lives” were lost “due to violence’ in the town of West Point, near the Alabama border. The sheriff told WTVA that six people were killed in three locations. A suspect was in custody and there was no threat to the community, the sheriff wrote on Facebook