MANGALURU  FRIDAY  APRIL 24, 2026  `9.00  PAGES 14  CITY EDITION NGT SHOOTS NOTICES TO 6 CRICKET STADIUMS FOR NON-COMPLIANCE PIC: SAYANTAN GHOSH IN FOCUS: GROUNDWATER TO MAINTAIN STADIA The plea was against use of groundwater or fresh water to maintain cricket grounds instead of the sewage treatment plant (STP)-treated water. And also against not installing rainwater harvesting systems. The NGT bench said seven stadiums failed to submit their replies despite repeated directions; only Hyderabad has sought time to reply The National Green Tribunal has sent notices to six stadiums, including the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi for non-compliance of tribunal order IPL MATCHES MAY GET AFFECTED ■ ■ Notices sent to Arun Jaitley Stadium, Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium (Raipur), Sawai Mansingh (Jaipur), Dr DY Patil Stadium (Mumbai), Ekana Stadium (Lucknow), Barabati Stadium (Cuttack) Lucknow, Delhi, Jaipur and Raipur are hosting matches this IPL season and NGT is asking why activity should not be stopped I P13 2021 YEAR OF ORDER , MANDATING STP-TREATED WATER & RAINWATER HARVESTING 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 Super massive polling again Trump’s hell-hole jibe on India ‘in poor taste’: Govt TN sees unprecedented 85% turnout Bengal voting highest since Independence T M U R U G A N A N D H A M @ Chennai ‘Shoot and kill’ order P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi IN a sharp response to US President Donald Trump’s repost of a derogatory comment against India on social media, New Delhi on Thursday said that the comments are “uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste”. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the remarks do not reflect the reality of the India-US relationship, which has long been based on mutual respect and shared interests. “We have seen the comments, as also the subsequent statement issued by the US Embassy in response. The remarks are obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste,” said Jaiswal. Hours after Trump reposted American political commentator and radio host Michael Savage’s podcast, the US went into DAY a damage control. Responding to queries from Indian media, a US embassy spokesperson said: “The President has said ‘India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top’.” In the podcast, Savage also termed Indian and Chinese immigrants as “gangsters with laptops” who have “stepped on our flag”. Trump shared the transcript and video of the podcast Savage Nation, calling for changes in the US’ birthright citizenship law. “A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring in their entire family from China, or India, or some other hell-hole on the planet,” it said. The social media post invited scathing criticism from Opposition parties. “Modiji’s dear friend, ‘Namaste Trump’ has shared a note abusing India and using an extremely disparaging term. Modi ji remains absolutely mum on these ridiculous utterances,” said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. 55 Trump on Thursday issued shoot-at-sight orders on Iranian boats laying mines to choke traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. “I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be... that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait,” he said Not safe to travel to Iran now: Indian embassy The Indian embassy in Tehran cautioned against travelling to Iran in view of resumption of flights. “Airspace restrictions and operational uncertainties due to regional tensions continue to affect flight operations to and from Iran,” it said in its advisory THE high-stakes campaign of political parties for the Assembly poll in Tamil Nadu received an equally enthusiastic response from the electorate on the day of polling as the state recorded an unprecedented 85% voter turnout on Thursday . Though the sharp jump from 73.6% in 2021 Assembly polls is predominantly driven by the shrinking of the state’s electorate by about 67 lakh from 6.41 crore to 5.73 crore due to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the scenes at polling booths indicated palpable enthusiasm from voters, particularly from the younger population, in participating in the democratic process. The entry of actor C Joseph Vijay through his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam has already raised the expectations on the surprises the election results may throw up on May 4, when the final results are expected to reveal whether these numbers will translate into substantial realignment of the political order in Tamil Nadu. All districts registered above 75% voter turnout, and around S U B H E N D U M A I T I @ Kolkata Hundreds of voters wait in queue to cast their vote at a polling booth in Kallikuppam in Ambattur, Chennai, on Thursday | P JAWAHAR 20 districts registered above 85%. Significantly, of the 234 Assembly constituencies, only seven recorded a voter turnout below 75%, while 42 have recorded voter turnASSEMBLY out above 90%, inELECTIONS dicating that the participation was widespread. In absolute numbers, the total number of people who voted in the polls went up by 24 lakh from 4.63 crore in 2021 to roughly 4.87 crore in 2026. In 2024 Lok Sabha polls, 4.39 crore voters had exercised their franchise. While incumbent Chief Minister and DMK president M K PLEA IN HIGH COURT 2 IAS officers accused of seeking 15% cut in garbage tenders EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru ACCUSING two senior IAS officers of demanding 15% of the bid amount as commission, including 9% as illegal gratification to some people in the state government for awarding tenders for solid waste management packages, SN Balasubramaniam, general secretary of Bengaluru Mahanagara Swachata & Lorry Malikara Hagoo Guttigedarara Sangha, has filed a petition before the High Court of Karnataka seeking its directions to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a thorough investigation against the two officials. The petition has been filed against Karee Gowda, chief executive officer, Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd (BSWML), and Tushar Girinath, additional chief secretary, Urban Develop- ment Department. When the matter was taken up for hearing by Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum on Thursday counsel for the , petitioner P Prasanna Kumar made the allegations against these officers. However, advocate general K Shashikiran Shetty submitted that the allegations were false and both officers were honest. In fact, Karee Gowda was not in Bengaluru the day the petitioner claimed to have met him when he allegedly sought commission. Karee Gowda was in Delhi on some work, Shetty said, adding that the officer had a flight ticket to prove this. However, the petitioner’s counsel submitted that he would file an affidavit in support of his allegations so that the court can order an inquiry to know the truth. To file the affidavit, the court adjour ned the matter to Friday . Bengaluru’s Dhanush Sudhir Mysore celebrates with his family his perfect score of 625, on Thursday | KEVIN NASHON SSLC results: Record pass percentage @ 94.1 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE TOP PERFORMING DISTRICTS KARNATAKA has recorded 94.1 pass percentage in the SSLC exam-1 (fresh or regular students), the highest-ever in history, as against 80.04 pass percentage in the previous academic year. Dismissing speculations that the increase is due to reduction in pass marks for each subject from 35 to 30 and an aggregate percentage of 33, Minister for School Education and Literacy, Madhu Bangarappa pointed out that only 1,532 students have been benefitted by the reduction. He said, “A lot of people had criticised the department for reducing the pass marks. However, it has been able to help only a few thousand students and not in large numbers.” Around 8,66,045 students, including fresh candidates, private candidates, repeaters had registered for the exams and of which 8,56,516 students appeared and 7,60,002 students passed, recording an overall pass percentage of 88.73, as against 74.74% CONTINUED ON: P7 last year. Dakshina Kannada : 98.40% @ Bengaluru Udupi: 98.18% Uttara Kannada: 98.09% Hassan: 97.51% DISTS WITH LESS PASS PERCENTAGE Kalaburagi: 85.06 Madhugiri: 90.26 Chikkaballapura: 90.88 Bengaluru South: 91.65 B’LURU PASS PERCENTAGE Bengaluru North: 95.33 Bengaluru South: 91.64 Bengaluru Rural: 95.33 EXPRESS READ Betting: HC stays order on FIR against Dr G, Tumakuru DC Sexual assault: Kodagu DC revokes homestay licence 35 peacocks die of heat in a week in Tumakuru Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday stayed the court order to the Kodigehalli police to register an FIR against Home Minister G Parameshwara and Tumakuru Deputy Commissioner Shubha Kalyan, for allegedly betting Rs 500 on a kabaddi match. The high court said the context in which the alleged offence is made out prima facie indicates mens rea | P4 Madikeri: Following the arrest of two men over allegations of sexual assault on a US national in Kutta village near the Karnataka-Kerala border in Kodagu district, the government on Thursday revoked the licence of the homestay where the alleged incident occurred. The property is registered under P A Ponnappa and the licence was valid till 15 January 2029 | P7 Tumakuru: At least 35 peacocks have died within a week in rural parts of Tumakuru and forest officials suspect extreme heat and dehydration to be the cause of the deaths. Officials also ruled out any foul play such as poisoning, as no such substances were found during autopsy. The deputy conservator of forests has ordered an inquiry into the death of the birds. Stalin is pitching his re-election as a high-stakes battle for state autonomy against central overreach, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and the BJP were campaigning on the economic promise of a “double-engine government”. Actor Vijay is riding on youth support to challenge the long-standing DMKAIADMK duopoly . The high voter turnout is usually read as a signal of people expecting change. In the 2011 Assembly elections, the state witnessed the highest voter turnout of 78,29%. P7 WEST Bengal on Thursday recorded its highest-ever voting percentage since Independence at 91.78 for the first phase of assembly elections, 7.06% mere than the previous best of 84.72% in 2021. Voter enthusiasm was visible though the Election Commission of India’s ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) axed 91 lakh names from the electoral rolls citing various reasons. Murshidabad, Bankura, Cooch Behar, Malda, Jhargram and Paschim Medinipur reported turnout around or over 90%. Kalimpong was relatively lower around 81%. What also stood out was the rather peaceful polling as no loss of life was reported, though stray incidents of violence were reported from a few districts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Election Commission for the peaceful polling. “For the first time in the last 50 years Bengal witnessed peaceful elections with less incidents of violence in the first phase. I congratulate the Election Com- mission…” he said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the high turnout reflected “fear among people that if they don’t vote, they may lose their voting rights and citizenship”, linking it to SIR. Polling was held in 152 of the total 294 seats in the state in the first phase. The second phase for the remaining 142 seats is scheduled for April 29. Women (92.69%) outnumbered men (90.92) at the polling booths, which made it more difficult to read the mandate. However, both the Mamata-led TMC and the BJP predicted a decisive mandate in their favour. Violence erupted in Nawda in Murshidabad district after supporters of the TMC and Humayun Kabir’s Aam Janata Unnayan Party clashed with each other, prompting the Central Armed Paramilitary Force to resort to lathi charge. Kabir, an expelled TMC leader, is a candidate there. In Kumarganj, BJP candidate Subrata Sarkar was assaulted by goons. Also, BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul’s car was attacked near Rahmat Nagar.