EXPRESS ILLUSTRATION BENGALURU  THURSDAY  AUGUST 27, 2026  `9.00  PAGES 18  LATE CITY EDITION META REACHES $17 BILLION DEAL WITH U.S. ON TEEN SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION Meta will pay $17 billion to US to end a landmark trial on Wednesday over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states | P9 PAYOUT ONE OF THE BIGGEST IN HISTORY ‘CAUSED MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS IN YOUTHS’ California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey were among 29 states that sued the tech giant in 2023, but the deal cuts short the trial, which was expected to see CEO Mark Zuckerberg take the stand before a jury in federal court in California. The agreement is worth $353 million in Virginia alone and one of the biggest in consumer protection history ■ ■ The lawsuit accused Meta of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms and hiding them from the public The lawsuit argued that Meta violated federal laws by routinely collecting data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent $201 bn WAS META’S 2025 REVENUE, AND THE LAWSUIT IS A SMALL PART OF IT 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 95 dead, at least 133 Indian tourists, 37 NRIs among 750 missing after flash floods hit Nepal’s Rasuwa, Dhading; India steps up relief op, Isha Foundation says 77 members untraceable Gyirong County Landslide site r J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi ive Tr i s hu li r NEPAL New border hotlines, meeting points ahead of Xi’s India visit Rasuwa District KATHMANDU Map not to scale How the flood originated 1 An ice-rock avalanche originating in a high-altitude area likely triggered the devastating flash floods that hurtled down from Tibet across central Nepal districts on Wednesday, experts at ICIMOD said 2 Researchers said the large volume of ice and rock debris may have entered the Lende Khola, a tributary of the Bhote Koshi river 3 The event could have generated a sudden surge that carried water, sediment and large boulders downstream Bihar, UP on alert after floods in Nepal Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were on high alert on Wednesday after several districts in neighbouring Nepal were devastated by flash floods in the Gandak river system. Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath on the flood situation | P10 A screengrab of a massive mudslide caused by flash floods at Rasuwagadhi border point on the Nepal-Tibet border | X Killer Nepal water wall WASHES AWAY HUNDREDS IN A FLASH EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi AT least 170 Indians are among 750 tourists and travellers whose whereabouts remain unconfirmed after devastating flash floods swept through Nepal near the Tibet border, killing at least 95 people and leaving a trail of destruction across several of its districts on Wednesday . The Nepal Tourism Board said its preliminary list includes 291 foreign nationals and 93 Nepali nationals, with Indians constituting the largest identified group of foreign nationals. Another 37 non-resident Indians have also been listed separately as authorities , continue efforts to verify their whereabouts and safety. The flash floods struck the Bhote Koshi River in Nepal’s Rasuwa district on Wednesday sending , torrents of water, mud and de- bris through settlements near the China border. The floodwaters also affected parts of Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts. Visuals from the affected areas showed powerful walls of muddy water sweeping through villages, engulfing buildings and carrying away vehicles and debris. Rescue and search operations are continuing, with authorities warning that the casualty figures could rise as teams reach more affected areas. The large number of Indians caught up in the disaster has prompted an immediate response from New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Nepal counterpart Balendra Shah and offered condolences over the loss of life, while assuring India’s support. “People of India stand in solidarity with their sisters and brothers in Nepal at this difficult time,” Modi said, adding that India was ready to provide “all possible humanitarian assistance.” The Indian Air Force has dispatched a C-130J aircraft carrying 10 tonnes of humanitarian assistance and essential medicines, the MEA said. The floods have also affected pilgrims travelling through the region towards Tibet. Isha Foundation chief Sadhguru said 77 members of the organisation were caught in the flash floods and their whereabouts remained unknown. “A terrible and tragic flash flood has taken place at Gyirong in Tibet, one of our Kailash groups was caught in it,” Sadhguru said. The other missing tourists were from US, Malaysia, the UK, South Africa, Australia P7, 11 and the Netherlands. Ahead of guv’s move, Nagendra offers to quit? D E V A R A J B H I R E H A L L I @Bengaluru KARNATAKA Planning and Statistics Minister B Nagendra is likely to resign as minister to avoid embarrassment to the Congress government. This follows Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s intervention over the issue after the CBI sought sanction to prosecute the minister in the multi-crore Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation scam. The governor has reportedly written to the government, seeking clarification on Nagendra’s continuation as minister, sources said. After the governor’s communique, Nagendra reportedly spoke to Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and offered Raj HC acting CJ needs to go, SC judge tells CJI S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi CHIEF Justice of India Surya Kant on Wednesday said that the Collegium is examining Justice Sandeep Mehta’s allegations against Rajasthan High Court Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma. The CJI’s statement came hours after reports said Justice Mehta has shot off three letters to the CJI this month, levelling serious alle gations against Justice Sharma, who is due to retire on September 26. In a press statement issued in the evening, the CJI said the contents of the letters cannot be adjudicated in the public domain and that Justice Sharma must be given a fair opportunity to place his response before any conclusion is reached. The fact that allegations have been made cannot by itself be treated as a finding against the judge, he added. The CJI emphasised that the SC cannot allow individual complaints concerning judges to be determined through competing claims in the media. Earlier in the day, reports said Justice Mehta wrote to the CJI on August 2, 10 and 17, seeking the immediate replacement of Justice Sharma with a chief justice from another HC. The letters alleged Justice Sharma, who has been serving as the acting chief justice for the past 10 months, manipulated case listings and misused his administrative powers. “There are innumerable instances of Justice Sharma, exercising powers as the Acting Chief Justice in a manner unbecoming of the leader of the institution,” Justice Mehta wrote in one of his letters. He said that during his visits to Rajasthan, numerous judges met him and expressed anguish over Justice Shar ma’s behaviour. to resign. Shivakumar is now expected to discuss it with the high command during his visit to New Delhi on Thursday . But Shivakumar said here on Wednesday that Nagendra is innocent, and that his Delhi visit has nothing to do with the minister’s offer to resign. Nagendra’s of fer could also be because of the opposition BJP’s planned 10-day padayatra from September 1, seeking his resignation. The march that will start from Raichur will culminate in Ballari, which is the ST Nayaka community belt, to set a narrative that the Congress government and its ST community minister had looted funds meant for the welfare of the community P4 . AHEAD of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to India next month, New Delhi and Beijing have agreed on a fresh set of measures to strengthen communication along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), while keeping negotiations on the boundary question moving. The decisions were reached at the 25th round of talks between India and China’s Special Representatives, held on Tuesday in Beijing, with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval representing India and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi representing China. The talks produced an eightpoint outcome that combines political engagement on the Chinese President Xi Jinping boundary dispute with practical measures aimed at preventing incidents along the LAC from escalating. Among the most significant decisions was an agreement to establish two additional meeting points for General Level Mechanism/Senior Highest Military Commander meetings, an official release said. The two sides agreed to add two new channels for border HAL, France’s Safran seal deal on multi-role combat helicopters The signing marks the start of the engine’s developSTATE-RUN Hindustan Aer- ment and production phase, onautics Ltd (HAL) and with work to be shared France’s Safran Helicopter equally between the two parEngines on Wednesday ent companies. HAL is both inked a contract to a shareholder in jointly develop a SAFHAL and the 3,500 to 4,000 shaft customer for the enhorse power-class gine as the helicop‘Aravalli’ copter enter manufacturer. gine, which will However, the two power H A L’s helicopter proplanned 13-tonne Ingrammes are yet to Beyond dian Multi-Role Helreceive acceptance Mi-17s icopter (IMRH) and of necessity and apThe IMRH is its naval variant, the proval from the Cabintended to 12.5-tonne Deckinet Committee on eventually Based Multi-Role Security, with HAL replace the Helicopter. funding preparatory Indian The contract covwork from its own ers the engine’s de- military’s fleet resources. of over 240 sign, development, HAL chair man manufacture, supply Russian-origin and managing direcMi-17 and lifecycle suptor Ravi K said the helicopters. port. The ‘Aravalli’ contract marked a The first will be developed by “significant step forSAFHAL Helicopter prototype will ward” in India’s purEngines Pvt Ltd, a be out in 2028 suit of self-reliance 50:50 joint venture in aero-engine techbetween HAL and Safran nology. Safran Helicopter Helicopter Engines, the ro- Engines CEO Olivier Antorcraft engine arm of Sa- dries said the programme fran, with the production represented a new chapter planned at HAL’s facility in in the strategic relationship Tumakuru, Karnataka. between India and France. J A V A R I A R A N A @ New Delhi TMC REBELS GET NOTICE FROM LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT The Lok Sabha secretariat has given 20 rebel TMC MPs, who merged with the Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens Party of India in June, seven days to reply to a petition seeking their disqualification on grounds of defection | P9 JUMBO BEGINNING The grand Gajapayana of Dasara elephants kicks off at Veeranahosahalli in Mysuru on Wednesday, marking the formal beginning of preparations for the Mysuru Dasara celebrations | UDAYASHANKAR S | P6 Food safety violations at 8 top clubs in city EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @Bengaluru FOOD safety officials issued notices to eight prominent clubs in Bengaluru after a special inspection drive that found multiple violations, including cockroach infestation, poor hygiene, improper food storage and labelling lapses. The inspections were conducted on Tuesday by teams from the Food Safety and Drugs Administration Department across Bengaluru within the limits of Greater Bengaluru Authority under the guidance of Health and Family Welfare Minister UT Khader. The minister told the media on Wednesday that while clubs are particular about dress codes, greater importance should be given to maintaining hygiene in their kitchens. A meeting will be held with officials and representatives of hotel and restaurant associations, as well as those associated with Indira Canteens, to discuss the shortcomings found during the inspections and issue necessary directions. At Bowring Institute, officials found unhygienic conditions and cockroach infestation in the food storage area. Century Club was found to have cockroach infestation and unhygienic conditions. At the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Club, officials reported deficiencies in personal hygiene, use of plastic cutting boards, blocked drainage, food-labelling violations, poor cleanliness in frozen storage, improper storage of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food and the absence of hot water at the utensil-washing area. P7 military hotlines in the Eastern and Middle Sectors, expanding direct military communication. The agreement comes as India and China continue efforts to consolidate peace and stability along the border following years of heightened tensions. Both sides agreed that situations on the ground would be addressed promptly through existing diplomatic and military channels, including the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination, local commander-level meetings and other agreed mechanisms. The two sides also discussed ways to improve their understanding of the LAC in appropriate areas, with the aim of reducing the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation. Police retrieve the bodies from Bhutanal tank, Vijayapura city, on Wednesday 6 bodies, 5 of kids, found in V’pura tank EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @Vijayapura SIX bodies, including that of four children, were found at Bhutanal tank on the outskirts o f Vi j a y a p u r a c i t y o n Wednesday . The deceased have been identified as Shobha Mallikarjuna Jalageri (35) of Toravi Shanti Nagar and her four children — Vidya (15), Suvarna (13), Tipparaya (12), Sanika (10) — and another child Vikash (6). Superintendent of Police Laxman Nimbargi said the incident came to light after the family members reported Shobha and the children missing. A missing person case was registered at the Vijayapura Rural police station on Monday after Shobha’s husband Mallikarjun Bhimasi Jalageri filed a complaint, stating that she had left home along with the children. The bodies of Shobha and the children were subsequently found in Bhutanal tank, which falls under the jurisdiction of Adarsh Nagar police station. Local residents who noticed the bodies floating near the edge of the lake alerted the police. Fire and Emergency Services personnel reached the spot and retrieved the bodies. The bodies were sent to BLDE Hospital for postmortem. The police are investigating the circumstances leading to the deaths and are examining all angles. While preliminary information points to drowning, the exact circumstances leading to the deaths remain unclear. EXPRESS READ Won’t let pvt players use park land, says CM Bengaluru: Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said the Karnataka Government Parks Bill was aimed at facilitating essential public works, particularly road widening, within the legal framework. “There is no question of allowing anybody to use it for private purposes,” the CM said, asserting that his government was not permitting construction of buildings in parks | P4