KOLLAM l thursday l September 24, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Germany ready to sign $8 billion submarine agreement with India The India-Germany deal to build six submarines under Project 75(I) has been finalised on the German side, its envoy to India Dr Jasper Wieck said Waiting for India’s green light: German envoy Review of tech transfer package pending “It has already been finalised and the German side has agreed to it. It is now up to the Indian side to complete and conclude its internal processes,” Wieck said. The proposed deal, estimated at `90,000 crore, sees India’s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders partnering with Germany’s Thyssenkrupp to build six conventional submarines in India, with technology transfer ■ ■ A review of the proposed technology-transfer package remains among steps before the project can get final approval in India A key aspect of the proposed deal is the transfer of fuel-cell Air-Independent Propulsion technology, which allows conventional submarines to operate longer without the need to access surface air 2023 When Germany stepped in as foreign partner for project 75 (i) 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 Split SC judgment on EC pick law sends it to a Constitution bench Justice Dipankar Datta criticises dropping Chief Justice of India from selection committee three-judge bench could only delay adjudication.Both judges also recordTHE Supreme Court on Wednesday ed concerns over the pendency of directed that a batch of petitions Constitution bench matters and rechallenging the 2023 law governing quested the Chief Justice to explore the appointments to the Election the possibility of forming a permaCommission be decided by a nent Constitution bench. Constitution bench after a The 2023 law was enacted division bench delivered a by Parliament after the SC’s split verdict on whether the Constitution Bench judgmatter should be referred to ment in Anoop Baranwal v a larger bench as sought by Union of India case directed the Centre. that appointments to the poll Justice Dipankar Datta repanel be made on the advice jected the Union’s plea for a of a committee comprising Justice Dipankar reference to a larger bench, the Prime Minister, Leader Datta Sharma while Justice Satish Chanof Opposition (LoP) in the dra Sharma saw the need for Lok Sabha, and the Chief substantial interpretation Justice of India until Parliaof law. ment enacted a law. While the law—the Chief Justice Sharma said in Election Commissioner and his separate opinion that other Election Commissionthe arguments advanced on ers (Appointment, Condibehalf of the Centre by the tions of Service and Term of Attorney General R VenkaJustice Satish Office) Act, 2023—retained taramani and Solicitor GenChandra Sharma the format of the panel, it reeral Tushar Mehta for referplaced CJI with a Union minring the issue to a larger ister. Justice Datta made strong obbench are well-founded. Despite the differences in opinion, servations about the composition of both judges directed that the papers selection panel, saying it hands the executive a veto in appointments. He be placed before the Chief Justice of India for setting up a Constitution said the Union minister, serving at bench of not less than five judges, the pleasure of PM, cannot act as a noting that sending the matter to a neutral check in the selection panel. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi EXPRESS READ SIT formed to probe charges against Pinarayi T’Puram: The state police have constituted a nine-member SIT to conduct a preliminary inquiry against former CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his family on the allegations raised by the ED in connection with Exalogic-CMRL pay-off case. The team will be led by Crime ADGP H Venkatesh, while Crime Branch SP P Vikraman is the inquiry officer. P4 IIT Prof sent on leave over student death Mumbai: IIT Bombay Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, who is an accused in the alleged suicide death of a 20-year-old second-year B Tech student Sahil Wakode, has been sent on compulsory leave to enable an impartial probe, sources said on Wednesday. Earlier, he was removed as the dean of Administrative Affairs. Oppn renews demand to scrap SIR, impeach CEC PA R V E Z S U LTA N @ New Delhi OPPOSITION parties on Wednesday lit into the Centre and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after a media report suggested that the two election commissioners— Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi—objected to some decisions pertaining to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. They called for action against the CEC and demanded that the SIR be scrapped. While the Congress called for CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s impeachment, the Trinamool Congress, AAP and Shiv Sena (UBT) , demanded his arrest. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said any wrongdoings committed by the poll body Gyanesh Kumar, amounts to “treason” and should be treatCEC ed as such. “These documents emerging from within the EC raise extremely serious questions about the role of the Modi government and the BJP-RSS,” Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned the credibility of the poll panel, alleging that voters were “systematically deleted” from the electoral rolls. Reacting to the media report, the Election Commission of India issued a statement saying that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution and all its orders “are an outcome of the unanimous decisions of the full Commission in the past one year”. Why not private favours, asks CM Satheesan E x press N e w s S ervice @T’Puram When legends meet... Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho and Indian icon I M Vijayan greet each other before the ‘Return of the Titans’ exhibition match at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi on Wednesday. Brazilian star Rivaldo is also seen | T P Sooraj | P2 Weight, wait off lifter Mirabai’s shoulders FIRST, the news. Express @ asian games Mirabai Nagoya Chanu, 32, won her first Asian Games medal here on Wednesday: silver, India’s first in any weightlifting discipline at this level since Karnam Malleswari in 1998. It is like completing the Grand Slam for a tennis player or a treble with the World Cup for a footballer. But the story of her medal goes beyond the news. Mirabai’s lifting is Indraneel Das no longer about barbells and weights. It has transcended that. Doctors, and nutritionists have become part of her life. Preparation no longer depends only on lifting weights and training. It goes beyond that. Every time she has been written off, she has found a way That is why this medal would . be rated among the biggest of her career. Not because it took her 12 years, but because of the timing — when the body is ageing, with aching bones and muscles because of injuries and when the end is in sight. P11 Amid questions over transparency and accountability surrounding his recent chartered flight to flash flood-hit Malappuram, a visibly annoyed Chief Minister V D Satheesan lashed out at reporters, justifying his acceptance of private favours on the grounds that it saved public money . He maintained that he was under no obligation to disclose who paid for the flight, brushing aside questions about the identity of the private individual who footed the bill. The chief minister made it clear that he would undertake similar chartered journeys in the future as well. “What is wrong with that? I will travel again if required,” Satheesan said. He said he had a list of ministers and chief ministers from previous governments who had travelled on privately arranged aircraft, and maintained that he saw nothing improper in it. The chief Minister’s defence, however, handed fresh ammunition to the opposition, with the CPM accusing Satheesan of violating his oath of office by accepting a privately sponsored flight for an official visit. CPM state secretary M V Govindan questioned why the CM was unwilling to disclose the identity of the person who paid for ● More on P4 the journey  . S o o r y a K ris h n a m o o rt h y ( 1 9 5 1 - 2 0 2 6 ) Sun sets on Keralam’s cultural realm A s w in A sok K umar @T’Puram “If God offers to grant me a wish, I would pray that as an artist I should never be a mercenary. I should be able to continue like this till my death.” This was how Soorya Krishnamoorthy 75, chose to portray his life , in a free-wheeling chat with TNIE for Express Dialogues a couple of years ago. An artist-turned-art connoisseur, he lived a life upholding the virtues he held dear until the end. The renowned cultural icon and the architect behind Keralam’s biggest cultural fiesta for nearly five decades passed away at 6.45pm on Wednesday at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. He had been undergoing treatment for lung-related issues for the past few years. A space scientist-turned-artist, Krishnamoorthy founded the Soorya Stage and Film Society and was the brain behind Soorya Festival, the annual event that entered the Limca Book of Records as Asia’s largest and longest-running cultural festival. He is credited with nurturing hundreds of artists through the fest. For him, celebrity status was never the criteria for choosing artists for the festival. Instead, he went by talent and dedication to devote months towards practising. The former chairperson of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, Krishnamoorthy during his artistic , career spanning over five decades, served as the writer-director of numerous plays that were staged across ● More on P4 the globe.  Russia sanctions law: India raises concerns with US Jayanth Jaco b @ New Delhi External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has raised India’s “interests and concerns” over the United States’ new Russia sanctions legislation during a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly . “Reiterated India’s interests and concerns with regard to SRIA. Also discussed the Gulf and Ukraine situations,” Jaishankar said in a post on X following the meeting. The talks between the two leaders came after US President Donald Trump signed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 into law last Friday . It gives the US President the authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries, including India and China purchase Russian oil and gas.