bengaluru l saturday l september 26, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 26 l late city EDITION AFspa extended for six more months in parts of 3 states The Centre has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, in specified areas of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur Move follows review of L&O situation A Gazette notification published on Friday said the Act, which gives special powers to the Armed Forces, will remain in effect in the specified areas for six months from October 1, unless withdrawn earlier. This follows a review of the law and order situation. The “disturbed area” declaration has been extended across Manipur, barring areas under 13 police stations Four nagas killed in Manipur ■ ■ Four Nagas were killed in a cross-border attack allegedly by Myanmar-based alleged Kuki insurgents on Thursday afternoon at Pilong near the India-Myanmar border in Manipur’s Kamjong district The Working Committee of the Tangkhul Naga Long held the govt responsible and called for a 24-hour shutdown from 7 am Friday | P12 Sec 3 of AFSPA empowers the centre to declare “disturbed areas” 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 NDA allies’ turn New model investment treaty coming to seek clarity from Gyanesh P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi Chirag, Kushwaha, Devarayalu urge him to publicly address misgivings in poll process Prez sends anti-goonda Bill back to West Bengal SU B HEN D U M AITI @ Kolkata IN a setback to the BJP-led West Bengal government, President Droupadi Murmu has sent the controversial West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill back to the state for reconsideration. Opposition parties on Friday welcomed the development. The ‘anti-goonda’ bill was passed by the West Bengal Assembly in June. The bill was criticised by Opposition parties alleging the Suvendu Adhikari gover nm e n t w o u l d misuse its expanisve provisions. However, it was sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan for approval. In its note before returning the bill, the Centre said it may overlap with the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act. “Section (B) of the proposed Bill, insofar as it includes within the definition of ‘goonda’ a person who commits, attempts to commit, abets, promotes, finances or facilitates any offence punishable under the NDPS Act, 1985, may overlap with the preventive-detention framework provided under the PITNDPS Act, 1988, which is a specific Central legislation dealing with preventive detention of persons engaged in illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances,” it said. As the overlap might give rise to repugnancy under Article 254 of the Constitution, the note said reference to offences under NDPS Act in the section may be deleted. Secretariat officials said there is scope for the bill to be passed in the state assembly after amendment. Pa r v e z S u lta n & R a m a s h a n k a r @ New Delhi/Patna Amid mounting Opposition attacks on the Centre and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of arbitrary decisions in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, three BJP allies — the Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (LJP-RV), Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) — on Friday sought clarity on the electoral process to “dispel misgivings” among voters. In a related development, a plea was filed in the Supreme Court challenging the decisions, guidelines and software changes allegedly made by the CEC without the concurrence of the two election commissioners, saying they violate the statutory requirement of collective decision-making. LJP-Ram Vilas chief and Union minister Chirag Paswan urged the Election Commission (EC) to publicly address concerns about the electoral process and dispel misgivings among voters, while RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha pressed for an immediate clarification. TDP’s floor leader in the Lok Sabha Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu said transparency from the poll panel would boost confidence in the constitutional institution. “If questions are being raised about the Election Commission, which is an independent constitutional body the responsi, bility lies with the CEC to present his stance clearly Paswan said. He added that the poll panel should ,” clarify its position before the public, rather than addressing the concerns only to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Devarayalu said that while the SIR was conducted transparently in Andhra Pradesh, a clarification from the EC would be beneficial. Kushwaha said, “To dispel the confusion, the Election Commission should immediately issue a clarification on the correct position.” As for the Congress, it held protests across states, with demonstrations turning violent at some places. There were reports of clashes between the protesters and the security personnel. The security forces had to use teargas and water cannons to disperse the protesters at some places. According to Congress general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal, as part of the second phase of the protests, all District Congress Committees will organise similar marches to their respective District Collectorates on Monday  . P11 Hescom officials allege assault by Cong MLC E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Belagavi A controversy erupted in Belagavi on Friday after two Hescom officials alleged that they were assaulted by Congress MLC Chennaraj Hattiholi, the brother of former minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, at his residence after power supply was cut to a stone crusher over nonpayment of electricity dues. Hescom Assistant Executive Engineer Deepak D and Section Officer Raju Chavan said they were called to Hattiholi’s residence in Belagavi on Friday morning, where they were allegedly abused and assaulted. They said the power connec- tion to Lakshmi Stone Crusher at Tarihal in Belagavi taluk was disconnected on Thursday after bills amounting to Rs 77,360 remained unpaid for around three months. The crusher is reportedly owned by Pramod Jadhav, a close associate of Hattiholi. A large number of Hescom employees gathered at the APMC police station on Friday to file a complaint, but they did not. Belagavi Police Commissioner Prakash Nikkam said the police can register an FIR only if a complaint is filed. Hattiholi denied the charges, saying he had only asked the officials to cooperate with the people and give them time to pay . An updated model framework for bilateral investment treaties (BITs) is awaiting Cabinet approval, sources said. It is expected to incorporate changes negotiated with countries such as the UAE and Qatar, while Canada will also be covered. The Cabinet is likely to approve it soon, the sources said, adding India has already begun negotiations with several nations under the new framework. Several foreign companies have criticised India’s existing BIT framework, particularly the dispute resolution mechanism, which they say is timeconsuming and creates a significant impediment to further investment. Under India’s current model, foreign investors are generally required to pursue remedies in Indian courts for five years before initiating international arbitration. India terminated BITs with more than 70 countries in 2016 and 2017 and adopted a more restrictive model treaty that narrowed the definition of in- Bidadi row: 50 farmers taken into custody Express News Service @ Mangaluru Old evidence & memories: Challenges before SIT e x p r e ss n e ws s e r v i c e @ Bengaluru SIT constituted to probe afresh the 2012 rape and murder of 17-yearold Sowjanya faces several challenges, with nearly 14 years having passed since the crime. The team has to reconstruct the sequence of events and determine whether the old biological and other forensic evidence is still preserved and usable. Tracing witnesses and verifying their memories after such a long gap will also be a challenge. “Collecting new forensic evidence 14 years after the crime is almost impossible,” forensic experts say. P3 The Bengaluru South district police took 50 farmers, including women, into preventive custody on Friday The farmers . were on the fifth day of their hunger strike and had blocked the Bidadi-Harohalli Main Road while staging a sit-in protest against the proposed GBIT project in Bidadi. According to the police, farmers supporting the project had gathered at the protest site and demanded that the road be kept clear for commuters. They said the road blockade was affecting residents of other villages. An argument subsequently broke out between the two groups. To prevent any untoward incident and ensure safety, the police took 50 farmers into preventive custody, including 30 farmers who were protesting against the project. So far, no FIR has been registered in connection with the incident, the police said. P2 Kusumavathi has objected to the appointment of some police officers to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted to investigate the rape and murder of her daughter Sowjanya in 2012. In a press release, Kusumavathi stated that she is not satisfied with the SIT. The Supreme Court in its order directed the state government to constitute the SIT comprising efficient investigators well versed in modern investigative technology. “But the appointment of the SIT chief is not done as per Supreme Court directions,” she added. Speaking to TNIE, she urged the state government to appoint efficient and honest officers to ensure there is a transparent probe into the case and culprits are punished. “Some officers appointed to the SIT are not suitable to probe the case. We are grateful to the Supreme Court for intervening and directing the state government to form the SIT and conduct a fresh probe into the case. I appeal to the state government to constitute a team of efficient investigating officers to conduct a fair probe without bowing to any pressure and ensure my daughter gets justice. In the last 14 years, various investigations have failed to identify the culprits and at least now the freshly constituted SIT must probe the case in a transparent manner,” she appealed. In a press release, Social ac- express read Karnataka minister says cannot accept order to release water to TN bengaluru: Karnataka Water Resources Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy said the state cannot accept the CWRC and CWMA directives to release 4,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu. “Our water availability has reduced further. How can we release 4,000 cusecs” he asked, adding how is it possible to release water amid Super El Niño and drought conditions P4 DCM Parameshwara says drought losses estimated at over `40Kcr BENGALURU: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara on Friday said the total loss caused by drought in the state is likely to exceed `40,000 crore and the State Government has decided to provide an input subsidy of `2,500 to each farmer in the first phase to extend immediate assistance. He said around 45 to 50 lakh farmers will benefit from the decision to provide `2,500 aid P4 Indraneel Das Express @ asian games Nagoya s Kamaljeet and Suruchi Singh (R) celebrate their gold medal success. The duo posted the Asian Record in the final | pti stant in the team, Kamaljeet was a late inclusion. The shooting team has had one of the worst outings in recent times. If things had gone as per calculation, India would have won more gold before the start of Fri- have negotiations with 20-25 countries as per the BIT framework of 2016. But later, during our negotiations with UAE and Qatar, we moved far away from the previous framework,” a finance ministry official said. However, the domestic judiciary will not be bypassed. The new framework will also maintain certain safeguards for India’s policy-making space. “The framework will be designed in a way to ensure some red lines will not be crossed,” the sources said, adding that tax-related provisions would be excluded from the model BIT. Sowjanya’s mom: Not happy with some officers appointed to SIT Darkness to light: Golden hit after second chance URUCHI Singh slept for 13 hours after finishing 25th in the women’s individual 10m pistol qualification event on Wednesday Kamaljeet did not . get a chance to brood over his sonear-yet-so-far moment in the men’s individual 10m pistol qualification event on Thursday . Yet, after getting to know that he would be part of the mixed team on Friday, he did not get proper sleep. He was tossing and turning; he was borderline obsessed with the mixed 10m air pistol event at the picturesque Aichi Prefecture Shooting Range. Though Suruchi had been a con- vestment, removed most-favoured-nation provisions and excluded protection against retrospective taxation and certain regulatory measures. Analysts identified the existing framework as one of the factors for stagnating foreign investment flows. The government is now seeking to update it based on its experience in negotiating treaties with the UAE and Qatar. “Four BITs will be finalised soon and people are already going to different countries for negotiations. We day’s medal events. T h e re s u l t s h ave b e t r aye d the team. With such a predicament, they started the mixed team campaign. Suruchi and Kamaljeet had shaken off the qualification blues. A pep talk from mother and coach, solitary walks and quiet times were enough for them to recoup. The two are young and are playing their first Asian Games. Nerves are raw and emotions high as the two went about their campaign. Just like the two shooters, the game too is being played at the Asian Games for the first time. Friday was different. A new day and a new beginning as Suruchi and Kamaljeet went about their chores in the final hall after a record perfor mance during qualifications. With four teams in the final, India were the favourites to win gold. It was just a matter of time. “I always dreamt about winning a medal in the Asian Games,” said Kamaljeet. For Suruchi, it was exorcising the ghost of the qualification. More than them, India needed the gold in shooting. tivist Shekhar Laila urged the state government to drop police officers N Shashi Kumar and Venkatesh Prasanna from the SIT, claiming that both officers are facing corruption and other charges. Sowjanya, a student of SDM College in Ujire, went missing while returning home from college on October 9, 2012. Her body was found the next day in a forested area near Nethravathi river in Dharmasthala. The postmortem confirmed that she had been sexually assaulted before being murdered.