tirupati l monday l october 12, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Flash flood strikes Nepal again, weeks after deadly disaster A flash flood in the Budhi Gandaki River swept away houses and bridges and damaged three hydropower projects in Gorkha district on Sunday Two women among five persons missing Failure of temporary dam blamed Nepalese authorities rescued more than 80 people, including nine foreign nationals, with the help of four helicopters. Five people, including two women, remain missing. Locals said they fled their homes after hearing loud roaring sounds from the streams around 4 am. Over 40 houses were completely damaged while 27 suffered partial damage, authorities said ■ ■ The flood may have been caused by the failure of a temporary dam created by a landslide near Chumchet in Gorkha district, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said The disaster struck roughly a month and a half after the devastating Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river floods on August 26 | P9 700 Security personnel have been mobilised for relief work 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 In spl sitting, court orders restoration of metro, internet, finds prima facie case for contempt SC says peaceful protesters cannot be illegally detained S U C HITRA K A LYA N M OHA N T Y @ New Delhi In an unusual special sitting on Sunday a spe, cial bench of the Supreme Court said there can be no illegal detention of those peacefully gathering and that barricades in the national capital must be reviewed immediately based on lawand-order and traffic requirements. The court also held that Metro services and railway facilities shall function normally until and unless they need to be regulated keeping in mind reasonable restrictions envisaged under Article 19 (2). Further, internet facilities should be restored and lawyers and journalists must not be obstructed from discharging professional duties, the court ordered. The court observed that petitioners had prima facie made out a case of contempt against the Centre and Delhi authorities for violating the court’s October 9 directions against “complete prohibition” of transport services. The two-judge Bench of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana sought a response from Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Chairperson D Thara in the next hearing on October 13. “Free movement of people in the city shall be ensured subject to law and order situation and/ or traffic regulations... There shall be no illegal detention, particularly in cases of peaceful unarmed assemblage of people beyond the area where Section 163 BNSS is in operation,” the court ordered the Centre and Delhi Police. On being informed that a notice board had been put up in the court premises mentioning that Section 163 BNSS had been invoked in and around the precincts of the SC, the bench ordered it removed. The interim directions came on a contempt plea and a habeas corpus petition filed by lawyer Shailendra Mani Tripathi and senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy respectively The SC issued notices in . both cases, and sought a compliance report in the contempt plea. The court accepted the government’s assurance that Metro services would be normalised unless public order situation arose. CJI declines to meet Rahul, Kharge Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has declined to meet leaders from the Congress, including LoP Rahul Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, on Monday. The CJI cited the pendency of related matters before the SC for declining to meet the leaders. Rahul had said the INDIA bloc would meet CJI to submit a memorandum on “vote chori” Police personnel physically remove protestors in Connaught Place, New Delhi on Sunday | Parveen Negi India rejects UN’s ‘interference’ India on Sunday rejected as “unacceptable interference” concerns raised by the United Nations Human Rights Office over detention of protesters, saying authorities had acted in accordance with the law. In a video, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Constitution guaranteed the right to peaceful assembly, which was safeguarded by the country’s institutions, an independent judiciary and a free media Dream big, pursue ideas sans fear: PM S u b a s h i n i V i j aya k u m a r @ Chennai PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked students to dream big, think differently and pursue their ideas without fear, saying young people could help find solutions to the challenges facing India and the world. Addressing students at a school here, he urged them to contribute to the goal of build- PM Modi at the event on Sunday | Shiba Prasad Sahu ing a Viksit Bharat by 2047. His appeal came amid protests by student groups demanding removal of the CEC. However, he did not refer to the protests in his speech. Stating that the world is looking for solution providers, the PM said the students have the potential to provide these solutions. He urged the students to make the most of opportunities available to them. S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke before being released on Sunday along with Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das | PTI CJP leaders say protests won’t stop till cec quits u d aya n k i s h o r e & a n u p v e r m a @ New Delhi HOURS after being released from detention on Sunday Cockroach Janta Party leaders vowed to , intensify their agitation demanding removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, as around 200 protesters were detained and New Delhi remained under a thick security blanket. Following the Supreme Court order after a special hearing earlier in the morning, police partially relaxed the clampdown, including opening of Metro stations and resumption of internet services. The hide-and-seek continued between protesters and security personnel, who kept doing flag marches and chasing protesters away who regrouped to resume the agitation. , CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were released on Sunday morning Police file on the condition that they 20 FIRs would not “breach peace” for Police claimed a year. YouTuber Dhruv that it registered Rathee, after he was released 20 FIRs in in the morning, claimed he connection with was not detained, but “kid- Saturday’s napped” by police. protest. The FIRs CJP co-convener Ranka included charges said he and other leaders related to assault would approach Delhi Police on police and on Monday to seek a date for obstruction of holding a fresh protest at duty, among Jantar Mantar. other offences. At a press conference held On detentions, at Press Club of India, Das police said alleged the government had “preventive turned the state against its arrests” were own citizens and the CJP’s made following agitation would continue. “all procedures”. “Protests will happen not just in Delhi but in the whole country This will . not stop till Gyanesh resigns,” he said. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said he had not signed any bond barring him and other CJP leaders from staging further protests. “I have not signed any bond. We will take to the streets again... We are not afraid of your dictatorship; we will end your dictatorship,” Dipke told reporters at Nagpur airport, before proceeding to Hingoli in Maharashtra to attend the last rites of his grandmother. CPM Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas was injured after Delhi Police allegedly manhandled him in Connaught Place. Brittas said security personnel nearly choked him despite his attempts to identify himself as an MP He was later . admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Among others detained were CPI leader Annie Raja and members of SFI, AISF and AISA, including Neha Bora and Aishe Ghosh. Reporters Sans Frontieres said “at least 16 journalists were brutally detained”. El Niño-induced drought triggers mass exodus from Kurnool villages K M a d h u S u d h a k a r @ Kurnool A severe wave of rural distress triggered by monsoon failure and El Niño-induced drought conditions has sparked mass distress migration across Kurnool district, leaving entire villages deserted as thousands of farming families depart in search of daily-wage livelihoods. Nearly 10,000 agricultural families have already packed their belongings, and left their native habitations on hired auto-rickshaws, State transport buses, and trains. Local sources estimate that at least another 50,000 families are preparing to abandon their villages soon after the upcoming Dasara festival. The crisis is particularly acute across the drought-hit western divisions of Adoni, Ye m m i g a n u r a n d Pathikonda, where consecutive crop failures have destroyed agricultural employment, and left small farmers trapped under mounting debts. Labourers and small landholders across 12 severely affected mandals— EXPRESS ILLUSTRATION Local body elections an acid test for coalition govt: Naidu including Alur, Pathikonda, Aspari, Nandavaram, Kosigi, Chippagiri, Kowthalam, Yemmiganur, C Belagal, Kodumuru, Adoni and Mantralayam— are migrating en masse to major urban hubs like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Vijayawad a , G u n t u r, Chennai, Bellary, Mumbai and Delhi to seek employment at construction sites, industrial units, and distant agriculturP4 al fields.  Underscoring the critical importance of grassroots governance ahead of local body elections, Chief Minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has directed ministers, legislators, and key party functionaries to treat the upcoming polls as a major test of leadership performance, and ensure a sweeping victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Addressing a virtual conference with district party presidents, MPs, MLAs, constituency observers, and key leaders on Sunday, he stated that the electoral outcome should surpass the vote share recorded during the 2024 general elections, which will serve as the primary criterion for evaluating leaders’ performance over the next 50 days without exemptions. Highlighting candidate selection parameters, Naidu stressed that tickets will be allotted based on winning prospects, honesty, efficiency, and social re-engineering, warning that non-serious efforts or superficial participation by leaders will not be tolerated. Exhorting the ruling coalition cadre to channel the spirit of the 2024 election victory he , declared that a decisive blow ‘Winning chances main criterion for selection’ Mentioning candidate selection parameters in the local body polls, Chief Minister and TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu said tickets will be allotted based on winning prospects, honesty, efficiency, and social re-engineering, warning that superficial participation by leaders will not be tolerated struck by the NDA in the local body polls should force the opposition YSRCP to permanently shutdown. Asserting that the NDA government holds the moral right to seek votes after fulfilling its key promises, he accused the opposition of repeatedly approaching courts to stall elections, and block statutory res- ervations for Backward Classes (BCs). He noted that the government has overcome all legal hurdles, and is conducting polls in compliance with judicial directives. Reinforcing coalition ethics (mithra dharmam), Naidu ordered the immediate formation of joint coordination committees with alliance partners Jana Sena and BJP at constituency and district levels. He cautioned legislators against internal friction, and instructed them to respect the sentiments of ground-level workers. Naidu added that he has personally reviewed party cadre across 59 constituencies to align government initiatives seamlessly with NDA activities. Reviewing gover nance achievements, Naidu detailed major development milestones, noting that `1.50 lakh crore has been disbursed toward welfare schemes alongside an equivalent scale of infrastructure projects. Key milestones include fulfilling ‘Super Six’ commitments, inaugurating Bhogapuram Airport, abolishing the garbage tax, launching rural infra drives worth `11,000 crore under ‘Palle Panduga’, and advancing Jal Jeevan Mission projects worth `30,000 P4 crore, he highlighted.  Kadapa PhD scholar gets replies to RTI queries after a decade S N a g a r a j a R a o @ Kadapa The mail received by T Suresh Babu from different departments for his RTI queries filed way back in 2015 | EXPRESS PhD awarded in 2017 T Suresh Babu was awarded PhD on September 5, 2017 for his thesis on “Implementation of Right to Information Act-2005: A Study in YSR Kadapa District” In a striking illustration of systemic administrative inertia under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, a research scholar in YSR Kadapa district has begun receiving official responses to his RTI queries filed in 2015, nearly a decade later in 2026—long after he completed his academic thesis, submitted his research findings, and ear ned his doctorate. Tummuluru Suresh Babu, who currently serves as an Assistant Professor (Contract) in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Yogi Vemana University, submitted formal applications under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act in 2015 across 46 public offices in the district. The filings were an integral part of his doctoral dissertation titled “Implementation of Right to Information Act-2005: A Study in YSR Kadapa District,” conducted between 2012 and 2016. The queries sought performance data, operational metrics, and compliance records from vital administrative bodies, including the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), APSRTC, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), STEP, Forest Department, Panchayat Raj, District Education Office (DEO), Employment Exchange, and the BC Welfare Department. While a few offices responded within the statutory 30-day window back then, several key departments ignored both initial applications, and subsequent first appeals. Unable to wait indefinitely for public officials to comply, Suresh Babu completed his study using available data, and was officially awarded PhD degree on September 5, P4 2017.  Day after 12 killed, Riyadh airport struck again A g enc i es @ Dubai/ Riyadh A fresh Houthi attack targeted Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Sunday a day , after a missile attack there killed 12, including an Indian national, and wounded more than 300 in the sharpest escalation of the ongoing war between Iran-backed Yemeni rebels and Saudi Arabia. A Saudi official said an unidentified projectile struck Terminal 4 of the airport, causing a fire. The Saudi Civil Aviation Authority said there were injuries, but did not specify . About an hour after the airport attack, AFP journalists reported hearing two explosions in quick succession in central Riyadh. The cause of the blasts People gather outside a metro station near Riyadh airport on Saturday | AP was not immediately clear. Earlier in the day, the authorities had extended the airport’s closure till Sunday night. It was also announced that schools in the capital would hold classes online till the end of the week. One Indian national, who was injured in Saturday’s attack and was undergoing treatment, died on Sunday, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh said. “We convey our heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased. We are in touch with the family and will provide all support for ensuring the early repatriation of mortal remains,” the embassy said in a statement. At least 10 more Indians have been injured in the attack. The Ministry of External Affairs condemned the attack. “We strongly condemn the repeated attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport over the past few days, including the dastardly attack on October 10, which have led to loss of lives, injuries and property damage,” its statement read. Amid the attacks, several flights connecting Keralam with Saudi Arabia and other destinations in West Asia have P9 been cancelled.