tirupati l saturday l october 31, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l anantapur EDITION bhutan glacial lake outburst triggers flood alert in india The glacial lake outburst at Sintaphu in Bhutan early on Friday triggered downstream alerts in low-lying areas of West Bengal and Assam 10,000 people relocated in assam, bengal rising trend of Himalayan hazards The outburst occurred at Sintaphu Lake near Wakila Mountain in Lungo, Laya Gewog, in Gasa district of Bhutan. Following this, the Central Water Commission issued a special advisory to authorities in West Bengal and Assam. More than 10,000 people were relocated to safer areas in West Bengal’s Alipurduar, and in Assam’s Dhubri and Kokrajhar districts | P9 ■ ■ Previous assessments by ICIMOD and UNDP identified 47 major potentially dangerous glacial lakes across the transboundary of Koshi, Gandaki, and Karnali river basins, authorities said on Friday Kathmandu-based ICIMOD said this event is part of a broader pattern of mountain hazards affecting countries across the region 70L cubic m of water was released from the Sintaphu Lake in bhutan 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 Ready for special session on ‘vote theft’, but Oppn won’t agree: Shah ‘Impeachment’ today at Kharge’s residence Union home minister Amit Shah said on Friday that the BJP is ready for a special Parliament session to discuss the alleged “vote theft” but the Opposition parties are not interested in discussion. “I challenge Rahul and Akhilesh. The BJP is ready to discuss every allegation inside Parliament ... But they will not discuss,” Shah said, dismissing the allegations against the poll panel as baseless | P10 INDIA bloc’s symbolic ‘public impeachment’ of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was postponed to Saturday due to rains, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said. The event will be held at Mallikarjun Kharge’s official residence | P9 Will serve people of India till my last breath: Modi Says farmers got benefits worth `50 lakh cr through govt schemes DILI P SI N GH KSHATRIYA @ Ahmedabad PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that he would serve the people of India till his last breath, in an indirect response to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s recent controversial remark that “even Modi’s father will have to go”. “Jeevan ke antim kshan tak janta ki seva main hi juta rahunga (I will continue to serve the people until my last breath),” Modi said while addressing farmers after inaugurating the Bharat Bovine Breeding and Research Centre at Bhildi town in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district. During the roadshow, Modi’s supporters were seen carrying placards that read Modi kahin nahi jayega (Modi is not going anywhere) as a direct counterresponse to Kharge’s comment made a public rally in Bihar last week, which kicked up a political storm. In his address, Modi accused the Opposition parties of rejoicing whenever the country faces a crisis. He alleged they tried to spread panic over the Rough weather hits salvage of stranded ship Sigma Pearl U s h a P e r i @ Visakhapatnam Adverse weather and prevailing sea conditions hamper efforts to salvage the stranded bulk carrier MV Sigma Pearl, and move it to a sheltered location, leaving the future of the 180-metre vessel uncertain. With all 20 crew members rescued, the focus has now shifted to assessing the bulk carrier’s condition and determining whether it can be refloated. The Indian Coast Guard (ICG), in a press statement on Friday, said the condition of the vessel would be assessed to determine the feasibility of salvage operations. It cautioned that prevailing sea conditions could pose challenges to recovery efforts. “With all crew members safely evacuated, attention has now shifted towards assessing the condition of the stranded vessel, and determining the feasibility of salvage operations. Adverse weather and prevailing sea conditions may pose challenges to recovery efforts and movement of the vessel to a sheltered location,” the ICG P4 said.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at an event in Banaskantha, Gujarat | pti There are those who wish to see the country in distress— they actually derive pleasure when the nation faces hardship. Whenever a crisis befalls the country, they find joy in it — Narendra Modi, PM availability of fertilisers and cooking gas amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia. Without taking names, he said: “They sowed fear among farmers, claiming fertilisers would become unavailable. They created artificial queues and created a sense of panic.” After laying the foundation stones for development projects worth `14,000 crore, he claimed farmers across the country have received or saved more than `50 lakh crore through major government schemes, adding that his government transformed agricultural support through direct transfers, fertiliser subsidies, MSP payments and crop insurance. Modi said his government has placed farmers, particularly small cultivators, at the centre of its policies. He also took a swipe at previous governments, accusing them of neglecting small farmers. “Since independence, the needs of these small-scale farmers were never understood, and they were never even consulted,” Modi said, adding that farmers cultivating small landholdings account for more than 85% of the country’s farming population. Highlighting the financial assistance extended to farmers, the PM said the agricultural budget has increased fivefold and around `4.5 lak hcrore has been transferred directly to farmers’ accounts under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. On Friday `18,000 crore was , released to nearly 10 crore farmers, including over 50 lakh beneficiaries in Gujarat. Wrestler Manisha scripts golden history at Worlds The 29-year-old from Haryana on Friday became the first woman from India to clinch a gold medal at the senior World Championships 8-6 Manisha was down 1-6 in the final against Abigail Nette of USA after the first period but made a stunning comeback to win 8-6 in the 59kg weight category final in Astana, Kazakhstan. gold after 29 yrs Indian women first competed at the Worlds in 1997. Alka Tomar won the first medal (bronze) in 2006. In 2021, Anshu Malik created history by reaching final but ended with silver. best-ever show With Indian women winning four medals (one gold, two silver and one bronze), the show became India’s best-ever at the marquee event. Their previous best came in 2019 when men and women wrestlers combined to bag five medals (one silver and four bronze). Pilot among 6 killed in chopper crash n a r e n d r a s e t h i @ Dehradun SIX people, including a pilot and five pilgrims, were killed when a chartered helicopter flying from Badrinath to Dehradun crashed near Chai village in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli on Friday officials said. , The passengers were residents of Bengaluru, while the pilot, Captain Himanshu, was from Delhi, Chamoli Superintendent of Police Surjeet Singh Panwar informed. VT-HCX, an AS350 B3 helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation, took off from Badrinath at 1.14 pm for Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun. It was manoeuvring a patch of airspace amid snowfall when contact was lost near Hathi Parvat, close to Joshimath. CRASHES, CLOSE CALLS 2010 | June 12: Rotor snag, one dead 2013 | June: Relief copter crashes in Kedarnath, killing pilot June 21: Private chopper crash near Garudchatti, 2 dead June 25: IAF MI17 rescue helicopter crash kills 20 July 24: Kedarnath crash kills two 2017 | June 10: Crash during take-off at Badrinath Dham kills chief engineer 2019 | August 21: Crash in Arakot kills three September 23: Crashlanding at Kedarnath injures seven Wreckage of the helicopter near Chai village in Chamoli on Friday | PTI The police and the district administration immediately began search and rescue efforts. Authorities have not yet released further details about the cause of the crash. Those on board apart from were Captain Himanshu were Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K and H S Natraja. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau under the Ministry of Civil Aviation will conduct a probe into the crash. Its team has already left for the site, a senior official said. India’s poverty decline among fastest globally, says new World Bank report P U SH P ITA DEY @ New Delhi India has recorded one of the fastest declines in poverty globally with the share of its population living below poverty line falling from 57.7% in 2011 to 16.1% in 2023, a World Bank report said. The report titled India Poverty and Equity Brief: October 2026, released on Friday, said India lifted 496 million people out of poverty during this period. It, however, flagged wage disparities, noting that median ear nings among the top 10% of workers were 13 times that Second gold after 2010 Manisha, who returned without medal from the Asian Games recently, also became only second Indian to finish on top of the podium in the Worlds. Before Friday, only Sushil Kumar, twotime Olympic medallist, had won a gold medal, which came way back in 2010. We have seen seven to eight videos of her opponent’s previous bouts. One thing which stood out was the fact that the American usually gets tired in the last minute of the second period. So we have decided that we will launch an attack in the last 60 seconds. — Virender Dahiya, India women’s team coach Note of caution The World Bank report also cautioned that as poverty declines, it becomes increasingly concentrated among households with lower levels of education, fewer assets and limited access to stable employment of the bottom 10% in 2023. According to the report, India made remarkable progress in reducing poverty across monetary and non-monetary dimensions. Extreme poverty, measured against the $3-aday threshold, also fell sharply from 27.1% to 2.6%, it noted. The World Bank expects poverty to decline further, with the rate at the $4.20-a-day threshold projected to fall from 14.2% in 2026 to 12.1% by 2028. The improvement is expected to be driven by strong consumption growth, rising employment, particularly among women, and expanded social transfers, including food subsidies. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government’s sustained policy efforts were yielding tangible results, strengthening the foundations for inclusive growth and greater economic opportunities. “This is the reason why NDA government wins people’s trust and mandate of our citizens,” she said. 2022 | October 18: Kedarnath-bound copter crashes in Garudchatti, 7 dead 2025 | May 8: Chopper crashes en route to Gangotri; six dead June 7: Technical snag; pilot hurt 2026 | Oct 30: Badrinath crash, 6 including pilot dead express read Ensure fair local body polls: SEC Vijayawada: SEC Anil Chandra Punetha has directed Collectors, SPs, and election observers to work in close coordination to ensure that local body polls are conducted peacefully and freely | P4 2 Central teams to visit State Vijayawada: Two Central teams will visit the State over the next four days to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Arnab, and study the drought situation during the Kharif season in districts | P3 CM: `3,000-crore plan to modernise Godavari drainage system on anvil Express News Service @ Rajamahendravaram Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inspected inundated paddy fields at Kotha Navarasapuram village in Narasapuram mandal, and Matrevu village in Mogalthur mandal of West Godavari district on Friday interacted with cyclone af, fected farmers, and assured them of government’s support. He enquired about the extent to which farmers had insured their crops. “The government has taken steps to ensure that every acre in the State is covered under crop insurance through the eCrop system. Input subsidies will be provided to the affected farmers to overcome their losses. The NDA government is committed to ensuring that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu visits the cyclone affected areas in West Godavari district on Friday | Express farmers do not suffer loss even during difficult times,” he said. Naidu announced that the government would modernise the drainage system in the Godavari delta at a cost of `3,000 crore to prevent inundation of villages and agricultural fields during floods and cyclones. P4 Bombay HC holds Arun Ferreira’s 2011 arrest illegal Over 1/3 of rural youth Su d h i r Su r ay w a n s h i @ Mumbai THE Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court Nagpur has held the September 2011 arrest of activist Arun Ferreira “illegal” and ordered the Maharashtra government to pay him a compensation of `2 lakh. A bench of justices Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Raj Wakode in an October 27 order came down heavily on the state police for branding Ferreira as absconding in the case even though he was in jail since 2007. The HC said the police had violated Ferreira’s fundamental rights under Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution. When the law is breached by the police, ‘Picked up by cops outside prison’ Activist Arun Ferreira said he was picked up by cops in civil clothes as he stepped out of prison in 2011, after being acquitted in eight cases, in front of his family and advocates. The court rejected the police’s argument that secrecy had been warranted by his alleged Naxal links, stating that the duty to give reason for arrest applies sans exception the punishment must be proportionate, it added. “The responsibility of the police officers is to protect and uphold the law. It may not be out of context to remind that the motto of Maharashtra State Police is Sadrakshnaya Khalanighrahanaya (Sanskrit: To protect good and to punish evil), which needs to be respected.,” the bench observed. The court ordered that the compensation of `2 lakh be paid Ferreira, who is out on bail in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, within eight weeks. The judges were hearing a plea filed by Ferreira, who said he was released from prison on September 27, 2011 after he was acquitted in eight criminal cases. As he stepped out of prison, while his mother and brother were waiting for him with his advocates, officers in civil clothes took him away in an unnumbered vehicle. The police argued that secrecy was necessary because of his alleged Naxal links. but the HC rejected it, holding that the constitutional duty to give reason for an arrest applies without exception and nothing was placed on record to indicate the police informed Ferreira’s family or advocates at the spot on the grounds of arrest. report high screen time N e e l i m a E at y @ Visakhapatnam Researchers have found that 36.9% of 700 young adults surveyed in a rural community in Andhra Pradesh had high screen time. According to a study published in the Indian Journal of Community Medicine, higher screen use was associated with sleep disturbances, re gular junk food consumption, a lack of outdoor activity and both , parents being employed. The cross-sectional study covered young adults aged 18 to 25 years, and examined their screen time and socio-demographic details. The survey findings showed that 32.7% of participants reported d i s t u r b e d s l e e p, while 16.7% had never participated in outdoor activities. About 18.3% of youngsters were ove r we i g h t , a n d 58.1% reported using P4 spectacles.  EXPRESS ILLUSTRATION