hubballi l saturday l july 11, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION pushback against tag on calls from 140/1600 series as spam TRAI tells Trucaller caller ID applications or telecom operators cannot tag calls originating from 140 and 1600 number series as ‘spam’ ‘only customers can block promo calls’ In a press note on Friday, TRAI said under Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation, any tagging, blocking or filtering calls originating from 1600 series numbers is not permitted. It also said customers have the right to allow or block promotional calls from 140 series numbers by registering their preference on DND registry ■ 5.25 lakh 1600 for service calls, 140 telemarketers ■ TRAI said it has mandated use of 1600 series for service calls by banking, financial and insurance entities and by govt entities for govt-to-citizen communication; while 140 is for telemarketers In response, Truecaller CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala said both 140 and 1600 series numbers are used by spammers, hence they are blocked users of truecaller label such calls as spam daily 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 Govt: E20 cuts mileage; can’t offer other options Relentless and unstoppable Kylian Mbappe and Co beat Morocco to book a spot in thirdconsecutive semifinal. A look... Oil ministry says benefits of ethanol blending outweigh drawbacks RA K E SH K U M AR @ New Delhi 4 kidnap, rob soothsayer, land in net E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru Four miscreants who had allegedly kidnapped and robbed a ‘munajjim’ (astrologer) were arrested by Sampigehalli police. The victim, who was kidnapped in a car in June-end, was taken to a forest area near Tumakuru and assaulted with lethal weapons. They then took him to a bank and forced him to transfer Rs 4.5lakh. The gang had escaped after pushing him out of the car near Dabaspet. After arresting the accused, police found out that one of the accused had availed the services of the victim, but there was no progress as assured by him. Frustrated over this, the gang robbed him to recover the money paid as fees. The arrested accused have been identified as Arif and Adil, both natives of Tumakuru, Imran of Chikkabanavara, and Kadeer of RT Nagar. P7 THE Union petroleum ministry on Friday acknowledged that the use of E20 (20% ethanolblended petrol) can reduce vehicle mileage by up to 5%, but ruled out offering consumers a choice between pure petrol, E10, and E20, citing logistical a n d i nv e s t m e n t - r e l a t e d constraints. In a detailed explainer, the ministry said stocking three different grades of petrol at over 1 lakh retail outlets across the country would create enormous logistical challenges, raise handling costs, complicate inventory management, and cut operational efficiency . The ministry also pointed to the massive investments made in India’s ethanol ecosystem. It said public sector banks have financed nearly `1 lakh crore annually for ethanol production and related infrastructure, including dedicated ethanol plants, distilleries, storage facilities and logistics networks. “If, after creating this capacity, we were to arbitrarily revert to E10, what happens to these investments? What happens to the surplus production capacity? What happens to thousands of crores invested by farmers, cooperatives, entrepreneurs, financial institutions and public sector companies in good faith based on a national policy?” it said. It maintained that E20 is Ethanol programme saved `1.90 lakh cr in forex: Govt The government on Friday said the ethanol-blended petrol programme has helped the sugar economy, boosted farmer income, and saved the country over `1.90 lakh crore in foreign exchange since 2014-15. Joint Secretary in the food ministry Ashwani Srivastava said ethanol has become central to the agricultural economy by creating new markets for surplus crops and reducing India’s dependence on imported crude oil cleaner and more efficient than both pure petrol and E10. However, it acknowledged that E20 is currently more expensive to produce than pure petrol when international crude oil prices are around $70 per barrel. It becomes more economical only if crude prices rise to $120-130 per barrel, as ethanol is procured at a relatively stable price of about `71 per litre. The ministry’s explanation comes as global crude prices have largely remained in the $70-80 per barrel range over the past year, except for a brief spike to around $125 per barrel during the West Asia conflict. India’s crude basket averaged $70.99 per barrel in FY26, fall- ing to $62.20 per barrel in December and $63.03 per barrel in January . “Nearly 20% of every litre of petrol sold in India today is domestically produced ethanol. That ethanol is procured at around `71 per litre, a price that does not fluctuate every morning with Brent crude, geopolitical conflicts or shipping disruptions,” it added. The ministry said the transition to higher ethanol blending was undertaken after extensive consultations with automobile manufacturers. The roadmap for E20, prepared by an InterMinisterial Committee, has been in the public domain since 2021. Ethanol blending has risen steadily from 8.1% in the 202021 ethanol supply year to 10% in 2021-22, 12.1% in 2022-23, 14.6% in 2023-24, 19.2% in 202425, before achieving the 20% target in the current ethanol supply year. To counter concerns over vehicle compatibility, the ministry cited field data from automakers. It said Maruti Suzuki serviced 2.84 crore vehicles in FY26, including 1.5 crore nonE20-compliant vehicles, without reporting E20-related corrosion, abnor mal wear or reduced component life. Hero MotoCorp has reported similar field experience. “This real-world evidence is far more reliable than isolated anecdotes,” the ministry said. Again, Karnataka goes to SC to delay GBA polls E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru The state government has once again knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court, seeking to postpone the local body elections in Bengaluru. The Supreme Court had earlier ordered that the elections to all the five corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) should be held by August 31. In the application filed before the apex court, the government has sought time till December 31 to complete the polling process. GBA Chief Commissioner and District Election Officer M Maheshwar Rao filed a fresh application before the Supreme Court on July 9 (Thursday), stating that the adminis- tration is busy with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the final voters’ list will be published on October 7. The GBA contended that holding elections with the existing rolls before the revised and defect-free list is published would undermine the integrity of the democratic process. “Most of the officers are busy with SIR work, which makes it difficult to conduct the election process smoothly. The workload will also put pressure on the authorities,” GBA stated in its application before the court. The Greater Bengaluru Authority has argued that conducting the elections by August-end is impossible due to overlapping administrative duties. Hasina to return in dec to revive awami league Bangladesh’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is living in India after she fled Dhaka following the collapse of her government, is preparing to voluntarily return to Dhaka by December to revive her Awami League. Les Bleus march on Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele were on target as France surged past Morocco 2-0 to book their place in the World Cup semifinals on Thursday. The win sends the 2018 champions into last four for the third straight World Cup. They will play the first semifinal on Tuesday Three Lions face Haaland threat Live on Unite8 and Zee5 (IST Sunday*) Today’s matches England’s quest to end 60 years of WC pain will face another test when the team takes on Erling Haaland’s Norway. They have Harry Kane but England would hope to overcome defensive deficiencies | P13 Norway vs England @ Miami Stadium | 2.30 AM* THE Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has clarified that state songs must be played or sung first in government functions, followed by the National Song (Vande Mataram) and National Anthem (Jana Gana Mana), in that order. Issuing fresh directions to all state governments, Union Territory (UT) administrations and central ministries, the Union home ministry directed the states and the UTs to strictly adhere to the sequence. “In some of the States, State Song is also sung and played along with National Anthem/National Song. It is stated that whenever State Song is sung or played with National Song/National Anthem, both the National Song and National Anthem shall be sung or played together; and National Song will be sung or played first followed by National Anthem,” the MHA said in its order dated July 9. Further clarifying the protocol to be observed in functions that play a state song along After a high-intensity contest against Egypt, Lionel Messi’s Argentina will want to bring their A game vs Switzerland in the last quarterfinal Argentina vs Switzerland @ Kansas City Stadium | 6.30 AM* State song first, then Nat’l Song in govt events: MHA M U K E SH RA N JA N @ New Delhi Messi chases another WC semifinal with the National Song/Anthem, an official said: “In such cases, state songs should be sung first followed by the National Song and the National Anthem.” The latest MHA directive also called for strict adherence to the correct script and text, and diction and pronunciation while playing or singing the National Song and National Anthem. To facilitate compliance, the MHA said the authentic text as well as the correct pronunciation of the National Song and the National Anthem is available on the ministry’s website. The MHA said its orders contain an exhaustive list of occasions during which the National Anthem / National Song “shall be played or sung” as well as occasions where they “may be sung or played”. The MHA requested all state governments, UT administrations and central ministries to issue suitable instructions to institutions and organisations under their jurisdiction to ensure strict adherence to the prescribed norms. E x p r e s s Re a d Bail for Prakash Raj in multiple voter ID case Shobha: PRC will protect illegal immigrants Bengaluru: A Bengaluru-based court on Friday granted bail to actor Prakash Raj in connection with a case relating to charges that he possessed multiple voter identity cards in three different states, including Karnataka. After hearing the arguments, the 48th Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) court granted bail on furnishing a cash surety of Rs 4,000 to the actor. Bengaluru: Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje said she has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking the Centre’s intervention into the Karnataka government’s move to introduce the Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC). Terming the issuance of PRC as an attempt to protect illegal immigrants, she demanded that the state government stop it | P4 poll reform ‘One Nation, One Election’ mechanism by ’29: JPC head p r ee t h a n a i r @ New Delhi A Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining the proposed legislation on simultaneous elections is working to create a mechanism that could make the ‘One Nation, One Election’ reform fully operational by the 2029 general elections, said panel head P P Chaudhary on Friday . Addressing reporters on the sidelines of the panel’s two-day meeting in Goa, Chaudhary said that nearly 99% of civil society stakeholders consulted so far have backed the proposal, which aims to curb an estimated `7 lakh crore economic loss caused by frequent polls. On the timeline for implementation, he said the committee was examining vario u s o p t i o n s, indicating that the refor m could become operational by P P Chaudhary the time the next general elections are due in 2029. He said there is also a possibility of bringing some states into alignment before 2029 if political parties and the chief ministers of those states voluntarily agree to synchronise their electoral cycles. Highlighting the economic rationale behind the proposal, Chaudhary cited findings placed before the high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind. He quoted a study submitted to the Kovind panel estimating that holding polls separately across the country results in an economic loss of nearly `7 lakh crore, while synchronised elections could generate equivalent gains for the economy . R a m te m p l e Rescue op A police officer, assisted by locals, rescues children after flash floods hit Mendhar in Poonch dist, Jammu & Kashmir on Friday | PTI Small notes, big pain: Donation counting staff quit n a m i ta b a j pa i @ Lucknow Zameer link behind Lokayukta SP’s transfer? Yat h i r a j u @ Bengaluru A day after the Lokayukta police wrote to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, seeking sanction to file a chargesheet ag ainst for mer minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan for alle gedly possessing around Rs 20 crore disproportionate assets (DA), Lokayukta relieved IPS officer Shivaprakash Devaraju as Bengaluru Urban Su- perintendent of Police-1. He has been repatriated to his mother department. Shivaprakash, who had served at the Lokayukta for less than a year, received the order relieving him when he reached the office at 10.30 am on Friday Just the previous . day the Lokayukta police , had written to the governor, seeking sanction to prosecute Zameer after a team led by Shivaprakash completed the investigation into the DA case registered against him, following details shared by the Enforcement Directorate in 2022 after its raid on the former minister’s residence. When contacted, Lokayukta Justice BS Patil said that Shivaprakash was doing well and that certain issues cannot be discussed in public. His repatriation has been done for the administrative convenience of the institution, Justice Patil said.  CONTINUED ON: P7 As many as 23 people hired from an external agency by the State Bank of India branch in Ayodhya for counting donations at the Ram Mandir there resigned en masse on Friday amid the ongoing investigation into the alleged embezzlement of offerings, reducing the strength of counting personnel to a little more than a dozen. Earlier, there were 40 counting personnel at the temple. Those who quit said the counting at the temple had become more time consuming and tedious as the number of `10 and `20 denomination notes be- ing offered by devotees had increased significantly after the donation theft came to light. As per sources, the counting staff, deputed by SBI, had a common refrain that they used to collect 70 to 80 bundles of `500 notes earlier, allowing quick completion of the counting process. Now, they barely manage 15 bundles of `500 notes a day. Earlier, the work was carried out in two shifts. The employees said each staff member earlier worked a six-hour shift, but the system has now been changed to a single shift from 9 am to 6 pm. While their salaries have remained unchanged, their work- sc to hear donation theft case on july 13 The Supreme Court will hear on July 13 a batch of PILs seeking an independent and time-bound investigation into irregularities in donations collected for the Ram temple in Ayodhya. The petitioners have urged the court to order an SIT inquiry or a courtmonitored probe into claims of diversion of temple funds, citing lack of transparency in the collection and accounting process. ing hours have increased, prompting them to resign, they said. They further said that while donations were earlier counted on tables and chairs, the exercise is now conducted while sitting on the floor. Security and vigilance at the counting centre have been tightened considerably . Sources said the Ram temple trust is now preparing to introduce QR code-enabled identity cards with digital security features, a common uniform for all outsourced employees at the temple and a digital entry-exit tracking system to maintain a record of every employee’s movement.