kannur l tuesday l august 18, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Ayush causes big upset, defeats World no. 1 Shi Yu Qi in delhi India’s Ayush Shetty causes biggest upset at the badminton World Championships on Monday. 2019 champion PV Sindhu too enters next round India’s Ayush Shetty takes a selfie with young fans after his win | Sayantan Ghosh three-game thriller in first round An Se-young and others advance This is not the first time the 21-year-old has upset a top player. He has habit of taking down some of the big names in world badminton like Li Shi Feng, Jonatan Christie and Kunlavut Vitidsarn before winning the Asian Championships silver. Shuttler, who hails from Bengaluru defeated Shi 21-14, 13-21, 21-19, in a gripping first round men’s singles contest. ■ ■ South Korea’s An Se-young, World No 1 in women’s singles, also entered 2nd round with a straight-game win over Kaloyana Nalbantov Apart from Sindhu & Ayush, the doubles players — Hariharan Amsakarunan/MR Arjun, Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand and Kavipriya Selvam/Simran Singhi — also advanced | P13 1st The win was ayush’s first over Shi in four meetings 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 New team Some of the most notable changes in the organisational reshuffle of the BJP Smriti Irani Ram Madhav Deepak Mhaskey IT cell chief Amit Malviya replaced by academic Deepak Mhaskey Irani, Madhav back in core nat’l team in big BJP rejig R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi THE BJP on Monday revamped its core national team under party president Nitin Nabin, announcing appointments to key positions including national vice-presidents, national general secretaries, and national secretaries, apart from key posts in the media and social media departments and the party’s various Morchas. The reshuffle, which comes ahead of an expected Cabinet rejig, reflects a blend of both experienced and young faces. Among the 13 national vicepresidents, three—former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Baijayant Panda and Rekha Verma—have retained their positions while 10 have been elevated or inducted from other party responsibilities. Lal Singh Arya, for instance, has been promoted to national vice-president from his earlier position as national president of the BJP’s SC Morcha. Among the most notable changes is the return of former Union minister Smriti Irani, who had been kept out of party responsibilities for several years, to an important role as a national general secretary She . joins a group that includes prominent figures Satish Poonia, Harish Dwivedi, Sunil Bansal, Vinod Tawde, Biplab Kumar Deb, among others. The 16-member group of national secretaries includes four women, including Irani. The The newly appointed team brings together organisational experience, energy and grassroots connect Prime Minister Narendra Modi 2 leaders from Kerala T’Puram: Kerala has secured two berths in the BJP’s national team, with former state president K Surendran appointed national secretary and Anil Antony reappointed to the post. Meanwhile, A P Abdullakutty, the party’s national vice-president, has been dropped from the list of national office-bearers. P4 others are Kavita Patidar, Phangnon Konyak, and Sangeeta Yadav. Tawde, who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha, and Bansal have retained their organisational responsibilities as national general secretaries. Several established party faces, including Arun Singh, Dushyant Kumar Gautam, Tarun Chugh and Dr Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, have been dropped from the national general secretary-level organisational structure. In the rejig, several prominent faces were let go. These include IT Cell chief Amit Malviya, BJP Yuva Morcha president and Lok Sabha MP Tejasvi Surya, Dushyant Gautam, Sanjay Mayukh, Saroj Pandey, Laxmikant Vajpayee and Arun Singh. Among the unexpected appointments is that of academic Deepak Mhaskey as the head of the BJP’s social media department, replacing Malviya. Mhaskey will head the department as convenor, assisted by Priti Gandhi, Shivanand Dwivedi, Alok Bhatt and Arun Yadav. The organisational revamp marks the return of RSS ideologue Ram Madhav to the prominent position of national vice president. His induction is being seen as a move towards strengthening coordination between the RSS and the BJP . The revamp has also sought to ensure broad geographical representation. Among the national vice-presidents, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Delhi, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka and West Bengal have received representation. The eight national general secretaries include leaders from Maharashtra, Delhi, Tripura, UP, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. Union Minister Piyush Goyal has retained his position as national treasurer, while B L Santhosh continues as national general secretary (organisation), a key post in the party . EXPRESS READ Policies for waste mgmt overhaul T’Puram: The state is set to roll out two key waste management policies — a comprehensive Solid Waste Management Policy and a dedicated Plastic Recycling Policy — aimed at creating a long-term roadmap for scientific waste disposal, strengthening recycling systems and bringing bulk waste generators, plastic producers and recyclers under a stricter compliance framework. P7 ‘My Police Station not Janamaithri 2.0’ Kochi: The launch of ‘My Police Station’ initiative has raised questions over how it differs from the Janamaithri Suraksha Project, with both aimed at improving police-public relations. Officials, however, say the initiatives address different aspects: while Janamaithri takes policing into the community, My Police Station seeks to make police station itself more accessible and citizen-friendly. P7 Soren blinks, cancels all dodgy state exams mukesh ranjan & p ree t ha na i r @ Ranchi/New Delhi Twenty-four days after student protests in Jharkhand against exam irregularities, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday blinked and agreed to their demand to cancel the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) examination and all exams conducted by a private agency, TSR Data Processing Pvt Ltd (TDPL). The decision came hours after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote to Soren urging him to “listen to the students”. The protesting students thanked the chief minister for the decision but said the protest will continue as their demand for a CBI inquiry is yet to be fulfilled. Soren said a decision has also been made to cancel all exams conducted by TDPL as also all results published by it. “Today we held a special Cabi, net meeting to bring this matter to a conclusion. We have decided to cancel all examinations conducted by TDPL, the results published by TDPL, and the selection or participa- Student-protesters in a jubilant mood after the Jharkhand cabinet decided to cancel the Combined Graduate Level exam, in Ranchi on Monday; Chief Minister Hemant Soren (left), with cabinet ministers, making the announcement | PTI tion of any candidates through TDPL,” said Soren. The CM also said an exam reforms committee headed by senior IAS officer Amitabh Kaushal will be constituted soon. However, a new problem erupted as cancelling all exams would render around 2,000 aspirants who had cleared them without jobs. These students have begun a protest out- side the state secretariat. In his pushback, minister Sudivya Kumar said candidates whose exams were cancelled by govt were free to take legal recourse. As for student leader Devendra Mahto, on hunger strike for 16 days, he said he will soon reach the protest site to break his fast. Rahul had urged Soren to personally meet the student ISI-backed terror network busted, 200+ arrested in pre-I-Day swoop M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi MORE than 200 operatives of the Pakistan-based and ISIbacked Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN) were arrested in coordinated raids across 14 States ahead of Independence Day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday. These arrests were made following 80 FIRs registered across states. Shah said the operation had dismantled the terror network and foiled plans to carry out “subversive attacks” around August 15. According to a statement by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the multi-state operation was conducted on August 12 using a real-time intelligence-sharing mechanism involving central agencies and state police forces. “More than 200 arrests were made across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Gujarat, Bihar, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala,” it said. “Uttar Pradesh accounted for the highest number of arrests at 62, followed by Haryana with 52, Delhi with 51 and Punjab with 44. Rajasthan recorded 15 arrests, Maharashtra eight and Uttarakhand five. Karnataka, Gujarat and Bihar reported three arrests each, while Telan- gana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala reported two each,” the MHA said. Fresh FIRs were also registered in Delhi and Karnataka. The MHA said the arrests were made under UAPA, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Arms Act, NDPS Act and Explosive Substances Act. “Security agencies recovered improvised explosive devices (IEDs), grenades bearing Pakistan Ordnance Factory markings, pistols and live ammunition during the operation. CCTV cameras allegedly used for surveillance and espionage were also seized,” a senior MHA official said, adding that the recovery of ordnance bearing Pakistani markings pointed to the network’s cross-border links. S i x - w ee k t ra i n i n g Vet college course to help dog parents ‘keep a tight leash’ G O PI K A V A R R I E R @ Kochi “Our dogs are a reflection of how we feel, how we think, and what we do,” ‘Dog Whisperer’ Cesar Millan keeps emphasising on his television shows. The state has about 2 lakh registered pet owners, with the numbers having grown exponentially over the years. With more and more people choosing to adopt or buy dogs as a pet, enabling parents to better handle their canines has become a lucrative, evolving sec- tor. This has assumed greater importance given the rise in dog attacks in the state. To this end, the College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences (CVAS) in Mannuthy, Thrissur, is all set to launch a course for dog handlers, with a focus on new pet parents. The six-week ‘certified profession- al dog training programme’ will equip pet parents to train their dogs in basic aspects such as toilet usage, general behaviour, and the like. The parents will also be trained in kennel management, first aid for dogs and animal-welfare rules. “There is a growing demand for authorised dog trainers in the state, as more and more people choose to have a dog as a pet. Though there are some private firms that offer dog-handler training, it is the first time a government institute is launching such a programme. The course has been introduced with the objective of encouraging responsible pet parenting in the state,” said Justin Davis, professor with CVAS, which comes under the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University . He said the certification wo u l d a l s o d r ive s e l f employment. “In metro cities and West Asian countries, dog trainers are in great demand and a government-certified course will help meet that demand by opening up job opportunities. However, a love of pets is a necessity for those joining the programme,” Justin said. CVAS veterinarians will lead the practical sessions. The course fee of `40,000 includes accommodation for pet parents and their animals.  ● More on P4 VizhinjaM Steamer agents rush to open offices as port takes EXIM lane Kerala Steamer Agents Association, a body representing major shipping and vessel operators in state, opened a dedicated satellite office near port on Monday | P4 representatives and take steps to resolve the issue at the earliest. “I am writing to suggest that you personally meet representatives of the students. This will help reinforce the government’s commitment to resolve their concerns,” Rahul said. “Please do your utmost to hear them out and take appropriate action towards the resolution of this issue,” he said. Nithin Raj case HC flays inaction against DySP, flags home dept’s ‘biased’ approach E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ Kochi The Kerala High Court on Monday took the home department to task for its failure to suspend the investigating officer who allegedly enabled Dr M K Ram, the accused in the death of Anjarakandy Dental College student Nithin Raj, to evade arrest. Justice A Badharudeen observed that the delay in suspending DySP Sudheer Kallan amounted to a serious lapse on the part of the department. The court criticised what it termed the department’s “biased” approach in taking action in various matters, except for the arrests under Operation Toofan. The court’s criticism came over the delay in acting against Sudheer, despite an earlier directive to initiate proceedings in that regard and submit a report. It indicated that a formal order would be issued to that effect. The vigilance counsel submitted that the suspension was getting delayed as the prescribed procedures had to be followed before initiating action against the officer. The court questioned the explanation, asking what procedure had been followed when a teacher was suspended over a question about V D Savarkar in an I-Day quiz, and when an under secretary was suspended over a letter sent in connection with the Thiruvananthapuram corporation issue.  ● More on P4