hubballi l tuesday l august 18, 2026 l `9.00 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 This is not the first time the 21-year-old has upset a top player. He has habbit 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. ■ 1st An Se-young and others advance ■ 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 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 RA J E SH K U M AR T HAK 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 7 held on rape, illegal abortion charges in Gadag E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ G a d a g The Gadag police arrested seven people, including an RMP doctor and a staff nurse, in connection with the alleged rape of a woman and the subsequent ille gal abortion of her pregnancy . The police said two of the accused allegedly raped the woman and after she became pregnant, her pre gnancy was allegedly terminated illegally by three accused. All the seven arrested were produced before a court, while the police are searching for others suspected of assisting them. A case was registered at the Gadag Women’s Police Station on July 26 and the investigation is on. The 26-year-old survivor is a resident of SM Krishnanagar in Gadag. Two more accused allegedly raped her over day while three , persons had illegally induced the abortion. The arrested have been identified as Sikander Bepari, Shabbir, Pradeep Navalekar, Bharat Koravar, Sandeep Navalekar, Nagaraj Kamatar, an RMP doctor, and Rekha Shirahatti, a staff nurse. assets case SC RELIEF for RAHUL Apex court stays proceedings before the Allahabad High Court and restrains the CBI and ED from filing any report as directed by the HC | P9 The newly appointed team brings together organisational experience, energy and grassroots connect Prime Minister Narendra Modi RSS men in top team With Ram Madhav’s return as national vice-president, four senior RSS-linked leaders are now part of the BJP’s central organisational structure. The others are B L Santhosh (national general secretaryorganisation), Shivprakash, and Saudan Singh (joint secretaries-organisation) 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 . Follow CWMA order on water release: SC to state S U CHI T RA KA LYAN M OHAN T Y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Karnataka government to ensure continued release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu in accordance with the orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA). A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta gave the direction while hearing a plea filed by Tamil Nadu. The state has sought a direction to Karnataka to release 36.635 to 37 tmcft of water till August 31, 2026, based on proportional formula. CWMA had earlier ordered Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs or 1.036 tmcft per day to Tamil Nadu till August 27. On Monday, TN’s counsel senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan told the apex court that Kar- Karnataka to maintain water release status quo Karnataka Water Resources Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy indicated that it will maintain the existing water release status quo until the Supreme Court’s next hearing. “We were prepared to approach the CWMA to reconsider the water release,” he said | P7 nataka was releasing water for irrigation within the state and it is not reaching Tamil Nadu. “Their reservoirs are at 76% capacity They have released only . 14.814 tmcft till August 16. There is still a balance of 20 tmcft to be released,” he added. When the bench asked Karnataka why they have not released the water, senior counsel Shyam Divan (for Karnataka) denied the claim and called Tamil Nadu’s data “completely incorrect”.  CONTINUED ON: P7 Soren blinks, cancels all dodgy state exams mu k e s h r a n j a n & p r eet h a n a 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 Over 1.08 cr voters out of rolls in K’taka; 25L could face same fate B o s k y K h a n n a @Bengaluru Over 1.08 crore voters will be removed from the electoral rolls once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise ends in Karnataka. Another 25 lakh voters could find their names missing if they don’t provide relevant documents to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) in the next phase of the exercise. As of 7 pm on August 17, 1,08,31,945 electors (19.54% of the total electorate of 5.54 crore) were listed under the Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others (ASDDO) category after the house-to-house enumeration process. It was held from June 30 to August 17. Till date, the state has 5,54,32,314 total electors. Also, 25,14,247 (or 4.54% of the total) are listed under the “no-mapping” category, as per information from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka. CEO Karnataka V Anbukkumar said the house-to-house verification exercise ended on August 17 and the final ASDDO list was updated till 11.59 pm. The draft rolls will be published on August 24, 2026. All those listed under ASDDO and those who did not sign and submit their enumeration forms will not be included in the draft rolls. He added that those listed under “no-mapping” or anomalies categories will be included in the rolls. They will be served notices, asking them to submit one of the 12 listed documents (refer to box) to the ERO for verification. Of the total ASDDO, 15,28,985 (2.76%) electors were listed under “untraceable” or “absent” category; 65,61,607 (11.84%) under “permanently shifted”; 16,38,839 (2.96%) “dead”; 7,07,792 (1.28%) “duplicate” or “already enrolled”; and 3,94,722 (0.71%) as “others”, or not wanting to sign the forms. Of the total ASDDO in the state, 43.53% were from Bengaluru’s four districts — Bengaluru Urban (17,26,634 or 42.94%), BBMP North (10,58,104 or 45.36%), BBMP South (10,64,044 or 49.61%, the highest in the state), and BBMP Central (8,66,406 or 45.84%). Lowest deletions are in Udupi (63,364 or 5.96%), followed by Haveri (1,15,068 or 8.62%). The next stage of the SIR exercise — filing claims and objections — will be held from August 24 to September 23, 2026. Those whose names have been removed from the rolls have the option to fill and submit Form-6 (for new registration to be included in the electoral rolls). CONTINUED ON: P7 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. Pvt N-plants: Can judiciary set relief amount, asks SC Su c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday sought clarification from the Central government on whether courts are precluded from awarding fair and just c o m p e n s at i o n u n d e r t h e SHANTI Act in the event of a nuclear accident. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing a petition filed by a group of retired civil servants and scientists, led by ex-bureaucrat E A S Sarma. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the batch of petitioners, argued that the Shanti Act exempts nuclear plant suppliers from liability and caps operator liability at a level grossly disproportionate to potential damage. Evidence planted? New slippers raise questions Hanur case The items seized from the spot where the three alleged poachers were shot dead. The spotlight is on a pair of brand new slippers with the sticker intact K a r t h i k K K @ Mysuru The seizure of a pair of brandnew slippers, along with weapons, wildlife meat and other hunting equipment, has raised fresh questions over the August 15 shootout in the forests near Shagya village in Hanur taluk of Chamarajanagar district that killed three men. The Forest De par tment claimed that its personnel seized two country-made guns, torchlights, ammunition, hunting equipment and around 2030 kg of suspected wildlife meat from the alleged poachers, who were shot dead, during the operation. However, the discovery of a pair of Paragon slippers, reportedly without even the stickers being removed as seen in the photograph available with The New Indian Express, with a time stamp on it stating it being taken at 12.29 pm on August 15, has become a talking point amid questions over the circumstances surrounding the shootout. The key question raised by the relatives of the deceased and other villagers is whether the slippers were actually worn by the men who allegedly entered the forest for hunting. If they had been used during hunting in the forest, the slippers would not have remained new with no stains of dust or blood on it, they argued.  P4 Major ISI-backed terror network busted, 200+ arrested in pre-I-Day swoop M U K E SH RAN J AN @ New Delhi SBN chief being probed for terror-related cases 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 SBN chief Shahzad Bhatti is being probed by NIA for several cases, including the March 2025 grenade attack in Jalandhar,the November 2025 explosion at Women Police Station in Sirsa and the January 2026 car-bomb blast at the Baldev Nagar police station in Ambala. “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 realtime intelligence-sharing mechanism involving central agencies and state police forc- es. “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 Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala reported two each,” the MHA said. F re s h FIRs were also registered in Delhi and Kar nataka. 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. The MHA described SBN as a Pakistan-based terror syndicate involved in grenade, IED and petrol-bomb attacks as well as targeted killings in India. Shah said the crackdown demonstrated a resolve to dismantle terror networks.