Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar

BENGALURU: Ramanagara MLA Iqbal Hussain reiterated his confidence that the deputy chief minister would eventually take charge, declaring he was “200 per cent” sure DK Shivakumar will become the next chief minister.“I always stand by that statement… 200 per cent, he will become the CM soon. The high command will decide. As our leader (Shivakumar) said, the transfer of power is a secret deal among five to six party leaders, and those five to six people will decide,” he said.

A group of Karnataka Congress legislators who travelled to New Delhi to meet senior party leaders said on Tuesday that the high command would take a final call on the demand to elevate DK Shivakumar as the next chief minister.The visit comes amid mounting speculation over a possible change of leadership, with the Congress government completing the halfway mark of its five-year term on 20 November. According to party insiders, six MLAs seen as close to Shivakumar flew to the capital on Sunday night for discussions with central leaders. More legislators are expected to follow. Last week, around ten MLAs had also met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.Magadi MLA H C Balakrishna stressed that the decision on who should lead the government rests entirely with the central leadership, but urged them to settle the uncertainty.“We went to discuss with the high command to clear the confusion because a final decision is needed. Who becomes CM is not important; the current situation is detrimental to the Congress party. The high command should intervene and put an end to this,” he said, declining to say whether Mr Shivakumar’s elevation had specifically been discussed.Others used the Delhi meetings to push for younger leaders and fresh faces to be considered during the proposed cabinet reshuffle. Maddur MLA K M Uday said they had received positive signals from the leadership.He said senior MLAs had also urged the high command to end the “confusion” surrounding the leadership issue, adding that a decision was expected soon.Responding to reports that MLAs loyal to him had travelled to Delhi seeking his elevation, Shivakumar distanced himself from the lobbying efforts.“I have not called or spoken to any of them. I am not asking why they went. I don’t need to,” he told reporters, adding that they might have gone in search of ministerial roles.

Chelsea’s Estevao, second right, celebrates with his teammates (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)

A night marked by wholesale rotations, defensive mistakes and a moment of teenage brilliance saw both Manchester City and Barcelona fall to damaging Champions League defeats on Tuesday. While 18-year-old Estevão lit up Stamford Bridge with a stunning solo effort, lapses at the back hurt both European heavyweights. Pep Guardiola’s 100th Champions League match in charge of City turned sour as Bayer Leverkusen punished a heavily changed side with a 2-0 win. Guardiola rested almost his entire starting XI from the weekend loss to Newcastle, including Erling Haaland, but the reshuffle backfired. Alejandro Grimaldo put Leverkusen ahead in the 23rd minute with a precise low finish, before Patrik Schick doubled the lead with a well-placed header in the 54th. “It feels wonderful and we gave everything till the last second,” Schick told DAZN. Barcelona’s night was even more chaotic. Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge, helped by Jules Koundé steering the ball into his own net after a defensive mix-up in the 27th minute. Things worsened when Ronald Araújo collected a second yellow just before half-time for a reckless challenge on Marc Cucurella. Chelsea took full advantage. Estevão shrugged off two defenders to score a superb solo goal in the 55th, and Liam Delap added a third from close range in the 73rd. Barcelona have now lost four of their last 10 matches across competitions, leaving coach Hansi Flick under mounting scrutiny. The results left the top end of the table unchanged. A City win would have pushed them higher, but Wednesday’s fixtures featuring Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Inter Milan will now shape the standings. Borussia Dortmund climbed to fourth, Chelsea moved into fifth, and both clubs sit level with City on 10 points. Barcelona slid to 15th, while Juventus rose to 21 points as their revival continued. There was better news for José Mourinho, who finally secured his first Champions League victory with Benfica. Samuel Dahl smashed in a sixth-minute volley and Leandro Barreiro sealed a 2-0 win at Ajax, who remain winless after five games and have managed just one victory in their last 10 overall. Elsewhere, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck twice in four minutes to lead Marseille to a 2-1 comeback win over Newcastle. Dortmund snapped a three-game winless stretch with a commanding 4-0 victory over 10-man Villarreal, powered by a brace from Serhou Guirassy. Juventus edged Bodo/Glimt 3-2 in the Arctic Circle, needing a stoppage-time finish from Jonathan David after the hosts equalised late. Substitute Kenan Yildiz was involved in all three goals. Union Saint-Gilloise edged Galatasaray 1-0 through Promise David, with the Turkish side missing injured top scorer Victor Osimhen and ending the match with 10 men after youngster Arda Ünyay was dismissed. Scott McTominay continued his scoring run by netting the opener in Napoli’s 2-0 win over Qarabag. Qarabag’s Kevin Medina was briefly knocked unconscious after being struck by another McTominay effort but was later replaced. Napoli supporters also marked the fifth anniversary of Diego Maradona’s passing. Finally, Athletic Bilbao’s goalless draw with Slavia Prague kept both teams outside the qualification spots with five matches played.

MUMBAI: To make it easier and cost-effective for investors who have lost certificates of securities (shares, bonds, mutual fund units) to get duplicates, markets regulator Sebi is proposing an easier process with a uniform set of forms. It’s also proposing to double the upper limit for issuance of the securities without an FIR and newspaper advertisement to Rs 10 lakh.Sebi is also planning to do away with the dual requirement of getting an affidavit and an indemnity bond while applying to get duplicate securities, and is backing a single affidavit-cum-indemnity bond. Such a process has been adopted by the Investor Education & Protection Fund Authority, a body under the finance ministry that deals with unclaimed stocks, mutual funds etc for returning funds to the rightful owners.

According to Sebi’s proposed circular, at present, there is a three-step process for issuance of duplicate securities. The investor needs to submit a copy of the FIR including e-FIR/police complaint/court injunction order/copy of the complaint with details of the securities, folio number, distinctive number range and certificate numbers. The investor also needs to issue a newspaper advertisement about the loss of securities. Then the investor has to submit an affidavit and an indemnity bond separately on a “non-judicial stamp paper of appropriate value” in a Sebi-prescribed format.“However, if the value of securities as on the date of submission of application, does not exceed Rs 5 lakh,” the first two steps are not required to be complied with, Sebi said. “It has been gathered that due to non-standardisation of documents and different approaches followed by registrar and transfer agents (RTAs) or listed companies, investors feel the pain of going for varied documentation for various listed companies.“Sebi received feedback from investors and other stakeholders in the system about easing some of these rules. It said that the current threshold of Rs 5 lakhs for availing simplified documentation for issuance of duplicate securities was prescribed several years ago. “Since then, the Indian securities market has expanded significantly in terms of market capitalisation, investor participation and average portfolio size. As a result, the monetary value of individual security holdings has increased materially.” In the changed scenario, the Rs 5-lakh limit does not reflect current market realities and imposes an avoidable procedural burden on investors, it said.