Hamas agrees to disarm, accepts Trump’s peace plan for Gaza THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l saturday l august 01, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE city EDITION Hamas on Friday threw up a surprise, saying it will disarm and accept a deal announced by US President Donald Trump to end its war with Israel Israel is yet to officially comment, but sources said there will be no withdrawal of Israeli forces from their current lines untill the disarmament is genuine and total. “A lot needs to fall in place for this to work,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. Trump says “complete disarmament” by Hamas is a critical step toward a new Palestinian government in Gaza 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 Mega allocation League hardens stand; PM SHRI for offshore oil & opens fresh fault lines within UDF gas exploration E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ T’Puram/Kozhikode Cabinet clears I84K-cr Samudra Manthan plan to strengthen long-term energy security R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi IN a bid to increase domestic oil and gas production, the government on Friday approved the `84,000-crore Samudra Manthan scheme to accelerate deep-sea exploration. According to the petroleum ministry, the scheme will add 600 million tonnes of oil equivalent (MTOE) to India’s hydrocarbon reserves. It is projected to increase annual domestic oil and gas production by 10-15 MTOE, with the potential to reach 20 MTOE at peak production. The biggest share of the scheme—`43,200 crore—has been earmarked to support the drilling of 60 deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration wells. The government will provide financial support to state-run ONGC and Oil India as well as private exploration firms to encourage drilling in deepwater areas where exploration is expensive and highly risky The support comes after . the government opened nearly 99% of the offshore areas that were earlier classified as ‘nogo’ zones due to defence and space-related restrictions. Another `28,500 crore has been allocated for large-scale 2D Floating solar projects To boost India’s solar power generation, the government approved the Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana, a D5,070crore scheme to set up 5,000 MW (5GW) of floating solar power projects over the next five years. According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, India currently has 0.7 GW of installed floating solar capacity and 3D offshore seismic surveys and advanced data processing using technologies such as artificial intelligence. The surveys will help create detailed maps of the seabed and identify promising locations for drilling. The scheme also provides `10,000 crore to build common offshore infrastructure for developing stranded discoveries in basins such as Mahanadi and Kutch, where high evacuation costs have made projects commercially unviable. Shared infrastructure is expected to reduce project costs and bring these discoveries into production. Major fault lines have emerged within the ruling UDF over the PM SHRI issue, with a senior leader of the key ally IUML flatly rejecting front convener Adoor Prakash’s claim that the alliance has approved the implementation of the controversial scheme in the state. “The issue was not even discussed at the UDF meeting,” IUML stalwart and Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty asserted, a day after Prakash said the government will implement the scheme. With an increasing number of Muslim organisations openly opposing the UDF—and the IUML in particular—over the PM SHRI issue, the ruling front has come under mounting pressure. Com- pounding its troubles, the Union government, in a reply to Congress MP Jebi Mather in the Rajya Sabha, clarified that states are free to withdraw from the scheme. Against this backdrop of growing pressure on both the UDF and the IUML to pull out of the scheme, Kunhalikutty came out with a firm stand on Friday . Speaking to reporters, he said any decision on the contentious scheme would be taken only after the cabinet sub-committee entrusted with examining the issue submits its report. “Once the report is submitted, the UDF and the government will take a Under no circumstances will the UDF accept the Union government’s norms on the school curriculum or the selection of schools under the scheme — P K Kunhalikutty, Industries Minister S Sreejith promoted to the rank of DGP 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express MuthanGA Stir: All acquitted in cop murder case While the accused were acquitted in case relating to death of constable K V Vinod, four tribal activists were convicted for murder bid on officials during the 2003 violence | P5 Want to forgive Gen Z for hurling expletives at me during protests: PM EXPRESS READ T’Puram: The government has promoted Prisons Director General, ADGP S Sreejith, to the post of the Director General of Police. The 1996-batch IPS officer has been retained as Prisons head after an ex-cadre post was created there. Another officer, Suresh S, who is on central deputation, has been promoted to DGP rank on proforma basis. call,” he said. Kunhalikutty rejected outright claims that the UDF had decided to go ahead with the PM SHRI scheme, dismissing them as baseless. He said the UDF convener had merely responded to reporters’ questions “in his own style”. “Under no circumstances will the UDF accept the Centre’s norms on the school curriculum or the selection of schools under the scheme,” he asserted. Kunhalikutty also trained his guns on the previous LDF government, pointing out that it had signed the MoU for the scheme, citing the need to secure central ● More on P4 funds.  RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR ‘Kids should contribute to nation-building’ As part of his Instagram outreach with Gen Z and his followers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his post on Friday night about his desire to help those who have transformed into misguided children, to help them become aware of reality and contribute to nation-building rather than remain misled. @ New Delhi IN another late night video message to Gen Z, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he wanted to forgive students who recently hurled expletives against him. After the Jantar Mantar showdown, “some naughty children hurled abuse at me and my late mother,” he said. Describing it as unpleasant and disturbing, he said those who had resorted to such language required guidance rather than condemnation, as they were misguided. Modi said it was a “cultural shock” to witness such conduct from Gen Z. However, he added that he did not want them to become entangled in legal complications. Instead, he wanted to forgive them and help reform them so that they could change their mindset. “Mai maf karna chahata hun” (I want to forgive them), the PM said, adding it is everyone’s duty to show the right path to the misguided children. Modi also appealed for restraint and forgiveness following the abusive slogans directed at him during student protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. He urged the society to guide, rather than punish, those who had gone astray and abused him.