VISAKHAPATNAM l sunday l August 02, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION Elite mountaineer Nirmal Purja killed in poK avalanche was leading 10-member team to broad peak Famous mountaineer Nirmal Purja and nine others were on Saturday confirmed dead, days after an avalanche hit Broad Peak in PoK Climbed all 14 ‘super peaks’ in just 6 months British-Nepali climber Purja, popularly known as Nims or Nimsdai, was leading a 10-member climbing team when the avalanche hit on Thursday morning. The mountaineers were ascending at an altitude of around 6,600 metres when they were swept away, local authorities said. Broad Peak, standing at 8,051 metres, is the world’s 12th-highest mountain | P9 ■ ■ Purja famously scaled all of the world’s 14 highest peaks in just over six months in 2019, breaking the previous record of seven years He wrote on X this week that he was close to becoming the first person to climb all 14 “super peaks” twice without oxygen. “Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down,” he wrote 2018 Purja was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire 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 Nonstop rain pummels Kerala, leaves 7 dead CM deputes team of ministers to camp in rain-hit districts to manage rescue and relief M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n @ Kochi Six years on, border trade via Nathu La Pass resumes P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati Border trade via Nathu La Pass, which had remained suspended for six years amid the Covid-19 pandemic and India-China border tensions, resumed on Saturday . The inaugural ceremony was attended by Sikkim’s Commerce & Industries Minister Tshering T Bhutia among others. The reopening is expected to inject fresh momentum into the local economy by generating business for registered traders, transport operators and other stakeholders dependent on border trade. Border trade through Nathu La will operate from Monday to Thursday and continue until November. Under the Nathu La border trade arrangement, the approved cate gories of goods, including handicrafts, handloom products, traditional religious items, and ready-made garments, can now be imported and exported. This year, 38 traders have been issued passes to participate in the cross-border trade. Currently, there are around 35 tradable items. Bhutia said the Sikkim government had already sent a proposal to expand the list of tradable items. WITH THIS ISSUE Take a Seat PLUS 12 P AGES AT least seven people were killed on Saturday after torrential rain battered Kerala, triggering flash floods and multiple landslides that revived painful memories of the 2018 deluge. Central Kerala districts of Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Kottayam bore the brunt. Pathanamthitta got over 300 mm of rain in two hours. Heavy rain began pounding eastern parts of southern Kerala around 11 pm on Friday causing , rivers to swell rapidly By 2.30 am, floodwaters en. tered homes along riverbanks, forcing residents to flee in panic. The Pampa river rose sharply in, undating Ranni and Vadasserikkara towns on the Sabarimala route. Landslides disrupted traffic on key highways including Kochi-Dhanushkodi, KottarakaraDindigul, and Kuttikkanam-Kattappana. Floodgates of the Pambla, Kallarkutty , and Malankara dams were opened due to heavy inflow. I n K o t t ay a m ’ s Poonjar Thekkekara panchayat, Rejina and her 24-year-old son Josephine Johny perished when their house collapsed in a landslide. Sumathy 69, was killed at Adurma, la near Kudayathoor when her home got buried in slush. Prabhakaran Nair, 72, died in a landslide at Kolahalamedu in Vagamon. The children — threeyear-old Abdul Muhaini, four-year-old Adam Aymen, and 11-year-old Milan K Shinu — drowned in separate waterlogging incidents in Malappuram and Kottayam districts. The relentless weather system wreaked havoc in northern Kerala as well. In Kannur, search and rescue operations are underway for two missing individuals — a 40-year-old man who fell into the Kanjirapuzha river, and a swimming instructor at Pulingome. In Kozhikode, major rivers like Poonoor and Vilangad overflowed, submerging the Kozhikode-Mysuru Highway at Engapuzha. Chief Minister V D Satheesan deputed a team of ministers to camp in the worst-hit districts: C P John in Thiruvananthapuram, P C Vishnunadh in Pathanamthitta, Mons Joseph in Kottayam, and Anoop Jacob in Idukki. Boxers Sakshi Chaudhary (L) & Priya Ghanghas (R) finished on top with gold medals on Saturday | pti/ap glasgow gold mine Express News service NDRF, Fire and Rescue Services, police, the Coast Guard, the local administration, public representatives and locals are participating in the efforts Statement from CM’s office WHEN the Commonwealth Games began in Glasgow on July 23, there was an expectation that India’s medals tally could suffer because of the absence of shooting, badminton and wrestling. In these three events, they are elite at this level. But this has still been a very creditable campaign thanks to other heroes, young @ Vizianagaram Flood control Shutters of dams in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kannur districts were opened following rising water levels, to prevent floods Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday dedicated the greenfield Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport to the nation, launching a `17,900crore multi-sectoral package that he declared would transform the Visakhapatnam Economic Region (VER) into a premier economic hub of Asia. Describing the airport and associated projects as a definitive game-changer for Andhra Pradesh, and a key national growth engine for a Viksit Bharat, the Prime Minister outlined an integrated road- second flood warning at dowleswaram map linking aviation, port connectivity and high-tech manu, facturing across the State’s northern belt. The mega-package pairs the Bhogapuram transit hub with major renewable energy and highway corridors, alongside the foundation stone laying for Andhra Pradesh’s first semiconductor assembly facility in Visakhapatnam. Emphasising that modern infrastructure must translate directly into employment, he highlighted that integrating high-tech manufacturing with regional transport links will position North Andhra as a global investment magnet. P4 Flood situation in the Godavari basin turned grim as authorities issued 2nd flood warning at Dowleswaram I P5 South India’s 1st chip unit breaks ground U s h a P e r i @ Visakhapatnam With an investment of `2,500 crore, Tarluvada village near Visakhapatnam is set to host South India’s first semiconductor manufacturing facility approved under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM 1.0). Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually laid the foundation stone for the project on Saturday The Outsourced Sem. iconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility is being set up by Advanced System in Package Technologies (ASIP), in partnership with South Koreabased APACT Co Ltd. The project will be developed in phases on a 30-acre site. The company will initially invest over `460 crore and plans to invest an additional `2,000 crore in the next phase. The facility will have the capacity to package and test about 96 million semiconductor chips annually . The project is expected to generate more than 1,000 direct skilled jobs and around 1,600 indirect jobs.  Production will initially begin with wire-bond and FlipChip Ball Grid Array (BGA) packaging technologies, followed by advanced 2.5D and 3D packaging within two to three years. Addressing the event, Modi said AP which has emerged as , a major information technology hub, is now well placed to play a key role in semiconducP4 tor manufacturing.  The groundbreaking ceremony of ASIP semiconductor unit at Tarluvada | Express m y su r u c a l l Youth must turn Vivekananda’s vision into reality: PM K a r t h i k K K @ Mysuru AMID growing protests by youngsters and Gen-Z demanding greater government accountability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called upon the youth to transform Swami Vivekananda’s vision of India into reality, saying that the country’s future rests on the strength, aspirations and character of its young generation. Addressing a large gathering after inaugurating the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Youth PM Narendra Modi inaugurates ‘Viveka Smaraka’ in Mysuru Saturday | Udayashankar S Centre — Viveka Smaraka — in Mysuru, PM Modi said Swami Vivekananda embodied the spirit of India and the newly inaugurated memorial would serve as a centre for inspiring generations of young Indians towards nation-building, serv- programme and the federation’s talent ID at the highest level. Another combat sport that deserves its two minutes in the limelight is judo. Even before the campaign had begun, it had become a bad word after another dope-related news item. However, on Friday, judokas won two gold medals in less than an hour after going without one since the sport’s PM: Vizag set to be growth hub of Asia S r e e n u B a bu Pat i v a d a A rescue operation following a landslide in Kottayam on Saturday| express and old. That they have designs on finishing in the top four — currently fourth with 13 gold — in the medals tally is notable. Those designs would not have been possible if it weren’t for the exploits of the para-athletes (three gold) and boxing (seven gold). There is the obvious caveat that boxing at the Games isn’t of the greatest standards, but this is a quiet win for the high-performance inception 40 years ago. That is how you change history and create new narratives.Finish fourth and that’s basically the best of the rest outside the big three of Canada, England and Australia (New Zealand are great at the Olympics but some of their biggest athletes skip the Commonwealth Games). Tejaswin Shankar’s bronze in the decathlon is a similar narrative-creating medal. On Saturday, Gulveer Singh became the first Indian to win two medals in long-distance running with a bronze in men’s 5000m. He had won silver in men’s 10000m earlier. Neeraj Chopra, found some form with a season’s best of 85.83m for silver. He won’t be happy with the result but will be quietly satisfied with the performance. For the next four years, as Ahmedabad gets ready to welcome the 70-plus nations and territories for what’s likely to be one of the biggest Games in history, the expectation will P11 continue to rise.  ice and patriotism. “I am confident that the Viveka Smaraka will become a pilgrimage centre for spiritual upliftment for seekers and devotees. “Through this memorial, we must mould young people who place the interests of society, the nation, and suffering of the poor above their own personal joys and sorrows. Youth for whom ‘Nation First’ is the supreme guiding principle and whose life’s mission is the service of Mother India,” PM Modi said. Onus on quality infra Stressing on educational infrastructure, PM said youth potential translates into national strength only when supported by quality education Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the greenfield Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram on Saturday | Express