KOCHI l friday l October 23, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE city EDITION Trump Says Google’s Pichai Rejected Atlantic Ocean Rename President Trump says he called Google CEO Sundar Pichai about renaming Atlantic Ocean as Trump Ocean, but Pichai shot down his idea oceans are different: pichai’s pushback not without name change precedents President Trump said this at at a South Carolina rally on October 21. Trump floated the concept, saying he spoke to Pichai about the proposal. “And I said, Sundar, I’m thinking of the Atlantic Ocean. Can you handle it?” Trump recalled asking. Pichai replied: “No, no, no. This time I’m not doing it. Oceans are different, sir. You know, they cover a lot of countries” ■ ■ President Trump said he will “probably pass” on the idea after Pichai’s pushback to renaming the Atlantic Ocean The comments follow his administration’s earlier renaming efforts. Shortly after taking office in January 2025, Trump signed an executive order changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name to the Gulf of America Aug 2026 was when the u.s. renamed lake ontario as lake america 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 India condemns Pilot project to make India’s 3 crore continued hits undergraduates ready for job market on Saudi infra 4.5 crore students in higher education and 76.8% of them are undergraduates. Our focus is on BA, BCom and BSc students, who constitute the majority The programme will be . extended across all states. The response from workplaces as well as colleges and universities has been encouraging,” said Kumar, who is also the chairperson of the Board of Governors at IIM Calcutta. The Apprentice Embedded Degree Programme (AEDP) permits undergraduate students to spend up to 18 months to gain live industry experience. “It helps them apply their knowledge to real problems. Students who only want to pursue their degree academically are at liberty to do so,” Kumar said. Under AEDP, students will likely be provided apprenticeships at their place of residence so that “they do not have to migrate for the purpose of work and it boosts the local economy too,” he added. Some companies pay the students while others only offer hands-on training. “If it is a government apprenticeship scheme, students get financially compensated,” Kumar said. The panel also plans to take the assistance of local district magistrates who have a thorough understanding of a specific area and can offer invaluable guidance. Greens fret over High Court parking facility in Mangalavanam eco zone Sivagiri power shift: Swami Satchidananda loses election S LALITHA @ New Delhi Religious edu curriculum for minorities in U’khand n a r en d r a s e t h i @ Dehradun UTTARAKHAND is poised to become the first state to introduce a formal religious education curriculum that combines lessons on faith with Indian history, culture and nationalism. The syllabus has been drafted and is awaiting approval from the state education department. The curriculum is intended for children from minority communities and has been prepared under the state’s minority education framework. Along with religious teachings and beliefs, it will cover India’s cultural heritage, the freedom struggle and contributions of prominent figures to nationbuilding. The curriculum is designed to link religious learning with wider themes of India’s past and identity . The syllabus for Classes 1 to 8 has already been prepared, a top source said. A draft for Classes 9 to 12 has also been completed and will be submitted to the education department for approval. Professor Surjeet Singh Gandhi, chairperson of the Uttarakhand State Minority Education Authority, said the body was awaiting the state’s approval. A source at the minorities commission said religious education under the proposed system would be optional. Students would be free to choose whether to attend the classes, which schools may offer before or after re gular academic lessons. Indian killed in Houthi attack; PM calls for dialogue and diplomacy in talks with Bibi J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India on Thursday strongly condemned continued attacks by Houthi rebels on civilian and critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, including a strike on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam that killed an Indian national. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated New Delhi’s call for dialogue and diplomacy during a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they exchanged views on recent developments in West Asia and the urgent need to restore peace and stability in the region. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure were “completely unacceptable and must cease immediately”, while expressing solidarity with Saudi Arabia and calling for the early restoration of peace and normalcy in West Asia. “We strongly condemn the continued attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, including the attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield in the Eastern Province on October 21,” the MEA said in a statement. The attack on Dammam airport late Wednesday killed two persons, including an Indian national, and injured eight others, among them two Indians. Separately Modi spoke to Netanyahu and dis, cussed bilateral ties and the escalating situation in West Asia. The two leaders reviewed progress in bilateral ties and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the Special Strategic Partnership. “Prime Minister Modi reiterated India’s call for dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. The government parallelly stepped up efforts to facilitate the return of Umrah pilgrims stranded in Saudi Arabia following flight disruptions triggered by the regional escalation. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Indian missions in Riyadh and Jeddah were working with airlines and tour operators to arrange their return. “Over the past week, about 3,000 stranded Umrah pilgrims have travelled from Saudi Arabia back to India on available flights,” Jaiswal said. More than 10,000 other Umrah pilgrims who had booked available flights had also returned during the same period. “Arrangements are being discussed to facilitate the return of other Umrah pilgrims at the earliest,” Jaiswal said, adding that 24-hour control rooms had been established to assist Indian nationals. AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi had urged the Centre to intervene, claiming that thousands of Indian pilgrims remained stranded in Makkah and Madina and calling for additional flights to bring them home. Randhir Jaiswal We stand in solidarity with the people and the government of Saudi Arabia in safeguarding its sovereignty, and hope that peace and normalcy would return to the region at the earliest MEA statement Invite to Modi Netanyahu invited Modi to light a torch alongside Indian pilot Smit Machchhar on Israel’s Independence Day, praising the pilot for his role in foiling an attempt to hijack a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai flight Anti-terror fight “Modi thanked me for the invitation and said that, on the ground and in the air, India and Israel are fighting together against terrorism,” Netanyahu added in posts in Hindi and Hebrew UNION education ministry’s Review Committee on National Education Policy is on a mission to equip college students with the requisite job skills that will make them stand out in the job market. This will be done by arranging tie-ups with companies and other large employers to provide students industry experience and a taste of real-work pressures, the panel’s chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said on Thursday . Speaking to this newspaper, the former UGC chairman said the NEP review panel’s primary focus is on the nearly 3 crore undergraduates of BA, BSc and BCom courses. “A pilot project is underway press clusive NEP review panel Jagadesh Kumar was roped in as chairman of the NEP review panel in January. Its members include the higher education secretary and vice-chancellors of multiple universities. Its objective is to keep track of the progress made by the state govts in implementing NEP in 30 universities. The All India Survey on National Education 2023-2024 states that there are M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n @ Kochi The move to develop a parking lot for the Kerala High Court on the Old Railway Station premises, located inside the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of the Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary in Kochi, has triggered concerns among green activists. According to environmentalists, the decision to set up the parking facility will destroy the bird sanctuary . They also question the need for a new parking ground when the state cabinet has approved shifting of the High Court to Kalamassery . The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) had in March 2026 issued a gazette 460 sq m of land on Old Railway Station premises to be leased out to Kochi Corporation for High Court parking lot Lease amount: L4.35 cr Lease period: 35 years notification declaring the 22 acres of land owned by the Southern Railway as the ecosensitive zone of Mangalavanam sanctuary. ESZ skirts the Mangalavanam sanctuary at a radius ranging from zero to 0.55 km and covers a total area of 0.122 square km, inclusive of the land belonging to Railways. There is no ESZ on the northern and western boundaries of Mangalavanam as large buildings, including the High Court, are located close to it. Currently, the Souther n Railway is drafting an agreement to lease out 11.36 cents (460 sq m) of land to Kochi Corporation for the parking facility. “The land is being leased out based on the High Court directive. The Railways’ engineering department is drafting the lease agreement, and the process will be completed soon,” said Ardra, Railways area mana g er, ● More on P4 Ernakulam.  E XPR E SS R E A D Pinarayi seeks abeyance of ED proceedings India, Poland to ramp up trade partnership Revamp delay hurts as 5 DCC chiefs hold dual posts Kochi: Former CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday wrote to the ED, seeking to keep its proceedings in the CMRL pay-off case in abeyance until the division bench of the HC delivers its judgment. Pinarayi sent the communication in response to a summons issued by the ED, directing him to appear at its Kochi office on October 23.P4 New Delhi: India and Poland on Thursday agreed to deepen cooperation in defence, space and nuclear energy, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk pledging to expand their strategic partnership amid growing global uncertainty and conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia. P9 T’Puram: The delay in appointing a new KPCC president has affected the functioning of the Congress in districts as the appointment of District Congress Committee presidents too remains affected. As many as five DCC presidents are now MLAs, adding legislative responsibilities to their organisational roles. P4 Meet ‘n’ greet Outgoing Governor Rajendra Arlekar receives his successor Om Prakash Mathur at Lok Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. Mathur will assume charge as Keralam Governor today | Express E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram In a major setback that could reshape power equations at Sivagiri Mutt, incumbent president Swami Satchidananda lost the election to the Sreenarayana Dharma Sangham Trust board for 2026-2031. In a closely fought election, 11 members were elected, including incumbent g eneral secretary Swami Subhangananda, who secured 29 votes, and former general secretary Swami Rithambharananda, who polled 24. The panel led by Subhagananda has now six members and is likely to steer the new administration, which will govern the Mutt for five years. The verdict assumes significance amid the current political dynamics. Satchidananda shares warm ties with the ruling Congress but has had a strained relationship with SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan. Incumbent treasurer Swami Saradananda, former president Swami Visudhanandan and former general secretary Swami Sandrananda, all part of a rival panel, were among those re-elected. The newly elected members are Swami Anapekshananda, Swami Nithyaswaroopananda, Swami Dharmachaithanya, Swami Yogananda, Swami Ambikananda and Swami Guruprakasham. Anapekshananda had served on the board of ● More on P4 directors. 18 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express images of protest Forced to remove ‘political’ photos from solo show, Raihan Vadra says art is political S r e s t h a S a r k a r @ New Delhi Some of the photo exhibits that were taken down; and (inset) Raihan Vadra | Special arrangement A day after 75 out of 105 photographs by Raihan Vadra, son of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were taken down from Bikaner House, the artist said art knows no political boundary His family backed him while . the venue, owned by the Rajasthan government, claimed the “photographs breached guidelines” and were against policy . Raihan told TNIE on Thursday that he’d asked what the venue’s policy was but had not received a “logical enough” response. On his mother’s social media post, he said, “My family has been very supportive about the entire issue and asked me to continue my work despite such a fiasco.” In the post addressed to Raihan, the MP said, “When someone with power becomes afraid of the expression of another, he doesn’t know it, but he has already lost the very power he is trying to protect.” Meanwhile, Raihan was looking for a place to display the entire solo show, ‘No Idea Is Fi- No blank frames either Raihan said the team replaced the “political” photos with blank frames but was told that too was unacceptable. “They left one photo of the Tricolour in place but ... removed the other photo of the Indian flag themselves,” he said nal’, with Travancore Palace emerging as an option. Refuting BJP’s charges that he was being positioned for a political role, Raihan said, “This art is my politics... I have no plans to join any party... and anyway, art is political.” Bikaner House in a statement on Thursday said certain of Raihan’s works were found to be inconsistent with its policy, and their removal was requested. The team didn’t clarify what the guidelines were. Raihan said the venue’s management asked him to remove photographs of recent youth movements in India, citing their “political nature”, five hours before the show was to open on Wednesday He said his . proposal, approved on June 30, 2025 by the venue, had said the show would feature images exploring themes of “choice, control and unity”. Raihan said he was contacted by the management at 6 pm on Tuesday and asked to remove the protest pictures. He was subsequently told to remove all works considered “political” by 3.30 pm Wednesday, failing which the exhibition would be cancelled. He added the works had since been removed to allow the show to continue until October 25.