KOZHIKODE l thursday l November 05, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Kohli in cruise control as India take 1-0 lead against Black caps Kamboj puts behind debut blues While Virat Kohli stole the show with a sublime fifty, Anshul Kamboj, with just two wickets, broke the match for India during the middle-overs. Arshdeep Singh (4/70) and Gurnoor Brar (3/44) led the charts, but Kamboj, after a forgettable debut vs West Indies, stole the show with a mesmerising spell of 2/22 in 10 overs as NZ were all out for 185 Virat Kohli turned back clock, rising to the occasion in a rain-affected encounter to help visitors beat New Zealand. A look... vintage virat in full flow at eden park ■ ■ On an Auckland pitch that had lot of assistance for pacers, Kohli made a mockery of the hosts as he cruised to 51-ball 74, making it look like he was batting on a different surface Despite not having any game-time since the WI series, Kohli smashed 13 fours and a six in his stroke-filled knock | P11 80 It was Kohli’s 80th half-century in the odi format 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 Iran exempts Indian vessels from Hormuz transit curbs J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Iran has exempted merchant vessels from India, China, Iraq and Qatar from restrictions on transit through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, with the move aimed at facilitating medicine imports from India, a senior Iranian lawmaker has said. Amir Hayat-Moghaddam, deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said ships from the four countries were allowed to pass freely through the waterway and were not being intercepted by the United States. “We have currently exempted India, China, Iraq and Qatar from transit restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz. Ships from these countries pass freely and , the Americans do not intercept them either,” Hayat-Moghaddam told the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) in an interview on Tuesday . Explaining the rationale behind the exemptions, HayatMoghaddam said Iran was facilitating the passage of Indian vessels to enable the procurement of medicines from India. The exemption for Chinese ships, meanwhile, was intended to secure Beijing’s political support, he indicated. There was no immediate reaction from the Ministry of External Affairs or Iran’s Foreign Minister. But Tehran seems to be using selective exemptions from transit restrictions in Strait of Hormuz to advance its diplomatic and economic interests amid tensions over the shipping route and fresh threats from Donald Trump. MID-TERM ELECTIONS Senate 54 House of Representatives 7 Democrats 7 50 44 Republicans Not up for election 228 25 218 to win Democrats 25 139 Republicans Trump loses U.S. grip Democrats wrest control of both Senate and House of Representatives in mid-term polls AGENCIES @ Washington IN a major political setback to US President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, the opposition Democratic Party swept the mid-term elections by winning a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate and flipping key gubernatorial posts. Of the 470 Congressional seats for which elections were held on November 3, the Democrats won 282, according to the Associated Press race call. The Dems crossed the halfway mark of 218 in the 435-seat House with 228 seats, pushing the Republicans to 139, with 68 seats yet to be called. In the outgoing House, the Republicans had a slim margin of 220-215. In the 100-seat Senate—of which 35 went to polls—the Democrats now have a comfortable majority with 54 seats, while the Republicans have been reduced to 44. Republicans had a 53-47 majority in the out- First Muslim Senator has India connection Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and his wife, Dr Sarah Jukaku, take the stage after he declares victory in Michigan; and Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman (R) dances with supporters at an election night event | afp/ap going Senate. With an upper hand in Congress, the Democrats have effectively ended the Republicans’ hold on Washington and opened the window to block Trump’s legislative agenda and launch Congressional investigations over the remaining two years of his presidential term. The results are believed to indicate voters’ frustration with Trump’s policies, including the war on Iran, which contributed to rising living costs. Trump conceded defeat and congratulated the Democrats, saying he was ready to work with them. However, he refused to take responsibility for the debacle. In a social media post, he claimed the outcome would have been different had he been running. “I wasn’t on the ballot, and there was nothing that could be done about that. If I EXPRESS READ CM Satheesan defends state govt’s power purchase deal Mahamagham: Two groups told to join hands for festival T’Puram: Chief Minister V D Satheesan has defended the state’s power purchase deal, stating that procurement through the General Network Access platform at lower rates was far more economical than buying power from Himachal at I14.50 per unit, which would have imposed an additional I2,232 cr liability on state. P4 Malappuram: The trustee of Thirunavaya Nava Mukunda Temple, the Zamorin, has asked Juna Akhada and Margadharshak Mandal to jointly organise Mahamagham festival in January. The Zamorin has made it clear that the venue would be allotted only if the groups agreed to join hands and conduct festival peacefully. P5 Progressive Democrat Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed (42), America’s first Muslim Senator, has an India connection. His wife, Dr Sarah Jukaku, a psychiatrist, has her roots in Karnataka’s Bhatkal. Abdul El-Sayed, of Egyptian descent, won against Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan | P7 was, we would have won,” he boasted on Truth Social. He also threatened to use his presidential veto power to strike down legislation passed by Congress. “I think they’re gonna want to work with me. Otherwise I’d just veto everything, and they’re not gonna want that,” he said. He later posted an image of a red cap bearing the word VETO on soP9, 10 cial media.  Early Diwali for Agniveers as def hire path opens J a v a r i a R a n a @ New Delhi The Union Cabinet on Wednesday rewrote a key provision of the Agnipath scheme, giving two more years in uniform for 75% of personnel not retained after the initial four-year stint, along with another shot at becoming regular soldiers. It comes weeks before the first batch of Agniveers, who joined in 2022, is due to leave the armed forces after completing their four-year stint. The new “second engagement period” effectively creates a six-year pathway to regular military service for those willing to stay on and able to meet the selection criteria. The original provision for 25% of each batch to be absorbed on merit at the fouryear mark remains untouched. Announcing the decision, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General NS Raja Subramani said the scheme was “not set in stone” and would be reviewed periodically, adding that more tweaks could fol- Army personnel patrol along the Line of Control (LoC) in Akhnoor | PTI low. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh dubbed it a ‘Second Tour of Duty’. To sweeten the deal, the second tour comes with higher pay and a bigger Seva Nidhi package. Agniveers, however, remain outside the pension and gratuity net. Those enrolled as regulars after six years will rank below the 25% of personnel absorbed at the four-year mark, the CDS said. The push came from the ar med forces themselves. They had increasingly questioned the logic of showing the door to soldiers just when they had become operationally useful.