kozhikode l friday l august 05, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION China launches 11 ballistic missiles near Taiwan coast The Chinese military on Thursday launched a four-day war game and held “precision missile strikes” in the Taiwan Strait Simulates a blockade around the island Chinese state media said the exercises are meant to simulate an air and sea blockade around Taiwan. Beijing’s action came a day after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi concluded her one-day visit to the island, ignoring China’s fierce warnings. On its part, Taiwan said it scrambled jets on Thursday to warn away 22 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone ■ 500 km Five missiles land in Japanese waters? ■ “Today’s China is not the old China of 100 years ago that was humiliated,” said China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, hinting at more provocative action in coming days While China said its missiles hit targets accurately, Japan claimed five of them landed in its exclusive economic zone | P9 Range of China’s dongfeng tactical missiles launched on Thursday 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 Kharge present, ED scans Young Indian’s office Govt gets into 2018 mode as rivers swell E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram It’s vendetta, says Cong amid uproar in RS with him. In all, Kharge was questioned for over 8 hours. Terming the summons to A day after sealing the office Kharge and his subsequent premises of the Sonia and Ra- questioning during working hul Gandhi-owned Young Indi- hours of Parliament as an “inan Ltd, the Enforcement Direc- sult” to the legislature, the Contorate searched it on Thursday gress alleged that “Modishahi” even as the Opposition attacked had reached a new low. the gover nment The National Herover the alleged ald case pertains to misuse of probe alleged irregulariagencies to target ties during its acpolitical rivals. quisition in 2010. The ED began its Earlier in the day , search after Young Kharge and Leader India Ltd of fice of the House (Rajya bearer Mallikarjun Sabha) Piyush GoyKharge reached the al clashed in the Herald House buildUpper House over Eight hours ing in the afterthe ED summons. noon. It had sum- Kharge was with the ED Kharge raised the moned the matter during at Young Indian office 80-year-old Kharge, Question Hour, sayfor 8 hours. He later the Leader of Oppo- tweeted, “If they want ing the ED sumsition in the Rajya mons was an atto make the process a Sabha, to be present tempt to intimidate punishment, I will during the duration embrace it. Resilience is the Congress but of the searches. the party would not in @INCIndia’s blood Kharge’s pres- just like cowardice is in be cowed down. ence was sought as “This House is BJP’s.” he is the principal functioning and I officer of the comam the Leader of pany Under the rules, searches Opposition. I have received a . on premises cannot be carried summons from the ED to apout in the absence of the pear before it when a Parliaowner of a property his repre- ment session is on. Is it fair?” , sentatives or the person in he asked. “If we carry on like charge. this, will our democracy reCongress general secretary main alive? ” he added. Jairam Ramesh said the agenRebutting the allegations, cy interrogated Kharge for Goyal denied that the governhours. “Kharge...has been un- ment interfered in the functiondergoing interrogation...His ing of law enforcement agenordeal is continuing,” he said cies, adding Congress leaders while expressing his solidarity should face the law. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Strong waves crashing into Valiyathura pier in Thiruvananthapuram, forcing two fishermen, who had gone there for angling, to return. Fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea due to inclement weather | B P Deepu Red alert in six dams: Lower Periyar, Kallarkutty, Ponmudi, Erattayar, Kundala and Moozhiyar Tamil Nadu PWD officials may release water from Mullaperiyar dam on Friday as the level reached 136ft on Thursday Mahal committee says no to brides in mosque P o o j a N a i r @Kozhikode The Paleri-Parakkadavu mahal committee, which had won praise from various quarters after it broke with tradition and allowed the bride inside the mosque for her marriage, did a U-turn on Thursday saying it will not allow conduct of such , marriages in future. It also said the bride was allowed inside the mosque by mistake. The latest change in the committee’s stance took many, including the groom’s relatives, by surprise. In a notice, the committee said permission had been given for a marriage outside the mosque. “However, one of the office-bearers mistook it as the nod for the bride to be present inside the mosque. The person concerned has apologised for the mistake,” said the notice. Sources in the mahal committee also alleged that the bride’s family violated norms to be followed inside a mosque by taking a series of pho● More on P4 tographs.  express read Muharram holiday rescheduled T’Puram: The state government on Thursday said the holiday for Muharram will be on Tuesday (August 9) instead of Monday (August 8). The change follows a request from Muslim organisations. Monday will be a working day. Samastha: Exclude controversial topics Kozhikode: The Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema has urged the state government not to include controversial topics — those that are against religious and moral principles — in the Kerala Curriculum Framework 2022 envisaged by SCERT | P5 Technical glitches mar CUET phase 2 New Delhi: Thousands of students taking phase two of the Central University Entrance Test-UG (CUET-UG) were sent home after technical glitches were reported at many centres in India. The National Testing Agency later cancelled the exams | P8 Chemistry PG held in L1,400-cr drug bust Mumbai: Police seized over 700kg of synthetic stimulant mephedrone worth J1,400 crore and arrested five people, including a postgraduate in chemistry who had cracked the formula for mass production. The 52-year-old had mastered the skill through trial and error | P8 The state government on Thursday initiated rehabilitation measures similar to the ones it took during the 2018 flood, as rain continued to lash the state and shutters of several dams were raised. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged all those who had to shift to relief camps in 2018 to relocate to camps again. He also asked people in low-lying areas in Thrissur and Ernakulam to stay alert. Four people died in rain-related incidents on Thursday. The official toll since Sunday is 20. While two people died in Kottayam, one person each died in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur. Though no red alerts were issued for Friday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) sounded orange alerts Holiday today Holiday declared for all educational institutions in Idukki, Palakkad, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Thrissur, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kannur and Wayanad, besides Nilambur and Eranad taluks in Malappuram. Residential schools in Wayanad and Malappuram will stay open. University exams in Kannur and Malappuram will be held on Friday as planned in Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode and Idukki. Water level in the Chalakudy river went up after shutters of Poringalkuthu and Sholayar dams were raised. Revenue Minister K Rajan termed the situation serious and said efforts were being made to speed up relocation of people. “The government has requested deploy- india high on tejas-win Historic medal Late inclusion in the team, Tejaswin Shankar became the first Indian to win a high jump medal at the Commonwealth Games late on Wednesday. He managed to win a bronze clearing 2.22m Tejaswin Shankar during medal ceremony | AP ment of one more unit of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF),” he said. The IMD said intense rainfall is likely to continue over the South Peninsula (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka) for the next two days. It also predicted likely formation of a low pressure area over northwest and adjoining west central Bay of Bengal by August 7. Weather experts warned that central districts in the state and high ranges would be impacted the most by the adverse weather. The authorities are maintaining high alert in high-range areas and the collectors concerned have suspended quarrying and sand mining. Red alert was issued in six dams — Lower Periyar, Kallarkutty Ponmudi, , Erattayar, Kundala, and ● More on P4 Moozhiyar.  boxing squash More medals assured Ghosal-Pallikal in last four Sagar Ahlawat, Amit Panghal and Jasmine stormed into semis to assure India medals with dominating victories. However, Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain lost Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal sailed into mixed doubles quarterfinals with a clinical 11-8, 11-4 win over the Wales pair of Emily Whitlock and Pater Creed