THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l wednesday l September 28, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE city EDITION Nasa’s dramatic smash hit of spacecraft into asteroid The collision was intentional and designed to test whether space rocks that could threaten Earth can be intercepted Impact expected to alter rock’s orbit Scientists to keep tracking dimorphos The US space agency’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) probe smashed into the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, a small body 160 metres in diameter. DART’s camera returned images right up to the moment of impact. Researchers expect the impact to shorten Dimorphos’ orbit by about 1%. Dimorphos orbits a larger 780-metre asteroid called Didymos ■ ■ However, it will take some weeks before scientists on the Nasa mission know for sure whether their experiment has worked Post impact, which happened 11 million km away from Earth, the team will observe Dimorphos using ground-based telescopes to confirm its orbit around Didymos has indeed been altered 22,000 km/hr The speed at which NASA’s spacecraft crashed into asteroid Dimorphos 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 Cong carrot and stick to resolve Raj revolt S h a h i d F a r i d i @ New Delhi farewell, friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays respects to former Japanese premier Shinzo Abe during the state funeral, at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan on Tuesday Abe, 67, was assassinated by a gunman on July 8. Modi also had a private meeting with Akie Abe, the widow Abe, at the Akasaka Palace Earlier in the day, Modi had a fruitful meeting with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida, where they discussed various bilateral issues Anti-Kanam group gears up for open revolt in state meet The Congress leadership on Tuesday tried a carrot and stick approach to deal with Ashok Gehlot’s refusal to hand over Rajasthan chief ministership to his detractor and former deputy Sachin Pilot. While senior leaders engaged the CM and continued efforts to persuade him to resign and enter the race for the party president’s post, ground is also being prepared for taking disciplinary action against Gehlot’s closest ministers Shanti Dhariwal and Mahesh Joshi, who spearheaded the rebellion against signing a resolution authorising interim chief Sonia Gandhi to appoint a new CM after Gehlot’s nomination as presidential candidate. Sources said senior leaders, including Ambika Soni, are ship in a fix. It was Ismail who first fired a salvo two days ago. With its state conference just On Tuesday senior leader C Di, three days away the CPI in Ker- vakaran too came down heavily , ala is witnessing an unon Kanam. Both veterprecedented and intense ans feel that strictly enfactional feud. There forcing the age cap of 75 are clear indications years is a mere cover up that it would not be easy to oust them from the for state secretary Kanstate council. No such am Rajendran to get a decision can be enforced third term in office. before the Party ConAnti-Kanam groups Kanam Rajendran gress, the highest decihave forged a collective sion-making body gives , within the party and are its nod, they say . set to take on the state Though the mandatosecretary through an ry age cap is what they open contest. Sources criticise, it’s clear that confirmed that the K E their ultimate target is Ismail faction is set to Kanam. They plan to K E Ismail field Prakash Babu as challenge the secretary candidate. In that case, by fielding Babu. The it will be the first time in CPI’s rebel faction calculates that it history that an election is being would be able to garner supheld to the state secretary post. port from seven districts - KotThe open revolt just three tayam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, days before the state meet has Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kasaraput the party’s official leader- god and Wayanad.  ● More on P4 A N I L S @ T’Puram High oil prices breaking our back, Jaishankar tells Blinken Y e s h i Sel i @ New Delhi EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday told his US counterpart that developing countries are deeply concerned about oil prices as well as supply. Addressing a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after holding bilateral talks in Washington, he said, “We are a $2,000 per capita economy The price of oil . is breaking our back.” Jaishankar said the energy market is under stress due to the Ukraine war and that not just the pricing but the very availability of oil has become an issue. He also clarified that India is able to service and supply military equipment purchased from Russia despite We s t e r n s a n c t i o n s o n Moscow “Where we get our military supplies from is not an issue. We look at possibilities across the berth and exercise a choice which we believe is in our national interest. Having said that, we have also taken military aircraft from US, France and Israel as we have a tradition of multi-sourcing,’’ he added. On the Ukraine war, he said: “We have taken the position privately, publicly, confidentially and consistently that this conflict is not in anybody’s interest.” Gehlot loyalists in firing line Shanti Dhariwal: Minister for Urban Development and Housing. Convened meet of MLAs in Gehlot camp at his home on Sunday ahead of the CLP meet scheduled for 7.30 pm. Their numbers swelled from about 25 around 6 pm to beyond 70 later Dharmendra Rathore Very close to Gehlot. State Tourism Development Corporation chairman. He is a political appointee. Was involved in the show of strength against the high command’s diktat still trying to convince Gehlot to take up party presidency after relinquishing the CM’s post. He has been told that the leadership is ready to put the ugly episodes of Jaipur behind and get on with the elections. Party leaders at Delhi have not lost hope of Gehlot acceding to the high command’s wishes. They did not rule out the possibility of Gehlot visiting Delhi to meet Mahesh Joshi: Congress Chief Whip. PWD Minister. Coordinated with loyalist MLAs, asking them to reach Dhariwal's house on Sunday night. Now says AICC observer Ajay Maken misread their actions Sonia to resolve the differences. Gehlot is not averse to giving up chief ministership and entering the presidential race. But he does not want Pilot as his successor. He says he would hand over the chief ministership to any one from the 102 MLAs who had stayed loyal to the party when Pilot had walked out, but ● More on P8 not the latter.  NADDA meets CATHOLIC BISHOPS; BJP, CHURCH MUM Church’s Educity campus at Thellakom in Kottayam. The meeting assumes imEven as the BJP is making portance as it occurred soon all-out efforts to woo Chris- after the for mation of tian voters in Kerala, party Bharatiya Christian Sangapresident J P Nadda mam (BCS), an organihas held a closedsation floated by politidoor meeting with cal and community archbishops of two leaders of various major Christian deChristian Church denominations triggernominations. Highly ing speculations. placed sources said the J P Nadda Nadda met Mar meeting was part of Joseph Perumthotthe BJP’s “confidence tam, Archbishop of Changa- building measures” with minassery diocese of the Syro- norities. The party has been Malabar Church and Mar trying to connect with the Mathew Moolakkattu, Arch- Christian community in Kerbishop of the Kottayam dio- ala for some time now. The cese of the Knanaya Church, meetings was part of a goodon Sunday at the Knanaya will gesture to take the E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kottayam/T’Puram State’s child porn fight gets Canadian upgrade Anil Kant in Kochi recently . The licences, given for free The state police have strength- under the firm’s corporate soened their arsenal to take on cial responsibility drive, are perverts circulating child porn valid for one year. on the internet, by joining Magnet Axiom helps recover hands with a Canadian and analyse digital evicyber forensics firm and dence — even deleted acquiring two software data — gathered from that would help them Android or Apple build an airtight case The software phones, the cloud and will help us against the offenders. Windows, Mac, Chrome combat child Axiom and Outrider, porn menace and Linux devices. the software made by with enhanced It can also create reCanada-based Magnet efficiency and ports and share portable Forensics, will enhance mount better case files. offensives the capability of the Outrider is a live analstate police’s Counter ysis tool that can help P Prakash, Child Sexual Exploita- Cyberdome nodal successfully navigate tion Centre (CCSE) in the noisy data (data that officer recovering and analysis corrupt or meaninging digital evidence, even the less) and find illicit content, in data that was deleted. this case content of child sexuThe licences of the two soft- al abuse. It also provides realware were handed over by a time updates of dark web apps senior official of Magnet Fo- and other proscribed contents rensics to state police chief stored in a device. S h a n A S @T’Puram Church leadership into confidence, they said. Both the Church leadership and the BJP have maintained silence on what transpired in the meeting. “Nadda had visited Educity. It was just a casual visit and there is nothing political about it,” said Knanaya Church sources. Interestingly, the BJP too kept the details of the visit restricted to just the party top brass so as to avoid unnecessary discussions in the public domain over the visit. The BJP chief was accompanied by Union Minister V Muraleedharan, BJP Kerala Prabhari Prakash Javadekar and party state president K Surendran. EXPRESS READ ED: PFI men manipulated, hid papers for money laundering Kochi: The ED, probing the funding of PFI, has found that the front’s leaders from Kerala manipulated and hid financial records to launder crores of rupees in liquid cash for funding radical activities. This was revealed in an ED report filed in a Lucknow court | P4 KSRTC moves HC, seeks G5 crore as compensation from PFI Kochi: The KSRTC on Tuesday approached the High Court seeking a directive to PFI state general secretary A Abdul Sathar to pay I5.06 crore as compensation for the damage and revenue loss caused during the front’s recent hartal | P4 Governor-KU tussle heading for a legal showdown T’Puram: The tussle between the governor and Kerala University seems to be headed for a legal showdown with VC V P Mahadevan Pillai saying the varsity cannot provide the name of the senate’s nominee to the panel to choose the new VC | P4 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express H i g hes t h o n o u r Phalke award for actor Asha Parekh E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVICe @ New Delhi veteran actor Asha Parekh, 79, will be honoured with the Dada Saheb Phalke award for 2020, the highest recognition in the field of Indian cinema. The award is in recognition of her exemplary lifetime contribution to Indian Cinema, said Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur. President Droupadi Murmu will present the award at the National Film Award cere- Previous recipients Rajinikanth (2019) Amitabh Bachchan (2018) Vinod Khanna (2017) K Vishwanath (2016) Manoj Kumar (2015)Shashi Kapoor (2014) Gulzar (2013) Pran (2012) Soumitra Chatterjee (2011) 1st recipient: Devika Rani (1969) mony to be held in the national capital on Friday . A five-member jury of Asha Bhosle, Hema Malini, Poonam Dhillon, Udit Narayan, and T S Nagabharana nomi- nated her. Having started acting at the age of 10, Parekh is considered one of the most influential actors of all time in Hindi cinema, who was the highest paid during her heydays. Parekh is best known for her films Dil Deke Dekho, Kati Patang, Teesri Manzil, and Caravan. Also a director and producer, she had helmed the acclaimed TV drama Kora Kagaz. Parekh was given the Padma Shri in 1992. She also headed Central Board for Film Certification from 1998 to 2001. Antony junks succession rumours, reaches Delhi sought explanation from MLAs loyal to Rajasthan CM Ashok Bogged down by the ongoing Gehlot for skipping the Condrama in Rajasthan and the un- gress Legislature Party meetcertainty over the party’s offi- ing on Sunday and working tocial candidate for the wards thwarting the presidential poll, the chances of Sachin Pilot Congress high comto succeed Gehlot. mand summoned vetBefore leaving, Aneran leader A K Antony tony, 81, rubbished ruto New Delhi on mours that he was Tuesday . tipped to succeed Sonia It is learnt that Conas the party’s national gress interim chief Sohead. “I relocated to A K Antony nia Gandhi summoned Thiruvananthapuram the former union minister in after bidding adieu from active his capacity as chairman of the politics. My health has not been AICC disciplinary committee. very good after the pandemic,” ● More on P4 The move comes after the party he told reporters.  Cyn t h i a C h a n d r a n @T’Puram State seeks top court nod to kill violent, rabid strays E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi/Kochi With stray dog menace on the rise, the Kerala government on Tuesday moved the SC seeking permission for euthanasia or culling of violent and vicious stray dogs, particularly dogs suspected of having contracted rabies. It has also sought the top court’s nod to let Kudumbashree units trained in Animal Birth Control (ABC) to undertake the programme. “One issue pertains to rabid/ feral dogs. While the state Act and Rules provide for ‘destruction of dogs’ that are violent or rabid, no culling is done at present as it is regarded as contrary to central rules. During a zoonotic disease outbreak, culling is done to prevent the spread. However, rabid dogs are only to be isolated till they die,” it said. The government said it had held discussions on controlling stray dog bites and preventing rabies infection in bite victims. It said it issued orders to form action plan at local body level, decided to identify hotspots reporting increased dog bite incidents, set up temporary shelters/cages and planned a cleanliness drive to tackle wet waste in public places, which ● attracts dogs for food. More on P5