chennai l monday l november 21, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION elon Musk restores Donald trump’s twitter account The decision was taken on Sunday after Twitter users narrowly voted to reinstate the ex-US president’s account Don says he would keep away from it over 15 million take part in Musk’s poll Trump, who last week announced his presidential bid, said he would stick to his own platform Truth Social, founded in 2021, and sees no point in returning to the Musk-run platform. Even if Trump is eventually lured back to Twitter, there will be constraints like the obligation to wait for six hours before reposting his content from Truth Social ■ ■ More than 15 million people – some 6% of daily Twitter users — voted on whether to reinstate the former president’s profile, with about 51.8% in favour and 48.2% against The controversial account appeared to be back online as of Sunday morning with the last tweet dated January 8, 2021 88 million users were following trump when his account was suspended 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 Terror angle to Mangaluru autorickshaw blast World’s grandest sporting carnival kicked off in Doha as hosts face Ecuador in the first match D i v ya C u t i n h o @ Mangaluru Fireworks go off at the Al Bayt Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Sunday | ap Qatar opens to World  With American actor Morgan Freeman’s dulcet voice and an Arabian theme with camels, the opening ceremony began with a promise of “everyone is welcome.”  No leaders of major Western countries were seen at the ceremony.  The presence of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi shows how far Qatar has come since the boycott that saw its sole land border and air routes cut off for years as part of a political dispute. Contenders in action Euro big guns England and Netherlands will be in action on Monday along with African champs Senegal. Talking points ahead of Monday’s FIFA World Cup matches... Can England go one step further? Mane a huge miss for Senegal Netherlands seek grand return There’s no dearth of talent in the England squad and the hopes are high this time. In last year’s Euros, they reached their first major final in 55 years. They will be hoping that Harry Kane & Co can do a repeat of 1966. With France, Brazil & Argentina in the mix, that will be a difficult task but it will be unwise to rule them out. Sadio Mane is a household in his country. A leader by definition, he was instrumental in the team’s success. In his absence, the team will be hoping youngsters like Krepin Diatta, will step up. The young guns tested from the word go as they face Netherlands in their opening match. The Oranje are back after failing to qualify for 2018 tournament in Russia. Coach Louis van Gaal, despite his illness, has been a massive figure and the players will be determined go deep into the tournament. It will also be a first major tournament for captain Virgil van Dijk (31), who missed the Euro 2020 last year, due to ACL. Group B: England vs Iran | 6.30pm; USA vs Wales (Tue, 12:30am). Gaal’s gallant fight calls to quit Guv Koshyari’s remark on Shivaji creates stir in Maha Sudhir Suryawanshi @ Mumbai Maharashtra’s Opposition on Sunday demanded that Bhagat Singh Koshyari step down as the state’s governor over his remark that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is an idol of “olden times”. Attending a function in Aurangabad on Saturday, Koshyari said, “There are so many icons here (in Maharashtra). While Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is of olden time, there are Ambedkar and Nitin Gadkari,” the gover nor had said. Reacting to the statement, the leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar said if Koshyari has has no right to continue in the post. “It is time for Koshyari to reconsider his continuing as state governor. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was a great role model on how to use power for people’s welfare and not self interest. These ideals have inspired Maharashtra and will continue to do so for time immemorial,” Pawar said. Reacting to Koshyari’s comment, BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said as long as there is sun and moon, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will be their idol and there is no second thought over it. Defending the governor, he further said even Koshyari had no doubts that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is the only idol. “There are various meanings derived from the remarks made by the governor,” he said. Group A: Senegal vs Netherlands (9:30pm) Louis van Gaal has had a very traumatic year. In April, after his team the Netherlands, qualified for the World Cup, he revealed that he was suffering from an aggressive form of prostate cancer and that he had had chemotherapy sessions. But here at the World Cup, he wants to produce one last grand hurray before he fades from view in a sport that offers little time for reflection and emotion. Samindra Kunti, who has followed Dutch soccer closely, gives us a peek into the man and his mission from Doha... Full Coverage: Page 11 @ Ahmedabad PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday targeted the Congress for letting anti-Narmada activist Medha Patkar take part in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, alleging the grand old party wants to destroy Gujarat. Addressing a meeting as part of the BJP’s campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections, he questioned the moral ground on which the Congress can vote when its leader is walking should-to-shoulder with a person who stalled the state’s development for decades. While canvassing for BJP candidates in the day, he appealed to voters not to waste their votes on the Congress, A cooker with detonator, wires and batteries found at the blast site | pti is unable to talk. We are investigating his connections. We have taken the statement of the auto driver,” he said, adding, “We are investigating how he made a bomb and where he was taking it to. Two other persons have been detained. A team of the National Investigation Agency reached the spot and collected evidence, which was sent to Bengaluru. Tharoor’s stature rises in Kerala after ‘unofficial ban’ C y n t h i a C h a n d r a n @ T’Puram Modi slams Rahul for walking with Medha DILIP SINGH KSHATRIYA A mysterious low-intensity blast in a moving autorickshaw in Mangaluru on Saturday got a twist with the Karnataka Police on Sunday confirming that it was an act of terror. The blast occurred around 4.40 pm on Saturday near Naguri in Mangaluru. The accused had hired the auto to go to Pumpwell, a locality in the city . By the time the vehicle moved a few metres, the blast occurred, the rickshaw driver said. According to the police, the accused was carrying a pressure cooker with an improvised explosive device inside it. Items resembling an electric circuit, wires, nuts, bolts and batteries were found at the blast site, which led the police to conclude that it was a terror incident.“The blast is an act of terror with intention to cause serious damage,” Karnataka Director General & Inspector General of Police Praveen Sood tweeted. Police sources said the accused was carrying a low-intensity IED, and as such, the impact of the blast was low. “Maybe he is inexperienced and could not make a strong IED. He might have wanted to plant it somewhere and it went off during transit,” said a police officer on condition of anonymity . ADGP Law and Order, Alok , Kumar visited the blast site on Sunday night. He said the police have gathered strong evidence against the accused, but refused to reveal his identity . “The relatives of the accused will reach the hospital tonight and after they identify him, we will reveal his identity,” he said.“The man has sustained 45% burns on his face and he which, he alleged, doesn’t have a roadmap for development. He added that other parties in the country were compelled to speak about development during elections thanks to the BJP’s development policies. Medha Patkar had joined the Yatra last week in Maharashtra and photos of Rahul speaking to the activist with his hand on her shoulder were tweeted by the Congress, drawing flak from the BJP . Earlier, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had also raised Patkar in the poll campaign, highlighting her association with the AAP . Gujarat will vote in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8. EYEING the chief ministerial post in the 2026 Kerala Assembly polls, Shashi Tharoor on Sunday kicked off his Malabar tour. The move, coming close on the heels of his running for the AICC president’s post, has made him the central figure in the Congress in the state, and has started polarising party leaders and workers for and against him. Kozhikode MP M K Raghavan, who spearheads the Tharoor camp, said given the Thiruvananthapuram MP’s tall stature, he should be made the Congress’ face in the state. He also urged the party leadership to order a probe into the “unannounced ban” on Tharoor by the state leadership. Tharoor also endorsed Raghavan’s demand for a probe. The Kozhikode district unit of the Youth Congress had announced a seminar to be held on Sunday on ‘Sangh Parivar and Challenges to Secularism’ with Tharoor as the main speaker. However, they backtracked on the programme on Saturday without citing any reasons. The Tharoor camp sees this as a result of the party leadership’s intervention. The programme, however, went on as planned after Kozhikode Jawahar Youth Foundation, a pro-Congress group, agreed to organise it. Sources said, the Congress leadership, both at the national and state level, is peeved at Tharoor for creating a parallel setup within the organisation. RTOs register hundreds of BS-IV vehicles banned by SC, transport dept orders probe B AN B U S E LVAN @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu transport department has ordered a probe across all Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) in the state after it found that hundreds of Bharat Stage (BS)-IV vehicles, banned by the Supreme Court, were registered illegally over the last two years. According to documents accessed by TNIE, at least 315 BS-IV vehicles, including sports utility vehicles and luxury two-wheelers, were registered illegally between November 2020 and September 2022 at South Chennai (West) RTO in Valasaravakkam, leading to an estimated road tax evasion of `23 lakh. representative picture A section of RTO officials and employees of a private firm engaged in issuing smart registration cards are under the transport department’s scanner in the matter. The Supreme Court order ban- ning sale and registration of BS-IV vehicles came into effect on April 1st 2020. The court imposed the ban as emission levels of BS-IV compatible engines failed to meet the pollution norms prescribed by the Union government for improving air quality in the country . SUVs worth of `20 to `35 lakh were allegedly sold for `10 to `13 lakh by vehicle dealers in the black market after the ban took effect. A chunk of such vehicles were registered illegally in connivance with the employees of RTO offices. Incidentally, a section of buyers had also purchased these vehicles without knowing that they were banned BS-IV vehicles.  P5 Suspect visited TN, got SIM with Ooty man’s Aadhaar ID Did Shariq meet Mubeen in Kovai? A probe is on to find out whether Shariq met Jamesha Mubeen, who died in LPG cylinder explosion in Coimbatore on October 23, when he stayed for a few days in Coimbatore in September Ooty man shared room in dormitory Police are questioning Surendran of Ooty whose Aadhaar details were used by Shariq to purchase a SIM card. Surendran had shared a room with Shariq in a dormitory in Singanallur E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ Coimbatore H Mohammed Shariq (24) of Thirthahalli in Shivamogga, the prime accused in the autorickshaw blast that occurred in Mangaluru on Saturday had visited Madurai and Coimbatore , and had stayed for a few days at a dormitory in Singanallur in September, Coimbatore police said on Sunday . Police are probing whether Shariq met Jamesha Mubeen, who died in the car blast in Coimbatore on October 23, when he was staying in Coimbatore. Police are also questioning Surendran (28) of Thummanatty in Udhagamandalam whose Aadhaar details were allegedly used by Shariq to purchase a SIM card. Sources said Surendran works as a teacher in a private school near Singanallur and Shariq had shared the room with him in the dormitory . Commissioner of Police V Balakrishnan told TNIE on Sunday, “Shariq had visited Coimbatore in September and stayed for a few days in a dormitory along with the person from Nilgiris. We suspect Shariq may have come to Tamil Nadu to evade Shivamogga police who were searching for him for jumping bail in a case. We are also investigating if Shariq had met Mubeen.” According to sources, the Mangaluru East police had arrested Shariq and U Sadath Hussain (50) on December 3, 2020, under UAPA for writing — “Do not force us to invite Lashkar -e-Taiba and Taliban to deal with sanghis and manvadis. Lashkar Zindabad” — on the compound wall of an apartment complex with black spray paint. Continued on: P5 express read 40mm to 50mm rainfall in North TN on Mon, Tue Chennai: Chennai and its neighbouring districts may experience heavy rainfall on Monday and Tuesday as the depression lying over southeast Bay of Bengal is set to move towards north TN and Puducherry coast over next 48 hours. There would be a few intense spells, the Met department said | P2 Lanka mulls repealing anti-terror law used against LTTE suspects Colombo: Amid pressure from the European Union, the Sri Lankan government is moving to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), introduced in 1979 in the wake of LTTE’s separatist campaign. The controversial law allowed the government to hold Tamils in detention for decades without charges. A new law is being drafted that will take its place | P10