NAGAPATTINAM l Monday l December 11, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION iSRAEL GETS MORE MUNITIONS FROM U.S., STEPS UP GAZA OFFENSIVE Heavy fighting raged overnight and into Sunday across Gaza, as Israel pressed ahead with its attack backed by fresh munitions sent by the US tEL aVIV under intl pressure for ceasefire war to go on until hamas eliminated: bibi Israel has faced rising international outrage and calls for a permanent ceasefire after the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians. Nearly 85 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where UN agencies say there is no safe place to flee. US helped its ally by vetoing the Security Council’s efforts to end fighting ■ ■ Israel’s PM Netanyahu said on Sunday he had told the leaders of France, Germany, and other countries: “You cannot on the one hand support the elimination of Hamas, and on other pressure us to end the war, which would prevent the elimination of Hamas” UN Secretary-General Guterres said he would appeal for a ceasefire $100m worth of tank ammunitions have been sold by the U.S. to Israel 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 Tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai is C’garh CM Swearing-in likely on December 12-13 with two deputy CMs; former CM Raman Singh may become Speaker Selection part of grand strategy for LS polls E j a z K AI S E R @ Raipur Rajasthan and Delhi Police arrive in Jaipur on Sunday with an accused in the murder of Karni Sena president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi | PTI Jt police team arrests two shooters for Karni Sena chief’s murder the shooters and their accomplice Udham Singh who assisted them in their escape. Rajasthan police have arA senior Delhi Police officer rested two culprits in the mur- said that the Crime Branch was der of Karni Sena chief Sukh- tracking the shooters moved ev S i n g h G o g a m e d i i n ment for the last 72 hours after Chandigarh in a Saturday night the Rajasthan Police apjoint operation with the Delhi proached them. police. “Rajasthan Police provided The two shooters, intel that the shooters, named Nitin Fauji and after killing Gogamedi Rohit Rathore, have took a taxi to Didwana been brought to Jaipur in Rajasthan. From along with co-accused The shooters and there, they boarded a Ramveer. So far, four their facilitators bus to Delhi,” Special have been have been detained in CP RS Yadav told rearrested in the connection with the porters. The shooters first phase. The murder of Gogamedi, had concealed their next phase is who was shot dead on weapons after the murabout reaching December 5 in his der. However, they out to the house. The two be- mastermind and were using mobile lieved to be shooters phone during their esconspirators were planning to flee cape which helped in Joseph, Jaipur police tracing them. to Nepal, police said. commissioner ADG Crime Dinesh Police interrogation M N in a statement has revealed that Nitin said both Rohit and Nitin were Fauji is from Mahendragarh in found hiding in a room above a Haryana and Rohit Rathod liquor vend. Jaipur police com- from Nagaur district in Rajasmissioner Biju George Joeseph than. They were in contact with had deployed seven from his gangster Rohit Godara followteam for the operation. ing the murder. The police decided to wait Simultaneously their hanuntil midnight for the opera- dler Virendra Charan provided tion to ensure minimal risk. them with logistics, weapons The police apprehended both and money . r a j esh a sn a n i & u j w a l j a l a l i @ Jaipur/New Delhi sc to pronounce Art 370 verdict today express read INDIA bloc to meet on Dec 19 in New Delhi New Dehi: Evolving a “core positive agenda”, seat sharing and a programme to hold joint rallies are among the main challenges before the opposition INDIA bloc that will be taken up at its next meet in Delhi on December 19 | P7 Cash haul in Odisha IT raids goes past `300 cr Bhubaneswar: The cash seizure in the IT searches at Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Dheeraj Sahu’s residences and his Boudh Distillery premises in Jharkhand and Odisha and houses has gone past `300 crore, official sources said on Sunday The SC is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on petitions challenging the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 Vishnu Deo Sai, 59, a senior tribal leader and former Union minister, will be the next chief minister of Chhattisgarh after he was elected the leader of the BJP legislature party in Raipur on Sunday . Former chief minister Raman Singh proposed Sai’s name, which was seconded by state BJP president Arun Sao and senior MLA Brijmohan Agrawal at the party state office. Singh hinted that he might assume the responsibility as a Speaker of the state Assembly and there could be a possibility of two deputy chief ministers. After getting elected unopposed as CM-designate, Sai met Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan at the Rajbhavan to stake claim to form the government with 54 members in the newly elected House in Chhattisgarh. On Sunday evening, Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan extended the formal invitation to Sai to for m government. Sai will be the second tribal chief minister of Chhattisgarh after late Ajit Jogi, who was the first Congress CM of the state in November 2000. “Our priority will be to fulfil the promises made in our manifesto during the next five R AJ E S H K U MA R T H A K U R @ New Delhi Chhattisgarh CM-designate Vishnu Deo Sai meets State Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan to stake claim to form government, at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday | ANI years. To begin with, the BJP government will approve the bonus payment of the two years for the paddy growers on December 25 and constructing houses for the 18 lakh poor who remained deprived under the PM Awas Yojana during the last five years,” the CMdesignate told the media persons. Ex-CM proposes The proposal to elect Sai as the legislature party leader was moved by former chief minister Raman Singh, which was seconded by Arun Sao and senior leader Brijmohan Agrawal BSP chief Mayawati names nephew Akash Anand as heir apparent N a m i ta B a j pa i @ Lucknow The Wait before Darshan Pilgrims waiting at Sabarimala Sannidhanam on Sunday. In view of the huge rush of devotees, the temple has extended the darshan timings by one hour | Express TN govt postpones half-yearly exams as schools reopen today E x p ress N e w s S erv i c e @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu school education department has postponed half-yearly examinations for government school students across the state. The exams, that were scheduled to begin on Monday will be conducted from , Wednesday. The decision was taken as several students lost their textbooks and notebooks in the floods caused by Cyclone Michaung in Chennai, Cheng alpattu, Tiruvallur, and Kancheepuram districts. The schools in these four districts were shut from December 4 to 9 due to the floods. According to a press release from the department, the cleaning of the schools has been expedited in the four districts affected by the cyclone and preparations have been underway to reopen the schools on Monday . As many as 17 department officials have been deputed to the four districts to oversee this process. The department has also allocated `50 lakh each for Chennai, Chengalpattu, and Tiruvallur districts and `40 lakh for Kancheepuram district for the school cleaning efforts.  P4, 5 Exams now Dec 13-22 As per the new timetable, the half-yearly examinations for classes 1 to 12 will be conducted from December 13 to 22. Irked Chennai residents meet to prevent floods N i ru pa m a V i s w a n at h a n @ Chennai ON Sunday, residents’ welfare associations in several parts of Chennai got together for the first time since the floods, armed with maps of waterbodies in their localities, and started chalking out problem areas. Residents said many of the affected families are frustrated and are even discussing selling their property and permanently moving out from areas like S Kolathur and Korattur. In Sunnambu Kolathur Ward 3, close to 50 residents gathered for a ‘post-flood’ meeting. Residents had a hand-drawn map of the local waterbodies along with linking canals to identify what could have caused the flooding. At the end of the meet- Speaking to reporters, Sai admitted that he has his work cut out as the state’s financial health is weak, for which he blamed the previous Congressled government. Sai hails from Bagiya village in Sarguja division, where the BJP snatched all 14 seats from the Congress. According to BJP sources, the oath-taking ceremony may take place either on December 12 or 13, depending on the availability of Prime Minister Narendra Mod. The BJP had not projected anyone as the party’s CM face this time during the assembly elections and the party sought votes in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The decision to make tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai Chhattisgarh chief minister was part of a strategy to boost the BJP’s performance in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Known for his sharp organisational skills, the 59-year-old has wide acceptance in the tribal communities. According to political observers, his selection as CM was in-principle made when Union home minister and BJP’s principal strategist Amit Shah told voters that Sai would get a ‘big job’ after elections. Chhattisgarh shares it border with Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. “In all these states, tribals have a considerable presence. After the election of President of India, the BJP’s political think-tank with consent of PM Modi had played the second masterstroke to woo the tribal community ahead of the LS election by appointing a prominent tribal face as CM in Chhattisgarh, which has more than 7.5% of India’s total tribal population,” said a senior BJP functionary. He added that PM Modi’s vision is to make the tribal vote bank attached with the saffron party on the basis of the work done for the community as well as the representation accorded to tribal leaders. In Chhattisgarh, the BJP almost swept in tribal areas in the assembly election by winning 17 out of the 29 seats reserved for ST candidates for the 90member Assembly. Working through a national plan for the ST population, the BJP, taking a lesson from the setback in tribal-dominated seats in 2018, has made its concerns and works visible and known among the ST people over the past five years. With the appointment of Sai, the saffron party has further bolstered its image of being the champion of tribal causes. ing, the residents decided their top priority in the coming weeks will be to get officials to fill the gaps in the retaining wall built by the Water Resources Department. In 2020, the WRD undertook the project of building the 1.7km-long and 4m-wide retaining wall in a bid to protect the surrounding area of Kagithapuram in Sunnambu Kolathur from flooding.  P5 My family and I are considering selling our house and moving to places that are relatively better Ammaiyappan M, Korattur resident In an open endorsement to ‘dynastic politics’, BSP chief Mayawati on Sunday declared her nephew Akash Anand as her political heir at an all-India meeting of the party here. Twenty seven year old Akash, an MBA from London, has been active in the party since 2017 and at present is a national coordinator. He is son of Mayawati’s younger brother Anand Kumar. Although the press state- ment issued after the meeting doesn’t mention about the development, party’s lone MLA in UP Uma Shankar Singh confirmed that the development. BSP’s Shahjahanpur district unit chief Udayveer Singh, told reporters, Akash has been declared the ‘uttaradhikari’ by Mayawatiji. BSP MLC Bhim Rao Ambedkar also confirmed the announcement. “We have got a youth leader in Akash Anand. In states where the party organisation is weak, Anand will be strengthening it,” he said. “Anand has been associated with the BSP since 2017. During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he addressed a rally in Agra,” Ambedkar said. According to a BSP statement, Mayawati called upon party workers to increase the party’s support base.