chennai l Monday l January 08, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Rohit, Kohli return to squad for Afghanistan T20Is No Hardik yet, Samson makes the cut Rohit resumes captaincy in shortest format As the BCCI named the 16-member squad for the three T20Is that begin on January 11, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Ruturaj Gaikwad who are still recovering from injuries are not included. Sanju Samson, who was not a part of the South Africa T20Is, has made the cut. Among the pacers who played Tests in SA, only Mukesh Kumar has been included in the squad | P13 More than a year after playing their last T20I game, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are back in squad for Afghanistan series... ■ ■ Rohit will resume captaincy in the format for the first time since the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal. That he and Kohli are back indicates that they may be in the scheme of things for the 2024 T20 WC K L Rahul, who also hasn’t played T20Is since the last WC, is not included despite expressing his interest to bat in the middle-order 14 After 14 months, Rohit and Kohli will play a T20I for India 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 TN inks MoUs worth `62K cr on first day of GIM C S hi v a k u m a r & T M u r u g a n a n d h a m @ Chennai M TVS group chief Venu Srinivasan greets Chief Minister M K Stalin at the Global Investors Meet. Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is also seen | Ashwin Prasath Tamil Nadu secured investments worth around `62,000 crore as several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed on the first day of the two-day Global Investors Meet (GIM) inaugurated by Chief Minister M K Stalin in Chennai on Sunday. Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal took part in the event. Stalin, who released semi- achieve this, we are pursuing a conductor and advanced elec- twin-pronged approach of attronics policy on the occatracting both capital and emsion, said GIM would act ployment intensive investas a catalyst for ecoGI ments,” Stalin, clad in a nomic and industrial black colour suit, said. growth. “With the aim “We have rolled out the that Tamil Nadu should P O W E R I N G T N red carpet for investors. play an important role We want to be the trendin shaping India’s ecosetter among states. nomic growth, I have set an GIM has witnessed enambitious target of transformcouraging response and ing TN’s economy into a $1-tril- is expected to bring pride and lion economy by 2030. To investment to the state. Multi- Maldives suspends three ministers for Modi jibe THE Maldivian government on Sunday swung into damage control mode as it suspended three of its ministers — Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha Shareef, and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid — for making derogatory remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “All government officials responsible for the comments have been suspended from their posts with immediate effect,” read a statement released by Maldives government spokesperson Ibrahim Khaleel. The action came after the Indian High Commission in Male raised the issue with the Maldives foreign ministry . The ministers had used disparaging remarks against Prime Minister Modi on social media after he posted a video of him on a pristine beach in Lakshadweep. Through their re- ‘Killer’ leopard caught in Ooty, packed off to Vandalur zoo E x p ress Ne w s S er v ice @ Nilgiris A male leopard, which is suspected to have killed two people in Nilgiris district in the last 15 days, was tranquilised and captured by forest department personnel on Sunday. While the animal had killed a three-yearold girl in Mango Range Forest in Pandalur on Saturday, a 29year-old tribal woman, Saritha of Elamanna, died of injuries suffered in leopard attack on December 21. After a team of four veterinarians tranquilised the big cat, it was placed inside a cage and transported to the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur near Chennai. Officials said the leopard is believed to be the one that had injured five people, including two fatally in the Nilgiris range , since December 21, 2023. Angered by the spate of attacks, people of Kolappalli had blocked roads on Saturday demanding the immediate capture of the animal. On Friday, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) gave the permission to tranquilise and capture the wild animal.  P7 The leopard is suspected to have killed two people in the past 15 days | Express (Left to right): Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha Shareef, and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid | X pulsive posts, the ministers inferred that the Indian PM was trying to project the Union Territory as an alternative tourist destination to the Maldives. The insulting comments created widespread outrage, with many celebrities urging people to explore other tourist destinations instead of Maldives. There were also reports of mass cancellation of Maldives bookings for the upcoming holiday season. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar said: “Came across comments from prominent public figures from Maldives. Sur- prised that they are doing this to a country that sends them maximum tourists. Why should we tolerate unprovoked hate? Let us suppor t our own tourism.” Many Maldivian leaders, including former Maldivian president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, also strongly condemned the derogatory remarks. “India has always been a good friend of Maldives,” he said. Former foreign minister Abdulla Shahid termed the comments “reprehensible and odious”, noting that India is a time-tested friend who is always the first to respond in times of need. By suspending the ministers, Maldives may have averted a major diplomatic row. The country is heavily depended on tourism and India contributes the most to its economy. Last year, over two lakh Indian tourists visited Maldives. M aya n k S i n g h @ New Delhi Hasina secures record 5th term as PM No hatred, negativity The Maldivian foreign ministry said it believes freedom of expression should be expressed in ways that do not spread hatred, negativity We must not allow such callous remarks to negatively impact the ageold friendship between our two countries Former Maldivian president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih Bangladesh’s Awami League won over 200 seats in the 300-seat Parliament, while counting was still underway late on Sunday night after a day-long, violence-marred voting Blasts & gunshots PTI  Four persons, including a child, injured after two crude bombs exploded near a voting centre in Dhaka  Two people injured after shots were fired during a clash between supporters of two rival candidates in Chattogram  An Awami League supporter stabbed to death in Munshiganj district near Dhaka, officials said  Two people injured in clashes between supporters of Awami League and an independent candidate in Jamalpur’s Sharishabari When the final Jan 8 results will be announced 1,500 candidates from 27 political parties 100 foreign observers, including three from India Low turnout With the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotting the election, Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League was expected to win. BNP has called the electoral process “a sham” 40% is the voter turnout as per initial estimates. The 2018 election saw an overall turnout of 80% | P11 Airports, BSF on high alert as ED suspects Sheikh may flee to B’desh Pr a n a b M o n d a l @ Kolkata THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a lookout notice for Shahjahan Sheikh, suspecting that the Trinamool leader might cross the international border into Bangladesh after Friday’s attack on the agency’s officials by his supporters, when the sleuths tried to search his house in connection with the foodgrain scam. Sheikh is local leader of the Trinamool Congress. His house in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas is close to the Bangladesh border. The central agency alerted airports and Border Security Force (BSF) authorities by circulating his photographs. Sources in the ED said the BSF has been put on high alert about Shahjahan Sheikh. “We have information that he is planning to flee to Bangladesh. The Border Guard Bangladesh is carrying out intense patrolling because of the elections in the neighbouring country. Shahjahan may wait for a couple of days to look for right opportunity to cross over,” sources said. Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose instructed authorities to arrest Sheikh and investigate his alleged connection with terrorists, which drew sharp criticism from the ruling TMC. Central Reserve Police Force personnel who accompanied the ED team during the raid were also attacked by Sheikh’s men. Inspector General of CRPF, Birendra Kumar Singh on Sunday held a 30-minute meeting with the governor. Shahjahan Sheikh No arrests till date The police lodged FIRs­­— against the ED, unruly mob who attacked the officials of the central agency and Shahjahan and his associates. No arrests have been made till now Continued on: P7 major mous Signed Vin Fast: `16,000 crore Hyundai: `6,180 crore First Solar: `5,600 crore TVS Group: `5,000 crore Mitsubishi: `200 crore Qualcomm: `177 crore more reports: P6 Air Force makes first night-landing in Kargil Indian mission takes up issue with Maldives; celebs call for boycotting the island Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi ple policies have been announced. Our focus is to ensure development for all,” he said. The CM also released $1 trillion report and the first copy was received by Goyal. Goyal hailed the state’s growth story especially the fact , that 43% of India’s total women workforce is in Tamil Nadu, and said other states should emulate Tamil Nadu to propel the nation’s economic growth. TVS chief: MNCs pick TN for good political leadership, excellent bureaucracy The C-130J aircraft of the Indian Air Force during a nightlanding operation at the Kargil airstrip, in Ladakh | PTI Garud commandos on board The transport aircraft carried elite Garud commandos on board who were on a training mission. “The exercise also dovetailed a training mission of the Garuds,” the IAF wrote on X In a demonstration of its expanding operational capabilities, the Indian Air Force (IAF) said it has successfully conducted a night-landing of C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft at the high-altitude Kargil airstrip. “In a first, an IAF C-130 J aircraft recently carried out a night landing at the Kargil airstrip,” the IAF wrote on X. It is a significant achievement given that Kargil airstrip is situated at an altitude of 2,927 metres above sea level and is surrounded by hills and has a unidirectional approach. To land the aircraft on the dark airstrip, the crew used night vision goggles. They also employed terrain masking en route, a technique used to avoid detection by enemy radars. The airstrip lies close to the Line of Control (LoC) in the Union Territory of Ladakh. It is situated near the SrinagarLeh Highway, which was the focus of the Pakistan troops during the 1999 Kargil War. This training exercise was to test the special operations launch capability at night. It is significant for time-critical operational mobilization of troops and equipment to carry out special operations and also in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.