govt asks Indians not to go to Israel, Iran amid rising tensions 48 hours iran may hit israel in a matter of hours, Wall Street Journal reported on Friday kollam l saturday l april 13, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION MEA’s advisory comes amid escalating tensions in West Asia following Israel’s strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria on April 1 Caution AGAINST tRAVEL WITHIN iSRAEL In its advisory, MEA has urged Indians in Iran and Israel to exercise utmost precautions about their safety and restrict their movements. The US embassy in Israel has also curbed movement of its staff and their families “out of an abundance of caution” in view of a potential revenge attack by Iran on 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 NIA nabs B’luru bomber, mastermind in Bengal Alleged bomber Mussavir Hussain Shazeb and mastermind Adbul Matheen Taha were staying in a lodge under false identities B a l a C h au h an & M U K E SH R A N J A N @ Bengaluru/ New Delhi The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested two accused in the Bengaluru Rameshwaram Cafe blast — the alleged mastermind Adbul Matheen Taha and bomber Mussavir Hussain Shazeb — from West Bengal in the wee hours of Friday . The two were staying in a lowbudget lodge in Kanthi — a small town about 180 km from Kolkata in the state’s Purba Medinipur district. As per NIA, they were staying in the lodge under false names. The agency, in an official release, acknowledged the cooperation of central intelligence agencies and state police agencies of West Bengal, Karnataka, Telangana and Kerala in the professionally coordinated joint operation to nab the two terror accused. The NIA special court in Kolkata, where the accused were produced, granted three days transit remand to the agency to take them to Bengaluru. Taha’s arrest is a breakthrough for the NIA as his name Accused being taken to NIA court in Kolkata on Friday| PTI figured prominently as an accused in several terror-related cases in Karnataka since 2019. Despite anti-incumbency, Owaisi is frontrunner A j ay T o m a r @ Hyderabad Sitting at a juice shop opposite Mecca Masjid near Charminar on Eid-ul-Fitr, Noor Mohammed, a businessman and resident of Moghulpura, lamented the lack of basic amenities and civic infrastructure in Hyderabad’s Old City the bastion of , the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). “For two decades, [Asaduddin] Owaisi has been the MP from here. But the dingy lanes, traffic snarls, potholed passages and inundation of streets are testimony to the bad conditions in most areas under the constituency ,” Noor remarked, drawing a comparison with Cyberabad and Secunderabad. N eve r t h e l e s s, t h e 52-year-old businessman said the AIMIM boss wins because he voices the concerns of the Muslim community on a nationwide platform. The Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, which has a Muslim majority, has been an AIMIM stronghold for four decades since Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi first won as an independent in 1984. After six consecutive victories, son Asaduddin took over in 2004. In 2019, he defeated his nearest rival — the BJP’s Bhagavanth Rao — by over 2.8 lakh votes. Notably, the polling percentage (44.84%) in 2019 was the second lowest in the segment since 1957 when it was 41.1%. Six of the seven Assembly segments falling under Hyderabad are re p re s e n t e d by AIMIM legislators. One, Goshamahal, is with the BJP, with T Raja Singh winning for the third time in 2023. With Feroz Khan, who contested from Hyderabad in 2019 on a Congress ticket recently indicating that dosti (friendship) has been forged between the AIMIM and the grand old party — the ruling party in the state is yet to even announce its candidate — Asaduddin’s main opponent will be the BJP’s new fireb r a n d M a d h av i ● More on P9 Latha. The NIA announced a bounty of `10 lakh on credible information leading to the arrest of Taha and Shazeb. The two belong to Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district. “It was Taha who also worked on the escape plans of the duo and managed to evade arrest all these weeks,” a senior NIA official informed. In May 2020, the NIA had announced a reward of `3 lakh for information leading to Taha’s arrest in the Al-Hind Bengaluru module case. The module is said to be behind the murder of a Hindu leader in Tamil Nadu. The Rameshwaram Cafe blast on March 1 in the IT hub of Bengaluru injured nine persons. Shazeb allegedly kept the bag containing the IED near the hand wash area of popular cafe. He was spotted de-boarding a bus before entering the cafe with the bag. On March 28, the NIA arrested Muzammil Shareef, an alleged key conspirator, from Bengaluru after massive raids across 18 locations in three states; 12 in Karnataka, 5 in Tamil Nadu and one in UP. big catch lMastermind Taha belongs to a self-proclaimed terror outfit ‘Al Hind IS’, which was formed in B’luru in 2019 lHe is said to be the common thread in almost all terrorist activities in Karnataka ever since 2019 Welcome showers cool state, more likely in next six days Kerala is expected to get much-needed relief from the sweltering heat as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds, across the state for the next six days. A cyclonic circulation over the sea near Kanyakumari, fuelled by easterly winds, resulted in widespread rainfall across the state on Friday Areas experi. encing rainfall in the morning saw a noticeable drop in maximum temperature compared to those receiving rain in the evening. Following the rain, Punalur, one of the Place April 11 April 12 Punalur 38.2 Palakkad 39.8 39.1oC 34 38.8 Vellanikara in Thrissur recorded max temp on Friday hottest places in the state, recorded a drop in maximum temperature from 38.2 degrees Celsius on Thursday to 34 degrees Celsius on Friday . Palakkad witnessed a dip in mercury levels by 1 degree Celsius on Friday At . 39.1 degrees Celsius, Vellanikara in Thrissur was the hottest place in the ● More on P6 state on Friday . E X P R E SS R E A D Masala bonds case: HC adjourns hearing on ED plea against Isaac Kochi: A division bench of the High Court on Friday adjourned the hearing on a plea filed by ED against a single judge’s interim order directing it not to summon former finance minister Thomas Isaac for questioning in Masala bonds case till LS polls are over. Decline in food and fuel prices helps cool inflation 5.51 5.89 5.34 5.45 4.78 Combd Total Combd 5.66 Total mar 2023 Figures in % Rural 4.14 Urban Combd 5.09 4.85 4ta Feb 2024 Mar 2024 (final) (provisional) Retail inflation moderates to 4.85% in March M o n i k a Ya d a v @ New Delhi Drop in max temperature (o Celsius) U nn i k r i s h nan S @T’Puram A little comfort India relocates staff from consulate in Myanmar’s Sittwe New Delhi: India said it has relocated its staff from its consulate in Myanmarese city of Sittwe to Yangon in view of the precarious security situation there. Several parts of Myanmar have been witnessing fighting between military junta and resistance forces. INDIA’s annual retail inflation declined to 4.85% in March, down from 5.09% in February according to government data released on , Friday. The consumer price based inflation has remained within the RBI’s target range. The data showed that food and beverage inflation fell to 7.68% in March from 7.8% recorded in February. Fuel inflation stood at -3.24%, a decrease from -0.77%. Cooking oil prices witnessed an 11.72% decline in March, while the price rise in spices slowed to 11.4% from 13.28% in February The inflation in puls. es decreased to 17.71% from 20.47% in January . However, vegetable prices shot up 28.34% in March, disturbing the kitchen budget of households. Cereal prices also rose 8.37% during the month. According to ICRA, the food & beverages inflation will remain above the 7% mark in April. It warns that the impending heatwave may push prices of perishables, heightening the criticality of a favourable monsoon in 2024 to keep food inflation in check. Meanwhile, another set of data showed India’s industrial production growth accelerated to a four-month high of 5.7% in February . Infrastructure and intermediate goods grew at 8.5% and 9.5%, respectively while consum, er durables contracted 3.8%. show of compassion Malayalis raise `34cr as blood money for man jailed in Riyadh DRIVE HOME A NISSAN MAGNITE NOW WITH 3-YEAR PRE-PAID MAINTENANCE E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kozhikode Malayalis from around the world have joined hands to provide a new lease of life to a 44-year-old Kozhikode man imprisoned in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, . The crowdfunding campaign for the release of Abdul Rahim, a native of Kadampuzha, proved successful with contributions from across the state and around the world. The blood money for Rahim, who is facing the death sentence in the kingdom, was collected two days ahead of schedule. A total of `34.45 crore has been raised as part of the initiative. Rahim, who was sentenced to death for the accidental death of his Saudi sponsor’s paralysed son in 2006, has been in jail for the past 18 years. The fundraiser was run by a trust established to secure Rahim’s release. The aim was to collect the money before April 14. The primary fund collection was carried out through the ‘Save Abdul Rahim’ campaign. It raised `31.93 crore through bank transfers while the remaining `2.52 crore was handed over to Abdul’s mother by private individuals and voluntary groups. On Friday alone, more than `10 crore was collected. Businessman and philanthropist Bobby Chemmanur donated around `1 crore collected through his ‘yachana yatra’, which was kicked off from Thiruvananthapuram’s Thampanoor bus-stand on April 9. Rahim’s family and well wishers are elated. “I’m very happy and grateful for the support we received. I never thought I would see my son again. But the love of the people has reignited my hope and now I’m eagerly waiting to lay my eyes on him. My prayers are with everyone who has ● More on P6 contributed,” said Ameena, Rahim’s mother. BENEFITS UP TO ** `87 000 SCAN TO KNOW MORE NISSAN MAGNITE TRANSMISSION OPTIONS TO KNOW MORE CALL: 8879509258 MANUAL RANGE STARTS @ `5 99 900 EZ-SHIFT (AMT) RANGE STARTS @ `6 59 900 CVT TURBO RANGE STARTS @ `9 99 900 TEST DRIVE TO BOOK NOW: 7065233336 ONE CLASS ABOVE ROOMINESS Book Nissan Magnite www.nissan.in AUTHORIZED NISSAN DEALERS: KERALA: THIRUVANATHAPURAM: MARIKAR NISSAN- 9731165936, COCHIN: KALAMASSERY: EVM NISSAN- 9731165476, VYTILLA: EVM CARS NISSAN- 9731164294, CALICUT: EVM NISSAN- 9731164484, CHANGANACHERRY: EVM NISSAN- 9731164718, KANNUR: EVM NISSAN- 8111990667, KOLLAM: PINNACLE NISSAN- 9731166765, KOTTAYAM: EVM NISSAN- 9731164760, MALAPPURAM: EVM NISSAN- 9731165101, MUVATTUPUZHA: EVM NISSAN- 9731165407, PALAKKAD: PINNACLE NISSAN- 9731166867, PUZHAKAL: PINNACLE NISSAN- 9731167750, THRISSUR: PINNACLE NISSAN- 9731168115, WAYANAD: EVM NISSAN- 9731165421. *Terms & conditions apply. All prices ex-showroom Delhi. Features may vary from variant to variant. Colours are indicative only and may vary due to printing constraints. Accessories shown may not be part of standard �tment. **The o�er may vary by variant and applicable for purchase on or before 30th April 2024. Please visit your nearest Nissan dealer for more information. NISSAN FINANCE
Express Network Private Limited publishes thirty three E-paper editions of The New Indian Express newspaper , thirty two E-paper editions of Dinamani, one E-paper edition of The Morning Standard, one E-paper edition of Malayalam Vaarika magazine and one E-paper edition of the Indulge - The Morning Standard, Kolkatta.