KOchi l Sunday l june 16, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 28 l LATE city edition Zelenskyy hopes peace meeting in swiss resort will make history 50 heads of state expected to attend Switzerland, which is hosting the peace summit, said more than 50 heads of state and government will join the meet at the B’rgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne. Russia and China and a bunch of other nations will not participitate. The US has sent Vice President Kamala Harris to the event. An official from India will be attending the summit | P9 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the summit brought the focus back on the war. Joint efforts can stop it and establish peace Host has three items on the agenda ■ Switzerland has three items on the peace summit agenda: nuclear safety of the Zaporizhzhia power plant; humanitarian assistance and exchange of PoWs; and food security, which has been disrupted because of war ■ Putin wants any peace deal to be built around Ukraine’s neutral status and limits on its armed forces, while delaying talks about Russia-occupied areas 100 delegates are attending the peace summit in the swiss resort 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 Ami d s e l f i e d ip l o m a c y India-Middle east corridor gets g7 shot Agencies If the Group of Seven summit in Italy was all about heavy-duty diplomacy it had , its moments of fun as well. Like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni taking a selfie video with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tagging it as Meloni and sharing it from her official X handle as well as her Instagram account. Her four words as caption — Hi friends, from #Melodi — broke the internet with 23 million views in 10 hours. Modi attended the summit at t h e i nv i t a t i o n o f h o s t Meloni. As for the business end of the summit, the G7 industrialised nations committed themselves to promoting concrete infrastructure initiatives such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) in their communique at the end of the meet, also attended by Modi. The communique also reiterated the commitment to a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’ based on the rule of law. “We will further promote concrete G7 PGII (Partnership for Global Infrastructure E X P RESS READ Vizhinjam int’l port gets customs nod T’Puram: In a significant development, the Vizhinjam International Seaport received customs clearance to operate as an international seaport. The clearance under Section 7A of the Customs Act allows the unloading of imported goods and loading of export goods.P2 Another portion of Varkala Cliff collapses T’Puram: A significant portion of the Varkala Cliff collapsed near Edava Beach on Friday, triggering safety concerns. Over the past few months, the cliff has experienced as many as 15 minor and major landslips. P2 WITH THIS ISSUE Second Coming PLUS 12 PAGES PLUS 4-page PULLOUT ON fATHER’S DAY Italian PM Giorgia Meloni takes a selfie with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the G7 summit in Italy | PTI and Investment) initiatives, flagship projects, and complementary initiatives to develop transfor mative economic corridors for quality infrastructure and investment, such as the deepening of our coordination and financing for the Lobito Corridor, the Luzon Corridor, the Middle Corridor, and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, also building on the EU Global Gateway, the Great Green Wall Initiative, and the Mattei Plan for Africa launched by Italy the ,” communique read. The IMEC envisages a vast road, railroad and shipping network among Saudi Arabia, India, the US and Europe to ensure integration among Asia, the Middle East and the West. The IMEC was firmed up on the sidelines of the G20 summit in India last year. Will support families of Kuwait fire tragedy victims, says NBTC owner E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kochi NBTC Group founder K G Abraham offered a public apology on Saturday three days after 49 peo, ple, including 45 Indians, died in a massive fire that broke out in a six-storey building where the company’s employees were housed in Kuwait. He, however, stressed that there was no overcrowding in the apartments or irregularities in the building permits. He said the company will take care of the families of the victims, including providing educational support to students. “We are so sorry I was crying at . home hearing about the tragic accident. They are our people. They are like our family Some . of them had been working with B i j u E Pa u l & M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n Amid the spread of Avian Influenza— popularly known as bird flu— among domestic birds in three districts, the death of crows, cranes, and a hawk in Alappuzha district is causing concern. Experts have warned that the spread of the disease to wild birds can pose a threat to humans, particularly in the backdrop of the infection confirmed in a four-year-old child in West Bengal. Around 25 crows were found dead in in Muhamma panchayat of Alappuzha district two days ago and a few cranes in the Cherthala area. On Saturday the , carcass of a hawk was found in the district. The samples have been sent to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Disease (NIHSAD), Bhopal for testing. According to the animal husbandry department (AHD), 29,589 birds were found dead at 19 places spread over the districts of Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam during the past two-anda-half months. The outbreak was reported in the state on April 16, 2024. As e j a z k a i s e r @ Raipur Eight fighters of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), including three women, and a jawan were killed in a gunfight at the forested terrain of Maad region of Narayanpur district, about 400 km south of Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Saturday . Besides the jawan, two other Avian Influenza threat 19 places in Alappuzha, Kottayam, P’Thitta districts Efforts to contain spread 29,589 bird deaths reported 1,09,250 domestic birds culled 14,732 eggs destroyed Outbreak reported on 15,221 kg of poultry feed April 16, 2024 destroyed. part of the efforts to contain the outbreak, the department has culled 1,09,250 domestic birds, including ducks, broiler chicken and quails. Besides, 14,732 eggs and 15,221 kg of poultry feed were destroyed. “The spread of bird flu is a cause for concern, and we have taken steps to contain the disease. The spread of the disease to wild birds like crows is worrying. According to reports, the virus is spread by migratory birds. We have formed a team of experts to study the cause for the spread of the disease and recommend ways to contain it,” Minister for Animal Husbandry J Chinchu● More on P5 rani told TNIE.  T20 World Cup Group talk: Crash out in testing conditions k a lya n i ma n g a l e @ Chennai THE day the 2024 T20 World Cup started, nobody would have imagined that halfway through the tournament, amongst the four semi-finalists from the previous edition, only India would have confirmed their position in the Super 8. There were talks of sluggish pitches, weather disruptions, one-sided matches but in the end what mattered was results in the middle. And to be fair, teams that played well won. The tournament has truly turned global too. The likes of New Zealand and Pakistan, are already out of the World Cup, while defending champs England were at the mercy of weather as their match against Namibia was delayed due to rain on Saturday . On the other hand, Afghanistan (ranked 10 in ICC T20I rankings) and the USA have qualified for the Super 8 for the first time. The reasons these United States of America are the only associate team to have qualified for Super 8 so far. Other qualified teams are India, Australia, Afghanistan, WI & South Africa so-called big teams have struggled to make it to the Super 8 can be traced back to the conditions in the US. At the same time, the lower-ranked teams, especially from the associate us for 25-27 years,” Abraham, a native of Pathanamthitta, told a press conference in Kochi. “We have not done any wrong. We believe this did not happen because of our mistake. Still, we will take the responsibility They . were working with us. They built our company he said. ,” He said the firm will give `8 8 Maoists, 1 STF jawan killed in C’garh encounter Bird flu concern spreads as crows, cranes found dead @Alappuzha K G Abraham, founder of NBTC Group, turns emotional during a press conference in Kochi | T P Sooraj lakh each to the families of the deceased. “Further, there is insurance coverage for all the employees. This will ensure that the families receive four years’ salaries of the victims. We will also provide jobs to the dependents of the victims, as per their educational qualifications,” he said. Denying reports that there was overcrowding in building, Abraham, who founded the NBTC Group in 1977, said the building had a total of 24 apartments (four on each floor). “Each apartment has three rooms. Managers would occupy a room and two engineers would share a room. International law allows us to provide accommodation for four persons a room, or four cubic metres/person,” he ● More on P5 said.  nations, have raised the bar to a new level. Undoubtedly there have been a , handful of upsets, but there could have been more such results. For example, at one time during the chase of 136 against Papua New Guinea in the second fixture of the WC, West Indies were in trouble with 10 runs required per over. USA took it a step further with a super-over win against Pakistan, which knocked the 2022 runners-up out of contention for the Super 8. Afghanistan, who were so close to the semi-final spot in the ODI World Cup last year, surpassed all expectations to beat New Zealand comprehensively this time. On Saturday Nepal lost , by just one run against South Africa. The usual contenders like India, Australia and West Indies have remained unbeaten to confirm their spots, however, it is the unusual suspects that have made T20 WC more interesting. security officials sustained injuries, said Sunderraj P, Bastar’s Inspector General of Police. The injured jawans have been airlifted to a hospital in Raipur and are said to be out of danger. All three belonged to the Special Task Force (STF). The deceased jawan was identified as Nitish Ekka. He is a resident of Jashpur district. Based on intelligence inputs about the presence of senior Maoist members, a joint operation was conducted by the District Reserved Guards, the STF, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Border Security Force on Saturday morning, Sunder- raj said. The operation continued throughout the day along the Kutul, Farasbeda and Kodtameta jungles resulting in the death of the Maoists and jawan, he added. The bodies of the radicals have been recovered but are yet to be identified. Security forces are continuing to comb the area.