KOLLAM l thursday l july 04, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Poll finds Harris, not Biden, has better chance of beating Trump Indian-origin US Vice President Kamala Harris is better placed to beat Donald Trump than President Joe Biden, according to a CNN poll Trump has 6-point lead over president More pressure on Biden to step down About 47% of registered voters support Trump, while 45% back Harris in a hypothetical matchup, the poll found. In the Biden vs Trump matchup, 49% of registered voters said they would vote for Trump as against 43% for Biden. His poor performance in last week’s debate with Trump has put the spotlight back on Biden’s advanced age and ability to lead the US | P9 ■ Pressure is mounting on Biden to step down as Democratic party’s presidential nominee. “There’s a large and increasing group of House Democrats concerned about (his) candidacy,” a Democratic lawmaker said ■ According to one Democratic aide, at least 25 party lawmakers in the House of Representatives are preparing to demand that Biden step aside Sept 10 is when Biden and trump will face off in the next debate 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 Markets on a roll, Sensex at 80,000 level Judicial probe into Hathras stampede Ex-Allahabad HC judge Brijesh Srivastava to head 3-member panel, submit report in 2 months; Yogi flags conspiracy angle NA M I TA B A J PA I & P R A B HAT S H U K LA @ Lucknow / New Delhi A R S HA D K HAN @ New Delhi Registering a new landmark for India’s equity market this year, the BSE Sensex scaled the 80,000-mark on Wednesday. The 30-share benchmark hit a high of 80,057.90 during the first 30 minutes of the trading session. The Nifty50 index also touched an all-time high of 24,294.60. The Sensex has added the latest 10,000 points in less than seven months as it had first breached the 70,000 mark on December 11, 2023. Its journey from 60,000 to 70,000 was a lengthy one as it took 1.5 years for the market to add the previous 10,000 points. Sensex had scaled the 60,000 mark on September 24, 2021. What is notable is that the index has added about 8,000 points from the lows of June 4, the general election result day Sensex had ended the . June 4 session with a massive loss of 4,390 points, or 5.74%, at 72,079.05. Much of Wednesday’s early gain is attributed to a sharp pick-up in HDFC Bank shares. The stock opened 3% higher and hit a high of 1,792 per share as its weightage is expected to shoot up in the MSCI index. “The focus of market activity today will be HDFC Bank which will continue its upward move factoring in the news of potentially increasing the weightage of the stock in the MSCI Index. The delivery based buying in the stock witnessed in the last many days has the potential to continue for a few more days pushing the stock further up and imparting resilience to it. As the weightage of HDFC Bank in Nifty increases there will be more delivery based buying by ETFs and also active funds,” said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services. He added that the US Fed’s take on inflation is also positive news for equity markets globally “The Fed’s next rate action is likely to be a rate . cut. RBI also is likely to follow suit with a rate cut in the P4 next policy meeting,” he said. Road to 80K Sensex has given a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.8% since July 1990 1K Jul 1990 10K 20K 30K 40K 50K 60K 70K 6 Feb, 19 Oct, 4 Mar, 23 May, 21 Jan, 24 Sep, 11 Dec, 2006 2007 2015 2019 2021 2021 2023 BSE m-cap ( lakh cr) Bags and other belongings lying at the scene a day after a massive stampede that took place after a satsang in Sikandara Rao area in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday | PTI 80K 3 Jul, 2024 445 lakh crore 6.9 25 73 100.4 188 2000 2005 2010 Champai exits, Hemant stakes claim to be CM 2015 2024 2020 A day after the stampede in Hathras claimed 121 lives, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yo gi Adityanath said on Wednesday announced a judicial probe led by former Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava into the tragedy Retired IAS officer . Hemant Rao and former IPS officer Bhavesh Kumar Singh are the other members in the judicial commission. Speaking to reporters after visiting the spot and meeting the injured persons admitted in hospitals, Yogi said a conspiracy angle can’t be ruled out. He said the panel will look into all aspects of the tragedy . The panel will complete its probe and submit its report within two months. To prevent such mishaps from recurring, the judicial commission will also suggest the standard oper- Hathras deputy superintendent of police Sunil Kumar said the baba is on the run and yet to be traced. On Wednesday, police raided Baba’s abode at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri district Modi finally ends silence, says Manipur violence is declining R A J E S H K U M A R THA K U R @ New Delhi Breaking his silence on Manipur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that violence in the troubletorn state is declining and security and social stability are improving. He saw in them a positive trend towards peace. Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address, Modi said, normal life has been restored in most parts of Manipur with schools, colleges, offices, businesses and other institutions functioning normally in Manipur. The state, however, is facing floods now, he added. Amid walkout by the Opposition, Modi said law enforcement agencies have lodged more than 11,000 FIRs and arrested over 500 suspects in Manipur after the eth- nic violence erupted in the state. “Our government is continuously making efforts to restore normalcy and it is showing results. Union home minister Amit Shah camped there and steered all efforts of peace,” he said. In a stern message, he said, “I want to warn all the elements trying to add fuel to the fire in Manipur to stop such activities. A time will come when Manipur itself will reject such people.” Keeping up his tirade against the Congress, Modi said the grand old party was the “biggest opponent of the Constitution” and was anti-SC, ST and OBCs. Taking a swipe at the Opposition for its walkout, he said, “They are unable to digest the people’s mandate to the NDA to serve the nation. That’s why they never face the government on the floor.” P R a md a s @Kochi The HC judgment that includes the videograb showing the modified vehicle When a vlogger posted a video recorded from inside the driver’s cabin of a moving contract carriage, decked out with unauthorised after-market multi-coloured LED, laser, neon lights, and flashlights, it quickly amassed hundreds of views and likes. However, one particular viewer of the YouTube video, titled ‘Trend with Zedone - Singam x Villan’, proved fateful. A High Court division bench focused on motor vehicle rule violations deemed the video an offence and directed authorities to take action against the vlogger. Highlighting the issue’s prevalence, the court viewed several similar YouTube videos and criticised the motor vehicles department (MVD) for failing to take prompt action. The bench, comprising Justices Anil K Narendran and Harisankar V Menon, held that the ‘Trend with Zedone’ video, in which the driver and passengers in the ‘driver’s cabin’ were seen enjoying loud music, showed open flouting of safety requirements under Regulation 5(10) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving) Regulations, 2017. The court viewed another popular video on an ‘auto show’ in an ating procedure to be followed during such events, Yogi said. Referring to the initial report filed by the special investigative team led by ADG Agra zone Anupam Kulshreshtha, Yogi said the volunteers of Bhole Baba, in whose event the stampede happened, were managing it and district administration officials were not allowed inside the pandal. Police personnel were stationed outside the pandal. Yogi said the baba’s volunteers fled immediately after the stampede without making any effort to help the injured. Referring to pictures and videos of the baba seen with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, he said it showed the baba’s political connections. On why the baba’s name was missing in the FIR, which only named the organisers, Yogi said the initial report was filed against those who sought permission for the event. “As the investigation progresses, the ambit of the FIR will also expand to include all those responsible and accountable for the tragedy he added. ,” Meanwhile, eyewitnesses and locals who rushed to the spot immediately after the tragedy blamed the organisers for poor management. Locals said the crowd was so large that national highway abutting the venue was cut off for up to 5 km on both sides, blocked by buses carrying devotees from far-off places. Because of this, ambulances took an hour to reach. 750 Keralites on SE Asia trip ‘missing’; probe on into links to cyber fraud S h a n A S @T’Puram Kharge with Sonia Gandhi after walking out of the Rajya Sabha | PTI Kharge raps RSS Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, of being antiConstitution, quoting an article from Organiser’s November 30, 1950 edition HC takes serious ‘view’ of violations by vloggers M U K E S H R AN J AN @ Ranchi Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren on Wednesday staked his claim to form the Jharkhand government, hours after Champai Soren resigned as chief minister. Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a land scam case in January. He was released on bail last week. Hours before his arrest, he had resigned as Jharkhand CM and Champai Soren was sworn in. On Wednesday a meeting of , INDIA bloc MLAs was held at the CM’s official residence in Ranchi, where it was decided to make Hemant the CM again. Soon after the meeting, he was unanimously elected as the leader of the JMM legislative party. Hemant told reporters that all formalities have been completed. “Everything will be disclosed soon,” he said. Confirming his resignation, Champai Soren said, “Earlier, a change of guard was done in the state and I was given the responsibility You all are aware . of the developments since then. Now Hemant Soren is back and the alliance partners took a decision to choose Hemant babu as our leader once again,” said Champai Soren. Baba on the run, police raid trust engineering college in which several cars with unauthorised fittings, including exhaust systems and protruding wheel arches/mud guards, etc., are seen engaged in drifting. The court said the use of such vehicles was illegal and in violation of its order. The blinking multi-coloured LED/laser lights, etc., fitted on contract carriages, as seen in the videos, violated safety standards prescribed under AIS-008 and even AIS-052 Code of Practice for Bus Body Design and Approval, ● More on P4 it said. The ‘Trend with Zedone’ video shows open flouting of safety requirements under Regulation 5(10) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving) Regulations, 2017 — HC 120 repatriated recently A huge number of Keralites who travelled to five Southeast Asian countries between 2023 and 2024 have failed to return despite the expiry of their tourist visas, igniting apprehensions that many of them might have joined crime syndicates involved in cyber fraud. Around 750 Keralites who went to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in the past one-and-a-half years are yet to return. Highly-placed sources in the police told TNIE that they suspect half of them could have joined cyber crime gangs in those nations. It was upon detecting a rise in instances of cyber fraud that targeted Keralites and originated from the five countries that the Kerala Police’s cyber investigation wing and central agencies decided to prepare a database of people who went there on tourist visas but did not return. After collecting the statistics, the state police chief, in an order on July 1, asked district police chiefs to verify the current status of the missing people. “It is possible that some of them might be living with their relatives abroad after their visas expired, while some might Around 120 Keralites involved in such rackets were repatriated from Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia in the last 18 months. Most of them worked in call centres, collecting details of potential victims from social media and enticing them into investing in fraudulent schemes have moved to other countries. Even after discounting their numbers, we suspect at least 50% of the missing persons could have joined criminal gangs. Hence, we have started verifying the current whereabouts of each of them. Legal action will be taken against those found working with criminal gangs. Measures to repatriate them will be initiated,” said a source. Organised rackets operating in Southeast Asian countries are accused of swindling crores of rupees from Keralites by enticing them into depositing money in fraudulent schemes. Subsequent investigations had revealed that several Keralites were employed by the firms, mostly ran by Chinese nationals, to scout potential targets and bait them through social media platforms. SFI men College in Koyilandy suspended over clash at Management takes action against 4 SFI workers. Cops yet to act against SFI activists who allegedly assaulted the college principal, but have booked the latter on a counter complaint lodged by workers of the student outfit | P4 noble cause Schoolchildren unite to provide monthly pension to former teacher S O V I V I D YA D HA R AN @T’Puram Decades ago, Krishna Pillai taught English through home tuitions to hundreds of students in and around Vithura, a sleepy village on the eastern fringes of Thiruvananthapuram. Now, Pillai, nearing 80, neither has a roof over his head nor a family to support him. For the people of Vithura, the sight of Pillai frequenting waiting sheds and shop verandahs for shelter is common. Arun V P the VHSE, NSS programme officer of Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, Vithura, too, met Pillai almost everyday on his way to school. Dejected at the plight of the former teacher, Arun narrated Pillai’s story to the NSS volunteers of the school. They put their heads together and came up with the idea of providing a monthly assistance in the form of a pension to help Pillai buy essential items and medicines. “Sir (Pillai) was born to a family of farm labourers and pursued his studies battling many odds. He taught several students, most of whom are now well-placed. However, he does not even possess an Aadhaar card to claim the government’s welfare pension,” Arun said. The NSS unit decided to provide `1,600 — the amount provided by the government as welfare pension — to Pillai eve- ry month. The fund would be sourced through the profit students earn through the sale of the products they make. “The NSS volunteers have brought out a package priced at `200 containing incense sticks, soap, dish-wash gel and a multi-surface cleaner. They need to sell around 40 units per month to earn the profit to support Krishna sir,” said Arun. The first ‘pension’ was handed over to Pillai last month. ● More on P4 NSS volunteers of Government VHSS, Vithura, handing over the monthly pension to former teacher Krishna Pillai at the school in Thiruvananthapuram
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