U’khand reserves 33% seats for women in cooperative societies The Pushkar Singh Dhami-led government’s decision aims to ensure women’s participation in the cooperative sector Decision to benefit 55 lakh women: govt With the landmark decision, Uttarakhand has become the first state in India to approve a 33% reservation for women in cooperative societies. The govt expects the move will end the male dominance in cooperatives coimbatore l wednesday l july 31, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE city EDITION ive erat o o p c i et y c o s This is expected to encourage women’s participation in the cooperative sector and promote their leadership, setting an example for other states to follow — Dhan Singh Rawat, state cooperative minister 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 125 killed in landslides Over 90 still missing after two pre-dawn landslips in Kerala’s Wayanad district NDRF, Army and Air Force called in Over 480 people have been rescued Kerala declares two-day state mourning Horror story 1 Wayanad dist has been experiencing torrential rain for past three days, with rivers in spate and low-lying areas inundated 2 Rain mishaps in TN: 3 dead in Coimbatore A baby being rescued by the NDRF team from Mundakkai in Wayanad district on Tuesday | E Gokul IN possibly the worst natural calamity that has ever hit Kerala, two massive landslides within a span of two-and-a-half hours devoured Chooralmala and Mundakkai in Wayanad district, leaving at least 125 dead and nearly 90 missing, in the wee hours of Tuesday. As many as 481 people have been rescued. Of them, 113 are under treatment. So far, 48 bodies have been identified. The torrent was so strong that several bodies were recovered from Pothukal in Malappuram, 10 km from the epicentre of the landslide. Most of the victims were washed away in sleep as the landslides occurred at 1.30 am and 4 am. Huge boulders and uprooted trees gushed downwards to Chooralmala from Mundakkai, causing severe damage. The heavy surge of water from the hilltop changed the nature of the tiny Iruvazhinji river, submerging everything on its both banks. Several houses were destroyed, a temple and a mosque were submerged, and a school building was severely damaged. Heavy rains and the presence of mud, huge pieces of rocks and trees made rescue operations difficult. Scores of earthmovers were brought in to remove the mud and rocks. Bodies were taken out of the mud with great difficulty Around 250 people . were stranded at Mundakkai as the bridge that connected the area was washed away. Rescue workers tried to reach them using the ropeway but the exercise was time-consuming. Possibility of another landslide also slowed down rescue operations. They were finally rescued on Tuesday evening after the Army constructed a make-shift bridge across the river. Personnel from 122 Infantry Battalion of Territorial Army Modi dials Vijayan, offers all help Rahul raises the issue in Lok Sabha NGT takes note, puts Kerala on notice Stalin announces `5-cr aid for kerala Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and offered all possible help from the Centre to the state. He also announced a financial support of `2 lakh from the PM’s relief fund to the next of kin of the deceased and `50,000 for the injured Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday raised the issue in the House, stressing the need for urgent mapping of landslide-prone areas and taking mitigation measures. He said he and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would visit Wayanad soon The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal on Tuesday decided to take up a suo-motu hearing into the Wayanad landslides. The bench directed the Kerala counsel to collect data on trigger points like roads, buildings and quarries in and around the affected villages Chennai/Coimbatore: Tamil Nadu CM Stalin on Tuesday announced `5-crore aid and deployed rescue teams to assist in the relief efforts in Kerala. He also condoled the death of a labourer from Nilgiris, K Kalidass, who died in one of the landslides in Wayanad | P4 E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Kalpetta Cuddalore boy hit by javelin at school succumbs to injury Ex press news Se rvice @ Cuddalore A regular training session at a private school turned fatal for a Class 10 student from Dharmasalai, Vadalur when a javelin thrown by another student struck him on the head on July 24 and resulted in his death on Tuesday . Police have filed a case against the school management for negligence and have detained the school correspondent Pravin Samuel (35) and teacher supervising the training session Praveen Kumar (34) for questioning, sources said. The student, T Kishore (15), was practising Silambam when the mishap occurred on July 24. He was immediately rushed to a private medical college hospital in Puducherry before being transferred to a private hospital in Chennai. Kishore was finally shifted to the Government Villupuram Medical College Hospital in Mundiyambakkam where he was declared brain dead on Monday  . P7 of the Madras Regiment, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from different parts of Kerala, Air Force from Coimbatore and Fire and Rescue and police took part in the rescue operations that was temporarily halted in the night due to bad weather. Four relief camps have been opened to shift the survivors. The injured have been admitted to various hospitals in Wayanad. Bodies of the victims are kept at the Community Health Centre in Meppadi and WIMS Hospital. A special team of forensic doctors from Kozhikode has reached Wayanad to expedite the post-mortem of recovered bodies. DNA tests will be conducted on unidentified bodies. A police official said 32 bodies and several body parts were recovered from the banks of Chaliyar in Malappuram. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said all possible efforts will be taken to rescue the stranded people and to recover bodies from the debris. Mapping tragedy Epicentre of the landslides got 572 mm rainfall in 48 hrs KERALA Wayanad Landslide origin Mundakkai Chooralmala E x p r e s s n e w s Se r v i c e @ Coimbatore Three people were killed in rain-related incidents in Coimbatore district on Tuesday morning. While 57-year-old Muthammal alias Rajeshwari and her 15-year-old granddaughter Dhanapriya died after a landslide in Valparai caused their house to collapse, A Hariharasudhan (21) was killed in Gomangalam near Pollachi after his neighbour’s mud wall collapsed and fell on his home. According to data available with the district administration, Coimbatore received an average of 65.50mm of rainfall between 8.30 am on Monday and 8.30 am on Tuesday, with Valparai receiving the highest rainfall of 239mm at Chinnakkallar. Schools in Valparai and Nilgiris were closed on Tuesday due to heavy rains. Two of the three main dams in the district — Siruvani and Pillur — are nearing full capacity of 50 and 100ft respectively , while the Aliyar dam in Pollachi is brimming at 120ft. Similarly the Mettur dam in Salem , district reached full capacity on Tuesday, for the first time since October 2022.  P7 Around 1.30 am on Tuesday, massive landslide occurs at Mundakkai in Meppadi grama panchayat. Gushing waters and debris sweep away the entire village Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday sought to emphasise that no state was denied funding in the General Budget, while replying to a discussion in the Lok Sabha. Sitharaman termed as misleading claims by the Opposition that if any state is not named in the Budget speech, then it does not get any budgetary allocation. She recalled that previous Budgets presented by the UPA, too, did not include the names of all states. “I have been picking up on Budget speeches since 2004- 2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 20072008 and so on. The Budget of 2004-2005 did not take the name of 17 states. Did money not go to those 17 states?” she asked. Later, the Lok Sabha approved the `48.21-lakh crore Budget. Mocking the UPA, Sitharaman said leaders educated at prestigious institutions like Harvard and Oxford were in charge during the UPA government but failed to recognise the right time to withdraw stimulus measures, resulting in high inflation from 2009 to 2013. In contrast, she stated that inflation under the NDA government has not been as severely impacted by Covid-19. Manu pens Paris epic T HERE was a time, not too long ago, when India would start holding its breath right after the opening ceremony, wondering when that elusive Olympic medal would come. When it came, it would spark wild celebrations. Indeed, until 2008, only once in the history of independent India had its Olympians come home with more than a single medal. If anyone needs any more evidence that those times are long past, then just look at Manu Bhaker. Most athletes spend years training, hoping and praying for an Olympic medal. A TNIE @ olympics select few get their wish. There’s a more exclusive Indian club; athletes who win multiple Olympic medals across their career. With two medals Indraneel Das in three days, Manu has founded another club — Paris first from Independent India to win multiple medals in a single Olympics. Unless one extends the definition of being an Indian to include Norman Pritchard who competed under the flag of British India in 1900, Manu is in a league of her own. For a nation that won only two medals in Rio in 2016, Manu’s achievement transcends reality and borders fantasy “The . feeling is still surreal. I did not think I would be winning two medals in one Olympics,” said Manu after winning the bronze medal with Sarabjot Singh in the mixed 10m air pistol event.  More on P13 3 Another landslide at 4 am (trigger spot yet to be ascertained) diverts River Iruvazhinji, resulting in flash floods washing away Chooralmala village, 3 km away. Bridge connecting Chooralmala destroyed, stranding hundreds 4 Debris flow through Soochippara and merge with River Chaliyar. 32 bodies recovered from the neighbouring Malappuram No state deprived of funds, says FM in LS M o n i k a Ya d a v @ New Delhi HER-STORY Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replies to the debate on the Budget in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday | PTI Comparing NDA, UPA inflation rates “Inflation during NDA-I stood at 4.5%, NDA-II at 5.7% and both combined 5.1%, which is way less than 8% during UPA,” Sitharaman said. She added that the Modi government also reduced fuel prices twice, introduced Bharat brand atta, rice and pulses Manu Bhaker (L) and Sarabjot Singh won bronze in mixed 10m air pistol event on Tuesday | Express Cong high command pulls up Siddu, DKS over alleged scams E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru The Congress high command on Tuesday pulled up Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar over the recent political developments that caused a big embarrassment to the party . AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge met Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar along with Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and party leaders K C Venugopal and Surjewala at his residence in New Delhi. During the meeting, Kharge is said to have expressed displeasure over the alleged scams in the state. He also reviewed a report by a threemember committee headed by Congress general secretary Madusudan Mistry on the party’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. For his part, Siddaramaiah said he explained to the high command that the opposition parties had targeted him and his cabinet ministers though they have no role in the alleged scam in the ST development corporation and irregularities in allotment of sites by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA). Sources said Rahul Gandhi and Kharge discussed various issues faced by the Congress party in Karnataka.