Lakshya Sen KOZHIKODE l thursday l august 01, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Lakshya and Kusale victories headline India’s day at the Games Chance for another medal in shooting India’s third medal at Paris Olympics could also come in shooting with Swapnil Kusale qualifying for the finals of 50m rifle 3 positions. While Aishwary Pratap Tomar missed out, Kusale has a chance to add to India’s tally in the final on Thursday. Meanwhile, boxer Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg) advanced to the quarterfinals and is one win away from securing a medal Shuttler Lakshya Sen overpowered Indonesia’s world number 3 Jonatan Christie while Swapnil Kusale entered 50 m rifle 3 positions final ■ 2nd Laskhya, Sindhu enter Round of 16 ■ Despite being in a must-win position, Lakshya Sen was not flustered. That he was up against World No 3 Jonatan Christie didn’t matter. In a contest that lasted less than an hour, Sen cruised past the reigning All England and Asian champion 21-18, 21-12 to enter the pre-quarters P V Sindhu, beat Kristin Kuuba 21-5 21-10 to reach last 16 | P11 Consecutive gold for New Zealand women in Rugby sevens event 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 ground report 1,167 82 relief camps in Wayanad: 8,017 inmates, 19 pregnant women 8 camps in Meppadi, 1,486 inmates from 421 families Thankachan sits on top of what is left of his younger brother’s house, and watches the rescue operations at Chooralmala on Wednesday. His brother and sister went missing in the twin landslides that hit the village in the early hours of Tuesday. The house of Thankachan was also washed away. “All my loved ones are gone. There is no point in living anymore,” says Thankachan, as he tries to rein in his emotions | E Gokul Devastation, despair: 249 dead & 240 missing 1,592 people rescued; 90 people under treatment around 90% of houses destroyed in Mundakkai 190-m-long Bailey bridge by Army to be ready today M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n @Chooralmala Flattened houses, mangled vehicles, boulders, huge uprooted trees and mud. The twin Wayanad villages of Chooralmala and Mundakkai resembl e d g r ave ya rd s o n Wednesday . Unconfirmed reports put the death toll of the landslide that ripped through the villages in the early hours of Tuesday at 249 (official tally 167), while 240 were feared missing (official tally 191). In Mundakkai, around 90% of the houses were destroyed, filled with mud upto 10ft high. Relatives of the missing persons waited in anguish as rescue workers from the Army, Navy, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Coast Guard, Fire and Rescue Services, Police, Civil Defence Force and volunteers of various NGOs waded through kneedeep slush searching for life under mounds of debris. Meanwhile, 19 people who were stranded at a resort in Mundakkai were rescued and brought to a relief centre. Five bodies were recovered from Mundakkai. The rescue workers had to brave inclement INSIDE Rescue workers searching in the debris on Wednesday | S Senbagapandiyan weather and hostile terrain to search for survivors. “My wife Sheeja and eight members of the family are missing. There is no information about them,” said Soman of Mandapathil house in Mundakkai. “The house is buried under the debris,” he said. ADGP M R Ajithkumar said rescue workers had reached every remote area of Mundakkai and rescued all stranded residents. “Since the bridge has been washed away, we couldn’t take heavy machinery to the area. We are using cutters, ropes and small equipment to cut concrete slabs. Dogs from the K9 squad helped identify four spots and we are removing the debris to find the missing landmark bridge no more | p2 people,” he said. Fire and Rescue Services personnel managed to take an earthmover to Mundakkai after crossing the river on Wednesday morning. “There are chances of people being stuck under the debris in various houses. We have rescued all survivors but cannot rule out the possibility of there being more,” said Ajithkumar. The Army has said it will build the 190-m-long Bailey bridge by Thursday evening. Major General V T Mathew of Indian Army who is leading , the rescue team, said the bridge will be able to bear 24 tonnes of weight allowing them to take excavators to Mundakkai through it. “We have deployed around 350 armymen for rescue operations. A team of 160 army engineers will join us on Thursday. We have brought three canines from Meerut to help with the search,” he said. The arrival of thousands of rescue workers is also posing difficulty for the Army in moving the equipment for the bridge. “We have requested the district administration to move all vehicles parked by the roadside. Once the area is cleared, we will be able to expedite the operations,” said Mathew. Malayali officials leading ops | p2 central agencies in a quandary | p4 Blow to Hamas as political chief Haniyeh assassinated in Tehran Twin strikes 27 July: A rocket strike in Israelannexed Golan kills 12 children 30 July: Israeli strike on Beirut targets Hezbollah leader blamed for Golan attack 31 July: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Israeli attack on Tehran, says Iran lah commander, who is said to have ordered a rocket attack that killed 12 In the most significant blow to Ha- children in Golan Heights. The atmas since the start of the ongoing tacks on two regional capitals have war in Gaza, its political chief heightened fears of a wider Ismail Haniyeh was assassiconflict. “We consider it our nated in Tehran on duty to seek revenge for his Wednesday . blood,” Iran’s supreme leader Iran said Israel was behind Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the predawn airstrike that said. killed him. Israel is yet to There are also concerns comment. Just a day earlier, that the attack may derail Haniyeh had attended IraniGaza ceasefire talks. Israeli an President Masoud Pezesh- Ismail Haniyeh Prime Minister Benjamin k i a n’s i n a u g u r at i o n i n Netanyahu held a meeting of Tehran. his security cabinet on Wednesday to The assassination follows an Israeli discuss potential blowbacks, The attack on Beirut targeting a Hezbol- Times of Israel reported. Agencies rescue personnel on the ground. They include 645 from Fire and Rescue Services, 94 from NDRF, 167 from DSC, 153 from MEG, 350 from local police, Coast Guard team too arrived Temporary hospital at Meppadi Polytechnic College Orange alert issued on wednesday for next 24 hours: malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, Kasaragod Yellow alert on Thursday: Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, Kasaragod Yellow alert on Friday: Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, Kasaragod Isolated intense rains can be expected in these districts. They may create landslide, flashflood, waterlogging Efforts on to utilise the service of Intelligent Buried Object Detection System to detect human presence Latha, who lost her husband Sreenivasan and son Sreelesh, breaks down upon seeing her daughter Akhila at a relief camp | A Sanesh Lack of heavy equipment like earthmovers hampering operations Two teams of NDRF, 2 columns of Indian Army and 2 IAF helicopters pressed into action on July 30 Three additional teams of NDRF, with search and rescue equipment, also deployed. A dog squad is helping with rescue operations The rescue workers have reached every remote area of Mundakkai and rescued all stranded residents — ADGP M R Ajithkumar We have deployed around 350 armymen for rescue operations. A team of 160 army engineers will join us on Thursday — Major General V T Mathew Wayanad received 7% of seasonal rainfall on July 30 JIT E NDRA CHO U B E y @ New Delhi Remnant of the Chooralmala government school in Wayanad | S Senbagapandiyan Counselling service at all relief camps Wayanad received extreme rainfall in the few days prior to Tuesday’s landslide, according to data released by India Meteorological Department. An analysis of the data shows that the district received as much as 7% of its entire seasonal rainfall in 24 hours (from Monday morning to Tuesday morning) and 21% of the total seasonal rainfall in the past two weeks. The district, which had been facing deficient rain- fall since the arrival of the Southwest monsoon, dramatically jumped to the ‘normal rainfall’ category due to the extreme rainfall in the 24 hours between July 29 (Monday) and July 30 (Tuesday). For example, on July 28 (Sunday), the district received only 9 mm rainfall, which was 73% lesser than that day’s normal (32.9 mm) rainfall. In contrast, the next day, on July 29 (Monday), it received a whopping 141.9 mm of rainfall, which was 493% above the daily normal rainfall. Union and state govts cross swords over tragedy E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Several bodies still lie immersed under the rubble after the twin landslides that devastated two Wayanad villages, but the Union and state governments have engaged in a blame game over the tragedy . Home Minister Amit Shah set the ball rolling, telling Parliament that the state government did not heed the Centre’s warning. Within hours, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan shot back, terming Shah’s claims EXPRESS REA D UPSC bans Khedkar from taking exam ever Mumbai: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has cancelled the candidature of controversial trainee IAS officer Pooja Khedkar for the Civil Services Examination 2022. She has been debarred from all future UPSC examinations and selections. The UPSC claimed that she submitted false certificates, particularly regarding her OBC and disability status. While the certificates were issued by the competent authority, UPSC noted that it does not have the mandate to verify the authenticity of thousands of certificates submitted by candidates each year. baseless. Addressing the media, the CM said it’s not the time to blame each other. “Instead, one should focus on rescuing those who can be saved, locating those who are buried or swept away, restoring affected areas and rebuilding villages that were wiped away he said. ,” Earlier on Wednesday, Shah said the Centre had given an early warning to the state on July 23 itself. He said the Centre had issued early warnings on July 23, 24 and 25 about potential landslides, but the state did not take sufficient action to relocate people from vulnerable areas. “This was seven days before the incident. On July 24 and 25, we warned the state again. On July 26, a warning was given that there was a chance of heavy rainfall of over 20cm, and there are possibilities of landslides potentially causing loss of life or property,” he said. Shah said nine NDRF teams were airlifted to Kerala on July 23 in anticipation of disaster. He asked the state government why it failed to shift the people living in vulnerable zones. “Had the state government acted in time, many would have been saved. What did the Kerala government do? Were the people shifted? And if they were shifted, how did they die?” ● More on P4 he wondered.  Infy gets `32K cr GST notice shock U m a K a n n a n @ Bengaluru Infosys, the second largest IT services company in the country, has been slapped with `32,403 crore GST evasion notice by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). The pre-show cause notice is for non-payment of GST from July 2017 to March 2022 towards expenses incurred by its overseas branch offices. The company in a BSE filing said Karnataka State GST authorities first issued a notice. Subsequently, Infy received a notice from DGGI. According to the notice viewed by this paper, “Infosys Ltd, Bengaluru is liable to pay IGST (Integrated Goods and Services Tax) under reverse charge mechanism on supplies received from branches located outside India to the tune of `32,403.46 crores for the period 2017-18 (July 2017 onwards) to 2021-22.” In its filing, Infosys said, “The Company believes that as per regulations, GST is not applicable on these expenses. Additionally, as per a recent Circular issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on the recommendations of the GST Council, services provided by the overseas branches to Indian entity are not subject to GST.” Infosys paid all its GST dues, the company added. It cited a June 26, 2024 CBDT circular, which said that in cases where full input tax credit is available to the recipient, if the invoice is not issued by the related domestic entity with respect to any service provided by the foreign affiliate, the value of such services may be deemed as nil. Former Infosys chief financial officer Mohandas Pai, in a post on X said, “If this notice is correct this is Outrageous, a case of TaxTerrorism at its worst. Service exports from India are not subject to GST. Can officials interpret anything they want?”