ALLEGED 9/11 MASTERMIND REACHES PLEA DEAL, AVOIDS DEATH PENALTY The alleged mastermind of the deadliest attacks ever on US soil Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other accused reached a plea deal with the US prosecutors, the Pentagon said on Thursday BENGALURU  FRIDAY  AUGUST 02, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 40  LATE CITY EDITION Bridge rises but hope fades Toll touches 256; Army opens Bailey bridge to restore connectivity TOBY ANTONY @ Chooralmala (Wayanad) THE Ar my on T hursday evening opened the 190-ft-long Bailey bridge at Chooralmala that could help speed up the search operations at upstream Mundakkai and Punjirimattom villages but hopes of finding more survivors at the landslidehit areas in Wayanad faded on Day 3 of rescue efforts. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, who visited the affected areas on Thursday said all survivors in , Mundakkai have been rescued, indicating there is little hope of finding more people alive. During the day search teams , sifted through the rubble braving heavy rains and recovered seven more bodies, taking toll in the devastating tragedy to 256. Over 200 persons are still missing. The government tally , as given by Revenue Minister K Rajan, however, is 189. “The debris at Punjirimattom and Mundakkai has piled up like a mountain. Most houses have been completed destroyed. The search and resto- Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra crossing a make-shift bridge during their visit to Chooralmala in Wayanad on Thursday | EXPRESS ration efforts will be daunting and time-consuming, which would take more than a week,” an official at the Control Room said. As per preliminary assessment, 348 houses were damaged in the landslides. The pace of search operations at Mundakkai and Punjirimattom, which were cut off following the collapse of the bridge at Chooralmala, was slow till now because excavators could not cross the river. With the construction of the Bailey bridge, now heavy trucks carrying excavators and other equipment can reach the affected areas. On Thursday, four excavators were deployed in Chooralmala, three at Mundakkai and three at Punjirimattom, which remained inaccessible till Wednesday . “Different batches of Army, Navy NDRF and Fire Force of, ficials are deployed at the affected areas. Besides, several volunteer groups are also active. Over 5,000 people are engaged in the search operation alone,” said an official. Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in LS Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited the landslide-affected areas at Chooralmala on Thursday P4,5 . EXPRESS READ Karnataka withdraws Rs 32Kcr GST evasion notice to Infosys Bengaluru: Infosys on Thursday, in a filing, said Karnataka authorities have withdrawn the pre-showcause notice and directed the company to submit further response to the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). The state GST authorities issued a notice first on GST tax evasion and subsequently the company also received a notice from DGGI. The company has been slapped with Rs 32,403 crore GST evasion for nonpayment of GST for the period from July 2017 to March 2022. The three were tortured extensively by the CIA. Their case has been delayed over whether the evidence extracted through torture was admissible in court. A plea deal avoids this problem They have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy in exchange for a life sentence 2003 When Khalid Sheikh was captured in Pak. He spent three years in secret CIA prisons before arriving in Guantanamo in 2006. A trusted lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, it was Sheikh’s idea to use planes as weapons in the 9/11 attacks | P12 Sub-classification of SCs by states valid, rules top court S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi A seven-judge Supreme Court bench in a landmark ruling on Thursday empowered states to sub-classify groups within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ STs) to uplift the more socially and economically backward among them for reservation benefits. The majority 6:1 verdict set aside a 2004 judgment by a five- judge bench in the E V Chinnaiah case, which had held that sub-classification was not permissible because SC/STs form homogenous classes. But the 6:1 ruling said the SCs are heterogeneous. However, sub-classification can be done only on the basis of quantifiable and demonstrable data of backwardness and representation in government jobs and not on whims or political expediency, the P5, 10 bench said. Big-hitters gone, Swapnil shoots for stars A T the shooting sixth, fourth, third, second ranges, Swapnil and third in the 50 m rifle TNIE @ OLYMPICS Kusale recedes 3-position final. There is into a cocoon and no place for emotion in blocks himself off from shooting. The heart needs the noise. On Thursday, to keep still and that’s INDRANEEL DAS when the shooting final what Swapnil did while PARIS was on at the Chateauroux securing India one shooting centre, Swapnil more bronze at the shut himself from the outside Olympics. He was world. hearing the PA sysThe competition was intense tem but did not pay and Swapnil was see-sawing; heed to where he was positioned. The fifty-odd Indian supporters were cheering him on. “I did not pay attention to what the MC was saying. But I could hear the Indian fans shouting and I shifted my attention to that. And I said I don’t want to disappoint them. I will have to win for them,” he said after the bronze. This is India’s first 3-position medal in the Olympics. P15 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 ■ ■ Ministers advise guv to withdraw notice against CM EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru FOR the first time in the history of Karnataka, the Council of Ministers (CoM) at its meeting on Thursday “advised” the , Governor to withdraw a showcause notice issued to the Chief Minister, while rejecting the petition seeking permission to prosecute the latter. The CoM did this in relation with the alleged irregularities in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) which allotted Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi 14 sites in a prime location in Mysuru. This has raised a hue and cry in the opposition, which has demanded Siddaramaiah’s resignation. Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot issued a show-cause notice to the CM on July 26, based on a petition filed by activist TJ Abraham on the same day . The meeting was chaired by DCM DK Shivakumar in the absence of Siddaramaiah, who recused himself as the agenda involved a petition against him P4 and his family members.