madurai l sunday l October 13, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION Chennai-based firm gifts its employees 28 cars, 29 bikes Structural steel design and detailing firm Team Detailing Solutions gifted 28 cars and 29 bikes to its staff to thank them for their contributions mercedes benz, maruti among rewards Performance, service years key criteria “We wanted to show our appreciation for their (employees) tireless efforts in driving the company’s success. We believe our employees are our greatest assets,” Managing Director of Team Detailing Solutions Sridhar Kannan said. A variety of models from top car makers including Hyundai, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Mercedes Benz were presented to the employees ■ ■ If an employee feels he or she needs a better vehicle, then they can upgrade by paying the remaining amount, Kannan said He said the firm measured employees’ contribution based on their performance and years of service. “We select those who are highly motivated and a concept of buying a car is like a dream.” 180 Number of people employed by team detailing solutions 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 Plots testing India resolve, says Bhagwat, raps B’desh violence R A J E SH KUM A R T H A KUR @ New Delhi Railway workers, TNDRF personnel clear mangled coaches of Mysuru-Darbhanga Bagmati Express that crashed into a freight train on Friday night | P RAVIKUMAR NIA begins probe into TN train crash Bolts, brackets found with missing nuts; partial train services resume around 9pm Saturday B A NBUS E LV A N @ Chennai A day after the train accident at Kavaraipettai station, 40km north of Chennai, in which nine passengers were injured after the Mysuru-Darbhanga Bagmati Express rammed into a goods train and derailed on Friday night, separate investigations have been initiated by the NIA, Government Railway Police, and RPF to probe the possibility of sabotage. Critical bolts and brackets were found open with missing nuts at the signalling points, sources said. The accident occurred when 1,800 passengers were travelling on the train, but fortunately no fatalities were reported. Both the Bagmati Express’s loco pilots and railway staff NCP leader Baba Siddique shot dead in Mumbai S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) minister and a member of Ajit Pawar-led faction of the party Baba Siddique was shot dead in Mumbai on Saturday night. As many as six rounds were fired by three unidentified assailants while he was at his son Zishan’s office in Bandra. Zishan is an MLA. Bullets hit him in the head and chest. He was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital, where he was declared dead. Siddique had received a threat message about 15 days ago, following which he was provided Y category secuirty . He was reportedly attacked due to the controversy surrounding the slum redevelopment project in Zishan’s Bandra West constituency. Hund r e d s o f s h a n t i e s we r e demolished in July as part of the project. Police have arrested two accused. One of them hails from Haryana and the other Uttar Pradesh. Baba Siddique was famous for arranging grand Iftar party attended by Bollywood A-listers. The attack comes days after another leader of the Ajit Pawar faction—Byculla Taluka president Sachin Kur mi—was stabbed to death. were unharmed. In a press statement late on Friday the Railway Board said , the passenger train was given a green signal for the main line but it experienced a jerk and entered the loop line, resulting in the collision with the freight train. On Saturday, Commissioner of Railway Safety South, ern Circle, Bengaluru, A M Chowdhary initiated a thorough inspection of the tracks, points and blocks, signals, station electronic interlocking systems, control panels and other significant safety, signal and operational aspects, a release said. Meanwhile, over 500 workers are engaged in clearing the tracks, and partial train service resumed around 9.05 pm on the Gudur-Chennai section. Around 20 express trains to Vijayawada, Hyderabad, and other destinations, and daily MEMU services on the section were suspended. On Friday, the Bagmati Express departed from Perambur at 7.50 pm and reached Kavaraipettai near Gummidipundi around 8.30pm. Travelling at 109 km/h, the express reduced speed to 75 km/h before entering the loop line and collided with the rear coaches of the freight train near the guard’s coach. The impact derailed the locomotive and eight coaches of the Bagmati Express, while two others – a power car and motor van – caught fire. Two coaches of the freight train also derailed. The accident severely dam- aged two tracks (the down main line and down loop line) for about 500 metres, signal and telecommunication cables, overhead lines, and power cables. Rescue and accident relief equipment were transported using the two up lines (toward Chennai) to facilitate track clearance work. To remove the wreckage, five earthmovers, three JCBs, two 140-tonne cranes from Tondiarpet, heavy-duty re-railing equipment, and accident relief trains have been deployed. Additionally a self-propelled acci, dent relief train is on the site. Two coaches have been rerailed, and the remaining derailed coaches have been cleared from the main line.  More reports on: P4 Tiruchy flight scare: DGCA probing glitch, 109 passengers fly to Sharjah D V i n c e n t A r o c k i a r aj @ Tiruchy To assess the cause of hydraulic failure that led to the Sharjah-bound Air India Express flight (IX0613) making an emergency landing on F riday evening, a team of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials from Delhi carried out an investigation at the Tiruchy airport on Saturday. The report would be submitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, sources said. The flight, which took off at 5.40 pm on Friday circled over the airport , to burn off excess fuel before landing safely around 8.15 pm. A total of 109 passengers, who got stranded at the Tiruchy airport for over five hours, left for Sharjah at 2.45 am on Saturday on a ferry flight that ar rived at the Tiruchy airport from Thiruvananthapuram. Airport director (officiating) G Gopalakrishnan told TNIE that the remaining 35 passengers cancelled their trips. Among those who cancelled the trips, Umar (35) and Thamilarasan (30), two passengers from Nagapattinam, thanked the pilot and said the passengers did not panic as they were informed about the technical issue just 30 minutes before landing. Another passenger, Narayanasamy of Perugavazhnthan in Tiruvarur, said, “It was only after we got out of the airport that we realised how much our relatives and the public had waited with trepidation for our safe landing.” P5 A total of 109 passengers left for Sharjah at 2.45 am on Saturday on a ferry flight that arrived from Thiruvananthapuram Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday cautioned against a rising tide of incidents inciting fanaticism in the country, adding they stem from external conspiracies aimed at destabilising and limiting India’s growth. While the country has become stronger and has enhanced its global reputation since the last few years, sinister conspiracies are testing the nation’s resolve, he warned. In his annual Vijyadasami address in Nagpur on the day the RSS entered its centenary year, he noted a “sudden increase in the incidents in the country that incite fanaticism without reason”, and pointed to violent disruptions as a deviation from a democratic opposition. He characterised it as the “grammar of anarchy”, a phrase borrowed from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Citing unprovoked stone pelting during Ganesh Visarjan as one such example, Bhagwat said while the administration must control law and order, the Hindu society needs to understand that strength and unity are crucial to counter tyranny . Videograb of AR Rahman in a promo endorsing Harris before the AAPI event performance video interwoven with campaign messages from Harris. This musical initiative, organised by the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Victory Fund, aims to boost the India on Saturday condemned a cocktail bomb attack on a Durga Puja pandal in Dhaka. It was not an isolated incident; as many as 35 incidents of attacks across Bangladesh targeting Durga Puja pandals have been recorded since October 1. “These are deplorable events. They follow a systematic pattern of desecration and damage to temples and deities that we have witnessed over several days now,’’ the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. The crude bomb was hurled on Friday at a pandal in Dhaka’s Tantibazar area. Fortunately it didn’t explode. Four , persons who tried to nab the attackers were stabbed. “We have noted with serious concern the attack on the Puja pandal in Dhaka and theft at the revered Jeshoreshwari Kali temple at Satkhira,’’ the MEA said. Meanwhile, Muhammad Yunus, Chief Advisor to the interim government of Bangladesh, visited the Dhakeshwari temple on Saturday . Chennai: The met department has issued an orange alert to Chennai on October 15 forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall. The rain, caused by a low pressure area over east central Arabian Sea to north Sri Lanka, will commence from Monday afternoon and will intensify thereafter HC: Death won’t annul power of attorney deal Chennai: The Madras High Court has ruled that a power of attorney agreement will not automatically be cancelled with the death of one of the persons who handed over the power, but the termination will depend on the facts and circumstances of each case | P4 I WIT H T H IS ISSUE ISRAEL AT WAR RAN SOLATED NSECURE MPLODING PLUS 12 PAGES Jai ho Harris, Rahman’s musical endorsement In a significant head-turner, Academy Award-winning composer A R Rahman has become the first South Asian artist to publicly support US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. With Hollywood A-listers already rallying behind her in the run-up to the election in November, Rahman’s endorsement is seen as a powerful call to mobilise South Asian voters globally in favour of the Harris-Walz ticket. The renowned musician recently recorded a 30-minute Ye s h i Se l i @ New Delhi Orange alert for Chennai, heavy rain from Oct 15 P r e s i d e nti a l p o l l s representation of the AAPI communities in US politics. According to Shekar Narasimhan, chair man of the AAPI Victory Fund, “With this performance, A R Rahman has added his voice to a chorus of leaders and artists who are standing up for progress and representation in America.” The AAPI Victory Fund released a teaser featuring Rahman and Indiaspora Founder M R Rangaswami as they prepare for the performance. The full event will be broadcast on October 13 at 8 pm ET (October 14, 5.30 am IST) on the AAPI Victory Fund’s YouTube chan- Govt’s sharp rebuke over bomb attack express read Tiruchy airport officials A k s h ay K u m a r He took a swipe at those who identify themselves with the Deep State, wokeism and cultural Marxism, labelling them as enemies of the country’s cultural heritage. He added that such elements aim to destroy values and foster discontent through identity conflicts in India. Friendship between individuals and families cutting across castes and religions is needed for social harmony he said. , Criticised the brutal atrocities on the Hindu community in Bangladesh, he said there are talks of it joining Pakistan as a common front against Bharat. “So long as the tyrannical fundamentalists’ nature exists there, the sword of danger will hang over the heads of all the minority communities there, including Hindus,” Bhagwat warned. Expressing serious concern over atrocities against women, he called for attention to societal issues, including the recent rape-murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar hospital in Kolkata, describing it as shameful and indicative of a larger nexus of crime and politics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the RSS, saying it is dedicated to the service of the nation, on entering its 100th year. nel, as well as across major South Asian media networks, including AVS and TV Asia. Harris appeared on the cover of the latest issue of Vogue, with the style bible calling her a “candidate for our times”. She, however, faces a tough fight against her Republican challenger and former President Donald Trump. Rahman’s support is expected to energise the Harris campaign as the nation approaches the November 5 election, underscoring the significant role of AAPI voters and their growing momentum within the Democratic platform. Officials suspect the cub and mother could have strayed on to Kotagiri-Mettupalayam National Highway from the Thattapallam reserve forest, two kms away | Express Tiger cub dies as speeding vehicle smashes its ribs express news service @ Coimbatore A postmortem examination carried out on a five-month-old male tiger cub on Friday revealed that the animal was killed after being hit by a vehicle in the Kotagiri forest range in the Nilgiris district. Five ribs of the cub were broken in the impact of the highspeed crash and not because it was ran over by a vehicle, sources said after the postmortem. T h e c a rc a s s w a s found on the middle of Kotagiri-Mettupalayam NH near Mamaram around 9.15 pm on Thursday . Forest officials suspect that the animal, along with his mother, could have strayed on to the highway from the Thattapallam reserve forest, two km away from Mamaram. Kotagiri forest range officer S Selvaraj said the labourers from the nearby coffee and tea estates Ex-du prof G n saibaba passes away at a govt hospital in Hyderabad heard a roar which could have been from the mother tiger. “We have installed five camera traps to monitor the movement of the mother tiger,” he said. After retrieving the carcass, several forest department staff, along with police, conducted a vehicle inspection, but the teams could not get hold of a lead regarding the vehicle that had killed the cub. Based on the instructions from the Nilgiris DFO S Gowtham, the carcass was shifted to the Longwood rest house. Veterinary assistant surgeons K Rajesh from Theppakkadu and Revathy from Kakuchi performed the postmortem, during which it was found that the five ribs of the cub were broken due to the vehicle impact. After the postmortem examination, the carcass was disposed of as per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines. P5 He was acquitted in March in a case of alleged links with Maoists after 10 years in prison. He died due to gall bladder infection