Three wings of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Sunday held a protest march to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka NAGAPATTINAM l Monday l December 09, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Assad flees as Syria falls to rebels Regional security key for India, says Jaishankar AGENCIES The Syrian government on Sunday fell to a lightning rebel offensive that seized control of capital Damascus, ending the 24-year rule by president Bashar al-Assad and forcing him to flee the country . Syrian state television stated Assad had been overthrown. Rebel group Hayat Tahrir alSham (HTS) claimed it released all prisoners from Sednaya prison, where political opponents were said to have been tortured by the Assad regime. Syrian prime minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government would turn its functions over to a transitional government. Jalali will supervise Syrian state institutions until they are handed over, HTS chief Abu Mohammed al-Golani said, Manama: Addressing the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday highlighted the importance of West Asia for New Delhi and spoke about the need to improve the security situation there and prevent conflicts from spreading further Syrians welcome opposition fighters in Damascus on Sunday | AP signalling the Islamist group prefers an orderly transition. Seizure of Damascus comes a day after opposition forces took the central city of Homs, as government forces abandoned it. There were few casualties as government forces withdrew or surrendered without trying to 1.3L women removed from TN’s monthly aid scheme B A N B U S E LV A N @ Chennai About 1.27 lakh women beneficiaries have been removed from the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai (KMUT) scheme, which was launched in September last year. While the majority of them were removed due to their demise, a small number were disqualified for reasons such as family members purchasing vehicles like cars or jeeps, acquiring land, securing government jobs or filing income tax returns that exceed the prescribed annual income limit of `2.5 lakh. Following updation, the total number of beneficiaries under the KMUT scheme — as of October 31 — has dropped to 1.14 crore from 1.15 crore previously, as per official data obtained by TNIE through the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Unlike pensioners from state and union governments, women heads of families receiving the `1,000 cash assistance under the scheme are not required to submit life certificates every 12 months. Updation of records was based on the Civil Registration System (CRS) database, which tracks births and deaths in the state using Aadhaar.  P5 express read Stalin to inaugurate Periyar memorial in KL on course Liren blunders, Gukesh takes lead India’s D Gukesh took a giant step towards becoming the youngest world champion in history after winning game 11 of the FIDE World Chess Championship. He currently leads 6-5 in championship | P11 Chennai: Chief Minister Stalin and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the renovated memorial for Periyar in Vaikom to mark centenary of Vaikom struggle on December 12 | P4 Min to move resolution against mining today Chennai: Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan on Monday will be moving the Assembly resolution urging the centre to cancel the licence to mine tungsten in Madurai | P4 Gaganyaan astronauts to get training at INS Garuda M an o j V is w anat h an @ Kochi the four astronauts selected for India’s inaugural human space flight programme, the Gaganyaan, will undergo rigorous training at the Indian Navy’s water survival training facility (WSTF) at INS Garuda in Kochi on how to survive in water after landing in the sea. While ISRO and DRDO are pioneering the space flight, the Navy is tasked with recovering the crew module from sea on its return to earth after the three-day mission. The module is expected to land in the Indian Ocean and the Navy will be positioning its vessels in the region. The ISRO has marked the waters for landing with 48 backup spots. We train aircrew Upon landing, the astronaut will open the how to survive in rough sea... how module’s hatch and jump into the water. He to come out of will then inflate the personal safety pack the aircraft and and wait for the recovery team’s arrival. WSTF’s training is essentially to help the survive in case of ditching at sea. crew survive in rough sea for about six Out facility gives hours till help arrives. real-time Gaganyaan’s recovery team comprising experience and naval divers and marine commandos has alremoves fear ready undergone one round of training at . Capt Shinodh the facility “This is our first attempt. Navy, Karthikeyan in coordination with ISRO scientists, has prepared a standard operating procedure on recovering the crew. The recovery team has been trained to ensure safe extraction of the astronauts even in harsh weather conditions,” Captain Shinodh Karthikeyan, officer incharge of WSTF, told this paper. “We brought people from Canada to train our divers in underwater egress drills and later launched our own instructor course to create a pool of expert instructors,” he added. WSTF, the third such facility in the world, simulates sea conditions with wave of more than 1.5 m height, winds up to 40 knots, rain, along with thunder and lightning effects. put up much of a resistance. There was no immediate comment from Iran, Assad’s staunchest supporter, while close ally Russia said Assad ordered a “peaceful transfer of power” and left the country . Israel, another key player in the region, moved quickly to de- ploy its forces in a demilitarized buffer zone in Golan Heights, established in 1974 by a ceasefire agreement with Syria. While Syrians largely welcomed Assad’s fall, the sudden onset of events portend regional instability due to the shift in balance of power.  P9 Today Bangladesh’s BNP party members march to Indian high Commission Protesters slam attack on B’desh mission Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will visit dhaka. He will raise India’s concerns over the attacks on hindus Thousands of BNP members took part in the march. Leaders of the three wings were allowed to proceed to the IHC to submit a memorandum, protesting the attack on Bangladesh’s mission in Tripura on December 2 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 ■ ■ India to soon have comprehensive anti-drone unit, says Amit Shah M u k es h r an j an @ New Delhi Union home minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that India will soon have a comprehensive anti-drone unit to deal with the ever-increasing menace of unmanned aerial vehicles being used by Pakbased elements to drop weapons and drugs along the western frontiers. Speaking at an event to mark the Border Security Force’s 60th Raising Day in Rajasthan’s border district of Jodhpur, Shah said the initial results of a “laser-equipped anti-drone gun-mounted” mechanism have been encouraging, adding that cases of drone neutralisation and detection, have gone up from 3% to 55% along the IndiaPakistan border in Punjab. “The drone menace is going to get more serious. We are tackling this issue with a ‘whole of government’ approach with the defence and research organisations and the DRDO joining hands,” Shah said, adding: “We are going to create a comprehensive anti-drone unit for the coun- try in the coming days”. As per recent government data, more than 260 drones have been downed or recovered from India’s border with Pakistan this year as compared to about 110 in 2023, most of them in Punjab. Shah said the ongoing Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) for securing India’s borders with Pakistan (2,289 km) and Bangladesh (4,096 km) is a work in progress. “We have had an encouraging response from the CIBMS deployed along the riverine borders in Assam’s Dhubri (India-Bangladesh international border) but some improvements are required,” he said.