MADURAI  TUESDAY  FEBRUARY 25, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION BLOODBATH ON DALAL STREET: SENSEX, NIFTY HIT 8-MONTH LOWS S India’s equity market saw a sharp decline on Monday, with the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 M plunging to their lowest levels in eight months p File photo WEAK GLOBAL CUES, FII EXODUS A CONCERN TRUMP’S TARIFF PLANS CAUSE RIPPLE EFFECT The sell-off was driven by weakening global cues and persistent foreign institutional investor (FII) selling amid concerns over US trade policies. The 30-share Sensex tumbled by 856.65 points, or 1.14%, to close at 74,454.41, while the Nifty50 dropped by 242.55 points, or 1.06%, to settle at 22,553.35. So far in 2025, both indices have declined by over 5% ■ ■ The downturn was fueled by a fall in US consumer sentiment to a 15-month low in February and expectations of inflation remaining high due to US President Donald Trump’s absurd tariff plans Experts believe the near-term scenario remains uncertain, with trade war, FII outflows, and high valuations weighing on investor sentiment 4.22 lakh cr IS WHAT INVESTORS LOST ON MONDAY AS THE BSE SENSEX FELL BELOW 75K 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 Hopes dim as rescue ops enter day 3 April timeline for Modi, Yunus meeting likely EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad AS the efforts to save the eight workers trapped inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal tunnel since Saturday entered the third day, the rescue workers are not only battling against time but also the slush and seepage. The continuous seepage has turned the earth inside the tunnel into slush, slowing down the rescue teams. While the fate of trapped workers remained unknown as of Monday evening, officials said the tunnel boring machine has a safe chamber and the workers would be safe if they managed to enter it. Early in the day, Telangana transport minister Jupally EXPRESS READ TN govt staff plan mass leave today as talks fail Chennai: All government staff will go on casual leave en masse on Tuesday as talks between ministers and JACTTO-GEO, a government employees’ body, failed on Monday | P4 1,000 CM’s pharmacies inaugurated across TN Chennai: CM MK Stalin on Monday inaugurated 1,000 ‘Muthalvar Marunthagam’ (CM’s Pharmacy) across TN. Medicines will be sold at 25% cheaper rate compared to other private outlets | P2 SC allows clubbing of 16 FIRs against YouTuber New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the clubbing of 16 FIRs registered against YouTuber Savukku Shankar over alleged objectionable remarks against judges and police | P5 Indian Army personnel at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal project site | EXPRESS Krishna Rao told a news agency that he was not optimistic about the safety of the eight trapped workers. “Chances of their survival are very remote. I myself went up to the end, almost just 50 me- tres short (of the accident site) ... Mud has piled up to 25 feet,” PTI quoted him as saying. On Monday, 14 rat-hole miners and sniffer dogs too were pressed into service to find a breakthrough. However, the sniffer dogs could not go inside the tunnel due to the water. The rat-hole miners are in addition to the 584 experts from NDRF, SDRF, Army, Navy and the National Highways Authority of India, as well as from JP Associates and Navayuga. The rescuers are 40 metres away from the tunnel boring machine — separated by water, slush, and machine parts. Dewatering is in full swing using high-pressure pumps. Initially, officials considered vertical drilling — making a hole from the top of the tunnel and going inside. However, the idea was dropped. According estimates, 4,000 litres of muddy water containing slush, sand, and pebbles is flooding the tunnel every minute. 3 FEMALE WORKERS KILLED IN TN CRACKER UNIT EXPLOSION EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Dharmapuri TWO sisters and another woman worker were killed in an explosion at a firecracker manufacturing unit at Murukampatti village in Dharmapuri district around 2 pm on Monday. Friction caused during the mixing of chemicals at the u n i t , Vi j ay k u m a r Cracker Shop, may have triggered the blast, district fire safety officer P Ambika told TNIE. Villagers, who came out of their houses hearing the deafening sound, found body parts of the victims scattered over 100 metres from the explosion spot, sources said. The deceased were identified as Thirumanju (33), and CALL TO ACTION PM Modi leads the charge in battle against the bulge R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi THE battle lines have been drawn in India’s war on obesity with Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching a na, tionwide campaign to promote healthy living and reduce the burden of obesity-related diseases. A day after expressing concern about the growing obesity epidemic in India in his Mann Ki Baat, Modi on Monday nominated 10 influential personalities to join the war against flab, spread awareness and inI’m happy to join spire change. Those nominated include the drive...obesity J&K CM Omar Abdullah, Mahindra causes lifestyle Group Chairman Anand Mahindra, acrelated health tor Mohanlal, Bhojpuri singer-actor issues like heart disease, diabetes, and former MP Dinesh Lal and stroke Yadav (Nirahua), actor R Madhavan, philanthroOmar Abdulllah, pist and Rajya Sabha J&K CM MP Sudha Murthy, shooting champion M a n u B h a k e r, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani and singer Shreya Ghoshal. Each of them was asked to nominate 10 individuals to further the cause. MANDAR PARDIKAR Nirahua quickly responded by inviting 10 others to join the cause, including UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister Chirag Paswan, Malini Awasthi, Dr Kumar Vishwas, Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishan, and Pawan Singh. Omar Abdullah nominated Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Sajjan Jindal, Deepika Padukone, Sania Mirza, Irfan Pathhan, Supriya Sule, Kuldeep Handoo, Sheetal Archer, Iqra Rasool, and Palak Kour Bijral. Anand Mahindra said reducing cooking oil consumption by 10% can have a big impact on health. He nominated Anil Kapoor, P V Sindhu, Gul Panag, Nikhil Kamath, among others. Sudha Murthy nominated P T Usha, Anil Kumble, Mukesh Bansal, Kiran Bedi, Venkatesh Prasad, Mrunalini Deshmukh, S Gurumurthy among others. , sisters V Thirumalar (35) and M Senbagam (25), all from Bhoomisamuthiram village near Kambainallur. A total of four women worked at the cracker unit, and one of them had a narrow escape as she had left for home for lunch minutes before the disaster. The unit owner, K Chinnadurai, had informed the Kambainallur police about the accident. One of the residents told TNIE, “Our homes are just a few metres away from the unit. The bodies of the victims, whom we had just greeted in the morning, were blown into smithereens by the explosion. We are still in shock. Several windows and glass panes of our homes got shattered due to the intensity of the blast.” P5 Forensic officials inspecting the blast site in Murukampatti | EXPRESS Friction caused during the mixing of chemicals at the cracker unit may have triggered the blast P Ambika, District Fire Safety Officer Both expected to hold talks on the sidelines of the 7-nation BIMSTEC summit in Thailand J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet Muhammad Yunus, the chief advisor to Bangladesh interim government, on the sidelines of the 6th BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) summit in Thailand in April 3-4. April 4 will be the main summit day of the sub-regional grouping. Though the possibility of the meeting between Modi and Yunus is being explored, there is no official confirmation yet. Modi will travel to Thailand for the summit, which was earlier slated for on September 3-4 last year but got postponed due to domestic political developments in the host country . India is promoting BIMSTEC as a model regional organisation, after SAARC became largely inactive due to the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. Ties between India and Bangladesh waded into choppy waters after the removal of Sheikh Hasina as the prime minister. Speaking at a public event on Sunday just days after his meet, ing with Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain in Muscat, foreign minister Jaishankar expressed concern regarding the interim administration’s hostile approach towards India and the violence against minorities. Narendra Modi and Muhammad Yunus BIMSTEC model regional grouping, says India BIMSTEC consists of seven member countries: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. India is promoting BIMSTEC as a model regional grouping, after SAARC became largely inactive due to the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan “What is especially concerning is the ongoing attacks on minorities in Bangladesh. This impacts our viewpoint, and we have raised our concerns.” Jaishankar also responded to the Bangladesh government’s public criticism of India in the same event, describing it as contradictory and unproductive. “If officials from the interim government keep blaming India for all their problems, some of which are entirely unfounded, it sends a conflicting message. On one hand, they claim to want good relations with us, but on the other, they continuously blame India for their domestic issues. This is a choice they must make,” the external affairs minister said. STAR WATCH Light weight bat for Dhoni this IPL? F I R O Z M I R Z A @ Chennai COME Indian Premier League 2025, former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni might wield lighter bats. Since his U-19 days, Dhoni has been using bats weighing around 1,200 grams. The weight gradually increased as he graduated to the senior level. However, at 43, the most successful Indian captain is expected to bring down the weight of his bat by around 10-20 grams. “Four bats have been delivered to Dhoni recently by Sanspareils Greenlands Pvt. Ltd, the cricket equipment company from Meerut,” a source in the know of the things told this daily. Suresh Raina, former India all-rounder and Dhoni’s ex-CSK teammate, also confirmed the same while commentating during the India-Pakistan match on Sunday . “Each bat weighs around 1,230 grams with the same shape as before,” added the source. Reduction in weight can be seen as a natural progression. “His bats were always heavier than ours,” one of Dhoni’s former teammates, who had played agegroup and senior domestic cricket with him, told this daily . In his prime, Dhoni was one of the few players to use a middleweight bat, which weighed between 1,250 and 1,300 grams. Dhoni’s training schedule ahead of the IPL season has yet not been finalised and so is his arrival in Chennai. Full story: newindianexpress.com