THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l tuesday l june 10, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Protests intensify in LA as Trump deploys National Guard Tensions escalated as thousands of protesters took to streets in response to US President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard Arrival of troops spurs anger and fear Serious breach of state sovereignty: Guv Sunday’s protests in Los Angeles were centred in several blocks of downtown. It was the third and most intense day of demonstrations against Trump’s immigration crackdown in the region, as the arrival of around 300 Guard troops spurred anger and fear. The Guard was deployed to protect federal buildings, including downtown detention centre ■ ■ Democratic California governor Gavin Newsom requested Trump remove the guard members in a letter, calling their deployment a ‘serious breach of state sovereignty’. He says he will sue Trump Several dozen people were arrested throughout the weekend of protest. One was detained for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police. 2,000 Number of national guard troops deployed by Trump 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 Blaze engulfs cargo ship, four missing Dangerous goods, including explosive chemicals, in around 150 containers Incident 88 nautical miles off Beypore 163 km Smoke billows from the container ship after it caught fire off Beypore coast Arockiaraj J and M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n @ Kochi/ Kozhikode A major maritime disaster unfolded on Monday when a Singapore-flagged container vessel, MV Wan Hai 503, en route to Mumbai from Colombo caught fire following a massive explosion roughly 88 nautical miles off the Beypore coast, Kozhikode. Four of the 22 crew members remain missing, and grave concerns are rising over a potential environmental catastrophe, as the ship was carrying a large number of containers loaded with hazardous and explosive chemicals. The 270-metre-long vessel, operated by BSM (Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement), was navigating through the international shipping lane between Azhikkal and Beypore when it reported a blast around 9.30am to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai. A full-scale rescue and firefighting operation was immediately launched by the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy, with five Coast Guard ships and INS Surat, which was diverted from its route to Kochi, rushing to the site. According to Mercantile Marine Department officials, the Rescued taken to M’luru; search on for missing Of the 18 rescued crew members, five have suffered injuries. They were taken to Mangaluru aboard INS Surat late on Monday. Meanwhile, seach efforts continued for the four missing — two Taiwanese, one Indonesian and one Myanmarese national. They were reportedly attempting to extinguish the fire at the time of the explosion. cargo included more than 600 containers, of which approximately 150 contained dangerous goods — including gunpowder, trinitrotoluene (TNT), lithium batteries, acids, and turpentine. Officials fear some materials may ignite spontaneously and pose a serious threat to marine life and the environment. As the fire intensified, containers began to fall into the sea, with over 50 believed to be lost, raising alarms of toxic spillage. Of the 22 crew members, 18 — including the ship’s captain — were rescued by naval forces and merchant vessels, One Marvel and Ambara, which were in the vicinity. Of the 18, five are injured, with two reportedly suffering severe burns. The rescued persons — from Taiwan, Myanmar, Indonesia and Thailand — were taken to Mangaluru late on Monday . ● More on P4 6 killed after falling off crowded trains ‘Missing’ woman turns up at an eatery, held in husband’s murder case S u d h i r s u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Guwahati / Lucknow/ Bhopal SIX passengers died while nine suffered injuries after falling off two overcrowded local trains near Diwa in Maharashtra’s Thane district during the morning rush hour on Monday , officials said. The incident occurred near Mumbra railway station when the trains were passing each other on a steep turn.The deceased were identified as Ketan Saroj (23), Rahul Gupta (28), Mayur Shah and Thane Government Railway Police constable Vicky Mukhyad (34). Two passengers are yet to be identified. Chief Public Relations Officer of 2nd train Central Railway, towards Swapnil Nila, said CSMT the victims were travelling on foot1st train towards board of the two Kasara trains, one travelling towards Kasara and another travelling towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Mumbai. The commuters were hanging from the doors of the crowded trains and their backpacks brushed against each other as It is turning out to be a murder mystery straight out of a movie. After days of search and investigation, the missing jigsaws seem to be slowly falling into place. In a dramatic turn of events, Meghalaya police on Monday arrested Sonam Raghuvanshi in Ghazipur of Uttar Pradesh as the prime accused for the murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi. Sonam and her Indore-based husband were on their honeymoon in Meghalaya from where they disappeared on May 23 with no trace till June 2, when Raja’s body was discovered in a gorge near Weisawdong Falls in East Khasi Hills. Meghalaya Police said four accused – Raj Singh Kushwaha,21, Akash Rajput,19, Vishal Singh Chauhan, 22, and Anand Kurmi,23, Sonam – were arrested with the help of Raghuvanshi, UP and Madhya Pradesh police. Raj Kushwaha Some media reports suggested Sonam and Kushwaha were in a relationship. East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem said, “When we connected the dots, it was actually Raj Kushwaha with Sonam. At this moment, we can’t say what exactly the murder motive was.” Interestingly it was within an hour from Raj , Kushwaha’s arrest in Indore that Sonam emerged (after mysteriously missing for a fortnight) a thousand kilometres away at an eatery in UP’s Ghazipur. A dhaba employee said Sonam asked for a phone to call her parents in Indore after which MP police were informed. Later, UP police were contacted and Sonam was arrested. Relatives of the deceased passengers at a hospital in Thane | PTI the trains passed in opposite directions, leading to the fall. The guard of a train going towards Kasara alerted railway authorities about the tragedy. Those who fell off Des the trains were ai K had rushed to nearby i hospitals, where Mumbra f o u r we r e d e Railway clared dead on arstation rival, police said. 9:10 AM Witnesses described the spot as accident-prone due to the curve. “This is an accident-prone spot where incidents of commuters falling off trains take place frequently said a local passenger. ,” Around 75 lakh commuters take local trains in Mumbai daily . 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express Find your own fund for infra devpt, LSGs told K S SR E E JITH @T’Puram Local bodies in the state will now have to mobilise resources themselves, by collecting private contributions and corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds, to carry out infrastructure development. The government, in a recent circular based on the recommendation of the sixth Finance Commission, has asked local bodies to prepare an action plan to receive contributions for developmental activities. The innovative performance of a local body in that regard will, henceforth, be a key factor in rewarding LSG institutions for their excellent work. The sixth Finance Commission had stressed that public contributions could play a major role in resource mobilisation for development activities by local bodies. “There are tremendous chances in mobilising contribution for expanding the facilities of schools, hospitals, anganvadis, buds schools and other welfare institutions run by LSG institutions and the infrastructure projects such as drinking water, roads, play grounds, parks,” the circular says. Corporates can also contribute from their CSR funds, it adds. The LSG institutions will have to make land available free of cost for roads, housing projects and other public properties through contribution. The contributions received by hospital management communities, parent-teacher associations in schools owned by the concerned lo- cal bodies and the contributions made by former students to these schools shall be used for the purpose, the circular says. “The LSG institutions should make use of the voluntary activities, especially of the youths, and the professional services received from academic institutions as part of their academic responsibility work,” it says. There should be clarity on matters like from whom the contribution is accepted and the time-frame for spending the amount. Details of the contribution should be included in the annual project report, the circular says. “Receipts should be provided for contributions. Involvement of middlemen is prohibited,” it adds. Beypore Wan Hai 503 270m Length 32.3m Width The Singaporeflagged vessel left Port Colombo on June 6 12m Draught It was supposed to reach Nhava Sheva Port, Mumbai, on June 9 containers fall into sea The fire was reported in one of the containers at 9.30am following an explosion Flames engulfed the container hold by 12.40pm As the fire intensified, containers began falling into the sea, with more than 50 believed to be lost Centre approves two SEZ proposals in Gujarat, K’taka E xp r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi The Centre has approved Special Economic Zone (SEZ) proposals from Micron Semiconductor in Gujarat and Aequs Group in Karnataka to boost India’s semiconductor and electronics industries. Micron will invest `13,000 crore in its 37.64-hectare facility while Aequs will invest `100 crore in an 11.55-hec, tare facility Amendments to SEZ rules have lowered the . minimum land requirement from 50 hectares to 10 hectares, eased Net Foreign Exchange (NFE) calculations, and allowed SEZ units to sell in domestic markets after paying duties, as per amendments notified on June 3, 2025. “These reforms will boost investment, jobs, and make India a global manufacturing hub,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Monday .