THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l thursday l june 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION aadhaar-authenticated users can only book tickets from july 1 aadhaar-otp needed to book from july 15 The ministry informed all zones that the decision was made to ensure that the benefits of the Tatkal Scheme are received by common end-users. Subsequently, Aadhaar-based OTP authentication shall also be made compulsory for Tatkal bookings from July 15, 2025, onwards. Wide publicity will be given to these modifications, the Ministry said Tatkal tickets through IRCTC is only for users who have completed their Aadhaar authentication, Railway ministry announced on Wednesday ■ 6.6 crore agents can’t book for first 30 minutes ■ Authorized ticketing agents will be restricted from booking Tatkal tickets for AC classes from 10am to 10.30am and for non-airconditioned classes from 11am to 11.30am, a circular read Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and IRCTC have been directed to make the necessary modifications for the general public registered users on irctc portal and app as of JUne 11, 2025 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 hopes for trade fair and square with US Samastha urges govt to roll back new school timings, CM non-committal E x press N e w s S ervice @T’Puram After Trump’s breakthrough deal with China, nation eyeing to wrap 1st phase of deal in July trade, and tariff on agriculture and allied goods. The two teams EVEN as India is racing against reportedly discussed the issue time to clinch a trade deal with of a 50% tariff on steel and aluthe US before expiry of the July minium. India has threatened 9 deadline, when the 90-day ex- retaliatory action against the emption period for implemen- US over doubling tariffs on tation of reciprocal tariff gets steel and aluminium. over, sources say that the first India has so far resisted givphase of the deal would only ing easier access to agriculture address the low-hanging fruits. and dairy imports. But the gov“The trade talks will be in mul- ernment hinted it might relent tiple phases, but the first phase on the issue with the US. should end before July 9,” said A Niti Aayog report recently an anonymous argued that the US government is expected to resource. main a big market With US presifor export of surdent Donald plus food from InTrump announcdia, and all efforts ing a deal with need to be made to highlights China on Wedneskeep a favorable enUS, China finalised a day, India would vironment for extrade deal Wednesday, be in a hurry to ports to the US. The with China agreeing to conclude the first report, while arguphase before July cut export restrictions on ing for protecting rare earth minerals 9. The US has also sensitive products finalized a trade like dairy and poulIndia wants to seal a deal deal with the UK. try makes a case for , with US before reciprocal India was the lowering tariffs on tariffs kick in first country to imports of comstart negotiating modities in which a trade deal with the US. In an India enjoys supply advantage. interview with French newspa- The two countries have also per Le Figaro on Tuesday For- discussed non-tariff barriers , eign Minister S Jaishankar had with the US raising concerns said he is hopeful of reaching over India’s quality control an agreement with US before measures and local procurethe reciprocal tariffs kick in. ment conditions for manufacA US delegation which visit- turing. The US has raked up ed India had a four-day meeting India’s famr subsidy too. with Indian negotiators. The A top commerce ministry ofmeeting ended on Tuesday The ficial told this newspaper that . talks veered from tariff rates, the negotiations are on and it is better market access, digital not fair to divulge details. dipa k m o ndal @ New Delhi E X P R ESS R EA D Indian detained at US airport to be deported New Delhi: A Haryana native is set to be deported from the US after being detained at Newark Airport, US, for entering the country illegally. The case gained national attention after a video showed officials handcuffing the man and pinning him to the ground. P7 LA police enforce swift curfew, arrest violators LOS ANGELES: The police swiftly enforced a curfew, making arrests moments after it took effect, to break up hundreds of people demonstrating against President Trump’s immigration crackdown. At least 25 people were arrested for violating the curfew. P9 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express At ‘confluence’ launch Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan are all smiles as Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama president Sayyid Muhammed Jifri Muthu Koya Thangal welcomes them at the launch of Confluence, a coffee table book brought out by TNIE, at Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday | B P Deepu | P4 NSS writes to Prez, PM, to move court against caste census A B H I L A S H C H A N D R A N @Kottayam Asserting that the caste census announced by the Union government would divide people on the basis of caste and religion, the influential Nair Service Society (NSS) is planning to challenge the move in court. The Centre had on June 4 announced that Population Census-2027 will be conducted in two phases along with the enumeration of castes. The first phase will begin on October 1, 2026, and the second on March 1, 2027. On Tuesday the Karna, taka government too announced a fresh caste survey . The NSS’ move is expected to create significant political challenge for the BJP, which has been making all-out efforts to widen its political base in Kerala ahead of the local body elections this year and the assembly elections in 2026. NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair has written to the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister, urging them to abandon the caste survey, and confine the census exercise to gathering demographic data on the nation’s pop● More on P4 ulation.  Meghalaya murder: Sonam, 4 others sent to police remand A n u ra g S in g h & P rasan ta M a j u mdar @ Bhopal/Guwahati As the special investigation team (SIT) of Meghalaya police probing the May 23 honeymoon killing of Indore tourist Raja Raghuvanshi started quizzing the five arrested accused, including Raja’s wife Sonam, there were a series of unanswered points that seemed to hold the key to investigations. A local court in Meghalaya capital Shillong on Wednesday sent Sonam Raghuvanshi and four others, including prime accused Raj Kushwah, to eight-day police remand. Though there were reports of Sonam confessing to the crime, the Meghalaya Police urged the media to not jump to any conclusion. In a dramatic develop- ment, Sonam’s brother Govind visited the home of Raja on Wednesday and broke into tears after hugging his slain brother-in-law’s mother Uma Raghuvanshi. One unanswered point seems to be Sonam’s trolley bag? “Why was she carrying a trolley bag while going with Raja to the monsoon tourism hotspot Sohra (Cherrapunjee) on a short visit? Have you seen any couple carrying a trolley bag on a short trip riding a scooter?” a source part of the ongoing probe told TNIE. “Where are Sonam’s multiple cellphones she was carrying during the trip? There were at least two iPhones, one of which seemed to have been destroyed after the alleged murder. All others are switched off. Their data hold the P8 key the source added.  ,” 14 vacancies Mounted police to get first batch of trained riders via PSC soon S han A S @T’Puram For the first time in its history, the Kerala Police’s mounted wing will be getting a batch of professionally trained horsemen to join its ranks. On June 4, the Public Service Commission (PSC) published the rank list of police constable (mounted police), from which candidates would be appointed within two to three months, sources said. Until now, police office r s wo rke d i n t h e w i n g o n deputation. This is the first time direct appointment to Kerala’s lone mounted police — deployed under the Thiruvananthapuram city police — is being done Mounted police unit of Kerala Police | FILE PIC through PSC. The new recruits will undergo nine-month training at the police academy after which they will , be attached with the wing, said a source. A colonial legacy, the unit is primarily used for night patrols, parades and ceremonies. There are 14 vacancies in the unit, which will be filled from the rank list featuring 19 names. Two of the aspirants are ex-servicemen, who were granted upper-age relaxation owing to their horse-riding experience in the armed forces. The PSC notification mandated that candidates have minimum one-year experience in horse-riding from a firm or sports club under the state or Union governments, State Sports Council, or Sports Authority of India. The PSC had issued a notification in September 2023 for 14 vacancies having a pay scale of ● More on P4 `31,100-`66,800.  Hours after the general education department brought out a revised timetable adding 30 minutes to class timings in state schools, the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama on Wednesday urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to reconsider the move. Samastha president Sayyid Muhammed Jifri Muthu Koya Thangal made the request to the CM while delivering the presidential address at the launch of Confluence, a coffee-table book brought out by The New Indian Express on the history of Samastha, at Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram. “The government should understand the difficulties the move will cause about 12 lakh students in the religious sector. We know the government will act accordingly,” he said, in an apparent reference to madrasa students. He also submitted a memorandum to the CM. However, speaking after releasing the book, the CM chose to be non-committal to the request. Pinarayi said the government has always listened to Samastha’s demands. “He (Thangal) made certain remarks about Samastha’s relevance. All those who live in Kerala know about Samastha and its relevance. Going by your own experience, Samastha has not faced any negative experience from the state government. So, let’s go forward like that,” said Pinarayi. As per the revised timetable for Classes VIII to X, classes of high school section will start 15 minutes early at 9.45am and end 15 minutes late at 4.15pm from Mondays to Thursdays. According to the order by the Director of General Education, the new timings are to be followed by all government, aided a n d re c o g n i s e d u n a i d e d schools. This is to ensure 1,100 instructional hours or 220 working days for high school ● More on P4 students.  Fire contained, vessel to be towed away M an o j V is w anat han @Kochi Three days after the blast that triggered a fire on board Singapore flagged container vessel MV Wan Hai 503, the Coast Guard managed to contain the blaze on Wednesday Sources . said the fire is persisting inside the cargo hold and hoped it will be doused completely on Thursday An MI heli. copter of the Indian Air Force will take off from Kozhikode on Thursday with fire retardant dry chemical powder to aid the operations. Meanwhile, salvage team members along with the Coast Guard landed on the ill-fated ship with the help of a helicopter and tied a towline. Once the fire is doused, the ship will be towed away to deep sea with the help of a tug, said an officer. The vessel carried 1,754 containers and an unspecified number of those have fallen into the sea. With no informa- tion on the fate of dangerous cargo, experts said retrieving the containers from the seabed is impossible as the depth is more than 1,000m. “In a daring operation...a Coast Guard helicopter managed to winch five members of the salvage team and an aircrew diver on the deck of the bur ning vessel to facilitate the towing process at 3 pm on Thursday,” the Coast Guard ● More on P4 said.