DHARMAPURI l Monday l July 14, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION CCTV cameras in trains to enhance passenger safety In a first, the Ministry of Railways has decided to install CCTV cameras in all passenger train coaches and locomotives ‘Will deter miscreants, organised gangs’ vaishnav asks officials to make use of ai The decision follows positive outcomes from experimental installations of CCTVs in Northern Railway. Railway officials said the move is expected to bolster passenger safety and help deter miscreants and gangs who exploit travellers. To preserve privacy, CCTVs will be installed in the common area near the doors | P7 ■ Officials said each locomotive will be equipped with six CCTVs. Additionally, each cab of a loco will be fitted with one dome-type CCTV camera and two desk-mounted microphones, they added ■ Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav has encouraged officials to explore the use of AI on the data captured by the CCTV cameras 74,000 Coaches and 15,000 locomotives will be fitted with cctv cameras 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 Khalistani terrorist Batala, 7 others arrested in US H ARPR E E T B A J WA @ Chandigarh in a major crackdown on international terror network, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested eight Khalistani terrorists across the US, including Pavittar Singh Batala—a gangster from Punjab wanted by the National Investigation Agency for terror activities linked to the banned Babbar Khalsa International. The eight men were picked up from San Joaquin County during an investigation into a gang-related kidnapping and torture case. During the raid, a been charged with various ofcache of arms including a fully fences including kidnapping, automatic Glock, hundreds of torture, unlawful confinement, rounds of ammuniwitness intimidation, tion, several high-caassault with a semipacity magazines, and automatic firearm, isover $15,000 in cash suing criminal were seized. threats, and gang-reBatala had an Interlated enhancements. pol Red Corner Notice “On July 11, the San against him. The othJoaquin County Sherer arrested men are iff ’s Office AGNET Amritpal Singh, Dil- Pavittar Singh Batala Unit—alongside the preet Singh, ArshStockton Police Depreet Singh, Manpreet Rand- partment SWAT, Manteca Pohawa, Gurtaj Singh, Sarabjit lice Department SWAT, StanisSingh, and Vishal. They have laus County Sheriff ’s Office SWAT and FBI SWAT—executed five coordinated search warrants across San Joaquin County as part of a gang-related kidnapping and torture investigation,” the San Joaquin County Sheriff ’s Office said. NIA sources said they are in touch with their US counterparts for Batala’s extradition. The accused used virtual numbers and encrypted apps to promote a pro-Khalistan network. The module was reportedly operating under the instructions of terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda. MTC bus runs over man after driver dies of heart attack G a uth a m Se lv a r a j a n @ Chennai An MTC bus fatally ran over a pedestrian at Arumbakkam in Chennai on Sunday morning after its driver suffered a heart attack and died while at the wheel. The bus crashed into three cars parked outside a hotel in the locality before coming to a stop. Both men were rushed to the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital but were declared dead on arrival. The deceased were identified as driver Velumani (58) of Dharmapuri and Sasikumar (65) of Chetpet in Chennai. Officials said there were no passengers on the bus at the time of the accident. According to the Anna Nagar Traffic Investigation Wing (TIW) police, Velumani took the MTC bus (route No. 70 C, which runs from Koyambedu to Tambaram) from the Vadapalani bus depot around 6am and was driving it to the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) when the accident took place. The bus was to be operated from the CMBT depot, a source said. “Once Velumani collapsed, the bus went out of control crushing Sasikumar to death. It then crashed into cars parked outside a hotel and came to a halt. Passersby alerted the police,” said a police officer.  P5 A diesel-laden train caught fire near Tiruvallur on Sunday, triggering panic among residents | Ashwin prasath Inferno on tracks: Thousands stranded as trains cancelled B A N B U S E LVA N @ Chennai Travel plans of thousands of rail passengers were thrown into chaos after a diesel-laden freight train derailed and caught fire near Tiruvallur early on Sunday. The fire, which erupted around 5.15 am, spread thick plumes of smoke across a radius of 5km, triggering panic among residents of Varatharajapuram, Manavala Nagar, and Periyakuppam along the Tiruvallur-Egattur railway line. While no casualties were reported, nearly 150 families were evacuated from the area as a precaution. According to official estimates, about 8.64 lakh litres of high-speed diesel worth approximately `7.94 crore was destroyed in the fire, which engulfed 18 wagons of the 55-wagon freight train. Around 250m of the fast line and 400m of overhead electric lines between Tiruvallur and Arakkonam were also completely destroyed. Southern Railway has formed a high-level committee comprising officials from the safety , mechanical, and operations departments to investigate the incident. The state government has formed three special teams 15 trains short-terminated All suburban train services in the Chennai-Arakkonam section were suspended from 5.15 am. About 15 express trains bound for Chennai were short-terminated between Arakkonam and Gudiyatham | P2 led by the ADGP (Railways) to conduct a parallel inquiry . The fire began from the engine of the third coach of the train, which was carrying the high-speed diesel for the Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) from Chennai (Tondiarpet) to Mysuru, after it derailed around 5.10am soon after crossing the Tiruvallur station. The loco pilot, upon noticing the blaze, immediately applied the emergency brake, while the station master at Tiruvallur promptly cut the Overhead Electric (OHE) supply at 5.15am. However, the fire rapidly spread till the 19th wagon of the train. Initial investigation suggested that the derailment of the third wagon may have been caused by a ‘hot axle’.  P5 Now, EC mulls pan-India revision of electoral rolls Move follows SC view that SIR is a ‘constitutional mandate’ M U K E S H RA N J A N @ New Delhi UNDETERRED by the controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, it is learnt that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has sent a communication to chief electoral officers (CEOs) of all states to activate poll machinery for a possible rollout of the exercise on a pan-India basis. The ECI’s decision comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s observation last week that SIR is a “constitutional mandate” and that ECI can go ahead with the revision exercise in Bihar. Several opposition parties and civil society organisations had moved the Supreme Court challenging the intensive revision, saying it deprived eligible citizens of their right to vote for want of documents specified by the poll panel for inclusion in the voters’ list. Union Home Minister Amit Shah in an interview with this newspaper on Saturday had said, “I believe that if anyone has any concerns about the process, he/she should approach the Election Commission. Not with presumptions, but with examples of the outcomes of the process. Roll revision is not happening for the first time. It happened in 1991, too. Also, it’s not being done only in Bihar. I think it will be done across India. Anyway, the Express read TNEA counselling for general category begins Chennai: Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission counselling for general category students will begin from Monday. This year, courses related to electronics engineering are likely to be students’ first choice, due to slowdown in IT sector and boom in the semiconductor industry | P2 h i s t o r y b ec k o n s Shoulder nudge, fiery spells and 14 wickets set up tantalising final day F i r o z M i r z a @ London THE atmosphere was crackling, like a heavy discharge of industrial grade current. The hosts were under the pump and the visitors, who had begun the series with a loss, knew they had the rare chance of back to back Test wins outside Asia and West Indies. The feisty Mohammed Siraj had made contact with Ben Duckett’s shoulder after a mistimed pull didn’t clear mid on. Nitish Reddy screamed in the general direction of Zak Crawley after the opener found one of the two gullies. Siraj was in happy rage after finding Ollie Pope plumb and Akash Deep, who opened up about his sister’s fight with cancer, had let out a visceral scream after spread-eagling Harry Brook’s middle-stump. When the players walked off for lunch, it was ironic because what could on the menu that was going to better two hours of cricket in excelsis? In short, sparks flew when the visitors resumed the morning session with vigour and purpose. It all seemed like a sp- illover of the one-over drama on Saturday evening. And it had nothing to do with the heat that’s engulfed the island nation this summer. Like always, Jasprit Bumrah was unplayable. Siraj was all fire and brimstone. And, together, they made the hosts’ batters look rather ordinary, some of it because the surface belatedly came to life. Post lunch, Washington Sundar, a contentious choice, played with the angles, created a few doubts and ran through England’s spine to pick up 4/22 across 73 legal balls. The last 12 minutes after India captain Shubman Gill was caught plumb infront was almost a repeat of England’s second innings late evening drama on Saturday Late Akash Deep’s . wicket made the contest more gripping. On Monday India re, quire 135 to secure a one of their great overseas wins. England, on other hand, need six wickets to take lead. Over to Lord’s, with great expectation. contest for ages Carlos Alcaraz took the first set while Jannik Sinner came back to win the next as the top two players in world battle for the coveted Wimbledon crown | AFP matter is before the Supreme Court.” On the opposition calling it a shadow CAA-NRC, Shah had said, “They opposed everything the EC does. They need to justify their poll defeats, so they present fake narratives.” In the communication to the CEOs, the ECI asked them to prepare for conducting SIR in their respective jurisdictions with January 1, 2026 as the qualifying date, which means that above 18 years on Sibal says SIR is unconstitutional Election Commission has always been a “puppet” in the hands of the BJP government, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal alleged, adding that the poll body’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar is “unconstitutional” that date would be included in the voters’ list. According to sources, a few CEOs have already started putting out voters’ list published after the last SIR held in their states. The website of Delhi CEO has the 2008 voters’ list when the last revision took place. According to sources, ECI will take a final call on nationwide exercise after July 28 when the Bihar SIR case will come up again for hearing in the top court. E x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi BOOTH-level officers of Election Commission of India (ECI) conducting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar have found a number of individuals from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar possessing Indian documents such as Aadhaar, domicile certificates, and ration cards, sources said on Sunday . According to ECI officials, ground-level officials have so far established direct contact with nearly all voters in the state as part of the exercise. “During house-to-house visits, a large number of people from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar have been found. They have got Aadhaar, domicile certificates, ration card,” said an official. Sources said a thorough verification will be carried out between August 1 and 30, and names found not eligible will be excluded from the final voter list to be released on September 30. The ECI had said SIR was necessary in Bihar due to a number of reasons, including inclusion of foreigners in the current list. 3 students clean toilets in Pudukai school, probe on E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Pudukkottai Pudukkottai education officials have begun an inquiry after a video went viral on Sunday showing three students of a government primary school in the district cleaning the institution’s toilets. Sources said the incident occurred at the Panchayat Union Primary School in Namanasamuthiram Kudiyiruppu in Pudukkottai. In the video, two boys, dressed in their school uniform, are seen filling water in buckets and cleaning toilets, while a third boy is seen sweeping inside the toilet. The school has 30 students studying from classes 1 to 5. Only two teachers are work at the institution, sources added. When contacted, education officials said that they had started looking into the issue on Saturday, even before the video went viral, on directions Students cleaning toilets at a primary school in Pudukkottai | screengrab of Collector M Aruna. While many online alleged that the teachers might have forced the students to clean the toilets, officials said a field visit was required to verify the matter. “The video could also be an old one. We were unable to visit the school immediately. However, a team of officers will be sent to the school on Monday for investigation,” an education official said. So far, authorities have not confirmed about when the video was recorded, or whether such incidents have occurred before at the school. Shringla, Nikam among 4 nominated to Rajya Sabha E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ New Delhi Mohammed Siraj celebrates England opener Ben Duckett’s wicket on Sunday | AFP ‘People from Nepal, B’desh, in Bihar list’ President Droupadi Murmu has nominated former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, Kerala BJP leader C Sadanandan Master, and historian Meenakshi Jain. In a notification issued late Saturday night, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the President has nominated the four eminent persons to the Rajya Sabha to fill vacancies necessitated by the retirement of nominated members. Harsh Vardhan Shringla Ujjwal Nikam A 1984 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Shringla had served as India’s Ambassador to the US and Thailand and as high commissioner to Bangladesh. He was foreign secretary from 2020 to 2022. Sadanandan Master Meenakshi Jain Maharashtra lawyer Nikam was the special public prosecutor in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case. Sadanandan Master, a retired school teacher from Kerala, lost both his legs in an attack alleg- edly carried out by CPM workers in 1994. Historian and author Jain served as a lecturer at Delhi University’s Gargi College. In 2020, she was awarded the Padma Shri in recognition of her contributions to the fileds of literature and education. The President of India can nominate 12 people to the Rajya Sabha. These are well-known individuals from diverse backgrounds including art, literature, and public service. Four of the 12 nominated seats were vacant; the latest nomination fills those vacancies.