chennai l sunday l september 28, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l vellore EDITION Blockbuster India-Pak Final at t20 Asia cup tourney today Men in Blue take on arch rivals in the T20 Asia Cup final in Dubai today. This will be their firstever meeting at this stage of the competition... Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav Pakistan skipper Salman Agha Time for cricket to take centre stage The controversies, largely non-cricketing, between India and Pakistan have been the biggest talking point of the tournament. India refused to shake hands with the Pakistan team. The reactions from either side since has only added to the prevailing tensions. Under pressure, both teams will look to hold their nerves and focus on playing good cricket ■ Eight Emotions running high on both sides ■ India have maintained that they are there to play cricket, but the Super 4s match showed how much it matters to them On the eve of the final, Pakistan captain Salman Agha said that every individual has the right to express emotions. “I won’t stop anyone as long as it is not disrespectful,” he said.  More on P11 The number of Asia Cup titles India have won 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 36 Dead 62 Injured CM announces `10L each to kin of dead; panel led by ex-judge to probe incident 1 2 3 4 Stampede in Vijay’s Karur rally 5 6 Vijay arrived at the Tiruchy International Airport in the morning from Chennai by a chartered flight The actor-politician proceeded directly to Namakkal for the first leg of the election campaign Scheduled to reach Namakkal by 12 pm, he reached the venue only at 2.30 pm, over two hours late From Namakkal, he reached Karur by road. It took him nearly four hours to cover 34km due to heavy crowd As Vijay was speaking in Karur, the crowd turned uncontrollable, and a few cadre and children started fainting After the tragedy, Vijay left for Chennai by a chartered flight from Tiruchy Airport at 10 pm D V i n c e n t A r o c k i a r a j @ Karur cal. Chief Minister M K Stalin is expected to visit Karur on Sunday, former minister Senthil Balaji told reporters. Actor-politician Vijay arrived at the Tiruchy International Airport in the morning from Chennai by a chartered flight and proceeded directly to Namakkal for the first leg of the campaign. Although he was scheduled to address his cadre around 12 pm, he reached the venue only around 2.30 pm. After completing his campaign in Namakkal, he reached Karur at 7 pm, though the scheduled arrival was at 3.30 pm. As hundreds of cadre and members of the public lined the route, it took nearly four hours for him to reach Veluchamipuram. Even as Vijay was addressing the rally the crowd swelled , and became uncontrollable, and a number of persons, including party workers and a few children, fainted and fell down in the crowd. They were rushed to the Karur Medical College Hospital and other private hospitals. Several party workers noticed the situation and raised an alarm. Vijay halted his speech and threw water bottles from atop the custom-built campaign bus. Ambulances had a tough time negotiating the heavily crowded thoroughfare to reach the spot. “Police, please help,” he was heard saying as people fell unconscious at the rally Af. ter multiple patients were rushed to hospitals, the state health department mobilised doctors from Tiruchy Dindigul, , Namakkal and Salem. Health Minister Ma Subramanian who was at Salem for a conference rushed to the spot, while the health secretary, director of medical education and other senior health officials were on their way to Karur from Chennai. Speaking to TNIE, Dr R Suganthy Rajakumari, director of medical education, said that as of now around 30 doctors have been mobilised.  P5 At least 36 people, including eight children and 16 women, died following a suspected stampede and crowd surge during Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader Vijay’s election campaign at Veluchamipuram in Karur on Saturday evening. At least 62 people are under treatment at various hospitals across the city. The death toll may rise as 13 people are criti- Wangchuk’s alleged Pakistan links under lens F ay w a z w a n i @ Srinagar Climate activist and Magsaysay awardee Sonam Wangchuk, who was arrested on Friday in connection with the Leh violence, is being investigated for alleged links to Pakistan and violation of foreign funding rules, Ladakh Director General of Police S D Singh Jamwal said on Saturday . Wangchuk is accused of being a key instigator in the Leh violence. “We recently arrested a Pakistani intelligence ope r a t ive w h o sent videos of Sonam Wa n g c h u k ’ s Wangchuk speeches across t h e b o r d e r, ” Jamwal said, adding that the operative was also in contact with Wangchuk. The police are also probing Wangchuk’s foreign funding. Meanwhile, curfew in violencehit Leh was relaxed in the afternoon in a phased manner for a few hours. Wangchuk’s arrest and the manner in which the government handled the situation drew criticism from all Opposition parties, including the Congress. Sharif’s absurd theatrics at UN glorify terror: India J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi In a sharp rebuttal at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), India strongly rejected Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ’s remarks on the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and subsequent the Indian military response, Operation Sindoor, calling them “absurd theatrics” and accusing Islamabad of glorifying terrorism on a global platform. Exercising India’s Right of Reply Petal Gahlot, First Secre, tary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, delivered a scathing response following Sharif ’s speech earlier on Friday during the General Debate of the UNGA’s 80th session. “This Assembly witnessed absurd theatrics in the morning from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who once again glorified terrorism that is so central to their foreign policy Gahlot ,” said, underscoring Pakistan’s continued attempts to shield terrorist entities and distort regional realities. Sharif, during his address, referred to the Pahalgam incident and ensuing conflict, claiming credit for preventing escalation through diplomatic Petal Gahlot exercising the Right of Reply to Pak PM’s address at UN GA | PTI channels, notably praising US President Donald Trump for allegedly averting a war between the two nuclear-armed nations. He also called for a “comprehensive and result-oriented dialogue” with India on Kashmir and other issues. India, however, dismissed the remarks as revisionist and misleading. “The Prime Minister of Pakistan also advanced a bizarre account of the recent conflict with India,” Gahlot countered. “Till 9 May Pakistan was , threatening more attacks. But on 10 May its military pleaded , with us directly for a cessation to the fighting.” She stated that Pakistan’s re- Madurai: Criticising the district collector for passing detention orders against four persons without informing them of their right to make a representation, the Madras HC quashed their detention and directed the additional chief secretary of home department to probe into the ‘deliberate’ omission of the legal requirement | P4 ‘No change in TN Waqf board till final SC verdict’ W I T H T H I S I SS U E Chennai: Minorities and Non-Resident Tamils Welfare Minister S M Nasar on Saturday clarified the TN Waqf Board would not be reconstituted under the amended Waqf Act recently passed by the BJP-led union government until the Supreme Court delivers its final verdict in the matter | P4 Small Town, Big Deal PLUS 12 PAGES Chennai: CM Stalin said `1 lakh will be given to each of those admitted to ICUs for treatment. The CM will visit Karur on Sunday. The inquiry panel headed by retired HC Judge Aruna Jegadeesan will conduct a thorough investigation and submit a report at the earliest In big push to fisheries sector, India eyes global certification for seafood Jitendra Choubey @ New Delhi IN order to countervail the impact of unilateral tariffs imposed by the US, India is planning to seek global certification for its seafood. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, an international sustainability standard, could fetch premium prices — up to 30% higher than earlier for Indian seafood. The US, previously India’s largest seafood market, valued at $7.38 billion (35% of exports), implemented a crushing 59.73% tariff on Indian seafood sector, with an eye to eventually crush the seafood industry . In response, the Union government intends to allocate special funds through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMSSY) 2.0 scheme to support MSC certification of ten key Indian fisheries. National institutes, such as the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute(CMFRI), are providing technical assistance for this initiative. The status of the ten priority fisheries category — some of which are deep-sea and coastal shrimps, squid, cuttlefish, Karikadi shrimp, threadfin breams, blue swimming crab, and octopus — are in the final stages of addressing technical gaps. India is expected to receive full MSC certification for these ten categories in 2026. “It was a tedious five-year process, and now we are going to apply for MSC certification in 2026,” said Dr Sunil Mohammad, a former principal scientist at CMFRI. The certification process incurs a cost of around `20 lakh per category, and the government will bear half of the total expenses. Seafood exporters are optimistic about the certification, believing it will help mitigate international trade c o n s t r a i n t s, i n cl u d i n g tariffs. remembrance express read HC quashes Goondas detention of 4, orders probe treat came only after Indian forces launched precision strikes on multiple Pakistani airbases. “If destroyed runways and burnt-out hangars look like victory, as the Prime Minister claimed, Pakistan is welcome to enjoy it,” she added. Gahlot said Pakistan’s track record of harbouring terrorists, citing the country’s decade-long sheltering of Osama bin Laden and recent admissions by Pakistani officials of running militant camps. She accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorists killed during Operation Sindoor. “We saw many pictures of terrorists slain in Bahawalpur and Muridke terror complexes… When senior Pakistani military and civilian officials publicly pay homage to such notorious terrorists, can there be any doubt about the proclivities of this regime?” Gahlot also accused Islamabad of trying to derail accountability within the UN. “This is the very same Pakistan which, on April 25, 2025, shielded ‘The Resistance Front’—a Pakistani-sponsored terror outfit—from being held responsible for the massacre in Jammu and Kashmir,” Gahlot said. `1L each for critically injured, CM to visit Karur today Assam’s heart still misses a beat called Zubeen i n d r a n e e l d a s @ Mangaldai WHENEVER Zubeen Garg’s name is uttered, Susmita still sheds tears. Arup Barua has not watched him perform but every 5-10 minutes he can hear his voice inside him. In Mangaldoi town, some 65km away from Guwahati, a bunch of people took out a procession with a banner of Zubeen Garg, humming his songs with tears in eyes and love in their hearts. The air was heavy and the mood sombre as the dusk settled in. They were not alone. Every street corner and every place, small or big, has its own poster and its own way of remembering Zubeen. No one has touched a chord with the entire population of a state as Zubeen. In fact, his fame goes beyond it. He is here, there and everywhere with his songs playing in the background. He is on everyone’s lips and has been the topic of discussion in every gathering. He rose above politics, religion, caste, creed and brought the state together like no other. Even after one week since he passed away in Singapore on September 19, the state remains People light candles near a portrait of the music icon in Guwahati | PTI in mourning. The entire state stood still for more than three days. No one asked businesses to shut shops. They did it on their own, out of love. The death has touched Assam so much that Durga Puja, which begins with Sashti from Sunday, may not be enough to lift the gloomy mood of the state. The collective grief will take a very long time to heal. Like all his songs, his words like “Mur kunu jaati nai, mur kuno dhormo nai, moi okol manuh (I don’t belong to any caste, I don’t have any religion, I am just a human being)” will remain immortal. Stalin at the Agri Business Festival 2025 in Chennai on Saturday | ashwin prasath CM: 47K acres of barren land back to farming E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday said that Tamil Nadu has been steadily moving towards the top rank in the agricultural sector, coming first in crop productivity, second in production of maize, oilseeds and sugarcane, and third in millets and groundnuts. He added that 47,000 acres of barren land have been brought back under cultivation. Stalin presented a lengthy list of achievements by the DMK government in the agricultural sector after inaugurating the second edition of the Agri Business Festival held at the Chennai Trade Centre in Nandambakkam. During the event, the CM distributed welfare assistance worth `1.77 crore to farmers. Speaking at the event, the CM said that, this year, paddy has been cultivated on 5.66 lakh hectares — an additional 1,28,494 acres compared to last year. “Because of our proactive steps, in the last four years, we have achieved a food grain production of 456.44 lakh tonnes. Three years ago, food grain productivity was 2,835kg per hectare, and today it has increased to 2,857kg per hectare. As of now, TN ranks first in India in crop productivity; second in maize, total oilseeds and sugarcane, and third in millets and groundnut — and is steadily moving towards the top rank,” the CM added.  P5