chennai l thursday l november 27, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION Officially india’s, amdavad to host 2030 C’wealth Games Amdavad (aka Ahmedabad) has been formally ratified by the Commonwealth Sports general body for the Centenary CWG on Wednesday 74 15-17 The number of sports Commonwealth Sport has confirmed for 2030 Delegates of the 74 Commonwealth member nations and territories ratified the only bid after its executive committee forwarded the recommendation last month sports that are confirmed Athletics & para athletics, swimming & para swimming, table tennis & para table tennis, bowls & para bowls, netball and boxing are among confirmed names, said CS Commonwealth Sports chief Donald Rukare and CGA president PT Usha new look more disciplines to be added soon ■ ■ ■ Though sports like cricket, badminton, archery, shooting are not yet confirmed, there is all likelihood that they will be included later Presently, archery, badminton, 3x3 basketball and 3x3 wheelchair basketball, beach volleyball, cricket T20, cycling, diving, hockey, judo, rhythmic gymnastics, rugby sevens, shooting, squash, triathlon and wrestling are being considered for 2030 | P15 Two new traditional sports can be added. Yoga likely to be added Local resonance & global appeal The 2030 team will work closely with CS and the International Federations to shape a dynamic and exciting sport programme that will have a strong local resonance and global appeal 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 Could defer date of post-SIR draft roll in TN, WB: SC Hearing on pleas challenging nationwide SIR; political parties creating a scare, alleges ECI don’t have any power now? Court can always say the CJI said. ,” THE Supreme Court on WednesFor its part, the ECI told the day said it would not hesitate to court that some political parties extend the deadline for the pub- are creating a ‘scare’ about the lication of the draft electoral SIR being undertaken Tamil rolls in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala. Nadu if the petitioners make a “Political parties are creating strong case, while the Election unnecessary scare,” the poll Commission of India panel said. (ECI) claimed that some Advocate Prashant political parties were Bhushan said the SIR trying to create “a was being conducted in scare” about the Special a “great hurry”. Intensive Revision (SIR) The bench asked the of electoral rolls. ECI to file its counter‘Reason to A bench of Chief Jusaffidavit to the petitions challenge tice Surya Kant and relating to Tamil Nadu not good Justice Joymalya and West Bengal by Deenough’ Bagchi made the oral cember 4 and December observation while hear9, respectively . That the SIR ing petitions challengThe bench also posted was never ing the SIR exercise in the pleas seeking deferconducted the two states. ment of the Kerala SIR before is not a The remark about exto December 2, while ground to tending the deadline for asking the ECI and State challenge the publication of the draft Election Commission to Election rolls came after the parfile their responses by Commission’s ties appearing in the December 1. SIR in decision to SIR for West Bengal Tamil Nadu has been carry out this raised concerns about challenged by DMK, exercise in the court fixing the next CPI(M), and actor Viseveral states, date of hearing to Dejay’s TVK. The AlADthe SC said cember 9, which they MK, on the other hand, claimed was the date for publica- has filed an application supporttion of the draft roll as per the ing the SIR. SIR schedule. During the hearing, the bench “So what? If you make out a observed that the EC has “inhercase, then we can direct them to ent power to determine correctextend the date. Can that date ness of entry in Form 6”. (publication of draft roll) be a The hearing will continue on ground for the court to say we Thursday . U DAYAN K ISH O R E @ New Delhi Towering inferno Smoke and flames rise as a fire engulfs apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, killing at least 36 people. Over 250 others are missing. The fire, which broke out in the afternoon, continued till late night | AFP | P13 Low pressure over bay to bring heavy rain to Tn for five days SV K R ISHNA CHAITANYA @ Chennai A low-pressure area intensifying over the southwest Bay of Bengal, close to Sri Lanka, is set to bring widespread rainfall to southern, delta, and northern districts of Tamil Nadu over the next five days. The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai, said the system strengthened into a wellmarked low-pressure area early on Wednesday and is likely to intensify into a depression within the next 24 hours. It is expected to track north–northwest towards the north Tamil Nadu– Puducherry coast over the following 48 hours, drawing significant moisture into the region. In view of the evolving system, the Met office has issued heavy rain warnings for several coastal and interior districts for the next five days. On Thursday , heavy showers are likely over Ramanathapuram, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Nagapattinam. Rainfall activity is set to in- crease markedly from November 28. Heavy to very heavy rain is forecast across the delta, Karaikal, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai and parts of south Tamil Nadu. The peak rainfall spell is expected between November 29 and 30, when extremely heavy showers may lash Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Villupuram, and Chengalpattu districts. Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts may also receive heavy to very heavy spells during this period, the RMC said.  P7 Lost empire: Gambhir times for India s w a roo p s w a m i n at h a n @ Guwahati India: Hasina extradition plea under scrutiny J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India on Wednesday confirmed it has received a request from Bangladesh to extradite former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and said the matter is under examination through “ongoing judicial and internal legal processes”. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “The request is being examined as part of ongoing judicial and internal legal processes. We remain committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including peace, democracy in, clusion and stability in that country and will continue to engage constructively in this regard with all stakeholders.” Hasina has been living in exile in India since August 5 last year following the collapse of her government after violent student-led protests. Last week, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Dhaka sentenced her to death in absentia for “crimes against humanity” linked to her government’s handling of the unrest. Following the verdict, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry had requested Hasina’s return in a formal letter to New Delhi, calling her a “fugitive accused” and citing the bilateral extradition agreement. AS soon as Marco Jansen ran behind and took the catch to condemn India to their worst Test defeat in history (in terms of runs), attention and the focus had turned towards multiple things. What seems astonishing is that India allowed a proud home record to be smashed to bits. For a side that had lost four home Tests from the beginning of 2013 to the end of 2023, they have now endured a run of five losses in seven Tests in 13 months. By any measure, this makes for grim reading. Coach Gautam Gambhir, one of the few constants in all of those losses, offered transition but he was categorical in saying he wasn’t using that as an excuse. Sure, this team has had a South Africa team celebrates with the trophy after winning the Test series | PTI significant amount of churn over the last year in terms of retirements, new non-playing staff and some injuries. But the top management legislate for this in all elite teams. This team either clearly hasn’t or thought the ones who were coming in as replacements were readymade. The team management including the coach seemed confused with what kind of pitch the team wanted and what kind of combination would succeed. Gambhir said: “That is why it is called transition. That is why custodial death of man, son Finish Sathankulam trial in 3 months: HC to judge J E G ADEESWA R I PANDIAN @ Madurai Noting that nearly four-and-a-half years had lapsed since the commencement of trial in Sathankulam Jeyaraj-Beniks custodial death case, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the trial court in Madurai to complete the trial in the case within three months ‘without fail’. Justice K Murali Shankar gave the direction on a petition filed in 2021 by J Selvarani, wife and mother of the victims, P Jeyaraj and J Beniks, respectively seeking direction to expedite the , trial in the case. The court had disposed of the above petition on March 18, 2021 directing the 1st Additional District and Sessions Court, Madurai, to complete the trial within six months. Thereafter, the HC extended the deadline on at least 10 occasions mostly at the request of the trial judge or on its own while hearing the bail petitions of the accused.  P7 these guys need time. Whether it’s the batting unit or the bowling unit. I don’t think ever in Indian cricket something like this has happened where the transition is happening in the spinbowling department and in the batting department as well... in both skillsets.” Going forward, the coach wants the BCCI to prioritise Test — something they have already been doing to a vast extent. He also questioned the logic of ending a full white-ball tour of Australia days before the first Test. A question he should ask his employers, BCCI. With India playing no home WTC Test in all of 2026, this gives all stakeholders a chance to reassess and reset. An empire is over, the fortress is in ruins. The BCCI needs to rebuild the team with focus on future.  P15 joining tvk today? Sengottaiyan quits as MLA, holds talks with Vijay for 2 hrs T Murug a n a n d h a m @ Chennai Ending speculation about his next political move, KA Sengottaiyan, a nine-time AIADMK MLA and party veteran, met TVK president Vijay at his Pattinapakkam house on Wednesday just hours after resigning his legislator post. The discussion lasted for around two hours. Senior TVK functionaries N Anand, Aadhav Arjuna and CTR Nirmal Kumar were present at the house, but it’s not clear if the talks happened in their presence. Sengottaiyan met Speaker M Appavu at the state secretariat in the morning and submitted the letter to resign as Gobichet- Sengottaiyan submitting his resignation tipalayam MLA. A letter to the speaker | Ashwin prasath senior official of the TN Assembly said the letter is in proper form and is likely to be accepted by the speaker. TVK sources said a sizeable number of Sengottaiyan’s supporters from his native district of Erode are expected to join TVK on Thursday along with him. Amid rumours about DMK, too, wooing the Erode strongman, HR&CE Minister PK Sekarbabu held talks with Sengottaiyan minutes after the submission of resignation letter. In his 50-year-long political career, Sengottaiyan has never made a decision this fast, say some political observers on his move to switch camps within three months of the flare-up with AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami.  P7 express read Stalin slams Guv Ravi for ‘extremism’ remark Chennai: CM M K Stalin on Wednesday slammed Governor RN Ravi for claiming that Tamil Nadu faces security issues. Calling his portrayal of TN as a “fertile ground for extremism” unacceptable, the CM dismissed the remarks as canards rooted in inability to accept people’s political choice | P4 Elephant ‘Rolex’ dies after fall in ATR Coimbatore: ‘Rolex’ — a 40-year-old, radio-collared wild elephant relocated to Manthirimattam forest area in Anamalai Tiger Reserve after being restrained in a kraal for a few weeks — allegedly died as it slipped and fell off a hilly slope at Manthirimattam on Wednesday afternoon | P2 c r iti c a l e l e m e n t s `7,300 cr push for rare earth atmanirbharta M U K ESH R AN J AN @ New Delhi Amid a shortage of rare earth magnets blamed on China’s export restrictions, the Centre on We d n e s d ay a p p r o v e d a `7,280-crore scheme to boost domestic manufacturing of these critical materials. Minister for Information & Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters that the ‘Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Sintered Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPM) has been approved with a financial outlay of `7,280 crore. The aim is to establish 6,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) of integrated man- Ashwini Vaishnaw | PTI ufacturing in the country, Vaishnaw added. “This first-of-its-kind initiative aims to establish 6,000 metric tonnes per annum of integrated rare earth manufacturing in India, thereby enhancing self-reliance and positioning India as a key player in the global market,” a government statement noted. “The total financial outlay of the scheme is `7,280 crore, comprising a sales-linked incentives of `6,450 crore on REPM sales for five years and capital subsidy of `750 crore for setting up an aggregate of 6,000 MTPA of REPM manufacturing facilities,” the statement said. China controls about 60% of global rare earth mining and nearly 90% of refining and processing capacity. In April, it imposed restrictions on Sintered REPM exports, tightening supply to India’s automobile and electronics sectors. Supports govt’s ‘Net Zero 2070’ goal The scheme will not only secure the REPM supply chain for domestic industries but also support the nation’s Net Zero 2070 commitment, the government said. It envisions allocating the total capacity to five beneficiaries through a global competitive bidding process