kottayam l wednesday l January 17, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Nagal takes down Bublik, creates history in Oz Open Sumit Nagal Projected to rise to new career high The 26-year-old becomes first Indian man to beat a seeded player at a Major since 1989 when Ramesh Krishnan had beaten Mats Wilander With the straight sets win, Nagal, whose only previous main draw win at a Major also came at Melbourne, will advance to a new career high of 118. The World No. 137’s previous best was 122. He would have received a wildcard to feature in the first round but the All India Tennis Association hadn’t nominated him as Nagal ruled himself out of Davis tie in Pakistan ■ One Guaranteed 80 ranking points, Au$ 180k ■ With the four wins he has picked up in the last week, Nagal is guaranteed at least 80 points. He’s also assured of A$ 180,000 after reaching the second round After struggling with injuries, Nagal had a strong end to 2023 as he reached two Challenger finals since September Nagal is the only Indian man to be ranked inside the top-450 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 modi captivates thousands in kochi, sree ram comes to fore E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi Holding thousands who lined up on either side of the road captive to an ecstatic high, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took out a roadshow in Kochi on Tuesday evening, an event that perfectly fit into BJP’s campaign plans for the coming Lok Sabha elections. Donning a saffron cap, Modi greeted party workers — waiting patiently for over three hours to get a glimpse of their leader — from atop an open vehicle. Chanting “Jai, Jai BJP” and “Modi, Modi”, they showered flower petals on him. The entire 1.3km stretch from Maharajs’s College ground junction to Ernakulam Government Guest House was painted saffron with flower petals covering the street. In a departure from the past BJP programmes in Kerala, “Jai Sree Ram” chants filled the air as the lead- Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves at the cheering supporters during a roadshow in Kochi on Tuesday evening | T P Sooraj PM to visit Guruvayur temple today Thrissur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Sree Krishna temple, Guruvayur, on Wednesday. He will have darshan at the temple and also attend the wedding of actor Suresh Gopi’s daughter. Later, he will visit the Triprayar temple and spend around an hour there. P4 er passed majestically through the path dotted on both lines with flex boards of Lord Ram. It clearly signalled that the BJP plans to highlight the consecration at the Ayodhya temple as a major poll plank in the state. Tuesday’s roadshow, the PM’s second in Kerala within a fortnight, underscored another major shift in BJP’s poll strategy for the state. The party, which had mainly concentrat- ed on the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency till 2019 elections, has shifted its focus to central Kerala. Modi took out the first roadshow in Thrissur on January 3. The PM, who arrived at the Kochi airport in Nedumbassery was given a rousing welcome by Governor Arif Muhammed Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan, BJP Kerala prabhari Prakash Javadekar, chief secretary V Venu and state police chief Sheikh Darvesh Sahib were present. From Nedumbassery, Modi boarded a helicopter to reach INS, Garuda, the Naval Air Base in Kochi. As the helicopter touched down at 7.15 pm, Industries Minister P Rajeeve received the PM. Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Naval Command V Srinivas, city police commissioner A Akbar and other ● More on P4 officials were present.  War room at six SC stays HC order for Mathura mosque survey airports to ease anxiety of fliers S u c h i t r a Ka lyan M o h ant y @ New Delhi Worst smog situation in five years in Delhi affected more than 1,200 outbound flights re-carpeting will also be undertaken,” said Scindia. The 29L With dense smog disrupting end of the runway was downair travel in a big way in North graded to CAT I last week as India and harried passengers large cranes deployed on the blowing their top, aviation min- Dwarka Expressway were blockister Jyotiraditya Scindia on ing signals required for the CAT Tuesday announced the setting III system. up of war rooms by airports As for runway 28/10, it has and airline operators at six met- been closed since mid-Septemro cities to address the mess. ber for re-carpeting. The deThe cities are Mumbai, lay in making it CAT III Delhi, Bangalore, Hycompliant was because derabad, Kolkata and work began only after Chennai. Suf ficient the G20 Summit, the CISF manpower will be airport told the aviation made available roundministry The delay was . the-clock at the airports, also attributed to the Notice he added. imposition of GRAP IV slapped “War Rooms will be measures (bar on conon Indigo set up by airports and struction work to curb airline operators at the pollution) in Delhi. The The civil 6 Metro Airports to adnational capital airport aviation dress any issues with ministry issued h a s t w o r u n w a y s regard to passenger in- a show-cause equipped with CAT III convenience with im28/10 and the 29L/11R. notices to mediacy,” said the minThe other two runways, IndiGo and ister on X. Mumbai airport 11L/29R and 09/27 are Scindia also informed after a video of not CAT III compliant. that both ends of the As the fog situation passengers lone CAT III runway at sitting on the this year was the worst the moment at the Delhi in five years and visibiltarmac and International Airport ity dropped to such an eating food have again become CAT went viral. This extent that the CAT III III compliant. Runway is a violation of mechanism became in28/10, too, will be made existing safety effective, more than CAT III-compliant after 1,200 outbound flights norms, the the process of re-carpetfrom the Delhi Airport ministry said ing, he said. CAT III or faced delays between Category III is a type of instru- Sunday and Tuesday with over ment landing system (ILS) that 200 getting cancelled. The delay allows airlines to operate in was also due to shortage of pivery low visibility conditions. lots trained to operate in low “RWY 29L at Delhi Airport visibility and the complete clohas been made CAT III opera- sure of a CAT III-compliant runtional today (Tuesday). Opera- way Below-par communication . tionalization of RWY 10/28 as from airlines also worsened the CAT III at Delhi Airport after woes of passengers. A r s h a d K h an @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed execution of the Allahabad High Court’s December 14 order for appointment of a court commissioner to inspect the Shahi Idgah mosque complex, which is located near the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura. While staying implementaton of the HC order, a two-judge bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta clarified that the proceedings before the high court, including the maintainability of Cleaning of water tank in Gyanvapi mosque allowed The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed a plea moved by Hindu women plaintiffs for cleaning the water tank in the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi that is located in an area that has been sealed. The bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud ordered the cleaning under the supervision of the Varanasi district magistrate the suit, can continue. The bench said there are certain legal issues which have arisen due to the “vague” application filed in the high court for appointment of a court commissioner for the survey . “We have reservations about the application. Look at the prayer. It’s so vague. Read it. You can’t file a vague applica- tion for appointment of court commissioner. You cannot make an omnibus application like this. You have to be very clear what you want the local commissioner to do in application under Order 26 Rule 9 of CPC,” Justice Khanna told senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Hindu bodies including Bhagwan Shri Krishna Virajman and others. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Textbook revision School students in the state are all set to have a gender sensitive curriculum, with a focus on equal justice. Lessons on Pocso rules, democratic and secular values and scientific temperament will also feature in the new curriculum. In line with the state government’s declared stance, all revised textbooks will include the preamble to the Constitution. The revised textbooks will reach students of Classes 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 in the state syllabus schools by the beginning of the next academic year. Textbooks for Class 5 will lay special focus on vocational education. The state school curriculum steering committee that met in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday approved the revision of textbooks, which is being done after a decade. For Classes 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10, the new textbooks will be introduced in the 202526 academic year. General Education Minister Special texts for art and vocational education for children from Class 5 All revised textbooks to have the preamble to the Constitution included Pocso rules to be part of curriculum as per directions of the High Court Books for parents on the right approach towards child’s education V Sivankutty said steps will be taken to ensure that the textbooks reach students at least two weeks before the school reopening. The previous school curriculum framework was prepared in 2007 and the textbooks were thoroughly revised accordingly that year. Only minor changes were made to some of the textbooks in 2013. “Special textbooks will be brought out for art and vocational education for children from Class 5 onwards. The vocational sectors will include tourism, agriculture, IT, textiles besides skill development. This will ensure that the children develop a job-oriented outlook right from an early age,” Sivankutty said. “For the first time, all revised textbooks will include the preamble to the Constitution. The textbooks will also focus on sports, waste management, cleanliness, civic sense, gender awareness, scientific outlook, Pocso rules, agriculture and democratic and secular values,” he said. Sivankutty said for the first time in the country books will , be brought out for parents/ guardians to make them aware of the right approach towards the child’s education and how to contribute towards the child’s mental, physical and emotional growth.  ● More on P4 Kochi-L’dweep seaplane likely to take wings this year-end A seaplane ride from Kochi to Lakshadweep is now a step closer to reality. The detailed project report for the ambitious plan, which is set to enhance direct connectivity to the islands from Kerala, will be ready by the end of January . For seaplane operations, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has decided to develop a water aerodrome at the Cochin Port, and three in Lakshadweep -- Minicoy Agatti and , Kavaratti islands -- under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN. The MoCA has already given SpiceJet approval to operate seaplanes to the islands. “The MoCA has sanctioned `20 crore each to set up water aerodromes in these locations. The amount will be used for the construction of jetties, floating pontoons, passenger amenities, etc. The facilities are expected to be ready by December 2024,” said a senior Cochin Port official associated with the project. The official said that after con- Justice on the fast lane The recently replaced three criminal laws promise to deliver justice to the victims in 3 years, says Union home minister Amit Shah says in a freewheeling interview | P7 Vision loss for 17 due to Gender sensitive curriculum in state schools from next year botched cataract surgery DPR to be ready this month A i s h w a r ya P r a b h a k a r an @ Kochi The bench said the application for appointment of court commissioners should be very specific on the purpose and that everything can’t be left to the court to look into. Advocate Tasneem Ahmadi, appearing for the mosque management committee, said the HC could not have passed the order when an application seeking rejection of the suit as barred by the Places of Worship Act 1991 is pending. She said the question relating to the maintainability of the suit is also pending before the high court. The SC issued notice to the parties and asked them to file their replies by January 23. Representational pic ducting trials, seaplane services are likey to become operational by the end of the year. SpiceJet will be operating seaplanes on the Kochi-Bangaram-Kochi, Kochi-Bitra-Kochi, and Kochi-Kalpeni-Kochi routes. “The Cochin Port has entrusted Gurgaon-based Feedback Highways OMT Pvt. Ltd with the task of conducting the detailed project report, surveys, and investigations on the project. Also, the process is on to obtain environmental clearance for the project,” the official added. Currently, there are seven weekly flight services to Agatti island in Lakshadweep from the Kochi airport. “Once the seaplane services commence, the connectivity to Lakshadweep will be easy and affordable to the public,” the official said. Last year, the Cochin Port had forwarded the pre-feasibility reports for the development of water aerodromes on the three islands of Lakshadweep to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for concurrence. In April, the AAI gave in-principle approval and asked the Cochin Port to proceed with preparation of DPR, and development work to operationalise the water aerodromes in 2023–24. at Guj village hospital DILIP SI N GH KSH AT RIYA @ Ahmedabad Seventeen patients in Gujarat’s Viramgam village in Ahmedabad district have lost their vision partially or fully following cataract surgery at a private trust-run hospital recently The issue came to light . after five patients, whose condition worsened, were moved to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. Ramanand Eye Hospital, owned by the Seva Niketan Trust in Mandal taluka of Gujarat’s Ahmedabad district, operated on 28 patients on January 10. Sources said the patients, most of them elderly developed infec, tion within a few days and at least 17 of them reported blurred vision and blindness. “Five persons with critical eye difficulties have been transferred to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, while 12 people with lesser problems have been kept at the private hospital. All patients are being monitored,” said Satish Makwana, deputy director (health and medical services), Ahmedabad region. The families of the patients blamed the doctors at the private hospital for negligence. Solanki Govind, whose wife Nine-member team to probe incident The Gujarat government has appointed a ninemember team comprising doctors and officers to probethe incident. The eye hospital has also been barred from performing any more cataract surgeries until further orders, said Satish Makwana, deputy director (health & medical services), Ahmedabad lost vision after the surgery said: “We went to the hospital on the 10th of January for my wife’s cataract s u r g e r y. I n t h e evening, the doctor allowed us to go home. My wife was fine for two days, but on the third day she lost her vision completely .” He said they immediately contacted the doctors, who prescribed some eye drops. However, there was no improvement in her condition and she was admitted again on Monday . On its part, the eye hospital denied any negligence on the doctors’ part during the surgical procedure. E X P R ESS R EA D Split SC verdict in Chandrababu Naidu case New Delhi: A division bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a split verdict on former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s plea to quash criminal proceedings against him in a scam. The Skill Development Corporation Scam had allegedly cost the state exchequer a loss of R300 crore under his watch as CM. The bench then referred the plea to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud to constitute a larger bench for the case.