thrissur l tuesday l may 07, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Hamas accepts Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal to halt war Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Monday informed Qatar and Egypt that his group accepts their proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza Israeli delegation skipped peace talks Ball in Israel’s court, more pressure on Bibi Details of the proposal were not immediately released. But Egyptian and Hamas officials have said the ceasefire would take place in stages and Hamas would release hostages in exchange for Israel troop pullout from Gaza. There was no immediate reaction from Israel, which did not send a delegation to Cairo for talks, and is opposed to withdrawing its troops from Gaza ■ ■ Hamas’ acceptance of the deal is nonetheless expected to put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, especially if its proposes release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza Also, it would make it more difficult for the Israeli government to justify a ground operation in southern Gaza’s Rafah | p9 1,00,000 Palestinians in Rafah were ordered by Israel to leave the town 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 Harikumar’s movies pulsated with life & emotion A pa r n a N a i r @ T’Puram For him, the middle path held a world of possibility. By traversing the path flanked by commercial success and critical acclaim, Harikumar went on a unique journey unearthing tid, bits of life and capturing them in frames of human emotion. His death on Monday, after a long fight with cancer, adds to the list of Malayalam cinema’s stellar talents who have bid adieu. The director-screenwriter leaves behind an array of films, including Sukrutham, Udhyanapalakan, Ezhunnallathu and Ayanam, for fans of the medium to cherish. Harikumar’s tryst with films started early, in his own words, through books that gave him not just perspective but values that shaped his art of storytelling. “I am more interested in how a story is told than the story itself,” he once said in an interview. His contemporaries remember him for his qualities of ambition and hardwork, a filmmaker who made movies that bore the scent of life and upheld values, and above all as a friend. “I worked with him on his first movie Ambal Poovu. He didn’t strike me as a newcomer. In- Stakes high for Kharge, BSY, NCP in Phase 3 BJP sees it as one of consolidation; 30-40 seats to witness triangular contests today RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR and Devaraj B Hirehalli @ New Delhi/ Bengaluru The electoral fate of half-a-dozen Union ministers and two former chief ministers will be sealed on Wednesday in the third phase of the general elections is 93 constituencies in 11 states and Union territories. The BJP sees the third phase as one of consolidation as compared to the first two phases. Prominent among the heavyweight candidates in this phase are Union home minister Amit Shah in Gandhinagar, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia (Guna), former Madhya seats for which Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh polling will be (Rajgarh), NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar)’s Supriya Sule (Baramati) and Adhir Ranheld in 11 states/UTs jan Choudhary (Berhampur). In Uttar Pradesh, representatives of the Mulayam Singh Yadav clan are contesting in this phase — Dimple Yadav from Maincandidates including around 120 puri, Akshaya Yadav, son of Ram Gopal women, in the fray Yadav, from Firozabad and Aditya Yadav, son of Shivpal Yadav, from Budaun. In Karnataka, the last of the 14 seats will go to polls in what is being seen as a people eligible to vote high-stakes battle for Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. For, most of the seats Entire Gujarat are in North Karnataka, which is regardand Goa, 11 seats in ed as his home turf. The elections are Maharashtra, 10 in equally important for former chief minisUP, 14 in Karnataka, ter B S Yediyurappa, whose son Vijayen7 in Chhattisgarh, 5 in dra is the state BJP president. Bihar, 4 each in Assam Prominent among those in the fray in and West Bengal to go Karnataka are former CMs Basavaraj to polls Bommai (Haveri) and Jagadish Shettar (Belgaum), Union ministers Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and Bhagwant Khuba (Bidar), Yediyurappa’s son Raghavendra (Shivamogga) and Kharge’s son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani (Gulbarga SC). According to sources, around 30-40 constituencies in the third phase will witness triangular contests, giving sitting Lok Sabha members a really tough time. Most of the sitting MPs are from the ruling BJP . Phase 3 factoids 93 1,300 11 crore stead he displayed a seasoned grip of the subject matter and his craft,” says actor Jalaja, who went on to act in another of his movies, Oru Swakaryam sharing screen space with Venu Nagavally . For veteran filmmaker Shaji N Karun, Harikumar was part of the golden age of Malayalam cinema, when films were hallmarks of the doyens of the art. “The films of the period bore the signature of the minds that made them. Harikumar was emblematic of the times. He had a unique way of choosing subjects. He was planning his next project when death came calling,” Shaji said. As a member of several state and national award juries, he also had the role of guiding others on movies that deserve to be highlighted. “The films that were selected with his inputs High command not keen to reinstate Sudhakaran as chief C y n t h i a Ch a n d r a n @ T’Puram Pouring cold water on K Sudhakaran’s plan to resume charge as the state Congress chief immediately the party national leadership has , advised him to be patient. The high command’s edict has come at a time when the air is thick with speculations that the old warhorse is unlikely to be reinstated as the Congress president in Kerala. The Congress leadership claims there is no confusion on bringing back the 75-year-old leader at the helm of state Congress. But sources say there’s a concerted effort by a section of leaders to block his reentry. They want interim president M M Hassan to continue in office till June 4. A peeved Sudhakaran has repeatedly sought AICC general secretary K C Venugopal’s view on the issue. Venugopal has apparently asked Sudhakaran’s emissary M Liju to wait till the third phase election gets over on Tuesday Following this, Sudhakaran cancelled . his scheduled hospital visits for eye treatment. While Venugopal has asked Sudhakaran to wait for a few more days, AICC general secretary in-charge of the state Deepa Dasmunshi is adamant that he should wait until the LS poll procedure gets over on June 4. An AICC leader told TNIE that it’s evident that even if UDF makes a clean sweep or not, they don’t want Sudhakaran to walk away with the credit. This has not only dampened the spirits of Sudhakaran, but has left him ● More on P4 deeply upset. EXPRESS READ CMRL pay-off row: Court rejects plea for probe against CM, daughter T’Puram: In a major relief to CM Pinarayi Vijayan, the Vigilance Court on Monday rejected a petition filed by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan seeking a probe against the CM and his daughter Veena T on the allegation that they had received a monthly payment from CMRL in return for favouring the operations of the firm. It’s Modi factor vs Biju legacy in Kendrapara BI J AY C H A K I @ Kendrapara WHEN BJP’s national vice-president Baijayant Jay Panda was named the party candidate for the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat, the question on everyone’s mind was if he could make it this time. Panda had won twice from the seat in 2009 and 2014 as a BJD candidate. But electoral success seems to have deserted him after he joined the saffron party Once a close confidant of . Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Panda switched over to the BJP in 2019 after a bitter fallout with the BJD chief. He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election as a BJP candidate but was trounced by Odia film star Anubhav Mohanty fielded by the BJD. This time, Panda is locked in a triangular contest with Anshuman Mohanty of the BJD, the son of Nalini Kanta Mohanty, a former minister and close aide of Biju Patnaik, and Siddharth Swarup Das of the Congress, a new face with no ex- Illustration: Mandar Pardikar From left: Jay Panda (BJP), Anshuman Mohanty (BJD), Siddharth Swarup Das (Cong) perience of fighting election at this level. As one traverses through Kendrapara, the election fervour seems to be conspicuous by its absence. There is no perceptible tilt, but scratch the surface and there is a simmer for change, particularly in the rural parts. “No doubt, the BJD and its leaders have done good work in the constituency But we should also . examine what other political parties are offering. Baijayant Panda is a known leader nationally said Biraja ,” Das, a paan shop owner at Chhapali square under Mahakalapada Assembly segment. The sentiment was echoed by another voter. “The time has come for a change. The same party has been ruling for too long. Development is too slow,” said Sadasiv Patra of Pospura. Basic issues such as roads, water, hospitals, schools, and unemployment are on top of voters’ mind. However, voting behaviour is more inclined to emotion and attachment, where problem-solving becomes secondary. As a youth in Kendrapara town put it — the fight is between the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Biju legacy. The legacy has held strong since former CM and Naveen’s father Biju Patnaik made Kendrapara his seat and won it thrice in 1977, 1980 and 1984. The baton was passed on to the BJD, which has held it since 1998 after it came into being. Can Panda breach the BJD bastion and help the BJP gain a foothold in ● More on P9 coastal Odisha? were indeed richer in content. His absence will be felt in selecting movies that will set an example or benchmark for good cinema,” Shaji added. Noted lyricist and Harikumar’s friend Prabha Varma feels the beauty of his movies was in their lyrical quality “They were . culled from life and portrayed such sensitivity that they elevated the craft of storytelling to a different level,” he says. Harikumar’s movies straddled the path between ‘parallel’ cinema and commercial films and remained aesthetically qualified to belong to both gen● More on P4 res. India’s medical support for Paris Olympics: Sleep therapist, physios and recovery room for Olympic glory “This year,” Din. shaw Pardiwala, the Chief Medical THE Indian Olympic Association Officer (CMO) of the delegation, (IOA) have made elaborate plans to said, “the IOA took the decision to take a battery of support staff in- have a proper medical team like cluding a sleep therapist some of the bigger squads and a small army of physiclusive (Germany, US and Japan). otherapists to help the InWhat used to happen is dian contingent at the Parour physiotherapists used is Games. Unlike in the previous to be there, we did have a physician Games, they will also get a full- who would help with services but fledged recovery room. we didn’t have a full (medical) team. The advantages include cryother- Whenever somebody had an injury , apy chambers and ice baths to help they would do an MRI and contact athletes recover faster in their quest me here. But it’s difficult to do it onS w a r o o p s w a m i n at h a n @ Mumbai line.” The well-equipped recovery room will be a first-of-its-kind for Indian athletes. “When you are doing high-level sports, you require a full support system,” Pardiwala said. He was very elaborate when speaking about the need for a sleep therapist in the modern world. At least some of it has to do with the Paris Games’ desire to be carbon-neutral. “It’s also going to be important because the Games have decided that they won’t have air-conditioning in the Village as they would like to go green.”
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