MADURAI l monday l september 23, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION hEZBOLLAH strikes deep inside Israel as tensions escalate Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel, with some landing near city of Haifa, injuring three U.N. warns of imminent catastrophe ■ 3 in open-ended battle with Israel: Hezbollah The rocket barrage overnight set off air raid sirens across northern Israel, sending thousands of people scrambling into shelters. Tensions have escalated sharply after the recent pager and walkie-talkie explosions and an Israeli air strike that killed a Hezbollah commander in Beirut. The United Nations warned that the region is on the brink of “an imminent catastrophe” ■ The militant group took its attacks deep into Israel’s north, hitting Jezreel Valley, about 100 km from the border, local media reported Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Kassem said his outfit is now in an open-ended battle with Israel. “Your economy will be destroyed... and you will not achieve your goals,” he warned Israel | P9 dead in israeli air strikes on southern lebanon on Sunday 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 twin towers: men, women create olympiad history S w a r o o p s w a m i n at h a n @ Chennai Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks as US President Joe Biden looks on at the Quad Leaders Summit at Archmere Academy in Claymont, Delaware, USA, on Saturday | PTI Quad calls for rules-based order Leaders agree to expand maritime ties, express concerns over situation in East, South China Seas Yes h i S el i @ New Delhi Amid Chinese military posturing in the Indo-Pacific, Quad leaders on Sunday decided to expand maritime security cooperation in the region and expressed concerns over the situations in the East and South China Seas. Though China was not named by any of the leaders, the White House had earlier indicated that it would be high on the agenda of discussions during the annual meeting of the grouping in Wilmington, Delaware “We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas. We continue to express our serious concern about the militarisation of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea,” the leaders said in a joint declaration. They condemned “dangerous manoeuvres” in the region. “We condemn the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, including increasing use of dangerous maneuvers,” the Quad Wilmington Declaration said. Recently, Philippine vessels were allegedly rammed by Chinese coast guard ships in the South China Sea. During his address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the “Quad supports rules-based international order, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the peaceful resolution of all issues.” “Our meeting is taking place at a time when the world is surrounded by tensions and conflicts. In such a situation, it is crucial for the Quad to unite around our shared democratic values for the greater good of humanity. We are not against anyone,” Modi said. President Joe Biden said Quad is more strategically aligned and delivering more positive impact across the IndoPacific than ever before. “Four years after my proposal to elevate Quad, the US, India, Japan, Australia, are more strategically aligned and delivering more positive impact across the Indo-Pacific than ever before. While challenges will come and the world will change, the Quad is here to stay,’’ he wrote on X. Quad is a China-focussed grouping of four countries — the United States, India, Australia and Japan. Soon after the summit, Chinese official media accused Quad of resorting to a divideand-rule strategy to sow discord b e t we e n B e i j i n g a n d i t s neighbours. Drone deal on track, new semicon plant in Kolkata D Gukesh was in stellar form during the Chess Olympiad this edition | PTI team meeting before the Slovenia game they were kind of celebrating. On Sunday, Gukesh and Co. ‘forced ourselves’ to refocus. Arjun Erigaisi came with a funky opening while Gukesh started enjoying a fairly big advantage over Vladimir Fedoseev, who had taken down Magnus Carlsen a few days ago. With two wins fairly certain, the celebrations could start in earnest. When R Praggnanandhaa nailed his game, it sealed an in guindy Y E S HI S E L I @ New Delhi nearly 300 Antiquities returned The United States handed over to India 297 antiquities, which were smuggled out of the country over the years, officials said on Sunday Fighting cervical canceR India has pledged a grant of $7.5 million to the testing, screening, and diagnosis of cervical cancer Signalling that the US is keen to strengthen ties with India, US President Joe Biden highlighted the progress in India’s procurement of 31 long-endurance MQ-9B armed drones from American defence major General Atomics and the setting up setting up of a semiconductor plant in Kolkata. During his interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he held wide-ranging talks covering various key aspects of India-US ties including ways to further ramp up bilateral defence and military engagement. It may be recalled that the US had approved the sale of 31 MQ-9B drones to Indian military for around $4 billion in February. Out of these, 16 are for the Indian Air Force and 15 for the Navy . The salient feature of the drones is that these can operate in pin-drop silence and fly as close as 250 metres from the ground. According to reports, some more small details are to be worked out and both sides are likely to formally conclude the deal by next month. As for the semiconductor fabrication plant in Kolkata, both Modi and Biden hailed it as a watershed arrangement. “The plant will be established with support from India Semiconductor Mission as well as strategic technology partnership between Bharat Semi, 3rdiTech and US Space force,’’ the White House said in a statement. Stalin to meet PM on Friday regarding fund delays to TN express read Cops nab history-sheeter ‘CD’ Mani from Salem Chennai: History-sheeter P Manikandan alias ‘CD’ Mani was arrested by the Greater Chennai Police from Salem early on Sunday morning. His father Parthasarathy has written to the officials concerned to ensure Manikandan’s safety and inform the family about his whereabouts and reasons for the arrest | P4 e x p r ess n e w s se r v i c e @ Chennai Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on September 27. The chief minister is expected to submit a memorandum on Tamil Nadu’s demands in various sectors, particularly regarding the delay in the allocation of central funds for Phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail Project and for the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) scheme relating to the school education department. During his visit to the capital, Stalin may also call on the leaders of the Congress and other INDIA bloc m e m b e r s ahead of the DMK’s September 28 Kancheepuram public meeting which the Dravidian major’s alliance partners are set to attend. On September 14, after returning from his visit to the United States to attract investments, the chief minister told reporters that he would seek an appointment with the prime minister to put forth Tamil Nadu’s demands for releasing funds for key projects. LATE on Saturday Viswanath, an Anand had posted his congratulations to the Indian Open team for winning the chess Olympiad. Minutes later, he had posted a clarification as it wasn’t mathematically over. Hours into Sunday’s final round, the Open team, led by D Gukesh, completed formalities as they monstered the Slovenian side 3.5-0.5 to rubber-stamp their authority. If their gold wasn’t much of a surprise — they were one of the favourites — that was followed by a famous double as the women’s team beat Azerbaijan by a similar margin to script yet another piece of history . Going into the final round in Budapest, the Open team was sole leader by two clear points. The players also enjoyed a clear advantage on tie-breaks. It was such a big advantage that in the SIT to probe Tirumala laddu adulteration top spin: ash reward R Ashwin picks six wickets in the second innings to skittle Bangladesh out for 234 runs and help India script a 280-run victory in the first Test | Ashwin prasath utterly dominating two weeks. On air, Vidit Gujrathi, one of the unsung heroes of this team’s campaign, said this would go down as a win for the ages never to be repeated again. Even as the Open team converted their positional superiority into points, the women’s team had to take the scenic route to global glory D Harika, . playing on the top board, was inconsistent while R Vaishali had slightly lost her rhythm in the second phase. But it didn’t matter as Divya Deshmukh, a world champion at age-group level, and Vantika Agrawal, on Board 4, became giants. So, even as Harika and Vaishali had to grind their way to wins or salvage draws, Deshmukh and Agrawal enjoyed serene progress in terms of wins. In the end, they won two individual gold, an apt reward for what they had done to the collective cause. P11 Vijayawada: A Special Investigation Team headed by an Inspector General of Police and above rank officer will be constituted by the Andhra Pradesh government to probe into the adulteration of the Tirumala temple Laddu Prasdam, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said | P5 Garden, park to come up on 118 acres taken from race club This victory belongs to all of us. Together, we stand ready to rewrite Sri Lankan history e x p r ess n e w s se r v i c e President-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayake gestures after his victory | AFP Sri Lanka picks Dissanayake as prez to fix economy COLOMBO: National Peoples’ Power (NPP) candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake, 56, was on Sunday declared president-elect by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka at the Election Secretariat in Colombo. Addressing election officials, presidential candidates, and political party representatives, Dissanayake promised to usher in a new political culture and strive to serve 22 million Sri Lankans “with deep commitment and respect” and to create a new political culture that celebrates political differences and honours people’s dignity and rights. Dissanayake, who polled 5,634,915 votes (42.31%), was declared winner after a second Dilrukshi preferential count, as none Handunnetti of the candidates reached Award-winning journalist the constitutionally required and lawyer, founder and 50% plus 1 vote. In the second director of the Colombo- preferential count, he obbased Center for Investiga- tained 105,264 votes. His tive Reporting (CIR) main rival, Opposition Leader and Leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya Sajith Premadasa, polled 4,363,035 votes (32.76%) and 107,867 second preference votes. The president-elect noted the need to amend the election laws to enable certain sections of the public such as migrant workers to be able to vote, and promised to accord it high priority However, he said it would not be possible to pass . these amendments before the next bunch of elections. “Our country is unstable in many ways. There are economic, political, social, geopolitical challenges before us. They need to be addressed with care. But to address them, the NPP believed the rulers have to be mandated by the people. Without a public mandate, it becomes a distorted administration as we witnessed recently he said. ,” Sri Lanka’s election history has been marred by election violence from time to time. But the 2024 polls witnessed minimum incidents. CONTINUED ON: P7 @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday announced that a public horticultural garden, green spaces and other public utilities would come up in the 118 acres of land taken back from the Madras Race Club (MRC) in Guindy Chennai. The , land parcel is worth a whopping `4,832 crore. The announcement comes soon after the state government informed the Madras High Court that it had taken possession of the 160.86 acres of land earlier this week. The land was leased to the MRC for 99 years from April 1, 1945. Recently the government , cancelled the lease on the grounds that the land is required for public use. Of the total extent of the land parcel, 118 acres have now been transferred to the horticulture department. “Considering the ever-increasing population of Chennai, establishing an eco-park in the heart of the city is essential. The park that comes up here will help people maintain their physical and mental health, as well as (maintain) the environment,” an official release said. The release recalled that after Chief Minister M K Stalin assumed office in 2021, the horticulture department developed the Kalaignar Centenary Park on Cathedral Road in Chennai, and a park in Ooty in Nilgiris district, by reclaiming government land previously in possession of private organisations, in a move to protect the environment. P5 new mini-bus scheme Mini-buses to serve TN rural areas from Dec; govt begins identifying routes B AN B U S E LV AN @ Chennai The transport department has begun identifying routes for launching mini-buses, following revised guidelines, within the next two to three months. Villages with a population of at least 100 families or more, that have not been served by government or private buses are set to be connected through this initiative. If all goes according to plan, the mini-buses will be introduced in unserved rural areas by December this year. Notably, the tenure of village panchayats, elected in 2019 across 28 districts, will also end in December. According to transport department officials, regional transport authorities have developed route maps for introducing mini-buses in unserved villages and towns across each district. “The RTOs have been instructed to coordinate with village panchayat presidents and district collectorates to gather feedback. Each route will cover 70% of unserved areas and 30% of served areas,” an official explained. Three months ago, the home (transport) department issued a draft notification for the New Comprehensive MiniB u s S ch e m e 2 0 2 4 , wh i ch sought to revive the existing mini-bus scheme and expand bus connectivity to both urban (including Chennai) and rural regions. Under this new scheme, mini-bus operators may be permitted to run buses up to 25km, with 17km on unserved routes and up to 8km on routes already served by gover nment or private buses. Currently, mini-buses are limited to 20km, with only 4km allowed on served routes. “Despite the maximum route length of 25km, shorter routes of 10km or 15km may also be allowed based on field conditions. For instance, a 10km route might consist of 7km in unserved areas and 3km in served areas. A government order detailing the guidelines for implementing the scheme will be issued soon,” an official added. P5
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