SAMBALPUR MONDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 12 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 Article 370 not enough, the ‘other side’ needs love: Raina SUDARSAN MAHARANA @ Bhubaneswar 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 Y E S H I S E L 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 Y E S H I 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. ANGER has subsided after abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir but many in the valley are still not happy. The other side (those with a different view) feels trapped and needs support to come to terms with the new circumstances, said veteran theatre actor and director MK Raina on Sunday . Speaking at Odisha Literary Festival 2024, Raina emphasised that a cultural renaissance is needed in Kashmir to reclaim the lost cultural space and bring change in the valley. There was huge anger (in the valley) before abrogation of Article 370 but they have begun to reconcile. However, they are not happy, Raina said. He said after Article 370, those having a different view have gone silent and are not able defend themselves as there is no support system for them. “They are trapped and need love and support to MK Raina speaking at the Odisha Literary festival on Sunday | EXPRESS make them feel that it is also their land,” he said. He stressed the citizens cannot be hated if they are bad or demanding the impossible. “They should be given the love to inculcate the feeling of belonging. There are limitations on both the sides,” he said. Recalling the violence in Kashmir that resulted in exodus of lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley, Raina, a Kashmiri Pandit himself, rued that the country did not bother about them and even now over five lakh people are living in exile within the country . A leading cultural figure of the country who has been working with the children of Kashmir, he advocated for a cultural renaissance to bring change. “We may now see a lot of celebrations there but the genuine cultural space which allows people to ask questions or contests an idea is still missing. That space needs to be restored to make people question, answer, debate and get a space to talk among themselves. Instead of pelting stones, they should be talking through cultural action,” he said. In conversation with senior journalist Kaveree Bamzai, he recalled the horror of Kashmir division and the 1990 unrest in which he lost his ailing mother. He also mentioned the suffering of soldiers posted there during the turmoil. The author of ‘Before I Forget’, however, underlined that Kashmir is not completely anti-India and that there are huge population blocks in the valley that are proIndia.”Sharing each others pain in the valley, though, remains a big task,” he said. WORD PLAYERS Winners of OLF-2024 poetry competition pose with their cheques with Dy CM KV Singh Deo, TNIE editorial director Prabhu Chawla, jury members Himanshu Mohapatra & Rabindra Swain, and TNIE resident editor Siba Mohanty P3 | DEBADATTA MALLICK TWIN TOWERS: INDIA MEN AND WOMEN Two girls gangraped in CREATE HISTORY IN CHESS OLYMPIAD forest patch at Rourkela S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N @ Chennai 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 anoth- D Gukesh was in stellar form during the Chess Olympiad this edition | PTI er 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 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 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 P11 the collective cause. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Rourkela IN a disturbing incident, two minor girls were allegedly gangraped by unidentified miscreants in a forested patch behind the Birsa Munda multipurpose stadium under Plant Site police limits in Rourkela on Saturday evening. The victims had come to buy shoes when the incident took place between 5 pm and 8.30 pm. The victims managed to escape and save their lives. Police reportedly detained three persons in connection with the incident on Sunday . According to the complaint, the victims, aged between 14 and 15 years, had come to Rour- kela market to buy sandals. They got down near Bisra Square when three miscreants approached and offered to drop them back at their home on the pretext that the area was not safe for them. The complaint with Plant Site police station revealed that one of the victims refused the help saying her elder sister was arriving to pick them up. That’s when the criminals forcibly bundled the girls into an autorickshaw and took them to a secluded place behind the stadium. The three miscreants gangraped one of the victims by gagging her. The other girl too was sexually assaulted by two of them at CONTINUED ON P5 the spot. Sri Lanka picks NPP candidate Anura Dissanayake as president to fix economy LADDU ADULTERATION: SIT TO START INVESTIGATION A SIT headed by an IG 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 DILRUKSHI HANDUNNETTI Award-winning journalist and lawyer, founder and director of the Colombobased Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) COLOMBO: National Peoples’ Power (NPP) candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake, 56, was on Sunday declared presidentelect 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 preferential count, as none of This victory belongs to all of us. Together, we stand ready to rewrite Sri Lankan history President-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayaka gestures after his victory | AFP the candidates reached the constitutionally required 50% plus 1 vote. In the second preferen- tial count, he obtained 105,264 votes. His main rival, Opposition Leader and Leader of the Samagi Jana Balawe gaya 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 CONTINUED ON: P7 incidents.
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