kochi 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 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 3 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 oo p s w a m i nat h an @ Chennai Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets Indian community members at Nassau Veterans Coliseum in New York on Sunday. Over 13,000 Indian Americans were present | 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. Later, Modi met members of the Indian diaspora in New York. “Just yesterday, President Biden took me to his home in Delaware. His affection, his warmth, it was a moment that touched my heart. This respect is for the 140 billion Indians. This respect is for you, for your achievement,” he told them. 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 Pooram fiasco: ADGP rules out conspiracy Y E S HI S E L I @ New Delhi Boston, LA TO HAVE consulaTes India will open new consulates in Boston and Los Angeles, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while addressing the Indian diaspora in New York nearly 300 Antiquities returned US handed over to India 297 antiquities, which were smuggled out of the country over the years | P7 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 also referred to the setting up of a semiconductor plant in Kolkata, West Bengal. 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. Public outbursts Cease and desist, says CPM, Anvar complies weapon to let enemies attack the government and the party . “The secretariat urges the MLA A day after Chief Minister Pi- to correct its stance and desist narayi Vijayan disowned P V from moves to weaken the parAnvar, the CPM too went public ty it said. ,” with its displeasure at the LDFPolitburo member A Vibacked legislator from Nilam- jayaraghavan too said Anwar bur. The CPM state sechad weakened the govretariat on Sunday ernment and the party , criticised the allegaand added that the tions Anvar levelled in MLA’s statements had the media and asked given enemies of the him to desist from party a chance to removes that weaken the joice. He said with the party . CM’s clarification, the Soon after the CPM matter has come to an reprimand, Anvar sofend. tened his stance and Senior CPM leader P announced he would Jayarajan shared the I had to take refrain from making secretariat’s statement unconventional p u bl i c s t at e m e n t s on his social media paths, and am “temporarily”. handle. Interestingly, fully aware this In a statement, the Jayarajan’s endorsecaused pain to my dear party state secretariat rement of the party comrades. minded Anvar that he stance came amid alleUnfortunately, I was an LDF-backed ingations that he was had no other dependent MLA and a tacitly supportive of option, and for member the CPM parAnvar’s tirade. that, I offer my liamentary party. It sincere apologies Announcing his denoted that Anvar had cision of refraining to each one of levelled allegations on from making public you various issues, which comments, Anvar, who P V Anvar, MLA the government and had previously exthe party were looking pressed loss of faith in into. “At this juncture, levelling the probe into his complaints, allegations repeatedly against did a U-turn later in the day and the government and the party said the government had taken through the media cannot be prompt action on his comaccepted,” said the statement. plaints, and the CPM had asThe secretariat noted that sured him it will seriously adAnvar’s stance had turned a dress his concerns. ● More on P4 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 E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @T’Puram/Malappuram 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 colP11 lective cause. 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 S e r v i c e @T’Puram 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 preferential count, as none Dilrukshi of the candidates reached Handunnetti the constitutionally required Award-winning journalist 50% plus 1 vote. In the second and lawyer, founder and director of the Colombopreferential count, he obbased Center for Investigatained 105,264 votes. His main tive Reporting (CIR) 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 minCONTINUED ON: P7 imum incidents. There was no conspiracy or external interference in the incidents that led to the disruption of Thrissur Pooram this year, an investigation report into the fiasco has said. ADGP M R Ajith Kumar submitted the 1,600-page report to the Chief Minister’s Office late on Saturday five months after a , probe was ordered into the fiasco. Kumar, who is facing heat over the issue, blamed the local police for the chaos while giving himself the clean chit. A senior police officer said the report stated there was no external interference or conspiracy behind the chaos at the Pooram. It mentioned that the ADGP left the spot after completing final inspections, and blamed the devaswoms for refusing to continue with the festival. The report attributed the fiasco to a lapse in coordination by the local police, particularly then Thrissur city police commissioner Ankit Ashok. It also detailed the security measures taken by the police to manage the crowd according to the court instructions. Meanwhile, the report has drawn flak for not mentioning IG Sethuraman and DIG Ajithabeegam, who were also present at the time of the incident. The opposition termed the document a farce, as it was prepared by an officer who is himself accused in the matter. ● More on P4 Express read Laddu row: SIT to probe Vijayawada: An SIT headed by an IG & above rank officer will be formed to probe alleged adulteration of Tirumala temple Laddu Prasadam, AP CM N Chandrababu Naidu has said. P5 Age-friendly Kochi ‘Memory cafes’ to help elderly reminisce, relax & rejuvenate A N N A J O S E @Kochi A space where the elderly and , their families and caretakers come together and engage in conversations, games and other lifestyle-enhancement activities. That’s what the Kochi corporation is planning to do in a move to address the issues related to dementia and care for the elderly population. As part of this, the first mem- ory cafe was launched at Samrithi, where the corporation runs its subsidised food outlet, on Saturday to coincide with World Alzheimer’s Day . Named Smrithiyoram, the first-of-its-kind initiative in the state will see the civic body setting up similar cafes at other venues to address challenges related to dementia by involving the elderly and their care givers in conversations, games, training, and other lifestyleenhancement a c t iv i t i e s . T h e meetings will be held once a month, on second Saturdays. Smrithiyoram is an informal group of people led by resource persons: doctors, physiotherapists, and other experts, said Dr Praveen G Pai, the focal point o f t h e Wo r l d Health Organisation’s Global Netwo rk fo r A g e Friendly Cities and Communities in Kochi. “There is no labelling or structure for these groups. The participants can engage with other members, discuss, and spend time together to improve their mental and physical wellbeing as they age. These are support groups with a maximum of 15 people,” he said. The ‘WHO Global Network’ along with the Kochi corporation are planning to expand the initiative to other areas. Kochi Mayor M Anilkumar said the memory cafe is one of the initiatives under Age● More on P4 Friendly Kochi.
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