hEZBOLLAH strikes deep inside Israel Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel, with some landing near Haifa, injuring three. The rocket barrage set off air raid sirens across 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 UN warned that the region is on the brink of “an imminent catastrophe” | P11 bengaluru l monday l september 23, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION 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 Quad calls for rules-based order To expand maritime ties, concerned over situation in South China Sea 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 maneuvers ” 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 con- Sri Lanka picks Dissanayake as president to fix economy Dilrukshi Handunnetti Award-winning journalist and lawyer, founder and director of the Colombobased Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) PM Narendra Modi greets Indian community members at Nassau Veterans Coliseum in New York, on Sunday. Over 13,000 Indian-Americans were present | PTI Drone deal on track, new semicon plant in Kolkata Signalling that the US is keen to strengthen ties with India, President Joe Biden highlighted the progress in India’s procurement of 31 longendurance MQ-9B armed drones from defence major General Atomics and the setting up of a semiconductor plant in Kolkata. During his interaction with PM Narendra Modi, he held talks covering key aspects of India-US ties, including ways to further ramp up bilateral defence and military engagement. 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. flicts. 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. 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 express read 2 held for Arabic text on Tricolour in Koppal Koppal: The Koppal police arrested two youth for replacing the Ashoka Chakra on the national flag with an Arabic sentence. Though the incident occurred two days after Eid Milad, it came to light on Friday night after photos went viral | P3 SIT to probe Tirumala laddu adulteration 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, CM N Chandrababu Naidu said | P7 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 the candidates reached the constitutionally required 50% plus 1 vote. In the second preferential count, he obtained 105,264 votes. His 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. He 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 P9 recently he said. ,” 10-yr-old comes under playground gate, dies R a k s h i t h G o w d a @ Bengaluru Because of sheer negligence and lack of maintenance by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), a 10-year-old boy tragically died after a 10-foot-tall iron gate fell on him at a BBMP playground on Sunday evening. The incident occurred when the boy went to cycle at the Rajashankar playg round in Malleswaram, prompting citizens to slam the BBMP for its negligence in maintaining the playground, where hundreds, mostly children, visit every day . The deceased, Niranjan, was the son of Priya, a homemaker, and Vijay, an autorickshaw driver. The family stays in Vivekananda Block on Datthathreya Temple Street. Niranjan was a fifth-grade student at a g ove r n m e n t s ch o o l i n Malleswaram. He has a sister. The police said Niranjan went to the playground with his friend around 4 pm. The gate has a smaller opening for people to walk through. But as he wanted to take his bicycle inside, he pushed the gate and it fell on him, causing severe injuries. Continued on P2 D Gukesh was in stellar form during the Chess Olympiad this edition | PTI Chess Olympiad: Men, women create history 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 another piece of history Go. ing 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. P13
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