vijay takes on dmk & bjp in 1st public meet Addressing his maiden political public meeting, actor-turnedpolitician Vijay minced no words in taking on both the BJP and DMK at the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s (TVK) first conference. Vijay eschewed traditions of Tamil political oratory & employed a mix of Tamil and English to outline his party’s political ideology | P5 visakhapatnam l monday l october 28, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 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 Jaishankar hard Over 50 flights, temple in Tirupati & talk on no 26/11 many hotels receive hoax bomb threats govt retaliation D Surendra Kumar/ U J W A L J A L A L I / N a m i ta B a j pa i @ New Delhi/Lucknow/Tirupati Says things have changed and India is now a global leader in fighting incidents of terror MAYAN K S I N G H @ New Delhi External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday did some hard talk on India’s reaction to the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attack, saying “there was no response”, but that would not be the case if it happens now. The strong language came just over three weeks before Maharashtra goes to polls on November 20. Speaking on India’s response to terrorism and what changed after 2014, Jaishankar said Mumbai is a symbol of counterterrorism for India and the world. “We should not have a repeat of what happened in Mumbai. That there was a terror attack and there was no response.” He said things have changed now and India is now a leader in fighting terror. Jaishankar fielded questions on issues ranging from terrorism to the India-China standoff and from investment to politics at a press conference in Mumbai. Reiterating the Modi government’s policy that talks and terror cannot go together, he said, “when we talk of zero tolerance against terror, it is clear that when somebody does something, there will be a response. “We also have to expose. It is not acceptable that you are doing business during daytime and indulging in terror during the night and I have to pretend that everything is okay .” When India was a member of the UN Security Council and chairing the counter-terrorism committee, the counter-terrorism panel’s meeting was held in the same hotel that was hit by the 26/11 ter ror attack, the minister said. Without naming China, he said the disengagement of troops at Depsang and Demchok in Ladakh is the first step, adding it is expected that India will return to the pre-2020 patrolling status. He, however, stressed that the next step of de-escalation won’t be taken until India is assured of reciprocity from the other side. Speaking on Manipur, Jaishankar said there are complex reasons behind what is happening, noting that some factors are historical and the rest concern the border situation. The hoax bomb threat menace continued for the aviation industry on Sunday as more than 50 flights received calls, keeping security agencies on their toes. The Sri Varadaraja Swamy temple in Tirupati and a couple of hotels there, as also over a dozen prominent hotels in Lucknow received similar threats. Flights which received hoax bomb threats included 18 of IndiGo airlines, 17 of Vistara and 15 of Akasa. Most of the threats were issued through social media posts. While this is the first time a bomb threat was sent to a temple in Tirupati, at least half a dozen hotels in the temple city received hoax bomb threats Tirupati police conducting searches at a hotel after a bomb threat | Express over the past three days. The Alipiri police received a mail regarding the bomb threat at the TTD-run temple. Bomb disposal teams and sniffer dogs were deployed at Hotel Renest and Pai Viceroy, situated near the Kapila Teertham circle, as well as the Sri Varadaraja Swamy temple, located near the administrative building of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). Fortunately no explosives were , found during the searches. The e-mail threats again mentioned the alleged drug kingpin Jaffer Sadiq and the ISI. Tirupati has been on high alert with several hotels receiving bomb threats over the past three days. Subsequently, Tirupati police and the Cyber Crime Department have intensified their investigation into these hoax threats. In Vijayawada, Hotel Taj Vivanta also received a bomb threat on Sunday. Confirming the same, Krishna Lanka inspector SSSV Nagaraju said extensive searches have been conducted at the hotel following a complaint received by the hotel management. “No bomb or explosives were found. It turned out to be a hoax call,” he explained. Panic gripped Lucknow after nine prominent hotels received bomb threats demanding a ransom of `50 lakh on Sunday The . e-mail, sent around 8.03 am, claimed that explosive devices had been planted in black bags across all the hotel premises. The sender warned that any attempt to defuse them would lead to mass casualties, prompting an emergency response. The Lucknow police roped in the Cyber Cell to trace the origin of the email, while bomb disposal and dog squads were deployed to begin large-scale evacuations. The hotels mentioned in the threatening email are situated in tony areas of Lucknow, including Gomti Nagar, Hazratganj, Sarojininagar, Alambagh and Krishnanagar. Express read Lokesh pitches AP as investors’ top choice Vijayawada: During his visit to the US, Minister of IT, Electronics & Communications, Nara Lokesh addressed potential investors at a roundtable in San Francisco. Lokesh emphasised that AP’s industrial policy prioritises employment generation, decentralised development, and streamlined business operations, positioning the State as a top choice for global investors | P3 Amrapalli Kata posted as Tourism Corp MD Vijayawada: Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad on Sunday issued orders appointing IAS officers, who were relieved from Telangana recently. Amrapali Kata’s has been appointed as vice-chairperson and managing director of the AP Tourism Development Corporation, relieving Muttimbaku Abhishikth Kishore of the full additional charge | P4 5 yrs on, Hurriyat eyes comeback in new Kashmir F AYA Z W AN I @ Srinagar AFTER remaining dormant for five years, Kashmir’s separatist outfit Hurriyat Conference seems to have got a lease of life with the victory of National Conference early this month in the first Assembly polls since Article 370 was read down. Since his release in September 2023 from five years of house arrest, Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s activities have been con- fined to addressing weekly Friday sermons at the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar. But now he appears to have become very active, responding to the killing of migrant labourers by terrorists in Kashmir, commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s talks at the BRICS meet in Russia, and trying to revive the Hurriyat by meeting other leaders of the group. Mirwaiz broke the pattern in the run-up to the Assembly polls, making his first political speech from the pulpit of Jamia Masjid, saying elections are for sadak, bijli and paani (road, electricity, and water) and can’t resolve the Kashmir issue. On October 23, he met other Hurriyat leaders— his first meeting with them since August 5, 2019 when the Centre scrapped J&K’s special status and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two UTs. In a notable gesture, Mirwaiz condemned the killing of migrant workers at an under-construction site last week. On October 25, Mirwaiz said he was ready to hold talks with the Centre. He tried to conflate Modi’s message at the BRICS summit that dialogue and diplomacy are the means to settle conflicts and not war, with the Kashmir problem. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Mirwaiz’s return to active politics suggests a strategic repositioning. The move appears aimed at reviving Hurriyat’s relevance in J&K’s fast-changing political environment. The developments also imply a more inclusive approach by the government. “Allowing meeting of Mirwaiz and his colleagues is an indication of a shift in the political environment in J&K,” said J&K Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari.