COIMBATORE l friday l december 06, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE city EDITION Bitcoin’s value tops $1,00,000 after 50% rise in one month Bitcoin crossed the $100,000-mark on Thursday amid a massive price rally sparked by the election of Donald Trump as US president Trump names crypto advocate to chair SEC Bitcoin surged on Thursday after Trump said he intends to nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins as the next chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), signalling a lighter regulatory approach to the crypto industry. The current SEC chair Gary Gensler has cracked down on the industry, penalising many firms for violating securities laws 2009 Experts divided on potential for more gains ■ ■ Bitcoin was trading at $69,374 on the day of US elections. Two years ago, it fell below $17,000 after the collapse of crypto exchange FTX While some experts are bullish, others have warned of risks given the recent surge. Lighter regulation from the coming Trump administration, while a good news for the crypto industry, could mean less guardrails when bitcoin was launched, making it the oldest cryptocurrency 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 aus vs ind Rohit makes bold call, to bat in middle at Adelaide G o m esh S @ Chennai And there it was. About 24 hours after KL Rahul told the media in Adelaide jokingly that he had been informed about his batting position but asked not to reveal it, captain Rohit Sharma cleared the air by announcing that he will be moving down the order to pave way for the 32-year-old at the top in the second Test against Australia beginning Friday . “Yes, he (Rahul) will be opening the batting. I’ll bat somewhere in the middle,” Sharma told reporters on the eve of the pink-ball Test in Adelaide. Leaders are known or recognised for the choices they make, especially for them and the team. Sharma acknowledged that it will not be easy in the middle, but for the greater good of the team this was the best solution. “Not easy for me, but it’s the best for the team,” he said. The significance of this call — to have Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top after their success in Perth — cannot be understated, especially in the Indian cricketing context. Barring the occasional tactical moves, captains or top-order batters, have rarely opted to sacrifice their positions. With Rahul and Jaiswal combining into a potent force in the first Test, Sharma did not want to tinker with it. “We want success. Those two guys at the top, just looking at this one Test, they batted brilliantly I was . at home with my newborn in my arms and I was watching how KL batted. It was brilliant. Maybe, in the future things will be different. I don’t know. Based on what has happened and what KL has shown outside of India, he probably deserves that place at this point in time,” Sharma said. Fadnavis back as Two dead, 33 fall Maharashtra cm, ill in Pallavaram Shinde, Pawar dcms suspected water contamination S K U M A R E S A N @ Chennai No other ministers sworn in; cabinet expansion talks on This team is a blend of experience and dynamism, and it is due to its collective efforts that Mahayuti got a historic mandate Narendra Modi, PM I will extend all possible cooperation and backing to the chief minister. We will work as a team Eknath Shinde, Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis after taking oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister | X S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday took oath as Maharashtra chief minister for the third time, marking the BJP leader’s return to the top post after a gap of five years. Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde and NCP leader Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief ministers. No other ministers were sworn in. The cabinet is likely to be expanded next week, ahead of the winter session of state legislature in Nagpur. Fadnavis said portfolio allocations have been more or less finalised but a few more rounds of consultations with allies are pending. An announcement will be made later, he said. “The posts may have changed among them, but the direction of work will remain the same. We will also hear out the Opposition if they bring the relevant points. The Speaker’s name will be decided on December 9. Maharashtra will have a very stable government in next five years,” Fadnavis said. express read Central team to assess cyclone damage in TN & UT Chennai: An inter-ministerial central team is likely to visit rain-affected districts in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on December 7 and 8 to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Fengal. The team is likely to split into three or four groups to assess the damage across 14 districts in Tamil Nadu. The team may meet Chief Minister Stalin before starting its visit to the affected areas. The complete itinerary for the visit of the central team is yet to be prepared, sources said | P4 DMK govt moves SC against CBI probe in hooch case Chennai: Law Minister S Regupathy on Thursday said Tamil Nadu has moved the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court order transferring the investigation into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy from the state police to the CBI. The appeal was filed before the apex court to ensure speedy justice for the victims, the minister said. About 68 people died in the hooch tragedy in Kallakurichi in June | P4 Before taking the oath, Fadnavis visited the Siddhivinayak temple and also took the blessing of his mother. Shinde invoked late Balasaheb Thackeray and his Guru Anand Dighe while taking oath. That Shinde would join the government as deputy CM was confirmed only hours before the swearing-in ceremony amid the protracted political drama over his reported reluctance to accept the post. Over 42,000 people gathered at Azad Maidan to witness the swearing-in ceremony Prime Minis. ter Narendra Modi and Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, J P Nadda, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan besides chief ministers of various states were present at the ceremony . Also in attendance were cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, and Janhvi Kapoor. From the business world, Mukesh Ambani and Kumar Mangalam Birla attended.  P8 Two persons died and 33 others were admitted to hospitals for vomiting and diarrhoea due to suspected water contamination at Pallavaram Cantonment and on the outskirts of Chennai on Wednesday . The deceased were identified as Thiruveethi (54), a man from Mangadu temporarily residing at Kamaraj Nagar, and M Mohanarangam (43) of Mariyamman Koil Street in Pallavaram. According to Chromepet Government Hospital staff both were brought dead to the hospital. Hospital sources said several residents of Pallavaram Cantonment, Malaimedu, and Kamaraj Nagar arrived at the hospital with symptoms of acute diarrheal disease (ADD) --- vomiting and diarrhoea --- late on Wednesday night. Doctors said the symptoms were consistent with both food poisoning and water contamination and the reason for the deaths can be ascertained only after postmortem examination. Tambaram corporation staff have collected water samples from six locations for testing. Results are expected in three days, said Health Minister Ma Subramanian. Of the 35 people affected, 19 (ten men and nine women) were admitted to Chromepet GH, and 14 were treated as outpatients. According to hospital sources, all 19 inpatients are being treated in the special ward.  P4 minister denies water contamination, Blames it on possible food poisoning Chennai: Minister for MSMEs Tha Mo Anbarasan denied reports of drinking water contamination and said the residents could have fallen sick due to food poisoning. “If this had indeed been a case of water contamination, 300-400 people would have fallen sick by now,” he said. Responding to a question on why the area is being cleaned only after the incident, the minister said the people should be more responsible. “The residents have dumped garbage in the area. There is fault on the residents’ side too,” he said. Uproar in LS over Oppn-Soros link P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi There is no doubt that the grand coalition government will take the state to new heights on the path of development Ajit Pawar, Dy CM Portfolio sharing formula Sources said out of the total 43 portfolios, 24 will be kept by BJP as the single largest party with 132 MLAs, while 10 will go to Shinde-led Shiv Sena that has 57 MLAs, and nine to Pawar-led NCP that has 41 MLAs LOK SABHA proceedings were on Thursday disrupted after the Opposition and Treasury Benches clashed over the latter’s allegation linking Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other leaders with US-based multi-billionaire George Soros. Chaos erupted during the zero hour after BJP member Nishikant Dubey cited reports in a publication based on findings of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which had alleged links to Soros. Dubey said an international conspiracy was hatched to derail India’s success story under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also alleged that the Congress had sought to halt Parliament on various issues published by OCCRP, including the Pegasus Admission norms for UG and PG courses tweaked by UGC Rahul Gandhi with other opposition MPs at a protest during the Winter session | PTI spying row, questioning the efficacy of Covid vaccines developed in India, and the Hindenburg reports. Dubey said several Opposition leaders raised the issues flagged in media reports, many of which were published on the eve of Parliament sessions in India. As the House witnessed massive uproar, the Speaker called Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi to raise the issue of violence in Sambhal. Gogoi tried to counter the allegations levelled by Dubey leading to a ruckus. The House was adjourned for the day after the Speaker adjourned it twice at 2 pm and 3 pm. Later, Congress MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and demanded that Dubey must apologise for his remarks. Meanwhile, in an unusual protest, leaders of opposition parties wore black jackets with stickers reading ‘Modi Adani Ek Hai’ and ‘ dani Safe Hai’ on them and raised A slogans on the Parliament premises to demand a joint parliamentary probe into the Adani issue. Rahul Gandhi put the sticker on his trademark white T-shirt. UG and PG aspirants can now seek admission in any discipline irrespective of the one studied in Class 12 or at the undergraduate level (for PG aspirants) | p7  Flood fiasco: Villagers flag lack of sufficient alerts R A J A L A K S H M I S A M PAT H @ Tiruvannamalai The unanticipated and sudden release of water to the tune 1.8 lakh cusecs from Sathanur dam in Tiruvannamalai district on Sunday night may have triggered the flooding in many areas along the Thenpennai river in Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram, and Cuddalore districts, but lack of specific details about the level of flooding or pointed instruction to move to designated relief shelters, during the initial hours of the calamity may have put the resi, dents in avoidable trouble. While the Tamil Nadu government had said that it did everything as per the standard operating procedure and alerted the people along the banks of the river, a visit by TNIE to many of these villages showed that a majority of the residents either did not receive proper alerts or the communication was insufficient. TNIE visited several villages in Tamil Nadu severely affect- ed by recent flooding, including Puthur Chekkadi, Rayandapuram, Thiruvathanur, and Kolamajanur. These villages were specifically named in the fifth and final flood warning is- sued by the Assistant Executive Engineer of the Sathanur Dam Sub-Division of the Water Resources Department. This urgent warning was dispatched in the early hours of Monday to the Tahsildars of Thandarampet, Chengam, Tiruvannamalai, and Tirukoilur taluks. The flooding in these villages has been devastating, with most residents describing it as the worst they have witnessed in their lifetime. Elderly villagers recalled a similar level of flooding in the early 1970s. curious case A rapidly growing new glacier discovered in Uttarakhand N A R E N D R A S E T H I @ Dehradun A group of scientists have discovered a new glacier in Uttarakhand that is rapidly growing in size. The newly-discovered glacier is located in the Niti Valley a remote area in the north, ernmost region of of the state, close to the India-Tibet border. Stretching 10 kilometres in length, the unnamed glacier, which lies adjacent to the Randolph and Rekana glaciers, spans approximately 48 square kilometres. It was identified by glaciologists Manish Mehta, Vineet Kumar, Ajay Rana, and Gautam Rawat of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology. Their study, titled Manifestations of a Glacier Surge in Central The site of new glacier Himalaya Using Multi-Temporal Satellite Data, was done using satellite data. The findings indicate that this glacier is currently “surging”. “A glacier surge refers to the sudden and rapid increase in the size of a glacier. While it’s challenging to physically access the area, satellite data suggests three primary reasons for this phenomenon,” Dr Me- hta, who is a senior geologist at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology said. , One reason, Mehta said, could be hydrological imbalance, which occurs when the porosity of water causes the ice layers to weaken and lose stability This, in turn, leads to . the ice sliding downwards. Another reason could be thermal contrast. “The surface beneath the glacier becomes smooth and slippery, increasing the lubrication between the upper and lower layers of the glacier,” he said. The third reason could be sedimentary terrain. “The mixture of water and soil creates a slippery surface, causing the glacier’s layers to slide over each other,” Mehta said. Samsung union: TN told to take call in 6 weeks E xpress N ews S er v i c e @ Chennai The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu labour department to pass appropriate orders on the application submitted by the Samsung India Workers Union for registering the trade union within six weeks. Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy issued the direction on Thursday while disposing of a petition filed by P Ellan, general secretary of the trade union affiliated to the CITU. Senior counsel G Rajagopalan, appearing for Samsung India Electronics which got impleaded in the case, submitted that the company cannot allow its name to be used for establishing the trade union and it cannot allow political interference in its functioning. However, NGR Prasad, counsel for the petitioner, said that it is a fundamental right to establish trade unions and several unions have been established with the name of the respective companies. Moreover, registration of the union is also a fundamental right of the workers, he said. Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran, appearing for the state, informed the court that the department would consider the application as per the law.