Chennai l friday l december 06, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 40 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 Experts divided on potential for more gains 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 ■ ■ 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 2009 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 in the second Test against Australia beginning Friday “Yes, he (Rahul) will be . opening the batting. I’ll bat somewhere in the middle,” Shar ma told reporters on Thursday . 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 Perth, Sharma did not want to tinker with it. “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. W I T H T H I S I SS U E CHENNAI’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 40 PAGES, INCLUDING 24 OF INDULGE (TABLOID) Fadnavis back as Maharashtra cm with two deputies Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar takes oath as deputy CMs; portfolio distribution talks on @ 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 S K U M A R E S A N @ Chennai Two persons died and 33 others were admitted to hospitals for vomiting and diarrhoea due to suspected water contamination at Pallavaram Cantonment and nearby areas in Chennai’s suburbs 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 GH 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 deaths can be ascertained only after postmortem examination.  p4, P7 P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi 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. calamity may have put the resi, dents to avoidable trouble. Despite the Tamil Nadu government’s claims of following proper alert procedures, a TNIE visit to several affected villages revealed that many residents did not receive adequate flood warning. In Puthur Chekkadi, Rayandapuram, Thiruvathanur, and Kolamajanur, which were included in the fifth and final flood warning, communication was insufficient, raising concerns about the alert system’s effectiveness.  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.  P10 LOK SABHA proceedings were on Thursday disrupted after the Opposition and Treasury Benches clashed over the latter’s allegation linking Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other oppositon 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 new norms for UG, PG courses UG and PG aspirants can now seek admission in any discipline irrespective of what they studied in Class 12 or at UG level (for PG courses) | p9 express read Central team to assess Fengal damage Chennai: An inter-ministerial central team is likely to visit rain-affected districts in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry from December 7 to 9 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 MK Stalin before starting its visit to the affected areas | P4 Youth dies as sunshade crashes on him Chennai: A 22-year-old youth living in TNUHDB tenement in Srinivasapuram died after a sunshade of the tenement, suspected to have been weakened by the recent rain, collapsed and fell on him. Police said S Syed Gulam sustained severe injuries and was rushed to the Royapettah GH where he was declared dead on arrival | P5 Cold facts Scientists discover fast-growing glacier N A R E N D R A S E T H I @ Dehradun A group of scientists recently discovered a new glacier in Uttarakhand that was found to be rapidly expanding in size. The glacier is located in the Niti Valley, a remote area in the northernmost region of the hilly state, close to the IndiaTibet border. Stretching about 10 km in length, the new glacier that is yet to be named lies adjacent to the Randolph and Rekana glaciers and spans approximately 48 sq km. The curious discovery was Minister blames it on possible food poisoning Chennai: Minister Tha Mo Anbarasan denied reports of water contamination and said the residents could have fallen sick due to food poisoning. He urged residents to be more responsible, highlighting their role in keeping the area clean. Uproar in LS as BJP links Oppn with Soros TN flood fiasco: Villagers flag lack of sufficient alerts R A J A L A K S H M I S A M PAT H 2 dead, 33 ill due to ‘water contamination’ in chennai The site of new glacier made by glaciologists Manish Mehta, Vineet Kumar, Ajay Rana, and Gautam Rawat of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology Dehradun. Their study , , Manifestations of a Glacier Surge in Central Himalaya Using Multi-Temporal Satellite Data, was done using satellite data. Their findings show the glacier is currently ‘surging’. “A glacier surge refers to the sudden and rapid increase in the size of a glacier,” Mehta, a senior geologist at the Wadia Institute, said. One reason for this curious phenomenon, 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. Thermal contrast Thermal contrast could also be a reason for glacier surge. “The surface beneath the glacier becomes smooth, increasing the lubrication between upper and lower layers,” Manish Mehta said 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. Dubey also alleged that the Congress had sought to halt Parliament on various issues published by OCCRP including , the Pegasus row, questioning the efficacy of Covid vaccines developed in India, and the Hindenburg reports. He said several Opposition leaders raised the issues flagged in media reports, many of which Rahul Gandhi with other opposition MPs at a protest during Winter session | PTI were published on the eve of Parliament sessions in India. As the House saw 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. Meanwhile, opposition party leaders wore black jackets with stickers reading ‘Modi Adani Ek Hai’ and ‘Adani Safe Hai’ on them and raised slogans on the Parliament premises to demand a joint parliamentary probe into the Adani issue.