kochi l tuesday l December 24, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION Japanese auto giants Honda and nissan to begin merger talks Honda and Nissan have announced plans to join forces that could result in the creation of the world’s third-largest automobile company aim is to achieve economies of scale Competition from chinese ev makers Joining forces would help the companies achieve economies of scale to compete with Toyota, Volkswagen and Chinese automakers like BYD. Also, Japanese companies, especially Honda, have lagged behind rivals in electric vehicles (EVs) and are now trying to catch up. Nissan has years of experience building batteries and EVs that could help Honda in developing its own EVs ■ ■ Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi announced in August that they will share components for electric vehicles like batteries to cut costs | P10 The talks come at a time when Chinese automakers like BYD, Great Wall and Nio that make relatively affordable EVs are expanding their market shares as the world shifts away from fossil fuel-driven cars $50 bn would be the market capitalisation of the merged entity 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 Now, Dhaka note verbale for Hasina’s extradition He was a leader of leaders atul Tiwari actor, writer Ministry of External Affairs confirms receiving it, offers no comment desh’s home advisor Jahangir Alam said his office had sent a Bangladesh’s interim gov- letter to the foreign ministry to ernment said on Monday it had facilitate Hasina’s extradition, sent a note verbale to India quoting a prisoner exchange seeking extradition of agreement with India deposed former prime “under which it (her minister and Awami extradition) will be League head Sheikh carried out”. Hasina. Hasina, 77, has The Ministry of Exbeen living in exile in ternal Affairs (MEA) India after she fled on confirmed they have August 5 following received the diplomatmassive student proic note from Dhaka. tests over a controver“We confirm that File picture of sial job quota. we have received a Foreign affairs advis- Sheikh Hasina | PTI Note Verbale from the er Touhid Hossain told Bangladesh High media persons that they had Commission today in connecsent the note verbale asking to tion with an extradition resend Hasina back for judicial quest. At this time, we have no process. It came after Bangla- comment to offer on this matB a l a C h a u h a n @ Bengaluru ter,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. Speaking to this newspaper, former high commissioners to Bangladesh Veena Sikri (2003-06) and Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty (2007-09) said a “note verbale is not an instrument on which extradition can be sought. Extradition is a very long, detailed process involving the judiciary Request . for extradition comes at the end of the process,” they said. “The requesting country has to complete the judicial process of proving the charges against the fugitive leader and convicting her,” said Sikri. India’s Extradition Act prescribes separate procedures for handling extradition requests from different countries. O 14 Dec 1934 - 23 Dec 2024 I wonder what I would have become if he hadn’t had faith in me when no one else did. He and Nira (his wife) were a huge support in my difficult days. He did whatever he could with his life till the end. Not many people can claim to have done that Naseeruddin Shah, actor Coming down heavily on the state gover nment  over the dumping of biomedical waste from Kerala in Tamil Nadu, the Kerala High Court on Monday directed the secretary of the local self-government department to file an affidavit with details of the agencies engaged in collection and disposal of press Intake outreach is a one-way street. Once it is gone, it’s gone. I don’t know about you, but this is how it works with me.” That was the best way to admonish me. Even in admonishment there was wisdom. He never yelled or screamed unlike many other directors in Mumbai. Shyam Benegal was a great teacher and a good leader. As his favourite actor Om Puri once said, “In the jungle of Indian cinema there are any number of trees of various kinds. The tallest is Satyajit Ray. And the widest, like the banyan in Calcutta’s botanical garden, is Shyam Benegal.” He was the so-called Philosopher’s Stone, whose one touch could turn iron into gold. I can only say “Long live , Shyam Babu. You are a story well told.” HC flays state over dumping of medical waste in TN E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v ice @ Kochi Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers prayers during Christmas celebrations hosted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) in New Delhi on Monday. Speaking at the event, Modi stressed the importance of strengthening the spirit of love, harmony and brotherhood in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ. The prime minister interacted with bishops and CBCI members. CBCI president Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, Cardinal George Koovakad, Cardinal George Alencherry, Cardinal Baselios Mar Cleemis, and Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil were among those who attended the event | PTI | P4 ne of those who lit the screens of Indian cinema with very meaningful colours and poignant hues left us on Monday Shyam Benegal is . no more. He was 90. I was fortunate to work with him for almost 35 years. I was comparatively young when he invited me to write on the Discovery of India documentary . In the screenplay for an episode on the 1942 Quit India movement, I had included two trains and an elephant though I knew no director could afford two trains in a TV series. Shyam Babu very politely asked me, “could we go with just one train?” I agreed and cut one scene of a train. As for the other train, he got it made in Film City It ran on tracks to . enable the filming of scenes of how trains were stopped during Gandhiji’s movement. The elephant scene was also included. That was the magic of director Benegal. He always trusted his team. He was a leader of leaders, who never had to command his army His army of actors, . technicians, writers, cameramen etc., were ready to march on one signal because he chose and trained them so well. Coming from Lucknow during my early days, I invariably used to be late for meetings. One day he looked at his watch , and said, “young man, I don’t know about you, but my time Govt schools can now fail students of classes 5 & 8 | P8 3 Khalistani terrorists killed | P8 EXPRESS READ Periya twin murder: Verdict on Dec 28 Kochi: Having completed the trial in the Periya twin murder case, the CBI Court in Kochi is set to announce the verdict on December 28. The case pertains to the murder of Youth Congress workers Kripesh, 19, and Sarath Lal P K, 24, allegedly by CPM workers on February 17, 2019, at Periya in Kasaragod district. P5 70 students suffer food poisoning Kochi: Thrikkakara has reported yet another instance of food poisoning, with around 70 students falling ill on Monday. The students were attending an NSS camp at KMM Arts and Science College, where they reported symptoms of diarrhoea. They were taken to the Govt Medical College Hospital in Kalamassery. “The condition of the students is satisfactory,” said a health official. P3 ‘No Sangh role in Xmas fete disruption’ Kozhikode: BJP state president K Surendran has denied the involvement of any Sangh parivar organisations in the disruption of Christmas celebrations in Palakkad. Speaking to reporters after meeting the Thamarassery Bishop in Kozhikode on Monday, he raised the suspicion that those who left the BJP recently might be behind the incident. P4 20 pages, including 4 pages of kochi Express + 4-page pullout waste from local authorities and other  bulk waste generators, including hospitals. The High Court also called for information on the measures initiated to track the mode and the manner in which such agencies dispose of the collected waste. A division bench comprising Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas and Justice Gopinath P issued the order after noticing media reports regarding the illegal dumping of Kerala’s biomedical, plastic, food, and other waste in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. “Quite often, we have been indicating to the Kerala gov- er nment the necessity to keep track of the mode in which the waste is being disposed of by agencies that collect waste. It is an alarming situation that the waste generated in Kerala is disposed of in the neighbouring state, haphazardly and contrary to legal requirements. Such instances should be avoided,” the court ● More on P4 said.