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 ■ ■ BHUBANESWAR  THURSDAY  DECEMBER 26, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION 38 KILLED IN KAZAKH JETLINER CRASH The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near Aktau airport | AP dar24 said in an online post that the aircraft had faced ‘strong GPS jamAT least 38 people were killed after a ming’ which ‘made the aircraft transpassenger jet flying from Azerbaijan mit bad ADS-B data’, referring to the to Russia crashed near the city of Ak- information that allows flight-tracking tau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, ac- websites to follow planes in flight. Ruscording to Kazakhstan officials. There sia has been blamed in the past for were 67 people on board, jamming GPS signals in including five crew memthe region. ‘BAD WEATHER’ bers. Both pilots of the Reuters reported that Azerbaijani President Ilham flight were also reportedly the crash came shortly afAliyev said that it was too soon killed in the accident. A ter drone strikes hit southto speculate on the reasons for total of 29 survivors, inern Russian areas not far the crash. “The information cluding two children, have from Azerbaijan and Kazprovided to me is that the plane been hospitalised. kahstan and the nearest changed its course due to The plane was originalRussian airport on the worsening weather conditions ly scheduled to travel from plane’s flight path was and headed to Aktau airport, the Azerbaijani capital of closed on Wednesday where it crashed on landing” Baku to the Russian city morning. FlightRadar24 Aliyev said at a news conference. of Grozny in the North data showed the aircraft Caucasus. According to making what appeared to Azerbaijan Airlines, the Embraer 190 be a figure-eight once nearing the airaircraft made an emergency landing port in Aktau, its altitude moving up 3 km from Aktau. Reports said the pi- and down substantially in the last lot may have chosen to divert to Aktau minutes. after a bird strike on the aircraft led to Footage circulating online appeared ‘an emergency situation on board’. to show the aircraft making a steep deThe airline said 42 passengers were scent before smashing into the ground Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian na- in a fireball. Other footage showed tionals, six Kazakhstani, and three part of its fuselage ripped away from Kyrgyzstani citizens. the wings and the rest of the aircraft, Flight-tracking service FlightRa- lying upside in the grass. AGENCIES Russia targeted Ukraine’s power infrastructure with more than 180 missiles and drones in a massive Christmas Day attack on Wednesday | P9 MODI SWIPE ‘Cong ignored contributions of Ambedkar’ E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhopal AMID the Congress’ protests against Union home minister Amit Shah’s remarks on B R Ambedkar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday sought to turn the tables on the grand old party accusing it of denying Baba Saheb credit for his contribution to the development of water resources in the country . “Baba Saheb was the first to understand the importance of river... He was a visionary... contributing to creation of dams,” Modi said while addressing a gathering in Khajuraho, after laying the foundation of the Ken Betwa river linking project. Without naming India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Modi said: “Out of intoxication of giving credit to just one individual the Congress never gave credit to Baba Saheb for his water conservation efforts and visionary thinking that led to creation of big dams.” Referring to the development projects carried out by the government of late EXPRESS READ Manipur CS is new higher edu secy New Delhi: In a major bureaucratic reshuffle announced on Wednesday evening, the Centre appointed Vineet Joshi, chief secretary of ethnic violence-hit Manipur, as the higher education secretary, while pharmaceuticals secretary Arunish Chawla was named revenue secretary. Amit Agrawal, CEO of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), will be the new pharmaceuticals secretary. In other reshuffles, textiles secretary Rachna Shah has been appointed secretary, Department of Personnel and Training | P7 PROJECT POSES THREAT TO TIGER RESERVE: CONG AGENCIES New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday said the Ken-Betwa river linking project poses a serious threat to the biodiversityrich Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. In a social media post, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the project will submerge the core area of tiger reserve, destroy vulture habitats, and a large number of felling of trees Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who envisioned the national river-linking initiative in 2002, Modi said Vajpayee was a teacher for many. Modi also released a commemorative postal stamp and coin to mark Vajpayee’s birth centenary . Noting that the Ken-Betwa project will open gateways of prosperity and development for the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, Modi alleged Vajpayee’s efforts to address water related challenges were side-lined after 2004 by the Congress. PM Narendra Modi during foundation stone-laying ceremony of Ken-Betwa River Linking Project, in Khajuraho on Wednesday | PTI It was Dr Ambedkar’s vision which guided the major river valley projects in the country and the Central Water Commission was established due to his efforts Prime Minister Narendra Modi HUMAN TRAFFICKING Canadian colleges under ED scanner M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the alleged role of some Canadian colleges as well as Indian entities in a money laundering case linked to the trafficking of Indians into the US through the Canada border, officials said. The ED took up the probe after a four-member Indian family hailing from Gujarat froze to death while trying to cross the Canada-US border in January 2022. The ED case is based on an FIR by Ahmedabad Police against main accused Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel and others, who allegedly arranged student visas Taliban vows to hit back after Pakistani strikes kill 46 in Af for those willing to enter the US illegally . A senior ED official said the racket charged `55-60 lakh per person. As part of the probe, the ED conducted searches in Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar, and Vadodara. It found an entity based in Mumbai and another in Nagpur were offering admission for Indians in foreign universities on a commission basis. The ED said about 25,000 students are being referred by one entity and 10,000 students by the other to various colleges outside India every year. Over 150 Canadian colleges have an agreement with one entity and 112 with another. Their involvement is being probed, the ED said. AFGHAN Taliban on Wednesday said 46 people were killed in Pakistani airstrikes in Barmal in eastern Afghanistan and vowed to retaliate. Pakistan carried out rare airstrikes inside Afghanistan on Tuesday, which Islamabad said targeted members of the Pakistani Taliban. Pakistani security officials said the strikes were on “terrorist hideouts” and at least 20 terrorists of the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were killed. But the Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed most of the dead were children and women. Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Pakistani envoy and lodged a protest. The Afghan Defence Ministry vowed to retaliate, saying, “The Islamic Emirate will not leave this cowardly act unanswered.” The strikes come after the TTP claimed a raid on a Pakistan army outpost that killed 16 soldiers. A Pakistani official said the attack was “a significant trigger” for Tuesday’s strikes, which also come amid a rise in the number of TTP attacks in Pakistan, especially in its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces. ADIEU M T VASUDEVAN NAIR Legendary Malayalam writer and Padma Bhushan awardee M T Vasudevan Nair, 91, passed away on Wednesday | P5