126 die as 6.8-magnitude earthquake hits Tibet A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck near one of Tibet’s holiest cities on Tuesday, killing at least 126 people and injuring 188 others. Tremors also shook buildings and forced people to run out to the streets in neighbouring Nepal. The quake jolted Dingri County in Xigaze in Tibet Autonomous Region in China at 9.05 am on Tuesday (Beijing time). The US Geological Service, however, put the quake’s magnitude at 7.1 | P11 hubballi l wednesday l january 08, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l 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 Congress set for big-ticket shake-up P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Stung by the electoral setbacks in the assembly elections, the Congress is set for a major organisational shake-up in the coming months. It is in tune with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s announcement during the Congress Working Committee meeting in Belagavi that 2025 will be marked by efforts to implement the Udaipur Declaration and equipping the party with necessary skills to win polls from the booth to the central level. According to sources, the party will effect major changes in AICC, state units, general secretary/ secretary levels and state in-charges among others. It is finalising the process of restructuring, which is likely to be announced by early February said sources. , According to sources, there will be a major overhaul in states such as Haryana, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra will see major restructuring from top to bottom, said a party source. “The party faced huge embarrassment after the defeat of senior leaders such as Prithviraj Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat. Many heads will roll in the state,” said a senior leader. In UP the grand old party has , already dissolved its state and district committees. The state will go to polls in 2027. AICC general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh Kumari Selja, may also face the axe in the re- Kumari Selja Sonia to inaugurate new party HQ on Jan 15 Congress leader Sonia Gandhi will inaugurate the party’s new HQ at 9A, Kotla Road in Delhi on January 15 in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi shuffle, said sources. After the party’s debacle in Haryana, Selja had questioned the election management of the leadership in the polls. Multiple leaders told this paper that the party is likely to go in for a leadership change in the communication department, headed by AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh. Others who work in the communication department include Pawan Khera, chairman of the media and publicity department and Supriya Shrinate, chairperson of social media and digital platforms. Though Kharge said the party will implement the Udaipur Declaration, which bars its leaders from holding an organisational position for more than five years, it is not clear whether it will affect AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, who has been holding the post for six years now. AAP vs BJP battle as Delhi goes to poll Election on February 5, result on February 8; Kejriwal fights anti-incumbency for third term Mukesh Ranjan & Ashish Sr i v a s ta v a @ New Delhi CEC assures poll process foolproof The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced a single-phase polling for Delhi Assembly on February 5. The votes will be counted on February 8. With the announcement of the schedule, the model code of conduct is now in force in the national capital, Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar said in a press conference. The stakes are higher than ever, not just for the political future of the city but for the ambitions of the three most significant political forces — AAP BJP and Congress. , For AAP, the election is a fight to retain its relevance and a referendum on its ability to sustain its governance-focused model amidst allegations of In a firm rebuttal, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar dismissed allegations of voter list manipulation in New Delhi. “Every step of the electoral roll process is rooted in transparency and accountability,” he said while addressing concerns raised by Chief Minister Atishi. express read One dies in Bidadi plant, power generation stops Bengaluru: A labourer who was injured at the energy plant in Bidadi, succumbed to injuries on Tuesday. An official said power generation has been stopped. P4 Rescue teams intensify search for trapped miners Guwahati: A team of navy, army, NDRF intensified efforts to rescue the nine workers, trapped inside a mine in Dima Hasao, Assam, for the second day on Tuesday. P10 corruption. The party’s first term was marked by a transformational approach to governance. Now, as it enters its third term, AAP faces the weight of anti-incumbency compounded , by scandals involving party leaders and governance lapses ranging from corruption in liquor policies to mismanagement of public funds. There is also an intense scrutiny on Arvind Kejriwal’s lead- ership. His admission that promises like cleaning the Yamuna and reducing air pollution have not been fulfilled has given fodder to the opposition. To counter growing disillusionment, AAP has adopted a soft Hindutva approach, suddenly introducing a monthly honorarium of `18,000 for Hindu and Sikh priests. For the BJP, it’s a chance to prove that its urban appeal is not just limited to larger states but can extend to the national capital as well. Desperate to reclaim the city , BJP’s strategy is blunt and combative: attack AAP on corruption and inefficiency and position itself as the over-arching solution to Delhi’s urban woes. For Congress, the 2025 elections are perhaps the most critical, as the party struggles to stay relevant. After suffering straight defeats in the last two assembly elections, Congress is faced with an identity crisis. The party’s biggest challenge is regaining any traction in Delhi’s urban constituencies, where AAP has firmly entrenched itself. The Congress cannot hope to make inroads by courting BJP voters; it needs to convince AAP’s core voters that it offers a viable alternative. CM: Focused campaign to eliminate preventable maternal deaths soon E x pr e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Bengaluru Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that his government will soon launch a focused campaign to eliminate preventable maternal deaths. This is in view of several maternal deaths reported in the state in the past few months. Participating in a review meeting of the health department, he said, “From 2018 to 2020, the state reported 69 deaths per lakh live births compared to the national rate of 97. From 2022 to 2024, the state reduced this rate to 55. We will soon launch a focused campaign to eliminate preventable maternal deaths.” On staff for maternal care, the CM said hospitals should recruit obstetricians and anes- thetists as per delivery rates. “Doctors from hospitals with low delivery rates will be re-deployed, and availability of specialists in taluk hospitals should be ensured,” he added. He said stringent measures will be taken to prevent female foeticides with better coordination between the departments concerned. borewell scam ED raids BBMP offices, grills chief engineer M o h a mm e d Ya c o o b @ Bengaluru Sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted search and seizure operations at the head office of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and its four zonal offices on Tuesday in connection with the alleged Rs 970-crore scam in drilling borewells and installation RO plants in the city . It is said that the sleuths also went through documents related to whitetopping and other works implemented between 2014 and 2024. Apart from the BBMP head office at NR Square, they raided zonal offices in RR Nagar, Bommanahalli and Mahadevapura, and the sub-division office in Kengeri. The sleuths grilled several top BBMP officers, including chief engineer BS Prahalad and chief accounts officer Beena for several hours. The ED has asked BBMP chief commissioner Tushar Girinath to make arrangements for its sleuths to stay in the palike’s office for a few days, indicating that it will dig deeper into the alleged scam to identify those behind it. Addressing reporters, Prahalad confirmed that the sleuths sought details related to borewell drilling work and installation of RO plants. BBMP officials are cooperating with them. Former corporator and BJP leader NR Ramesh filed a complaint with the now disbanded Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in 2019.