bengaluru l saturday l january 18, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 22 l late city EDITION donald trump’s inauguration on sunday to be moved indoors President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will be moved indoors, he said Friday, due to forecast of severe cold temperatures in Washington DC victory rally venue remains unchanged ‘arctic blast sweeping through u.s.’ Trump posted on his app Truth Social: “I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather.” The Victory Rally at Capital One Arena Sunday and the three Inaugural Balls on Monday will remain unchanged ■ ■ “There is an Arctic blast sweeping through the US. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way,” the President-elect said. The last time a US president was sworn in indoors was in 1985, when Ronald Reagan took oath of office inside Capitol Rotunda due to extremely cold weather, forcing the inaugural parade to be cancelled $170 mn has been raised to cover expenses of donald trump’s inauguration 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 Israel nod to truce deal a step away ED attaches 142 assets MUDA case First hostages to be freed Sunday; Hamas should furnish hostages’ names by Saturday Naysayer in cabinet a p & a g en c i e s @ Jerusalem ISRAEL’s security cabinet on Friday recommended approval of a ceasefire deal after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed an agreement had been reached that would pause the 15-month war with Hamas in Gaza and release dozens of hostages held by militants there. Mediators Qatar and the US announced the ceasefire on Wednesday, but the deal was uncertain as Netanyahu insisted there were last-minute snags he blamed on Hamas. The truce deal now goes to the full Israeli cabinet for its final approval. The cabinet is Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir threatened to quit if a ceasefire is approved, although his resignation wouldn’t derail the peace deal. His resignation could, however, destabilise the coalition govt cobbled together by Netanyahu expected to approve the pact. Netanyahu instructed a special task force to prepare to receive hostages returning from Gaza, and said their families were informed about the deal. The prime minister’s office said the ceasefire could start Sunday when the first hostages are freed. Under the deal, 33 of some 100 hostages in Gaza will be released over six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. As for Israel, its forces will have to pull back from many areas in Gaza, allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to what’s left of their homes. The remaining hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second — and much more difficult — phase. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir voted against the deal at the security cabinet, but were in a minority . Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of Palestinian prisoners slated for release in the first phase. The list includes 95 women and children held in Israeli jails. The deal stipulates that Hamas provide Israel with names of the hostages it will release by Sunday . Several clues found in Saif case, says CM A g en c i e s @ Mumbai A day after actor Saif Ali Khan was stabbed multiple times in his Mumbai home, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the police have found several clues and will arrest the culprit soon. Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, said: “Police investigation is going on... they have got many clues and I feel the police will very soon zero in.” Over 30 teams are on the lookout for the culprit. Minister of state for h o m e Yo g e s h Kadam said there is no underworld link to the attack. The police picked up a carpenter as he resembled the intruder, and brought him to the Bandra police station for questioning, but released him later. “This seems to be a stray incident. The intruder was not working for any gang as per prima facie investigation. He probably was not even aware whose house he had entered in,” said a police officer. Budget session from January 31 Parliament’s Budget session will begin on January 31. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table her 8th straight budget on February 1 | P11 khel ratnas President Droupadi Murmu presents Khel Ratnas to (from left) Paris Olympic double medallist Manu Bhaker, Paris Para-Olympics gold winner Praveen Kumar, Paris Olympic hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and world chess champion D Gukesh | PTI | P17 BJP decides to go all out on one-nation-one-poll plan RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR & J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi Signalling its resolve to roll out the ‘one nation, one election’ plan, the BJP has constituted a high-powered committee chaired by Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan to shape public opinion and align its own state and local body governments with the importance of the idea. BJP leaders Sunil Bansal, Om Prakash Dhankhar, Surendra Nagar, Kamakhaya Prasad Tasa and Anil Antony are the other members of the panel. The six-member team will plan th e outre ach p ro grammes and campaigns in this regard even as a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the matter, chaired by BJP leader P P Chaudhary, is deliberating the issue. In March last year, a panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind proposed the idea of holding state and general elections simultaneously in its 18,626-page report. An introductory meeting of the Chauhan-led committee has already been held, and a detailed meeting will take place in the coming days, where the complete roadmap for the plan will be chalked out, sources told this newspaper. The committee may also be expanded, they added. According to a BJP functionary, the plan is to draw a strategy to bring on board every stake holder as the party is confident of getting past the hurdles for passing the necessary constitutional amendments. The BJP wants to have a synchronised approach from its leaders, office-bearers, legislators, and local body representatives to “constantly and comprehensively” address the topic in public forums. The party also intends to engage Bar Associations, Chambers of Commerce, women’s self-help groups and various student organisations in the campaign. Armed gang storms M’luru bank,  loots jewellery worth `4 crore lice teams have been formed to nab the gang. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e  @ Mangaluru In a daring daylight robbery a , gang of 5-6 members broke into Vyavasaya Seva Sahakara Sangha Bank at Kotekar near Mangaluru on Friday and took away gold jewellery and other valuables estimated at Rs 4 crore. According to Mangaluru city police commissioner Anupam Agrawal, the gang members, aged between 35 and 40, entered the bank between 1pm and 1.20pm. They wore masks and carried a pistol and machetes. They threatened the bank employees in Hindi and forced them to open the vault, where gold jewellery and other valuables were kept. The gang members damaged a printer, forci- CM holds meeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah meets top police officers after the bank robbery in Mangaluru on Friday | Express bly took mobile phones from the employees and snatched a ring from a CCTV technician in the bank. At the time of robbery, there were only five employees and there was no security guard. After putting the valuables into bags, the gang members escaped in a black car towards KC Road junction. Special po- Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was in Mangaluru, held an emergency meeting with senior police officers and directed them to initiate swift action to nab the gang members. Expressing shock over the daylight robbery, Siddaramaiah sought to know how the gang members managed to cross the toll gates on the city’s outskirts. “How can they cross the toll gates if security was tight?” he asked the officers. The CM ordered the officers to  tighten security at all toll gates and start “nakabandi” across Dakshina Kannada and neighbouring districts. Shivraj Singh Chauhan Chauhan to lead outreach Six-member panel to direct campaigns and outreach initiatives to bring on board stakeholders Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan to head the panel BJP believes constant poll preoccupation is disrupting the country’s development press Intake US consulate opens in B’luru, visa service to take time | P2 Missing seven-yearold boy found dead in city lake | P3 HC stays proceedings against Rahul in defamation case | P4 24k quintals of jowar found worminfested in Ballari | P7 worth `300 crore E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e  @ Bengaluru The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bengaluru, has provisionally attached 142 immovable properties with a market value of about Rs 300 crore under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002, in connection with a case against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others.  The attached properties are in the names of individuals working as real estate businessmen and agents, according to a statement issued by the ED. The ED launched an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by Lokayukta Police, Mysuru, under various Sections of IPC, 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against Siddaramaiah and others. The Lokayukta Police are investigating the MUDA sites allotment case against Siddaramaiah and others. It is alleged that Siddaramaiah used his political influence to get 14 compensation sites in the name of his wife BM Parvathi in lieu of 3 acres and 16 guntas of land acquired by MUDA. The land was acquired by MUDA for Rs 3,24,700. The compensation in the form of 14 sites at a posh locality is said to be worth Rs 56 crore.Former MUDA commissioner DB Natesh played an important role in the alleged illegal allotment of sites to Parvathi. Searches conducted during the investigation revealed that many sites, other than those allotted to Parvathi, have been illegally allotted by MUDA as compensation to real estate businessmen, who in turn sold them generating a huge amount of unaccounted cash. The profit so generated has been laundered and showed as derived from legitimate sources. The searches revealed that sites were allotted to benamis of influential persons. The incriminating evidence with regard to payment of illegal gratification to then MUDA chairman and MUDA commissioner in the form of immovable property, MUDA sites, cash, etc., were recovered. The illegal gratification was laundered and showed as derived out of legitimate sources, the release stated. It was also revealed that money was routed through a cooperative society for purchase of property luxury vehi, cles, etc., in the names of relatives of GT Dinesh Kumar, who was the commissioner of MUDA, the release stated. Metro fare likely to go up by 43% E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru Namma Metro will hike its fare by nearly 43%, according to sources. There will be a 5% discount on this fare during non-peak hours if commuters use Metro travel cards. Presently, the minimum fare is Rs 10 and maximum Rs 60 with travel card users having a 5% discount on it. BMRCL managing director M Maheshwar Rao made a presentation on the recommendations of the fare fixation committee on Friday On details pertaining . to fare revision, Metro officials insisted that they will be made public on Saturday Bengaluru . Central MP PC Mohan said, “I think Metro fare is going to be increased by 45%.” Asked if the hike was too steep, a source justified it saying, “The hike comes after eight years. Our network has expanded and operational costs have increased. The committee’s recommendations are binding.” The previous hike of 10 to 15% was done on June 18, 2017. Another source said, “This hike will be applicable only for tokens because those who do not travel during peak hours stand to gain another 5% off on it.” There will not be a hike in the basic fare and the minimum fare will remain Rs 10, said an official. P2