THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l saturday l January 18, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 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 First hostages to be freed on Sunday; Hamas required to furnish hostage names by Saturday Naysayer in cabinet a p & a g enc i es @ 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 EXPRESS READ 1 dead, several hurt as tourist bus overturns T’Puram: One person died and several others sustained injuries after a tourist bus overturned at Irinchayam near Nedumangad in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday night. The deceased has been identified as Dasini, 60, a resident of Kavalloor. The travellers included families from Kattakada, Perumkadavila and Ottasekharamangalam. P4 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 . BJP 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 the outreach programmes and campaigns in this regard even as a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the matter, chaired by BJP leader P P Chaudhary is delib, erating 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. ● More on P10 Greeshma guilty of Sharon Raj murder, sentencing today E x p ress N e w s S er v i ce @ T’Puram The Neyyattinkara Additional Sessions Court has found Greeshma, a native of Ramavarmanchira in Kanyakumari district, guilty of murdering her friend Sharon Raj, 23, by administering him an ayurvedic concoction laced with a lethal herbicide in 2022. The court found the 24-yearold guilty of all charges levelled against her, including murder, kidnapping and destruction of evidence. Greeshma’s uncle Nirmalakumaran Nair was convicted on charges of destroying evidence, while her mother Sindhu was let off for want of evid e n c e. T h e q u a n t u m o f punishment will be announced on Saturday . Sharon Raj, a BSc radiology student and a resident of Parassala, died while undergoing treatment at the Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. Sharon had suffered irreversible damage to his liver, kidney and lungs after he consumed the deadly concoction given by Greeshma on October 14 , 2022. The drink was Greeshma Sharon Raj DEADLY DRINK On October 14, 2022, Greeshma administered Sharon Raj an ayurvedic concoction laced with a lethal herbicide, said prosecution Eleven days after, Sharon, who suffered irreversible damage to his liver, kidney and lungs, died while undergoing treatment at Thiruvananthapuram MCH prepared by mixing paraquat dichloride with an ayurvedic medicine, police said. Sharon died of multiple organ failure 11 days later. The crime branch that probed the case found that Greeshma bumped off Sharon to marry an Army man from Nagercoil. According to the prosecution, Sharon and Greeshma had been in a relationship since 2021. ● More on P6 Several clues found in Saif case, says CM A g enc i es @ 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 home Yogesh 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. 18 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express