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 ■ ■ TIRUNELVELI l thursday l january 30, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION Disaster strikes during rush for a dip at Sangam’s nose, probe panel formed Ganga River Prayagraj Pilgrims’ crush kills At least 30 in maha kumbh NA M ITA B A J PAI @ Lucknow No PG-NEET domicile quota S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that domicilebased reservations for post-graduate medical courses under state quotas are unconstitutional. “Reservation in higher levels on the basis of residence would be violative of Article 14 of the Constitution,” a three-judge bench of the court led by Justice Hrishikesh Roy said. “We are all domiciles in the territory of India. There is nothing like a provincial or state domicile. There is only one domicile,” it said. The bench said state quota seats must be filled solely on the basis of merit in the NEET exam. It clarified the judgment will not affect the domicilebased reservations already granted. It said such quotas can be given to a certain degree only in MBBS courses. The court was hearing Tanvi Behl vs Shrey Goel. express read ISRO hits a ton with first launch of ’25 Death for man in double honour killing Chennai: ISRO successfully launched its 100th mission on Wednesday from Sriharikota by placing NVS02, part of NavIC system, into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by GSLV-F15 rocket | P5 Coimbatore: A special court in Coimbatore on Wednesday sentenced a 30-year-old man to death for murdering his brother and the latter’s 16-year-old girlfriend in a 2019 ‘honour killing’ case | P2 AT least 30 people were killed and 60 others injured in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in the wee hours on Wednesday. The predawn tragedy took place at the nose of the Triveni Sangam—the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati rivers—when a large number of devotees started moving to take holy dip ahead of the brahm muhurt (early morning hours considered auspicious). According to Maha Kumbh Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Vaibhav Krishna, the tragic incident took place between 1 am and 2 am. The DIG said barricades were placed for lane management but they could not sustain the pressure of the crowd. “The crowds broke barricades and jumped to the other side, crushing those waiting there to take bath. Over 90 injured were rushed to the hospital, out of whom 30 died,” he said, adding that many devotees, including women and children, fell down. Of the 60 injured, 24 were discharged after treatment with 36 still recovering in hospital. The Uttar Pradesh government ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident. A three-member com- mittee headed by Justice Harsh Kumar has been formed. The probe panel includes former DG V K Gupta and retired IAS officer B K Singh. It will look into the root cause of the incident, while the police will conduct its own parallel investigation, official sources said. DIG Krishna told media persons that there will be no VIP protocol at the mela, following strict orders from the state government. “We will not be entertaining VIP protocol for the coming snans,” he said, adding that there was no VIP protocol on Wednesday either. The clarification came after some opposition parties attributed the mishap to the ‘VIP culture’ being pursued by senior officials. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced financial assistance of `25 lakh each to the families of the deceased. He also urged people not to fall for rumours. A visibly emotional Yogi said: “The incident is heart-wrenching. We express our deepest condolences to all those families who lost their loved ones. We have been in constant touch with the administration since last night.” The Sangam nose is where saints and spiritual leaders from various akhadas perform their ritual baths. Though limited in Yamuna River Stampede location: Sangam nose where Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati meet Tragedy extremely saddening, says Modi A stranded devotee after a stampede at the Sangam during the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela, in Prayagraj on Wednesday | PTI Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to those who lost their family members in the tragedy describing it as extremely saddening 60 24 25 injured in the stampede get first aid, discharged high alert Varanasi and Ayodhya are on high alert as authorities have stepped up security measures. The two holy cities have been witnessing heavy rush deceased identified It is important to get to the bottom of the whole episode on how such a tragedy occurred — Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath terms of space, it is the mostpreferred location of the Triveni Sangam. One of the reasons for the tragedy, according to eyewitness accounts, was the sudden surge of pilgrims at the Sangam nose to take the holy dip at around 3 am, the start of the auspicious hour. “It was a frenzy and obsession to reach Sangam nose. Also, the rumour that Naga sadhus had started for the holy dip made the devotees rush; they jumped over each other breaking the barricade. This led to the stampede as several women had fallen to the ground. They got trampled by the crowd proceeding towards the Sangam,” Rakesh Sahu of Rae Bareli told this newspaper. Nalin Kumar of Patna said he had come for the holy dip with eight family members, of whom two are still missing. “The crowd was unmanageable despite all the arrangements by the authorities,” he said.  P8 When you feel committed, before you even commit, you've found your Platinum Day of Love. Mark this moment with Platinum Love Bands. Crafted with 95% pure platinum, they carry the ‘Pt950’ mark of purity, one of the highest standards in precious jewellery, making them truly rare. Just like your love. A love so rare. A love so platinum. Scan to experience the magic of platinum