DHARMAPURI l Wednesday l February 19, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l CITY EDITION Russia, U.S. to name negotiators to end Ukraine war, sans Kyiv Russia and the United States will name teams to negotiate a path to ending the war in Ukraine, leaders of both nations said on Tuesday in Riyadh US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) at the meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Tuesday | AFP won’t accept outcome of talks: Zelenskyy need concessions from all sides, says U.S. No Ukrainian officials were present at the meeting. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy slammed his nation’s exclusion from the Riyadh gathering, which lasted more than four hours. He said that any talks aimed at ending the Ukraine war should be “fair” and involve European countries, including Turkey — which had offered to host negotiations ■ ■ Beyond Ukraine, the meeting attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov focussed on improving relations between the two superpowers | P11 Rubio said ending Russia’s war in Ukraine would need concessions from all sides and that Europe would be a part of the talks $52 bn The size of the European union’s military assistance for ukraine 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 After Modi, Amir talks, Qatar ties in strategic zone Aim to double bilateral trade from $14 bn in five years, enhance energy, trade partnership Videograb of a Delta Airline plane upside down at Toronto Pearson Int’l Airport on Tuesday. The jet landed amid strong winds and snow, leading to it crashing and flipping over. Its right wing was missing. All 80 on board survived Rahul, Tharoor kiss and make up Extradited middleman in J ayanth J ac o b @ New Delhi India and Qatar elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership on Tuesday, agreeing to double their annual trade from $14 billion in five years and focusing on enhancing cooperation in energy, investments and the technology sector following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. Both sides signed agreements and five memorandums of understanding (MOUs), including a revised double taxation avoidance pact. India already has strategic ties with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “Had a very productive meeting with my brother, Amir of Qatar H.H. Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, earlier today . Under his leadership, Qatar has scaled new heights of progress. He is also committed to a strong India-Qatar friendship. This visit is even more special because we have elevated our ties to a Strategic Partnership,” Modi said on X. “Trade, investment and energy were among the major topics of discussion between the two leaders today,” said Arun Chatterjee, Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. On a wing and a prayer as Delta flips PREETHA NAIR & K S SREEJITH @ New Delhi / T’Puram Pic: Shekhar Yadav Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugs Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday Qatar is also a major investor in India, with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) holding around $1.5 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) across sectors like retail, power, IT, education, healthcare and affordable housing. Both leaders identified a number of areas in which the QIA can increase investments. This is the Amir’s second visit to India after Modi came to power. Regarding a Navy official who is still in Qatari jail Chatterjee said: “I would like to just mention that his matter still remains sub judice in the local courts in Qatar. And as I mentioned, the prime minister appreciated the work that Amir and his government is doing in the protection and the welfare of our Indian citizens.” express read TN budget to be presented in Assembly on March 14 Chennai: The Tamil Nadu state budget for 2025-26 will be presented in the Assembly on March 14, speaker M Appavu said on Tuesday. The duration of the budget session will be decided by the Assembly Business Advisory Committee, which will meet on the same day. The government has begun preparations for the budget estimates | P4 NIA arrests two for leaking naval info to Pakistan agents S u b hash C han d ra N S @ Karwar/Ankola SLEUTHS of National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Akshay Naik and Vethan Tandel from Karwar and Ankola on Tuesday for allegedly leaking crucial information about the Kadamba naval base to agents from Pakistan. The two worked on a contract basis at the naval base, and were found to have sent photographs of warships and aircraft carriers to the agents. The raid on Tuesday follows a two-year probe by NIA sleuths, who recovered incriminating information, photographs, and electronic gadgets from the two contract workers. NIA was closely watching the duo’s movements since they were interrogated in August 2024. Their involvement was revealed by Deepak, who was arrested by NIA sleuths in Visakhapatnam. The case is linked to a broader espionage ring involving employees of Shivam Marine Corporation and Ultra Marine Corporation, which supply skilled workers to the naval base. NIA has been investigating this case since June 5, 2023, and has made several arrests in Mumbai and other places. Naik and Tandel were taken to NIA headquarters in Hyderabad. AMID the row over Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s recent column in this newspaper backing the CPM-led Kerala government’s development initiatives, senior leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday held a 30-minute oneon-one meeting with the fourtime MP from Thiruvananthapuram, who has come under fire from the party’s state unit. Sources said the Congress’ top leadership has decided to stand with Tharoor, who managed to convince Rahul about the facts in his column. Both leaders also agreed to meet more frequently . This is the first such meeting between Rahul and Tharoor in about three years and is seen as Rahul Gandhi a reconciliatory effort on the part of the central leadership. “Tharoor has been trying for an appointment with Rahul ever since the latter contested for Congress president in 2022. It required an article for that to happen,’’ a close confidant of Tharoor said in half jest. However, the development is seen as a blow to the state leadership. Leader of Opposition V D Satheeshan, his predecessor Leaders of DMK and alliance parties at the protest against the Union government held in Chennai on Tuesday | P Jawahar DMK & allies on NEP: Don’t push us to wage another language war E x press ne w s service @ Chennai Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin warned the union government that Tamil Nadu may have to wage another ‘mozhi por’ (language war) if the centre is adamant in thrusting threelanguage policy on the state. “Thousands of us are ready to die to stop Hindi imposition,” he said. Speaking at the all-party protest organised by the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) in Chennai on Tuesday against the union government, the DMK youth wing secretary said the centre cannot do anything by force in Tamil Nadu. “By imposing Hindi, they are trying to spoil Tamil Nadu’s rich history and culture and reduce Tamils to second-class citizens,” he said. Udhayanidhi said, “Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the TN government was rejecting the National Education Policy (NEP) for politics. Let him know, politics comes second for us. Language comes first.” “All the struggles that happened in Tamil Nadu over the past 100 years can be grouped under two causes --- for education and for language. Now, both are under threat because of NEP,” he added. P7 TN makes cop check must for edu staff hiring S u b ashini V ijayak u m ar @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu government has made police verification mandatory for candidates to be recruited for teaching and nonteaching positions, including temporary and per manent ones, in all educational institutions. The new regulations were issued after Chief Secretary N Muruganandam convened a high-level meeting a few days ago on the recent spike in sexual abuse cases in educational institutions across the state. While the school education department had already announced strict departmental and criminal action against teachers found guilty of sexual abuse, the new rules mandate all employees to sign a ‘Child Safeguarding Declaration Document’ to ensure accountability. Schools must also conduct ‘Personal Safety Education’ sessions for students every three months to help them understand self-protection, seek help when necessary, and improve their self-confidence. NGOs and subject matter experts will prepare training materials and train master trainers who will then educate the teachers. The guidelines also mandate the presence of female staff for the safety of girl students. Educational institutions must appoint a woman assistant in vehicles transporting girl students. Schools should ensure the presence of female physical education teachers in coeducational and girls’ schools.  P7 Shashi Tharoor 7 students assault girl The Coimbatore city police on Tuesday arrested seven college students under Pocso Act for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl. The suspects are students of a private college at Kuniyamuthur. The victim is a 17-year-old school dropout | P2 Ramesh Chennithala, and senior leader K Muralidharan had buried their differences and united to condemn Tharoor. Sources said Tharoor raised the issue of non-cooperation from the Kerala leadership and the lack of inclusiveness in discussion at the national level. Speaking to media later, AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Veugopal said all is well in the party and that Tharoor shares the party’s views. However, Tharoor declined to comment on the meeting. “It was a long-pending request I had made for a meeting to discuss various issues. Since it was a meeting where only the two of us were present throughout, it would not be appropriate for me to say anything more,” he said. Westland case gets bail s u chitra ka lyan m o hant y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to alleged middleman Christian Michel James in the `3,600-crore AgustaWestland case being probed by the CBI. A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta observed James was in custody for the past six years while the investigation in the matter by CBI was still underway . James, however, cannot walk out of jail as he faces another money laundering case in the Delhi High Court. “The petitioner was extradited in 2018 and has been in custody for more than 6 years. Acc o rd i n g t o t h e C B I . . . t h e investigation is still on. We are inclined to grant bail,” said the bench. It said given the speed, the trial would not conclude in 25 years. The scam relates to irregularities in purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland. James is one among three middlemen in the case. Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa are the other two. The CBI chargesheet alleged a loss of `2,666 crore to the exchequer due to the deal signed on February 8, 2010.