villupuram l Wednesday l march 19, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Hope and despair What’s happening in Ukraine is not good, but we’re going to see if we can work a peace agreement, a ceasefire and peace. And I think we’ll be able to do it US President Donald Trump Even if the other side makes a gesture of some sort... you can expect them to find another way or putting pressure or putting a spoke in our wheel Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump, Putin hold talks for ceasefire in Ukraine A g e nci e s @ Washington/Moscow US President Donald Trump on Monday held extensive discussions with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to persuade the latter to sign off on a 30-day ceasefire as a pathway to end the war in Ukraine. While Ukraine has already agreed to the US-proposed ceasefire, Russia sought clarifications on some points. Neither the White House nor Kremlin offered any immediate comments about the talks. The two leaders spoke for over two-and-a-half hours, Russian news agency TASS reported quoting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. This is the second time Trump and Putin have spoken over the phone since the former took office in January . Tuesday’s call comes after Ukrainian officials last week agreed to the American proposal during talks in Saudi Arabia led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, remains sceptical that Putin is ready for peace as Russian forces continue to pound Ukraine. Trump, before the call, said he expected to discuss with Putin land and power plants that have been seized during the grinding three-year war. White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino said in a social media posting that the leaders’ call began at 10 am Eastern and was ‘going well.’ The engagement is just the latest turn in dramatically shifting US-Russia relations as Trump made quickly ending the conflict a top priority ‘ even at the expense of straining ties with longtime American allies who want Putin to pay a price for the invasion. “It’s a bad situation in Russia, and it’s a bad situation in Ukraine,” Trump told reporters on Monday . In preparation for the Trump-Putin call, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff met last week with Putin in Moscow to discuss the proposal. Rubio had persuaded senior Ukrainian officials during talks in Saudi Arabia to agree to the ceasefire framework. Putin last week said he agreed in principle with the US proposal, but emphasised that Russia would seek guarantees that Ukraine would not use a break in hostilities to rearm and continue mobilization. The US president said Washington and Moscow have already begun discussing ‘dividing up certain assets” between Ukraine and Russia as part of a deal to end the conflict. US President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (File photos) | AFP Dargah trustee hacked to death by gang in Nellai e x p r e ss n e w s s e r v ic e @ Tirunelveli A 60-year-old former police subinspector was hacked to death by a gang in Tirunelveli city around 5.45 am on Tuesday in a suspected dispute regarding a parcel of Waqf land. S Zakir Hussain Bijili of Thottiipalam in Tirunelveli was returning from a mosque after morning prayers when he was attacked by the assailants 100 metres from his house. The gang inflicted deep cut injuries to his neck and head with lethal weapons. Hussain collapsed in a pool of blood and died on the spot. The gang fled the scene, police sources said. Hussain is survived by his wife and two children. He was serving as ‘muthavalli’ (trustee) of Muthu John Thaikka (Dargah) at Thootipalam Street in Tirunelveli Town and administrator of Waqf properties of the dargah after he opted for voluntary retirement from service, police said. Tirunelveli City Police Commissioner Santhosh Hadimani told TNIE that two persons, identified as Karthick and Akbar Shah, have surrendered at the Tirunelveli magistrate court in the case. P5 An injured man being taken to the Al-Ahli hospital following overnight airstrikes by Israel across the Gaza Strip | AP Truce deal in the bin as Israeli airstrikes kill over 400 in Gaza gaza strip: Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday killing at least 413 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and shattered a ceasefire in place since January with its deadliest bombardment in a 17-month asymmetrical war with Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after Hamas refused Israeli demands to change the ceasefire agreement. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions. The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza, including much of the northern town of Beit Hanoun and other communities further south, and head toward the centre of the territory indi- Hamas calls , cating that Israel could soon re- out the US new ground operations. “Israel Hamas leader will, from now on, act against Sami Abu Zuhri Hamas with increasing military told AFP the strength,” it said. strikes were an The attack during Ramzan attempt to could signal the full resumption force the of a war that has already killed group’s tens of thousands of Palestini“surrender”, ans across Gaza. It also raised and called the concerns about the fate of the United States roughly two dozen Israeli hos“complicit” in tages held by Hamas believed to the escalation still be alive. After two months of relative calm during the ceasefire, stunned Palestinians found themselves once again digging loved ones out of rubble and holding funeral prayers over the dead at hospital morgues. “Nobody wants to fight,” Palestinian resident Nidal Alzaanin told AP over phone. Gaza war mediator Qatar denounced Israel’s onslaught. It warned that the attack will ultimately ignite the region and undermine its security and stability, leading to a full-fledged war. Hamas said the head of its government in the Gaza Strip, Essam al-Dalis, was among top officials killed in the strikes, along with interior ministry head Mahmud Abu Watfa and Bahjat Abu Sultan, the director-general of the internal security service in Gaza Strip.  AP & AFP A democratic country must not function like a police state: SC S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Expressing dismay over the habit of trial courts and high courts denying bail even in minor cases despite completion of investigation, the Supreme Court said that the practice is unacceptable in a democratic country and that it creates unnecessary strain on the higher judiciary . “A democratic country must not function like a police state, where law enforcement agencies exercise arbitrary powers to detain individuals without genuine necessity a bench of jus,” tices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said on Monday while granting bail to an accused who had been in custody for over two years in a cheating case. The accused had moved the top court after his bail plea was mechanically rejected by both the trial court and the Gujarat High Court, despite the investigation being completed and a chargesheet filed. The Supreme Court has time and again held that bail, not jail, is the rule. Questioning the repeated rejection of bail pleas by lower courts, the SC observed that two decades ago, bail pleas in smaller cases rarely reached the high courts, let alone the apex court. Now, bail matters that should have been disposed of by magistrates are being brought before the SC, it said. “It is shocking that the Supreme Court is adjudicating bail pleas in cases that should be disposed of at the trial court level. The system is being burdened unnecessarily,” Justice Oka said. Bail, not jail, is the norm The Supreme Court has on numerous times urged lower courts to adopt a more liberal stance in granting bail, particularly in cases of minor infractions Bail matters in cases triable by magistrates are being brought before the SC... People are not getting bail when they should Justice Abhay Oka express read 3 CMs, leaders of 7 states to take part in delimitation meet Staff with 480 days of service must be made permanent: HC Chennai: Chief Ministers of Kerala, Telangana, and Punjab, deputy CM of Karnataka, and leaders of political parties from seven states are expected to take part in the Joint Action Committee meeting on delimitation to be organised by Chief Minister M K Stalin at a private hotel in Chennai on March 22 at 10 am | P4 Chennai: The Madras HC on Tuesday ruled that contract labourers are entitled to permanent job status in PSUs if they have completed 480 days of service in two years. TNPDCL, which sought quashing of an order issued in favour of workers, has been ordered to absorb the workers on a permanent basis within 12 weeks | P4 NASA's two stuck astronauts are headed back to Earth on Tuesday to close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with a bungled Boeing test flight more than nine months ago the homecoming Butch Wilmore and Indian-origin Sunita Williams bid farewell to the International Space Station, ‘their home since last spring ‘ departing aboard a SpaceX capsule alongside two other astronauts The mission took an unexpected turn in January when Trump asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk to accelerate their return The capsule undocked shortly after 10.30 am IST and aimed for a splashdown off the Florida coast five hours later | P9 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 ■ ■