KOZHIKODE l monday l april 07, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Protesters march in U.S. cities against Trump ‘devastation’ lens on ‘outrageous administration’ Opponents of Trump’s policies — from government staffing cuts to trade tariffs and eroding civil liberties — rallied in Washington, New York, Houston, Florida, Colorado, and Los Angeles, among other locations. “This outrageous administration is causing us to lose our allies across the world,” said Diane Kolifrath, 64, a bike tour guide Thousands of protesters flooded streets of US cities Saturday to oppose policies of Trump, in the largest demonstration in his new stint helplessness in face of trump tirade ■ ■ Trump has angered many Americans by moving aggressively to downsize, unilaterally impose conservative values and pressure even friendly countries over trade, causing stock markets to tank Many Democrats are irate that their party, in minority in the Congress, has seemed so helpless to resist Donald Trump’s moves 1,200 locations in 50 states witnessed protests as part of hands off rally 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 Baby is new CPM boss 2nd leader from state CPM to lead party, after Communist patriarch E M S Namboodiripad Pinarayi gets another extension in politburo; in a first, election held to central committee A n i l S @ Madurai The 24th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which culminated on a more-or-less uneventful note in Madurai on Sunday – barring a surprise election to the Central Committee – elected veteran Kerala leader M A Baby as its sixth general secretary . The 71-year-old’s elevation to the top post was on expected lines, though initially, there was some opposition from the West Bengal unit. A former Kerala minister, Baby is the second leader from the state CPM to lead the party, after Communist patriarch E M S Namboodiripad. He is also the first leader from the Christian minority to lead the party . The party congress also elected an 85-member Central Committee with 20% women representation and 30 new faces. The congress, which chose to strictly adhere to the age cap of 75 years, saw seven veterans, including Prakash Karat, Manik Sarkar, Brinda Karat and Subhashini Ali stepping down, making way for eight new faces. The Karats, Sarkar and Ali along with three veterans – Biman Basu, S Ramachandran Pillai and Hannan Mollah were made special invitees to the CC. Jammu & Kashmir leader Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami and P K Sreemathy from Kerala too were exempted from the age criterion and retained in CC. The politburo (PB) strength has been increased to 18 from the previous 17. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan — Youth killed in wild jumbo attack in Palakkad E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @Palakkad A 22-year-old youth was killed and his mother critically injured in a wild elephant attack at Kannadanchola in Kayaramkode ward of Mundur panchayat, Palakkad, on Sunday night. The deceased, Allen Joseph, and his mother, Viji, were returning home from a nearby shop around 8 pm when a wild elephant emerged unexpectedly during a power outage and attacked them. It is learnt that the elephant charged at Allen, k n o c ke d h i m down, and trampled him to death. The body has been kept at the mortuary of the Palakkad District Government Hospital. Viji, who suffered serious injuries to her shoulder blade, was initially admitted to the district hospital but was later shifted to the Thrissur Government Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment. “This is a horrifying tragedy . Allen, a diploma student, had just returned home from his ancestral house in Kottayam earlier that day The power out. age made it impossible for them to spot the elephant,” said Lakshmanan V, vice-president of the Mundur panchayat. Forest department officials arrived at the scene within half an hour and confirmed the presence of three wild elephants roaming ● More on P4 in the area. Woman dies following home birth; husband accused of negligence Dallewal ends 131-day fast in Punjab, vows to fight on to hospital authorities, the postmortem will be conducted on Monday . What should have been a Tensions flared when Asmoment of joy turned into a ma’s relatives confronted devastating tragedy for a Sirajuddin. He was reportfamily in Chattiparamba, edly assaulted and is currentMalappuram, when 35-year- ly receiving treatment at a old Asma lost her life hours local hospital. The baby has after giving birth to a boy — been shifted to medical care her fifth delivery — within and is reportedly in stable the confines of her rented condition. house, without medical Asma’s family claimed that supervision. only the first two of her five Asma’s family has accused deliveries took place in a hosher husband, Sirajudpital. They allege that din, who is now at the ‘Denial of despite war nings centre of a police in- med care’ from family and medvestigation, of negli- Asma’s family ical professionals gence and deliberate about the risks of a has accused denial of medical her husband, home birth — especare. cially given her age Sirajuddin of According to police and previous complinegligence reports, Asma gave and deliberate cations — Sirajuddin birth around 6 pm on insisted on avoiding denial of S a t u r d a y. T h r e e medical care. hospitals, citing perhours later, she was sonal beliefs and prefound unresponsive. vious home bir th Hospital Sirajuddin, who runs experiences. authorities, a religious YouTube said autopsy “Asma told us over channel, allegedly will be held on the phone that she failed to seek medical had delivered a baby Monday. help when Asma boy around 6 pm,” a went into labour. He report- family member said. “But by edly called an ambulance the time we were informed of only after she stopped her death — nearly six hours breathing. later — it was too late. Why The case took a disturbing didn’t they call us or the hosturn when Sirajuddin at- pital when things went tempted to shift the body to wrong?” Local residents dePerumbavoor for burial with- scribed the family as recluout notifying Asma’s imme- sive. Shockingly, many were diate family The ambulance unaware that Asma was even . driver, sensing something pregnant. was amiss, alerted authoriPerumbavoor police have ties. Police intervened and filed a case of unnatural redirected the body to Pe- death, but are not ruling out rumbavoor Taluk Hospital more serious charges pendfor postmortem. According ing the autopsy  ● More on P4 . Ha r p r eet B a j w a @ Chandigarh E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Malappuram M A Baby, the newly elected general secretary of CPM, and poliburo coordinator Prakash Karat raise hands during the 24th Congress of the CPM in Madurai on Sunday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan looks on | Express AT THE HELM An outstanding Marxist theorist and art connoisseur, M A Baby will lead the CPM for the next three years. 85-member CC Kerala gets bigger representation in Central Committee. Age He was inducted into the Central Committee in 1989, even before Pinarayi made it to the top panel However, he got elevated to the politburo only in 2012, after Pinarayi Vijayan and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan already on extension — was given another extension to retain him in the PB. The eight new faces inducted into the PB include All India Democratic Women’s Association general secretary Mariam Dhawale of Maharashtra, relaxation given to P K Sreemathy in CC. John Brittas made permanent invitee to CC Politburo strength increased to 18 from 17. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan gets yet another extension in PB Ashok Dhawale-Mariam Dhawale becomes second couple to reach politburo, after Prakash and Brinda karat It was West Bengal secretary Mohammed Salim who proposed my name, and it was backed by Dr Ashok Dhawale, whom some of you had projected as the general secretary candidate — M A Baby Tamil Nadu trade unionist U Vasuki, Delhi-based Keralite and All India Kisan Sabha general secretary Vijoo Krishnan, R Arun Kumar from Andhra Pradesh, Tripura secretary Jiten Choudhury, Tamil Nadu leader K Balakrishnan, Srideep Bhattacharya from West Bengal and Rajasthan MP Amra Ram. Sources said the decision to induct K Balakrishnan was taken at the last minute, after concerns came up over lack of Tamil Nadu representation in ● More on P5 the PB.  PUNJAB farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal on Sunday said he was ending his hunger strike which he had started on November 26 last year to press for various demands of agitating farmers including a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for crops. Addressing a ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ at Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) chief said, “You (farmers) have asked me to end the fast. I respect your sentiments and accept your order. I wanted to continue until all 12 demands were met, but as more farmers urged me to mobilise support nationwide, I decided to acce pt their appeals.” He reaffirmed the fight for a legal guarantee on MSP and said protests could resume if needed. The announcement came a day after Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu appealed to him to end his fast-unto-death. Dallewal launched his hunger strike on November 26, 2024, for MSP guarantee, apart from other demands. Detained on March 19, he was hospitalised until April 3. Protests at Shambhu and Khanauri were ended by Punjab Police on March 19. BJP-led govt has allotted TN more funds than UPA regimes, says Modi E x p r ess n e w s se r v i c e @ Ramanathapuram The BJP-led central government has provided Tamil Nadu three times the funds allocated by the earlier UPA regimes, of which the DMK was a part, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Rameswaram on Sunday, in an indirect attack on the Dravidian major which is in power in Tamil Nadu. His government’s allocations had boosted Tamil Nadu’s economic and industrial growth, he said. “Yet, some people have a habit of complaining without reason and they keep crying about things. Let them cry he ,” added, during his address at a government event to open the first vertical span sea railway bridge at Pamban and flag off a train service linking the is- 2 India-backed rail projects in Sri Lanka New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two major India-backed railway projects in Anuradhapura in northcentral Sri Lanka on Sunday. Accompanied by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Modi officially launched the upgraded Maho-Omanthai railway track and the newly installed signalling system for the MahoAnuradhapura segment. land to the mainland. He also dedicated various completed projects worth `8,300 crore to the nation and laid foundation stone for the four-laning works of a section of NH-40. Chief Minister MK Stalin, who ear- lier urged the PM to allay TN’s concerns about delimitation, skipped the event although state ministers were in attendance. Stating that the centre has prioritised TN’s infrastructure, Modi said the railway budget for the state had increased seven-fold in the past decade, from `900 crore before 2014 to over `6,000 crore now. In tri-lingual speech in Tamil, Hindi and English, the PM invoked Tamil culture, tradition and language. Mocking leaders from Tamil Nadu for writing to him in English, he said, “Sometimes, I am surprised when I receive letters from some leaders of Tamil Nadu —not a single one signs their name in Tamil. Tamil is a matter of pride, and I urge everyone to at least sign their names in Tamil to honour this glorious language.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the new Pamban Bridge in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu | PTI women power In a first, all-women tri-services crew to circumnavigate Indian Ocean m aya n k s i n g h @ New Delhi A remarkable tale of determination and sisterhood is unfolding in the Indian Ocean. In a first for the tri-services, 11 fearless women officers from the armed forces will start sailing around the Indian Ocean beginning Monday . The Samudra Pradakshina expedition kicks off on April 7 from Mumbai’s Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre, and promises to be a testament to women power and in- ter-services camaraderie. The leadup to this moment has been nothing short of Herculean. The team, comprising six Army officers, one Navy officer, and four Air Force officers, underwent rigorous training at the Army Adventure Nodal Centre for Blue Water Sailing, under College of Military Engineering in Pune. With little to no sailing experience, they began from scratch, mastering theoretical and practical aspects of sailing, as well as building the physical strength The Expedition by Numbers Distance to be covered: Over 4,000 nautical miles (approximately 7,400 km) Duration: 55 days, to be flagged off on April 7 at the Naval Training Centre Mumbai and stamina needed for the gruelling demands of the sea. “The selection process spanned over a year and tested physical fitness, endurance, teamwork, leadership qualities, psycho- Crew: 11 women officers from India’s Armed Forces Vessel: IASV Triveni, which will set a world record as the first TriServices team to circumnavigate the world logical resilience, and boathandling capabilities,” said a source. The training regimen was exhaustive and thorough, exposing the officers to various class- es of boats and essential sailing skills such as navigation, meteorology, and emergency response. The crew embarked on several training expeditions, gradually increasing in complexity and distance. They started with short day trips, progressing to day and night expeditions covering significant distances. Their training routes included voyages from Mumbai to Karanja, Murud, Goa, Kochi, Porbandar, Lakshadweep and back. Each training expedition pre- sented its own set of challenges, from unpredictable weather to mechanical issues and physical toll of continuous sailing. The mission is not just about breaking geographical milestones but also shattering cultural and gender barriers. The expedition, which will cover over 4,000 nautical miles in about 55 days, will be on board the IASV Triveni. The mission will set a world record as the first tri-services team to circumnavigate an ocean, a senior official said.