kottayam l Sunday l may 04, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city edition Australia PM Anthony Albanese wins a second three-year term Albanese’s steady leadership resonated at a time of global tumult, with voters deserting hard-nosed opposition leader Peter Dutton housing crisis, healthcare sway voters dutton’s praise for trump a costly error US President Trump cast a long shadow over the six-week election campaign, sparking keen global interest in whether his tariff-induced economic chaos would influence the result. Albanese has promised to embrace renewable energy, tackle a worsening housing crisis and a creaking healthcare system, while Dutton wanted to slash immigration ■ ■ Some pre-vote polls showed Dutton leaking support because of Trump, who he praised as a “big thinker” on the global stage Albanese’s government has embraced the global push towards decarbonisation, warning of a future in which iron ore and polluting coal exports no longer prop up the economy | P9 36 day campaign was a largely staid affair, with a few exceptions 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 Committed to take firm action against terrorists and their ecosystem: Modi Further squeeze India stops direct & indirect Pak imports, suspends mail services, denies port access J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday vowed unwavering and decisive action against terrorists and their backers, condemning terrorism as the gravest threat to humanity, after his meeting with visiting Angola’s President Joao Lourenco here. Meanwhile, as part of continuing economic and diplomatic measures following the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, including a Nepalese citizen, India halted all imports from Pakistan, suspended mail services, and denied port access to Pakistani vessels with immediate effect. “Government of India has decided to suspend the exchange of all categories of inbound mail and parcels from Pakistan through air and surface routes,” Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister for Communication said. India also imposed a ban on both direct and indirect imports from Pakistan and barred Pakistani ships from accessing Indian ports. A newly introduced provision in the Foreign Trade Policy said that “the direct or indirect import or transit of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan is prohibited with immediate effect until further orders.” The notification said the provision was imposed in the interest of national security Another order from the Direc. torate General of Shipping said that any ship flying the Pakistani flag will be prohibited from visiting Indian ports. Although trade volumes are low, it has become a casualty following the terror strike, as India began imposing economic costs on Pakistan due to the cross-border links involved in the attack. Direct trade had already sharply declined after India revoked Pakistan’s Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status fol- Addl structure on Indus will draw attack: Pak minister E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi with J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in New Delhi | PTI Pak test-fires Abdali missile Lanka searches Chennai flight Pakistan conducted a successful training launch of the Abdali surfaceto-surface missile with a range of 450 km. India saw it as a blatant act of provocation Sri Lankan police searched a flight arriving in Colombo from Chennai after being tipped off that a suspect linked to the Pahalgam attack could be on board. The filght was later cleared. No one was arrested Pak wife: CRPF jawan sacked The Central Reserve Police Force sacked its jawan Munir Ahmed for concealing his marriage with a Pakistani woman, as his action was found to be detrimental to national security, official sources said lowing the Pulwama attack in 2019. India’s imports from Pakistan have been minimal in recent years, with some goods routed through third-party ports like Dubai, Singapore, and Colombo to bypass trade restrictions. In 2023-24, India imported just USD 3 million worth of goods from Pakistan. However, with India halting all trade, Pakistan, heavily reliant on India for pharmaceuticals, is now urgently seeking alternative sources for its pharmaceutical requirements. Amid escalating tensions over the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned on Friday that Islamabad would “strike” if India built any structure on the Indus River, violating the Indus Waters Treaty . Speaking to Geo News, Asif said that building any infrastructure on the river would be considered an act of “Indian aggression”. The warning came after India held in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty as part of its broader response to the terror attack in Pahalg am. Asif emphasised that any attempt by India to build on the Khawaja Asif, river would be Pak def minister met with strong opposition. “Certainly, if they attempt to build any structure, we will strike it. Aggression is not just about firing cannons or bullets; it has many faces. One of those faces is (blocking or diverting water), which could lead to deaths due to hunger and thirst.” Asif added: “If they make any architectural attempt, then Pakistan will destroy that structure.” However, Asif said for now, Pakistan would take the issue to the appropriate forums, and relevant stakeholders. Six dead, 80 injured in temple fest stampede S u d h i r s u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai AT least six people died while 80 sustained injuries in a stampede that broke out at a temple festival at Shirgaon in North Goa early Saturday morning. The state government ordered a magisterial inquiry, headed by Revenue Secretary Sandeep Jacques, into the tragedy at Shirgao village, and transferred five officials including the district collector and superintendent of police. T he stampede oc curred at around 3 am when thousands of devotees thronged the narrow lanes leading to the temple of Goddess Sree Lairai Devi for an annual festival, police said. The village is located 40 km away from Panaji. “At least 30,000 to 40,000 people had gathered, and some were standing on a slope. A few persons fell, causing others to tumble and fall on each other,” DGP Alok Kumar said. About 50 people fell on the slope, and the stampede was confined to that spot, he added. WITH THIS ISSUE Fatal Medicine PLUS 12 PAGES Deaths at med college: Initial findings rule out asphyxiation E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Kozhikode The death of four patients who were evacuated after smoke engulfed the emergency block of the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital on Friday night continues to raise questions even as the preliminary postmortem examination concluded that the deaths were not caused by smoke inhalation. Health Minister Veena George, who visited the spot on Saturday, announced that a team of medical experts from outside the Kozhikode MCH will be appointed to investigate allegations by relatives of the deceased that the patients on ventilators died during evacuation. The allegation is that the deaths could have happened when the critically-ill patients were evacuated without proper medical support. Yusuf Ali, brother of a patient, Naseera, alleged that her health had improved before she was removed from the ventila- tor and that she died while being removed from the ventilator. The postmortem of Gopalan, 65, from West Hill; Surendran, 59, from Vadakara; and Gangadharan, 70, from Meppayur revealed that the cause of death was cardiac arrest. According to the preliminary autopsy findings of Meppadi native Naseera, 44, the death was due to poisoning. A migrant worker Ganga, 34, was brought dead to the hospital. However, the samples of their internal organs will be sent for further examination. The blast which occurred around 8 pm on Friday originated in the UPS , room adjacent to the MRI scan unit. The explosion was followed by a heavy release of smoke, causing panic among patients and their bystanders. The initial investigation report of the Fire and Rescue Services team stated that the smoke was caused by a short circuit in  More on P5 the UPS.  Coming soon: ‘Pinarayi, The Legend’ docu film E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram At a time when the CPM has been adopting a stern position against cult worship of any sort, a documentary purportedly celebrating Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is in the making. Bankrolled by the CPM-backed Kerala Secretariat Employees Association at a cost of `15 lakh, ‘Pinarayi, The Legend’ will be screened in connec- tion with the fourth anniversary of the state government. Shooting for the 30-minute documentary, which will capture the political journey of the Kannur leader, has already begun. Directed by Althaf, of Nemom, the film will shed light on various aspects of Pinarayi, right from his time in stu- dent politics to his 10th year as chief minister. The association plans to have the documentary released by the CM himself at Central Stadium on May 21 during the anniversary celebrations. The association is of the opinion that it’s not in the wrong in bringing out a documentary on CM. Its council meeting on Saturday discussed various aspects of the matter and finalised the decision.  ● More on P5