HYDERABAD l sunday l may 04, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l LATE 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 ■ 36 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 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, decisive action against terrorists and their ecosystem, says Modi Further squeeze Addl structure on Indus will India stops direct & indirect Pak imports, draw attack: suspends mail services, denies port access Pak minister Jaya n t h Ja c o b @ New Delhi north goa 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. The stampede occurred 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.Thousands of devotees from Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka had congregated to attend the annual festival. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the tragedy “Saddened . by the loss of lives due to a stampede in Shirgao, Goa. May the injured recover soon,” the PM wrote on X. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced `10 lakh solatium for the family members of every deceased and `1 lakh to the injured. Express News Service 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 An. other order from the Directorate General of Shipping said that any ship flying the Pakistani flag will be prohibited from vis- 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 Pahalgam. Asif emphasised that any attempt by India to build o n t h e r ive r would be met with strong opposition. “Cer- Khawaja Asif, tainly, if they Pak def minister 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 for u m s, a n d t h e r e l ev a n t stakeholders. The Indus Waters Treaty was , signed on September 19, 1960, between India and Pakistan. @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi with J&K CM Omar Abdullah in New Delhi | PTI Pak test-fires Abdali missile Lanka searches Chennai flight Russian pitch for diplomacy Pakistan conducted a successful training launch of the Abdali surface-tosurface 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 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged India and Pak to settle differences through political and diplomatic means bilaterally, in line with the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration iting 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 following the Pulwama attack in 2019. India’s imports from Paki- stan 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. Seal all illegal buildings immediately, don’t wait for probe, HC tells GHMC TG Na i d u @ Hyderabad Taking serious note of the increasing number of unauthorised constructions in Hyderabad, the Telangana High Court has directed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to seal any illegal structure or additional floors built in violation of sanctioned building plans as soon as a show cause notice is issued, even if any inquiry is pending. The order was issued by Justice B Vijaysen Reddy who heard a petition filed by Jijjuvarapu Ramesh complaining that the GHMC failed to act against the unauthorised construction of a multi-storey building at Plot No. 555, OU Colony Shaikpet. , The builder, who obtained permission for a stilt floor plus two additional floors, constructed an additional three floors as well as a penthouse without approval. GHMC issued a show cause notice only after the structure was completed. Expressing serious concern over civic body tells officials to implement HC order Hyderabad: Swinging quickly into action after the high court order, the GHMC has instructed all its Zonal Commissioners, Deputy Municipal Commissioners, Nodal Officers and Deputy City Planners, Assistant City Planners to seal unauthorised constructions. Any violation of the instructions will be viewed seriously and necessary disciplinary action initiated against the concerned officials, said the civic body. GHMC’s inaction despite receiving complaints during the early stages of construction, Justice Reddy noted that officials wait for buildings to be completed before taking action, often citing the pendency of responses to show cause notices, allowing builders to continue illegal work without interruption. The judge observed that issuing notices without immediate enforcement enables violators to complete unauthorised floors and escape consequences. He stressed that illegal floors must be sealed right after de- viations are identified and not after prolonged delays. The court also took note of a possible nexus between builders, local politicians and GHMC officials, contributing to unchecked violations. It directed the GHMC Commissioner to issue a circular instructing all zonal and deputy commissioners and Town Planning staff to strictly implement these orders. The court warned that any negligence by GHMC staff in enforcing th ese direc tions may i nvite contempt proceedings. TG sizzles as temperature crosses 45°C mark again Orange alert An orange alert has been issued for thunderstorm in several districts till May 7 A man shields himself from the rain in Secunderabad on Saturday E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad The state recorded a surge in the maximum temperatures on Saturday, after a gradual drop over the last few days, with the mercury levels crossing the 45°C mark for the second time this summer after April 23. The highest maximum temperature of 45.4°C was recorded in Nizamabad, followed by 45.2°C at Nirmal and 45°C at Adilabad, as per a Telangana Development Planning Society (TGDPS) report. The maximum temperatures also soared above 40°C in all the 30 mandals of Hyderabad, with the highest temperature of 41.6°C being recorded at Uppal, Secunderabad, Jubilee Hills and Musheerbad. The IMD said the north south trough from Punjab to North Kerala now runs from the cyclonic circulation over southeast Rajasthan and neighbourhood to South Tamil Nadu across Gujarat , Maharashtra, interior Karnataka at 0.9km above mean sea level, while another East-West trough runs from the upper air cyclonic circulation over southeast Rajasthan and neighbourhood to North Odisha across Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and extends up to 1.5 km above mean sea level.  continued on p5 Mosque in Shimla to be brought down Ha r p r e e t Ba j w a @ Chandigarh THE Shimla municipal corporation commissioner’s court on Saturday ruled that all five floors of the disputed Sanjauli mosque are unauthorised, and ordered the demolition of the entire structure. A section of residents of Sanjauli and Hindu outfits had launched an agitation to press for the demolition of the mosque, claiming that it was unauthorised but no action was taken by the Corporation during the past 15 years. The court had on October 5, 2024, ordered the demolition of the top three “unauthorised” floors and asked the Waqf Board to produce documents of sanctioned plans of the remaining two floors. This decision follows the Waqf board failing to present the mosque’s revenue records during the court hearing. The lawyer of the Waqf board argued that the mosque originally existed before 1947 and was rebuilt after demolition. But the court of commissioner Bhupender Kumar Attri questioned why necessary permissions, including architectural plans, were not obtained from the municipal corporation for the mosque’s reconstruction. Commissioner Attri ruled that the mosque had been built without necessary permissions, including a building permit, a no-objection certificate and a sanctioned map. He ordered demolition of the lower two floors in addition to the three floors that were ordered to be demolished last year. Earlier, the Himachal Pradesh High Court had directed the municipal commissioner to decide the case by May 8. Sebimore regulations chief’s take on More regulations do not necessarily mean better and effective monitoring, says Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey | P10 express read AP brokers booked for bid to claim rice bonus Nalgonda: Cases have been registered against brokers based in AP, who are suspected of smuggling paddy into Telangana to take advantage of the state government’s `500 bonus for a quintal of fine rice | p5 WITH THIS ISSUE Fatal Medicine PLUS 12 PAGES