Coimbatore l Monday l may 05, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION billionaire Warren Buffett to bow out by end of the year Decision brings curtains down on a six-decade run heading Berkshire Hathaway that made Buffett the world’s most influential investor Vice-chairman greg abel is successor minces no words on dollar’s future Buffett had such a devoted following among investors that markets would move when his investments were disclosed. Buffett said he will recommend to Berkshire Hathaway’s board that Vice Chairman Greg Abel should replace him. Abel has been Buffett’s designated successor for years, and already manages Berkshire’s non-insurance businesses ■ ■ Buffett said the market turmoil that generated headlines after US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement last month ‘is really nothing’ to be worried about On the fate of the US dollar, Buffett said, “We would not really invest in a currency that is going to ‘hell’ $1.18 trillion is the estimated size of the berkshire hathaway empire 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 Befitting reply to those who hurt India: Rajnath Air Chief Marshal meets Modi amid rising cross-border tensions R A J ESH K U M A R TH A K U R , M AYA N K SINGH & F AYA Z W A NI @ New Delhi/Srinagar AMID the rising tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, according to sources. There was no official statement on the meeting, but the two were understood to have discussed the security situation. The Air Chief Marshal’s oneon-one-meeting with the prime minister came a day after Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi met Modi. Later in the day, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh said he will see to it that the armed forces give a “befitting reply” to India’s enemies. Issuing a stern warning to Pakistan—without directly naming the country—Singh said: “As the defence minister, it is my responsibility to work with my soldiers and ensure the protection of the country’s borders. And it is my responsibility to give a befitting reply, by working with the armed forces, to those who cast an evil eye on our country.” Singh’s strong words came during his speech Iran’s foreign minister to visit Pak, India After Tehran said it would use its ties with India and Pakistan to ease tensions, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to visit Pakistan on Monday, and India after that. Tehran said the visit is “part of regular consultations with neighbouring countries” at the Sanatan Sanskriti Jagran Mahotsav event in Delhi. Meanwhile, officials said Pakistan continued to breach the ceasefire agreement for the 10th continuous night. “During the night of May 3 and 4, Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked small arms fire across the LoC in areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajouri, Mendhar, Naushera, Sunderbani, and Akhnoor in J&K,” an army official said, adding that Indian forces responded promptly and proportionately . Although there have been no casualties or injuries in the cross-border firing, it has led to escalation of tension at the frontiers, causing panic among border residents. X handles of Bilawal, Imran blocked The social media accounts of Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and former Pak PM Imran Khan will not be available in India as the government on Sunday withheld their X handles. The action is part of the digital crackdown on Pak handles Also, while heavy weaponry such as mortars and artillery has not yet been used, the continuous use of small arms including light machine guns by both sides has raised concerns that the situation may escalate into intense clashes. Pakistan’s continuous ceasefire violations and targeting of army posts along the Line of Control in multiple sectors from Kashmir to Jammu region has put the border ceasefire pact in threat and danger. Fearing further escalation of the situation, the border residents in Jammu and Kashmir are cleaning and fortifying their underground bunkers and stock-piling essentials to prepare for any eventuality. Farmers are also hurriedly completing the harvesting of crops in the border areas. Need partners, not preachers: EAM tells EU J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on Europe to show greater sensitivity and mutuality of interest if it wants deeper ties with India, saying New Delhi is looking for “partners, not preachers.” Speaking at the ‘ rctic Circle A India Forum’ during an interactive session on Sunday, Jaishankar highlighted India’s long-standing advocacy of ‘Russia realism’ and pointed to the ‘important fit’ and ‘complementarity’ between the two countries, describing Russia as a resource provider and India as a resource consumer. He also criticised Western efforts to resolve the RussiaUkraine conflict without involving Moscow, terming them a challenge to the basics of realism. “Just like I am an advocate of Russia realism, I am also an advocate of America realism,” he said. “I think the best way to engage today’s America is also through finding mutuality of interests rather than putting ideological differences upfront and then allowing it to cloud the possibilities of working together,” he added. Responding to a question on India’s expectations from Europe, he said Europe must move beyond preaching and instead act on the basis of shared interests. “When we look out at the world, we look for partners; we do not look for preache r s, p a r t i c u l a rl y preachers who do not practise at home and preach abroad,” he said. Jaishankar has repeatedly called out what he sees as Western duplicity in global affairs, especially Europe’s selective application of international Couple killed as bike falls into pit dug for bridge work E X P R ESS NE W S SE R V ICE @ Tiruppur sweet smell of summer rain Chennai was caught off guard as a sudden bout of rain brought down the temperature by a few notches on Sunday | P Jawahar Iran-backed Houthis attack Israel’s ‘highlight bjp’s resistance’ main airport with hypersonic missile Cong asks state units to up ante on caste census A g e n c i e s @ Tel Aviv / New Delhi Impact of the collision was so severe that the omni van was completely mangled | Express 4 pilgrims from Kerala die in van-bus crash Expr e s s N e w s S e rv i c e @ Tiruvarur A pilgrimage to Velankanni turned tragic for a group of seven friends from Kerala when their omni van collided headon with a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus on the East Coast Road near Karuveppanchery of Tiruvarur district on Sunday morning, leaving four dead and three critically injured. The crash occurred around 6.30 am when the driver of the van, carrying the pilgrims from Thiruvananthapuram and nearby areas, lost control after crossing a bar ricade and rammed into a TNSTC bus en route to Erwadi in Ramanathapuram from Nagapattinam. The impact was so severe that the van was completely mangled. The deceased were identified as Sajinath (25), who was driving the van, Rajesh (30), Rahul (29), and Sujith (25). Police said all four died on the spot due to the force of the collision. Three others — Sabu (25), Sunil (35), and Rajinish (40) — sustained grievous injuries and were rushed to Tiruvarur Government Medical College Hospital for treatment. According to Edaiyur police, the victims were contractual construction workers from Kerala who had come on a pilgrimage to Velankanni. A case was registered, and Saravanan, the bus driver, was detained for questioning. Further inquiry is under way to determine the exact cause of the accident. P5 A missile launched by Iranianbacked Houthi rebels of Yemen briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at Israel’s main inter national air por t on Sunday . The Houthis have been striking Israel throughout the war in Gaza in solidarity with Palestinians. The attack on BenGurion International Airport came hours before Israeli Cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify military operations in the Gaza Strip. The armed wing of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas praised the missile attack. Houthi military spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Saree said in a video statement that the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport. The Israeli military confirmed that the attack, which gouged a large crater in the perimeter of Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, was launched from Yemen and had struck despite “several attempts... to intercept the missile”. A photographer said the missile hit near the parking lots of Terminal 3, the airport’s largest. The crater was just hundreds of metres P r e e t h a n a i r @ New Delhi Israeli security forces inspect the site where the projectile was fired by Yemen’s Houthis on Sunday, leading to suspension of flight services | AP from the tarmac. This was the first time a missile struck the airport since the war began. Passengers were heard yelling and scrambling for cover in footage shared by Israeli media. Air raid sirens were sounded in multiple parts of Israel. In response, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed retribution: “Whoever harms us, we will harm them sevenfold.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised a multi-phased response to Yemen’s Houthis. “It’s not bang, bang and we’re done, but there will be bangs,” he said. Scores of flights operating from the Ben-Gurion international airport to different countries were cancelled. Germany’s Lufthansa airline and British Airways suspended flights to Tel Aviv till May 7, while Air India announced a temporary termination of all its operations to and from Tel Aviv till May 6 after the diversion of its New Delhi to Tel Aviv flight, carrying nearly 200 passengers, to Abu Dhabi due to the attack.  p9 STEPPING up pressure on the Union government to conduct the caste census as announced by the Union cabinet recently, the Congress asked its state units on Sunday to highlight the BJP’s resistance to ‘caste enumeration’ in the past and Rahul Gandhi’s consistent efforts in pushing for it. In a circular, AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal directed all state units to raise demands made in the C WC m e e t i n g l a s t week, including carrying out the caste census without delay and implementation of Article 15(5), during the upcoming ‘Samvidhan Bachao Rallies’ scheduled to be held across all states and districts. Venugopal also urged state units to convey the party’s historical and ongoing commitments at the grassroots level, including the leadership role played by Rahul Gandhi. “In particular, the demand for the immediate implementation of Article 15(5) should be prominently highlighted,” he said. The article pertains to reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs in private educational institutions. The party directed all PCCs that during the assembly-level ‘Save Constitution’ rallies and house-to-house campaigns scheduled till May 30, the state units must organise ‘chaupal meetings’ with active participation from social activists, civil society activists, teachers, lawyers, shopkeepers, self-help groups memb e r s, a n d B a h u j a n communities. The circular called upon the state units to “expose the BJP’s antiBahujan ideology, its resistance to caste enumeration, and its efforts to suppress social justice”. It urged leaders to mobilise broad-based public support for the caste census and full implementation of Article 15(5). “These efforts must reflect a unified communication strategy that brings clarity, conviction, and high visibility to our campaign for social justice. PCCs are requested to treat this campaign with top priority .” Outdated biometrics put scores of teens at risk of losing rations B A NB U SE LV A N @ Chennai Thousands of teenage ration card holders in Tamil Nadu are at risk of losing access to subsidised food grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) as outdated Aadhaar biometrics recorded years ago have stalled their eKYC verification. According to official sources, most of the affected teenagers are school students aged 13 to 17 from economically disadvantaged families. Their Aadhaar biometrics were recorded five to six years ago when they were under the age of 10 and the system now fails to recognise their fingerprints, official sources said. Similarly, beneficiaries above the age of 70 are facing verification issues due to faded fingerprints. Despite multiple extensions of the e-KYC deadline, about 58.41 lakh out of 3.5 crore ration card holders in the state had not completed the process as of April 30, as per a response from the Union government to TNIE under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The centre, in its response, principles. He has long argued that for Europe to be taken seriously it must show consistency , in upholding values such as territorial integrity, rather than bending rules to suit its own interests. Pointing to what he terms a lopsided worldview, Jaishankar in the past had said that the Europe must move beyond the belief that its problems are global concerns, while the rest of the world’s issues are not its responsibility . “Some of Europe is still struggling with that problem. Some of it has changed,” he noted, suggesting that Europe has entered “a certain zone of reality check.” was non-committal on whether non-compliance would lead to the removal of beneficiaries from ration cards, which, in turn, could reduce the rice allocation to the state. In the meantime, the state’s civil supplies department has issued lists of cards with incomplete e-KYC to fair price shops, whose staf f have warned beneficiaries that failure to authenticate Aadhaar could result in the suspension of their cards or removal of unverified members, sources said. The Aadhaar requirement for school students began informally in 2019, when the state made it mandatory for Class I admissions across all schools. Over the years, even students of Class 2 and above were asked to submit Aadhaar details to access welfare benefits, though there was no formal mandate. “When the fingerprints of children were first recorded, they were between six and nine years old. Now they’re 11 to 15 and the mismatch is common. We have advised parents to update their children’s Aadhaar details and then visit any nearby ration shop to complete the e-KYC,” a civil supplies official explained “Elderly persons with wornout fingerprints have been advised to update their iris data,” the official said. P4 A couple riding home on a twowheeler with their daughter died after falling into an open pit dug up for the construction of a bridge on the Dharapuram– Kangeyam Road in Tiruppur district in the early hours of Sunday. The 12-year-old child, who survived the accident, spent a harrowing four hours in the pit till the police arrived. Collector T Christuraj directed officials to issue notice to the contractor after visiting the spot as there were neither barricades around the pit nor signage alerting motorists to the danger. The deceased were identified as K Nagaraj (44) and his wife Anandhi (38) of Servakarampalayam near Suriyanallur in Dharapuram. Their daughter, N Dikshitha, received first aid before being admitted to a private hospital in Coimbatore. According to police, Nagaraj was employed as a salesman at a Tasmac outlet in Palavanchipalayam. The family had gone on a pilgrimage to Tiruchendur on Friday and visited Thirunallar in Karaikal on Saturday. They returned to Dharapuram by bus early on Sunday . “From the bus stand in Dharapuram, they took their parked two-wheeler and were heading home to Suriyanallur when the accident occurred,” the police said. P5 The pit dug up in Kullaipalayam as part of bridge construction works | Express express read RMC issues heavy rain alert for 9 TN districts Chennai: The Regional Meteorological Centre has issued a heavy rain alert for Coimbatore, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Karur, Tiruchy, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Kancheepuram and Nilgiris for Monday. On Tuesday, Coimbatore and Nilgiris may get heavy rain SC reconstitutes bench to hear pleas on ED New Delhi: The Supreme Court has reconstituted a three-judge bench to decide if its 2022 verdict upholding the Enforcement Directorate’s powers to arrest and attach property under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) needs reconsideration | P7