madurai l tuesday l may 27, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Hamas agrees to U.S. proposal on Gaza ceasefire, release of hostages The proposal for a Gaza ceasefire was mooted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Reuters reported quoting a Palestinian official close to the group Israel rejects truce plan, say reports Under the new proposal, 10 living hostages will be released in two groups and a 70-day ceasefire will be observed. There was no immediate official comment from Israel, but local media reported that Israel has rejected the proposal outright. “The proposal received by Israel cannot be accepted by any responsible government,” Times of Israel reported quoting an official ■ 52 ‘Partial withdrawal of Israel from gaza’ ■ ■ “Hamas is setting impossible conditions and an inability to release the hostages,” the official was quoted as saying by Times of Israel According to reports, the formula proposed by the US includes a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip Israel’s position is that war will end only when Hamas is eradicated People were reportedly killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza Strip on Monday 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 Mumbai on its knees after Early monsoon onset Su d h i r Su r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Mumbai Pedestrians wade through an inundated road amid rains, in Mumbai, on Monday | pti kerala Acharya Atre Chowk underground metro station inundated due to heavy rainfall on Monday | pti boat mishap Close shave for Sourav Ganguly’s bro, sister-in-law Tamil nadu A rescue official helps residents of Kanjiramattam in Kerala cross a swollen river across a check dam | shiyami Heavy rains trigger mini landslip at Anbu Anna colony near old Manjanakorai in Nilgiris on Monday | Express Waited for 15 days after Pahalgam to see if Pak acts on terror, says PM Says India’s fight is with cross-border terrorism and its support structures, not Pakistani masses E X PRESS NEWS SER V ICE D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya FORMER BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s brother Snehashish and his wife Arpita had a narrow escape when their speedboat overturned, throwing the couple into the sea off Puri beach on Saturday evening. The couple was enjoying water sports when their boat was hit by a huge tide and overturned. The incident took place near the light house, over 20 metres inside the sea around 6 pm. Videos of the capsized speedboat that went viral showed lifeguards rushing to rescue the tourists using rubber tubes. Sources said the boat had a carrying capacity of 10 but the operators apparently allowed only 3-4 on board. It was also the last boat to go into the sea for the day . Arpita alleged the boat overturned as it had less passengers and the sea was rough. “I have decided to write to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and the Puri SP requesting them to stop water sports as Puri has very rough sea,” she told PTI. She added the timely intervention of the lifeguards saved their lives. “We are verifying whether the operator has licence, was working legally and by following due procedures or not. Further action will be taken accordingly,” said Puri SP Vinit Agrawal. , Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday revealed he waited 15 days after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, hoping Pakistan will go after the assailants. “But it seems it (terrorism) is their bread and butter,” he remarked. Modi said India’s fight is with cross-border terrorism and those who fuel and fund it, and not with the Pakistani masses. He slammed Pakistan’s rulers for turning terrorism into a money spinner, contrasting India’s rise as the world’s fourth-largest economy with Pakistan’s downfall. Calling out the army’s terror links, Modi warned of dark days ahead for Pakistan if its youth don’t break free from this path. His remarks came @ Bhubaneswar THE south-west monsoon announced its early arrival in Mumbai on Monday with a bang, throwing normal life out of gear by inundating low areas and disrupting suburban and metro train services. According to the weather department, this is the earliest onset of monsoon in Mumbai in the past 75 years. Officials said the metropolis on Monday experienced the heaviest rainfall in the month of May since 1918, with the Colaba observatory recording rainfall of 295 mm. Apart from Mumbai, heavy rains were reported in Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, and Nasik districts of Maharashtra on Monday . Early arrival of the monsoon also disrupted farmers’ harvesting activities. The weather department has predicted more rain in Mumbai over the next 24 hours, accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed officials to remain on high alert. Municipal authorities, the fire brigade, police, and other emergency services are on standby, while five NDRF teams have been stationed across the city for any emergency response, the CM’s office said. @ Ahmedabad Foreign Secy to visit US from May 27-29 Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will visit the US from May 27 to 29 for meetings with senior officials of the Trump administration. It is a follow-up to the PM’s trip to the US in February last while launching development projects worth `53,400 crore, highlighting India’s growth amid regional threats. “India’s fight is against terror from across the border, not against the people of Pakistan,” he said while addressing a public rally at Bhuj. “I want to ask the people of Pakistan—what have you gained? Today, India is the world’s fourth-largest economy . Where are you? Who destroyed the future of your children? Who forced you to wander from place to place?” Modi asked. He accused the Pakistani establishment of exploiting terrorism for profit. “The masterminds of terrorism and the people of Pakistan must listen—your government and army are promoting terrorism. For them, terrorism has become a source of income,” the prime minister said. Calling on Pakistan’s citizens to reflect on their nation’s path, he stated, “You must now decide—does this path benefit you? Will the power games your leaders are playing help your children’s future?” Modi also issued a stern warning: “To rid Pakistan of terrorism, its people and youth must rise. Choose a life of peace and prosperity—or else face Modi’s bullet.” Family members of Col Sofiya Qureshi shower flower petals on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a Vadodara roadshow | PTI To avoid protesters, Manipur guv flies 7 km to Raj Bhavan P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati Amid stepped up protests, Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla was forced to travel a distance of barely 7 km in a chopper to go to Raj Bhavan from the Imphal airport on Monday After he landed in Imphal . from Delhi where he attended the Rising Northeast Investors Summit, an army chopper took him to the historic Kangla Fort. From there, he covered the remaining 300 metres to the Raj Bhavan by road amid heightened security . Hundreds of protesters had formed a human A K Bhalla chain on the airport road following a call by a Meitei outfit to hold mass protests against the alleged instruction by security personnel to conceal the words ‘Manipur State Transport’ displayed on a state-run bus in which a media team was travelling recently . External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefs a parliamentary panel, in New Delhi on Monday | PTI Jaishankar clears the air, says Islamabad told 30 mins after op J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday firmly denied allegations that India had warned Pakistan ahead of Operation Sindoor, asserting that the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) informed Islamabad only after the air strikes on terrorist camps were completed. In a briefing to a parliamentary panel, Jaishankar clarified the timeline: Pakistan was notified about the strikes on terror camps in the early hours of May 7 — roughly 30 minutes after the operation concluded, he said. The remarks came in response to repeated allegations by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who accused Jaishankar of tipping off Pakistan prior to the strike. The government had earlier dismissed the claim as “misrepresentation of facts”. “The Foreign Secretary was briefed on the 1.30 am operation, which was followed by a Press Information Bureau statement. Thereafter, the DGMO told his counterpart in Pakistan about the operation,” Jaishankar said. Biennial poll to 6 TN Rajya Sabha seats on June 19 Ex p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai The biennial elections to the six Rajya Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu that will fall vacant in July will be held on June 19, the Election Commission of India announced on Monday. Since the RS election comes just months before the 2026 Assembly poll, the apportioning of seats by leaders of the two major blocs, the DMK and the AIADMK, may play a role in determining the contours of the electoral alliances in the state for the 2026 polls. The term of six MPs from Tamil Nadu —Anbumani Ramadoss (PMK), N Chandrasegharan (AIADMK), M Shanmugam, M Mohammed Abdulla, and P Wilson, all from DMK, and Vaiko (MDMK) — is expiring on July 24. A total of 18 MPs are elected to the dmk four Rajya Sabha from TN through bien- & aiadmk 2 likely nial elections from time to time. As of now, the ruling DMK has 10 MPs, With the present the AIADMK has four (including R party strength in Dharmar, who supports O Panneer- the Tamil Nadu selvam), and the Congress, PMK, Assembly, the MDMK, and TMC have one each. DMK can The forthcoming biennial election comfortably is for six seats, and with the present send four MPs strength of the MLAs in the Tamil to the Upper Nadu Assembly, the DMK can com- House and the fortably send four MPs to the Upper AIADMK two House and the AIADMK two. The total number of members in the Tamil Nadu Assembly is 234, and since the number of vacancies to be filled is six, to elect a Rajya Sabha member, the support of 34 MLAs is needed. The AIADMK can win one Rajya Sabha seat comfortably, and for winning one more seat, the party needs the support of a few more MLAs, which the AIADMK’s ally the BJP (4 MLAs), can extend. In the DMK, there , are expectations that since Durai Vaiko, son of MDMK general secretary Vaiko, is already a Lok Sabha MP, Vaiko may not be given the RS seat again. P5 POCSO case against Bhushan A Delhi court on Monday accepted police closure report to cancel the sexual harassment case against ex-WFI chief Brij Bhushan K o v a i , T i r u c h y m a y f o l l o w s u it GCC bond gets 4.21 times bidding, market thumbs up Ex p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) became the first municipal corporation in Tamil Nadu to raise funds for infrastructure projects through bonds as it listed municipal bonds worth `200 crore on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday Government sourc. es said the bond has been received well by the market with the bidding being oversubscribed 4.21 times at `421 crore. Chief Minister M K Stalin presided over the bell ceremony to mark the listing of the bond at an event held at Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai. The funds raised would be spent on the Integrated Stormwater Drainage Project in the Kosasthalaiyar Basin. NSE chief economist Tirthankar Patnaik said that three more TN municipal corporations —Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and Tiruchy— were also in the process of raising `100 crore each via municipal bonds. P5 CM MK Stalin rings the bell to mark the listing, at Kalaivanar Arangam | P Jawahar Total issue size: Bond `200 cr Issue Base Issue: `100 cr Details Green Shoe option: `100 cr Oversubscription: 4.21 times Interest rate: 7.97% per annum Tenure: 10 years Listed On: National Stock Exchange Credit Rating: AA+ (India Ratings & Acuité Ratings) 3 students ousted from institute for ‘anti-nationalism’ B i n i ta J a i s w a L @ Chennai Three students of the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD) functioning under the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in Sriperumbudur have alleged that the institution has arbitrarily rusticated them on the charge of defacing hostel property with “content of an anti-national” nature. Aslam S, Sayeedh M A, and Nahal Ibnu Abullaise were pursuing second and final year of Master of Social Work (MSW) at the institute and were supposed to write their final exam on Monday However, they were . served rustication letters on Sunday suspending them from , the institute and expelling them from hostel. Institute authorities could not be reached for a comment until Monday night. Messages and calls to institute Director Subrata Hazra and Disciplinary Committee Chairperson S Suresh were not answered. Students claimed the institute had “planned” the episode.  P5