tiruchy l thursday l june 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION tatkal tickets only for Aadhaar authenticated users from july 1 Only Aadhaar authenticated users will be able to book tickets under Tatkal scheme from July 1 onwards, Railway Ministry said on Wednesday aadhaar-otp needed to book from july 15 agents can’t book for first 30 minutes The ministry informed all zones that the decision was made to ensure that the benefits of the Tatkal Scheme are received by common end -users. Subsequently, Aadhaar-based OTP authentication shall also be made compulsory for Tatkal bookings from July 15, 2025, onwards. Wide publicity will be given to these modifications, the Ministry said ■ ■ Authorized ticketing agents will be restricted from booking Tatkal tickets for AC classes from 10 am to 10.30 am and for non-airconditioned classes from 11 am to 11.30 am, a circular read Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and IRCTC have been directed to make the necessary modifications from July 1 6.6 crore registered users on irctc portal and app as of JUne 11, 2025 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 India hopes for trade fair and square with US Grilling in hills: Sonam reaches Shillong A n u r a g S i n g h & P r a s a n ta M a j u m d a r @ Bhopal/Guwahati After Trump’s breakthrough deal with China, nation eyeing to wrap 1st phase of deal in July trade, and tariff on agriculture and allied goods. The two teams EVEN as India is racing against reportedly discussed the issue time to clinch a trade deal with of a 50% tariff on steel and aluthe US before expiry of the July minium. India has threatened 9 deadline, when the 90-day ex- retaliatory action against the emption period for implemen- US over doubling tariffs on tation of reciprocal tariff gets steel and aluminium. over, sources say that the first India has so far resisted givphase of the deal would only ing easier access to agriculture address the low-hanging fruits. and dairy imports. But the gov“The trade talks will be in mul- ernment hinted it might relent tiple phases, but the first phase on the issue with the US. should end before July 9,” said A Niti Aayog report recently an anonymous argued that the US government is expected to resource. main a big market With US presifor export of surdent Donald plus food from InTrump announcdia, and all efforts ing a deal with need to be made to highlights China on Wedneskeep a favorable enUS, China finalized a day, India would vironment for extrade deal Wednesday, be in a hurry to ports to the US. The with China agreeing to conclude the first report, while arguphase before July cut export restrictions on ing for protecting rare earth minerals 9. The US has also sensitive products finalized a trade like dairy and poulIndia wants to seal a deal deal with the UK. try makes a case for , with US before reciprocal India was the lowering tariffs on tariffs kick in first country to imports of comstart negotiating modities in which a trade deal with the US. In an India enjoys supply advantage. interview with French newspa- The two countries have also per Le Figaro on Tuesday For- discussed non-tariff barriers , eign Minister S Jaishankar had with the US raising concerns said he is hopeful of reaching over India’s quality control an agreement with US before measures and local procurethe reciprocal tariffs kick in. ment conditions for manufacA US delegation which visit- turing. The US has raked up ed India had a four-day meeting India’s famr subsidy too. with Indian negotiators. The A top commerce ministry ofmeeting ended on Tuesday The ficial told this newspaper that . talks veered from tariff rates, the negotiations are on and it is better market access, digital not fair to divulge details. d i pa k m o n d a l @ New Delhi Sonam Raghuvanshi’s brother Govind breaks down while hugging Raja’s mother in Indore on Wednesday | PTI Brother wants death sentence Sonam’s brother Govind Raghuvanshi visited the home of Raja on Wednesday and said that the evidence clearly suggested that she had got it done.... “she should get the death sentence”. m u k e s h r a n j a n @ New Delhi G a u t h a m S e lv a r a j a n @ Chennai Express News Service A serosurvey for Covid-19 conducted by the Directorate of Public Health (DPH) and Preventive Medicine among elderly people in six districts of Tamil Nadu in the month of April has shown 97% of the surveyed population to have p ro t e c t ive l eve l s o f immunity . The results showing high seroprevalence of SARS CoV-2 IgG antibodies, coming amid concerns of a surge in number of Covid-19 cases, showed that the infections by SARS CoV-2 virus could not cause severe illness, the health department said. It added that deaths due to Covid-19 are almost nil in TN. According to the DPH, a total of 3,643 blood samples were collected from persons as a part of the elderly panel survey in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchy , Dharmapuri e x p r e ss r e a d Car mows down three pilgrims on padayatra Cuddalore: Three persons, including a man and his daughter, died on the spot after a car ploughed through a group of pilgrims near Vriddachalam early on Wednesday. The group was on a padayatra for the annual St Antony’s Church festival at Melnariyappanur, Kallakurichi | P2 Three dead in firecracker unit blast in Virudhunagar Virudhunagar: Three people died in a blast at a firecracker unit at Vadakarai village near Aruppukottai on Wednesday. Three foreman and two supervisors have been arrested in connection with the incident. CM MK Stalin announced a solatium of `4 lakh each to kin of deceased | P5 — Union government through Ballari and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka and Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. These projects will enhance connectivity to approximately 1,408 villages, which comprise a population of around 28.19 lakh, Vaishnaw said. They will expand the existing Indian Railways network by approximately 318 km.“The enhanced line capacity will improve mobility providing enhanced , efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways,” he said. These are essential routes for transportation of coal, iron ore, finished steel, cement, fertilisers, agriculture commodities and petroleum products. The capacity-augmentation work will result in an additional 49 million tonnes of freight traffic per annum. Both projects will cover s eve n d i s t r i c t s a c r o s s Jharkhand, Karnataka, and AP and will be completed in three years, Vaishnaw said. Deportation case Indian youth seen pinned to floor at Newark airport in viral video had apparently entered US illegally. This was revealed by a person familiar with the matter | P7 certificate, HC tells TN R SI V AKUMAR @ Chennai The Madras High Court has called upon the Tamil Nadu government to take steps to pass a government order (G.O.) to enable issuance of a ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate to those who file applications with revenue authorities seeking the same. A bench of Justices MS Ramesh and N Senthilkumar made the suggestion while allowing an appeal filed by H Santhosh of Tirupattur district against a single judge’s order refusing to direct the local tahsildar to issue ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate to his family members. Setting aside the single judge’s order, the bench directed the authorities to entertain the appellant’s applications and issue a ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate within a month. “While the Constitution of India prohibits caste-based discrimination, caste and religion still play a significant role in social life, politics, education and employment through reservation policies,” the bench said. Describing the appellant’s efforts to have himself and his family members certified by the government of not belonging to any caste or religion “laudable”, the bench opined that this “would promote prohibition of caste-based discrimination” in the long run and be an “eyeopener” for like-minded citizens. “Accordingly, we call upon the Government of Tamil Nadu to pass necessary orders, with a specific instruction to the authorities of the revenue department, to positively entertain applications seeking for grant of certificate of ‘no caste, no religion’,” the division bench said in the order passed on Tuesday . Leak in rocket delays Axiom-4 mission launch B o s k y K h a n n a @ Bengaluru ing hot tt e 0.5 to 2˚c r te A 27-year-old woman, mother of 45-day-old twin girls, allegedly killed one of the babies due to suspected postpartum depression on Tuesday morning in Neelankarai. The woman threw the infant from the terrace of her house as she believed it was unhealthy and did not show signs of improvement despite her efforts, sources said. She is likely to be arrested under charges of murder, Neelankarai police said. According to police, the woman was staying at her parents’ house after delivering the twins. Her husband would visit them frequently. While one of the babies was healthy, weighing around 2.5 kg, the other one was underweight, weighing only around 1.5 kg. This child, the woman believed, was not responding well to her feeding and continued to remain weak, police sources said. “As the infant was not recovering well, the mother became depressed over its health. This, we think, may have caused her trauma,” a police officer said. On Tuesday morning, the woman allegedly threw the baby from the terrace of the house. Sometime later, the woman’s father noticed that one of the babies was missing, prompting the others in the family to begin searching for the infant inside the house. When they could not find the baby, they lodged a complaint with the Neelankarai police station. P5 and Kanniyakumari districts. “Preliminary analysis of 1,214 samples tested for SARS-CoV antibodies (IgG) showed the protective levels of immunity to be 97%,” a DPH release said. The press release said that even after a gap of three years in conducting the present Phase V of the serosurvey, the prevalence of protective level of SARS CoV antibodies is very high and significant. Effective vaccination drives implemented by the state government might be responsible for the high level of protection against SARS CoV-2 virus, it said. “In addition, natural infection and subclinical infection due to the weakened circulating Omicron sub lineage of SARS CoV-2 virus could have also enhanced the development of antibodies,” the release added. The state has not officially released data on Covid-19 cases after the recent surge across the country  . P5 The projects will reduce oil imports by 52 crore litres and lower CO2 emissions by 264 crore kg G THE Prime Minister-led Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two key railway projects worth `6,405 crore for track doubling in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Jharkhand, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday . The project involves doubling the Koderma–Barkakana route (133 km), which passes through a major coal belt in Jharkhand. The line will serve as the shortest and most efficient link between Patna and Ranchi. Another proposal approved was to double the track on the Ballari–Chikjajur (185 km) route, which passes Mother flings 45-day-old ‘ill’ baby to death @ Chennai from Shillong to Sohra (Cherrapunjee) on May 23. The scooter was found abandoned some distance from the place where he was murdered. Who took that scooter there? Also, CCTV grabs of nearby areas a short while after the killing show Sonam on a scooter (possibly the same rented scooter) probably accompanied by Vishal, the man who actually attacked Raja with the machete.” “They attacked Raja, but he resisted two of them, seeing the two attackers being overpowered by Raja, the third attacker Vishal attacked on his head with the Dao (machete),” said the source. Earlier in the wee hours, Sonam was brought to the hill station and had a medical examination. The report of pregnancy test was negative, Meghalaya Police said. `6,405-cr for doubling of Allow authorities to issue tracks in AP, K’taka, J’khand ‘no caste, no religion’ TN’s Covid survey shows 97% of elderly population has protective immunity postpartum Govind, brother of Sonam As the special investigation team (SIT) of Meghalaya police probing the May 23 honeymoon killing of Indore tourist Raja Raghuvanshi started quizzing the five arrested accused, including Raja’s wife Sonam, there were a series of unanswered points that seemed to hold the key to investigations. A local court in Meghalaya capital Shillong on Wednesday sent Sonam Raghuvanshi and four others, including prime accused Raj Kushwah, to eightday police remand. Though there were reports of Sonam confessing to the crime, the Meghalya Police urged the media to not jump to any conclusion. In a dramatic development, Sonam’s brother Govind visited the home of Raja on Wednesday and broke into tears after hugging his slain brother-in-law’s mother Uma Raghuvanshi. One unanswered point seems to be Sonal’s trolley bag? “Why was she carrying a trolley bag while going with Raja to the monsoon tourism hotspot Sohra (Cherrapunjee) on a short visit? Have you seen any couple carrying a trolley bag on a short trip riding a scooter?” a source part of the ongoing probe told TNIE. “Where are Sonam’s multiple cell-phones she was carrying during the trip? There were at least two iPhones, one of which seemed to have been destroyed after the alleged murder. All others are switched off. Their data hold the key,” the source added. “Raja rented a scooter to go The entire Himalayas, from the Hindu Kush, will have more than normal this summer Precipitation pattern Perilous outcome It will vary across the ranges with wetter monsoon predicted for Tibetan Plateau, India, Nepal and Pakistan Above-normal monsoon precipitations across much of South Asia leaves Himalayas vulnerable to hazards like floods, landslides, and glacial lake outburst floods Himalayas facing the heat with higher temp prediction, floods & more J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi Brace yourself for a more intense monsoon this year as hotter temperatures, heavier rains, and a spike in climaterelated risks are forecast for India and its Himalayan neighbours, according to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, which includes India, Nepal, Pakistan, and parts of China, may see temperatures climb up to 2ºC above normal along with widespread above-average rainfall. ICIMOD utilised data from global and na- WMO sees more wet monsoons till 2029 The World Meteorological Organisation says South Asia has had wetter than average monsoons in recent years, except in 2023 due to El Nino, and expects the trend to continue until 2029 tional meteorological agencies to compile its predictions and concluded that it could lead to an increase in heat stress, outbreaks of waterborne diseases like dengue, and a surge in floods, landslides, and glacial hazards. “The forecasts are unanimous in predicting hotter conditions and more rainfall across much of the HKH,” said Arun Bhakta Shrestha, Senior Advisor at ICIMOD. Floods remain the leading cause of disaster-related deaths in the region, with over 72 percent occurring during the summer monsoon. Meanwhile, water-scarce Afghanistan may receive less rainfall, worsening food and water insecurity. “We need impactbased early war nings and stronger support to prepare for these growing risks,” said Saswata Sanyal, ICIMOD’s Disaster Risk Reduction Manager. The Axiom-4 mission, carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others to the International Space Station (ISS), has been postponed again due to a Liquid Oxygen (LOx) leak in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX confirmed the postponement via X. This is the second delay after bad weather pushed the launch from June 10 to June 11. A new launch date is yet to be announced. ISRO, collaborating with NASA, invested `550 crore and assigned Group Captain Shukla as mission pilot, who is the first Indian to pilot a spacecraft. ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said, “LOx leakage was detected during the booster’s hot test, and we decided to fix the issue and complete validation before proceeding with the launch.” The crew also includes Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary), plus a plush swan toy named Joy . The astronauts have completed quarantine and training. The 14-day mission will conduct 60 experiments from 31 countries, focusing on human physiology, AI, biology, materials science, and endurance.