KANNUR l wednesday l july 30, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION lord meghnad desai no more, tributes pour in from leaders Eminent economist Lord Meghnad Desai, who played a key role in developing the Human Development Index, passed away on Tuesday Lord Meghnad Desai July 10, 1940 - July 29, 2025 authored 25 books, 200 academic articles PM Modi said he was anguished by the passing of Desai, who was instrumental in bettering India-UK ties. Born on July 10, 1940, in Vadodara, Desai excelled academically. He won a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed his PhD in economics. His work includes more than 25 books, ranging from Marxian economics to globalization 1991 strong votary of 2016 demonetisation ■ Desai supported India’s 2016 demonetisation but advised better implementation. He advocated for merging India’s public sector banks to create stronger institutions and criticized rigid labor laws .■ Desai received the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award, in 2008 for his contributions to economics and public service year in which the economist was elevated to UK house of lords 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 Cong takes talking Rahul dares Modi points from Pak: PM to call Trump a liar F i er y ex c h a n g es o n O P s i n d o o r Before asking why PoK has not been taken back yet, Cong must respond — who let it go. India is still suffering from the mistakes committed by previous Cong govts, starting from Jawaharlal Nehru You told Pakistan exactly what you would do: that you would not target military establishments and you didn’t want escalation. That’s surrender. Immediate surrender in 30 minutes Our ops range from Sindoor to Sindhu (Indus Treaty)... World saw the strength of self-reliant India. We destroyed terror sites deep inside Pak within 22 mins to avenge the April 22 attack If he is lying, the PM should say here that Trump is lying. If he has the courage of an Indira Gandhi let him say here, ‘Trump, you are a liar, you did not make a ceasefire and we dd not lose any planes’ Those who consider themselves big Cong leaders are pained as to why India’s stand was presented before the world. Perhaps some of their leaders have been barred from speaking in Parliament... I said 3-4 months back that India’s biggest foreign policy challenge has been to keep Pak and China apart... you have destroyed the single biggest goal of foreign policy. China and Pak are fused Narendra Modi, Prime Minister J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, asserting that no world leader asked India to halt Operation Sindoor, and accusing Congress and its allies of echoing Pakistan’s narrative while the international community backed India after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. “No leader came into India. No country asked us to stop. Only three nations spoke for Pakistan at the United Nations. The rest of the world stood with India… but Congress couldn’t,” Modi said, replying to a two-day debate on the terror attack and India’s military response. He dismissed the Opposition’s claims that India acted under US pressure, referring directly to President Donald Trump’s repeated claims of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. “On May 9, US Vice President JD Vance tried calling me 3-4 times. I was in meetings with our armed forces. When I returned the call, he warned of a Pakistani attack. I told him: if Pakistan fires bullets, we will answer with cannons.” Modi said India’s precision strikes during Operation Sindoor destroyed terror camps deep inside Pakistan within 22 minutes. “The airbases we hit are still in the ICU,” he added, asserting that India’s response shook the masterminds behind the Pahalgam attack, leaving them sleepless. “India got support from the entire world, but it is unfortunate that the Congress did not support the valour of our soldiers. Congress leaders targeted me for political gains, but their frivolous statements ended up discouraging our brave soldiers,” Modi said. He accused the Congress of amplifying Pakistani propaganda and questioned its repeated scepticism of India’s military intent. “Congress now depends on Pakistan for talking points. They questioned our response, doubted our soldiers, and called the operation a ‘tamasha’. The world supported us, Congress didn’t.” Taking aim at historical decisions by the Congress, Modi blamed Nehru-era Pakistan policies. “Before asking why PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) hasn’t been taken back, Congress must explain who let it go? We’re still paying for Nehru’s ceasefire in 1948.” He also slammed Jawaharlal Nehru for the Indus Waters Treaty “Nehru didn’t just give away our rivers — . he gave Pakistan money to build dams,” Modi said, adding, “From Sindoor to Sindhu, this is a notice: India will strike until Pakistan stops attacks.” He said India had “called Pakistan’s nuclear bluff ” and proved it would not be blackmailed. “Our made-in-India drones and missiles exposed Pakistan’s outdated arsenal.” Calling the Parliament session a Vijayotsav — a celebration of victory — Modi said: “I said we would teach the terrorists and their masters a lesson. Our forces did just that — and their masters haven’t slept since.” Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Pahalgam attackers eliminated: Shah Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday told Parliament that three Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists behind the April 22 Pahalgam attack were killed in Operation Mahadev near Srinagar, while blaming Congress for the creation of Pakistan. The slain terrorists, Suleiman, Afghan, and Jibran, were top LeT operatives responsible for killing 26 tourists in Baisaran Valley | P7 Shah must take onus for ‘lapse’: Kharge Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said Home Minister Amit Shah must take responsibility for the ‘security lapse’ which led to the Pahalgam attack. “J&K L-G Manoj Sinha admitted that Pahalgam was a security lapse and took responsibility for it. However, the home minister must take responsibility and not the L-G,” he said | P7 Nadda apologises to Kharge in RS The RS witnessed heated exchanges after Leader of the House J P Nadda made some objectionable remarks against Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge. He later withdrew them and apologised. Nadda accused Kharge of “losing his mental balance” as he made some remarks against the PM. Amid opposition protests, Nadda later apologised | P7 P ree t h a N a ir @ New Delhi Launching an all out attack on the ruling NDA government, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused it of lacking the political will to support the armed forces. He dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to call US President Donald Trump’s bluff on brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. “If Modi ji has even 50% of the courage that Indira Gandhi had, then clearly he must say in Parliament — Donald Trump is lying and no planes fell during Operation Sindoor,” Rahul said. Participating in a special discussion in Lok Sabha on ‘Operation Sindoor’, he alleged that the government revealed sensitive details about Operation Sindoor to Pakistan, soon after it was launched. Referring to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s speech in Parliament, Rahul said it showed the lack of political will of the government. Otherwise, he asked, why would the India tell Pakistan within just half-an-hour of launching Operation Sindoor that it had not hit its military installations and did not want any escalation. “This was like a meek surrender in 30 minutes,” he said. The former Congress president cited remarks by Indian defence attache in Indonesia, Group Captain Shiv Kumar, to claim that there were constraints by the political leadership to not attack the Pakistani military establishment and their air defences. Why were the hands of the Indian Air Force tied, Rahul asked. He also referred to the military integration between Pakistan and China, saying that India’s defence forces did not fight Pakistan alone, but the joint might of the Pakistani and Chinese armies and air forces. Rahul said India needs a prime minister who frees the Army, Air Force and Navy and tells them, “Go, finish the job,” much like what Indira Gandhi did. The goal of Operation Sindoor was to save and protect the image of the Prime Minister, who had the blood of the Pahalgam terror victims on his hands, Rahul charged. “It is dangerous at this time for the PM to use the forces to protect his image. It is dangerous for the country he said, while asserting that the defence forces ,” should only be used in the national interest. Stressing that there was no “tactical mistake” by the armed forces, which led to its aircraft “being downed”, Rahul said, “CDS Anil Chauhan must have the courage to say ‘My hand were tied behind my back, and I was sent , into a war, and my enemy was told by my own government that we will not attack you air defence system.’” Attacking External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Rahul said: “The mastermind of the Pahalgam terror attack and Pakistan Army Chief, Asim Munir, was hosted for lunch at the White House by President Trump, who went on to thank Munir for the ceasefire.” Aug 12-13 Hearing EXPRESS READ High Court orders audit of roads in state Land conversion: State to bring in new SOP Man acquitted in Pocso case after 285 days in jail Kochi: The Kerala High Court has directed the engineers with public works department to conduct an audit of all roads across the state within their jurisdiction by carrying out necessary inspections and submit the report before it through government pleader. P2 T’Puram: The state is set to introduce Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to assist district administrative officers in handling land conversion applications, in a bid to bring clarity and speed to a process long criticised for delays and confusion. P2 Alappuzha: A 75-year-old man who spent 285 days in judicial custody after being charged with sections under Pocso Act has been acquitted by the Alappuzha Pocso Court. The judge acquitted him after a key witness retracted her earlier statement. P5 Prez reference case hearing from Aug 19 S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @New Delhi The Supreme Court on Tuesday fixed a schedule for hearing the Presidential Reference raising constitutional issues on whether timelines could be imposed for dealing with bills passed by assembly, and proposed to start the hearing from August 19 till September 10. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai, which is examining whether the exercise of discretion by Governors and the President on Bills can be subjected to judicially enforceable timelines, asked the parties to file their written submissions by August 12. The court also app o i n t e d a dvo c a t e s Aman Mehta and Nisha Rohatgi as nodal counsels on the sides of the Union and the parties opposing reference, respectively Asking all parties . to adhere strictly to the timeline, the bench said it will first hear preliminary objections filed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu questioning the maintainability of the Presidential Reference on August 19 for an hour. The Centre and states supporting the reference will be heard on August 19, 20, 21 and 26, while those opposing it will be heard on August 28 and September 2, 3 and 9. The court had on April 8 ruled that prolonged inaction by a Governor and/or the President in deciding on bills passed by state assemblies was illegal. Challenging the verdict, President Murmu had moved the SC on May 13. Will step in if mass exclusion of voters is established: SC s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi TERMING the Election Commission as a constitutional authority empowered to act in accordance with law, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will step in immediately if it finds there is “mass exclusion” in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi fixed a timeline for considering a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission’s SIR exercise in Bihar, and said the case will be heard on August 12 and 13. The bench made these observations after being apprised by senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for petitioners, including Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), alleged that people are being left out of the draft list to be published on August 1. Prashant Bhushan, also appearing for ADR, said EC said 65 lakh electors are either deceased or have permanently moved out. Sibal added that only the EC knows who these 65 lakh people are and if they mention their names in the draft list, the petitioners would have no problem. Sainaba, a native of Chooralmala, searches for her relatives on a hoarding, displaying the photos of the landslide victims, placed near the Puthumala burial ground in Wayanad | E Gokul A year on, the pain lingers July 30, 2025, marks the first anniversary of the tragedy that struck the villages of Punchirimattam, Mundakkai and Chooralmala in Wayanad 298 people were killed and 32 others went missing in the devastating landslides, with survivors still struggling to overcome the trauma | P4 Kerala BJP rejects Chhattisgarh CM’s claims, backs arrested nuns E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @Kochi They (nuns) were accompanying three adult women who were going to get jobs. We have made it clear to the Chhattisgarh government that they were not involved in either trafficking or conversion Rajeev Chandrasekhar Rejecting Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai’s claims justifying the police action against two nuns, the BJP in Kerala on Tuesday distanced itself from his statement and asserted that the sisters were not involved in any human trafficking or forced conversion. BJP Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar told reporters in Delhi that the party will make all efforts to secure the release of the nuns — Sr Vandana and Sr Preethy Mary — and ensure their safe return. “Our top priority is to protect the nuns and ensure justice,” he said, adding the party’s state general secretary Anoop Antony is in Chhattis- garh, coordinating with the authorities there. Chandrasekhar said he will himself visit Chhattisgarh if required. “These are two nuns from the Syro-Malabar Church. They were accompanying three adult women who were going to get jobs. We have made it very clear to the Chhattisgarh government that they were not involved in either trafficking or conversion,” he said. “We are convinced that the allegations of conversion against the Malayali nuns are not true,” he said, adding he had spoken to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and clarified every aspect of the case. “I have 100% belief that it’s a misunderstanding and a case of miscommunication,” Chan● More on P2 drasekhar said.