Kochi l Sunday l august 17, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 28 l late city edition flashfloods wreak havoc in pak, 344 dead The toll from monsoon rains that have triggered flashfloods across northern Pakistan rose to 344 on Saturday maximum damage in khyber pakhtunkhwa blocked highways being restored The majority of the deaths were recorded in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Most were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses. Torrential rains, which triggered flash floods, are expected to continue intermittently until August 21, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority’s note on Saturday ■ The affected districts include Bajaur, Buner, Swat, Manaehra, Shangla, Torghar, and Batagram. Buner was the worst-hit, recording 184 deaths, followed by Shangla’s 36 deaths | P9 ■ Instructions have also been issued to mobilise all resources for restoration of blocked highways and link roads in tourist areas 2,000 workers deployed for rescue and relief operations 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 Some positives for India as Trump open to secondary tariff rethink US prez nudges Putin towards peace deal at summit, lines up Monday talks with Zelenskyy J aya n t h J a c o b a n d P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi A high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday produced no ceasefire in Ukraine but shifted the diplomatic narrative toward a possible peace deal — one that remains vague, contested, and fraught with uncertainty . For India, caught in the crosshairs of the looming US penalty tariffs over Russian oil imports, the suspense now tilts slightly toward hope. The nearly three-hour summit in Alaska, the first face-toface meeting between the two leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, ended with Trump calling for a direct peace pact between Kyiv and Moscow, bypassing the ceasefire route long advocated by Ukraine and its Western allies. “It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war... is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, and not a mere Ceasefire,” Trump said on social media. Calling Russia a “very big power” and Ukraine “not”, Trump urged Kyiv to “make a deal”, suggesting that continued resistance might be futile. He said he would host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday and if that went well, , would schedule a follow-up meeting with Putin. “Potentially millions of people’s lives will , be saved,” he said. India welcomed the summit terming the pursuit of peace is commendable. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “In- He (Putin) lost an oil client, so to speak, which is India, which was doing about 40% of the oil. China, as you know, is doing a lot…And if I did what's called a secondary sanction, or a secondary tariff, it would be very devastating from their standpoint. If I have to do it, I'll do it. Maybe I won't have to do it Donald Trump US President Donald Trump (C) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shake hands after a joint press meet in Alaska | AFP dia appreciates the progress made in the Summit. The way forward can only be through dialogue and diplomacy. The world wants to see an early end to the conflict in Ukraine.” Zelenskyy, while cautious, said after a long call with Trump that Ukraine was ready for “constructive cooperation” and supported the idea of a trilateral summit. But Moscow was non-committal. In a post-summit interview with Fox News, Trump indicated that land swaps and security guarantees were part of the informal talks. “I think we’re pretty close to a deal... Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they’ll say no,” he said. For India, the lack of a defini- Special NCERT module on Partition gets Cong’s goat P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi A political row broke out on Saturday over a new special module by the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), which holds the Congress leadership, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and Viceroy Lord Mountbatten responsible for Partition of India. The module, released by NCERT to mark ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’, drew the ire of the Congress, which demanded that the module be set on fire as it presents a distorted history . Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Congress leader Pawan Khera said, “Is 1938 mentioned or not in the NCERT module? In 1938, the Hindu Mahasabha’s national conference in Gujarat announced that Hindus and Muslims could not live in one Three elements “On August 15, 1947, India was divided. But this was not the doing of any one person. There were three elements responsible...: Jinnah, who demanded it; second, the Congress, which accepted it; and third, Mountbatten, who implemented it. But Mountbatten proved to be guilty of a major blunder,” the NCERT module said country. Is 1940 mentioned in the module?” he asked. In 1940, Jinnah adopted the Hindu Mahasabha’s idea at the Muslim League’s Lahore session. “It was mooted in 1938 by the Hindu Mahasabha, and Jinnah repeated it in 1940,” he said. “Burn the document if all this is not mentioned in it. Partition happened due to nexus between Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League. Generations will not forgive them,” he said.  ● More on P8 ‘Leadership commendable’ India on Saturday welcomed the high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held in Alaska, describing their leadership as “commendable” and urging that dialogue and diplomacy must remain the only way forward in resolving the ongoing war in Ukraine. P7 tive ceasefire or framework complicates matters. But it doesn’t close the door. T r ump had earlier announced a 25% secondary tariff on Indian purchases of Rus- sian oil, set to take effect on August 27. But in remarks after the summit, he signalled the measure might be delayed. “Because of what happened today... I don’t have to think about that right now. I may have to think about it in 2–3 weeks,” he told Fox News, implying that the tariff deadline could quietly lapse. “It’s still fingers crossed. But we are ready to deal with any eventuality in our national interest,” said a source. However, Trump’s additional claim that India had “already stopped buying Russian oil” raised eyebrows. New Delhi made no such announcement and continues to defend its sovereign right to energy diversification. Nat’l Medical Register is no more mandatory K a v i ta B a j e l i D at t @ New Delhi THE government’s ambitious National Medical Register (NMR), launched last year with the aim of creating a centralised and dynamic database of modern medicine practitioners in the country has failed to take off. Less than a year , after it was made mandatory the Union Health , Ministry has quietly rolled back the requirement, declaring registration as voluntary . The NMR portal, launched on August 23, 2024, by Union Health Minister J P Nadda, was billed as a big leap to ensure transparency and verification in India’s medical workforce. TNIE on May 1 was the first to report that the NMR portal was largely unsuccessful in registering modern medicine practitioners. Less than 1% of doctors had enrolled on the platform by May . In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha by Samajwadi Party MP Aditya Yadav, MoS (Health) Anupriya Patel confirmed on August 8 that NMR registration was no longer ● More on P8 mandatory  . ‘Injury replacement’ rule for domestic cricket g o m e s h s @ Chennai IN what could be a major rule change for the upcoming 2025-26 domestic season, the Indian cricket body has made provisions for ‘serious injury replacement’ for multi-day red-ball cricket. This rule change comes after the ICC announcement in June that fullmember nations will trial replacement players for domestic first-class cricket. Unlike the past where a like-forlike replacement was allowed only for concussion substitutes, if a player suffers an external injury on the field they can be replaced by the respective teams. This change, along with a few others, was briefed to the umpires during a seminar in How it works When a player suffers an external injury (fracture, deep cut, etc.) within the playing area and gets ruled out of the match, the on-field umpires have the authority to determine extent of the injury. They can consult match referee and doctor to determine The team manager submits a request for a like-for-like replacement as soon as possible to the match referee The referee determines whether it is a valid replacement or one team gets an advantage before approving Ahmedabad ahead of the season. “The serious injury must have been sustained during play and within the playing area described in clause 1.2.5.2 above. The injury must have occurred due to an external blow and result in fracture / deep cut / dislocation etc. The injury should render player unavailable for remainder of The names should be from nominated substitutes unless it is a keeper the match,” the new playing conditions document reads. Last month when Rishabh Pant fractured his foot and could not be replaced during the Manchester Test between India and England, it sparked a debate on the subject. Dhruv Jurel kept wickets but was not P11 allowed to bat.  No blanket ban on bikes and autos on six-lane NH 66 thapuram), sufficient width is not available at many placNo blanket ban will be en- es. At certain locations, servforced on bikes and autorick- ice roads are entirely absent. shaws along the widened NH “However, vehicles can’t just 66 corridors in the state, ac- enter the carriageway from cording to a senior official any point. Also, there will be with the National Highways no U-turns or traffic signals Authority of India (NHAI). along the entire NH 66 “As per the general Instretch. Instead we are prodian Roads Congress viding sufficient under(IRC) codes, the enpasses. In some sectry of such small vetions, we are hicles is not allowed constructing underon major expresspasses just 200-400 m ways and six-lane apart, like in Koonhighways — for inammavu,” the offiHighway stance, the Dwarka cial said. work Expressway in the Also, a blanket ban national capital. will adversely affect Original However, it will be a the people in the completion different scenario state, where twodate: Dec 31, in Kerala, where wheelers form the 2025 there will be no majority of the veEstimated blanket ban on enhicular population, completion: try of two-and threethe official cited. wheelers when the June 30, 2026 “How could these ongoing widening high numbers be acDesigned speed of the NH 66 into commodated if we of widened NH: six-lane is completclose the main car100 kmph ed,” the official, riageway as the serv, working in the ca- Total kms being ice roads will be pacity of project diwidened: grossly inadequate rector, said. 644 km (From in that case,” he A main reason is Thalappady said. the width of the (Kasaragod) to Earlier, there were NH-66 stretches. Mukkola reports of the NHAI “T he IRC codes (T’Puram) planning to restrict specify that the reentry of two- andTotal stretches striction can be imthree wheelers, and of work: 22 plemented in sixtractors on stretches lane highways with like Ramanattukaraa minimum width of 60 m, as Valanchery and Kazhakutin the case in most other tom-Karode. states. However, here it’s only “There will be no restric45 m,” the official said. tion on most of the stretches. Further, while the central Any decision on banning agency is developing service such vehicle entry will be roads along the 644-km based on local topography stretch being widened from and the availability of servThalappady (Kasaragod) to ice roads,” the NHAI official ● More on P5 M u k ko l a ( T h i r u va n a n - said.  K r i s h n a K u m a r K E @ Kochi EXPRESS READ Govindan’s remark draw flak within CPM T’Puram: State secretary M V Govindan is facing criticism from within the CPM leadership for his remarks against Thalassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany. Govindan had reportedly termed the Archbishop as ‘someone who is very opportunist’. Sources in the CPM told TNIE that Govindan faced criticism in the party forum for his unwanted remark. P5 WITH THIS ISSUE Code Green PLUS 12 P AGES Todays issue comes with a 4-page pullout