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 ■ ■ 800 DEAD AND COUNTING AS MASSIVE QUAKE JOLTS Afghanistan THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l tuesday l september 02, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION The 6.0 earthquake that struck near Afghanistan’s Jalalabad on Sunday night has killed 800 people, a Taliban government spokesman said on Monday, adding most of the casualties were in Kunar province Badakhshan Afghanistan Kunar Province 2,500 injured Rescue operations are underway and medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul have reached the affected area, a health ministry spokesman said. The casualties could go up as many are feared trapped under the rubble 8 27 The earthquake occurred at a depth of just 8 kilometres. Such shallow quakes tend to cause more intense surface shaking The quake’s epicentre was 27 kilometres east-northeast of Jalalabad. This placed it close to populated areas, including towns in Kunar province India assures aid India has started delivering relief materials for earthquake-affected people in Afghanistan, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar assuring his Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi of more supplies 11.47 pm On Sunday was when the earthquake struck, catching many people while they were sleeping. This led to the high death toll 3,00,000 PM raps double standards Yatra over, Rahul says expect ‘hydrogen bomb on vote theft’ on terror at SCO summit Jalalabad Kubul Estimated population of the city of Jalalabad, according to municipal estimates. Its larger metropolitan area makes it a significant urban centre near the quake’s epicentre An injured person is carried to a hospital in Mazar Dara, Kunar province | AP P r ee t h a N a i r @ Patna Jt declaration condemns Pahalgam attack, calls for perpetrators to be brought to justice J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping | PTI Modi, Putin add to strategic bond J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi In a strong display of personal rapport and strategic alignment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a bilateral meeting on Monday amid US pressure over India’s Russian oil imports and growing international calls for an end to the war in Ukraine, with Modi expressing support for recent peace efforts and urging all sides to move forward constructively . The meeting took place on the sidelines of the SCO summit, where Modi and Putin walked hand-in-hand toward Chinese President Xi Jinping in a striking image of diplomacy in an increasingly polarised and readyto-realign global order. Calling each other “dear friend”, Modi and Putin held their one-on-one conversation inside the Russian leader’s armoured Aurus limWe welcome ousine, a rare gesture reall recent served for chosen friends and efforts to trusted allies. “Even in the most difficult bring peace (in Ukraine) and situations, India and Russia hope that all have always walked shoulder relevant sides to shoulder,” Modi said, and will move added that their close relaforward constructively tions are significant for global peace, stability and Narendra Modi, prosperity . Prime Minister Putin echoed the sentiment, highlighting a “friendly and trusting” foundation that would guide future cooperation. Addressing Modi, he said, “Dear Prime Minister, my dear friend, Russia and India have for decades maintained special relations of friendship and trust, which is the foundation for our future relationship.” Putin said the India-Russia relations are “politically non-partisan and have the support of the majority of people in both countries”. The personal warmth and intent to step up the ties came amid rising tensions in India-US relations, particularly over Washington’s tariff response to India’s purchases of discounted Russian crude. With the global power centres shifting, Modi’s meeting with Putin sent a calibrated message of India pursuing a multipolar strategy, balancing ties with Russia, engaging with the West, and calling for lasting peace in Ukraine. With his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif in attendance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday used the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to deliver a pointed warning against cross-border terror, calling the recent Pahalgam attack “an open challenge to every country that believes in humanity”. Without naming Pakistan, Modi condemned “open support for terrorism by some countries” and urged SCO member states to take an unambiguous stand. “No double standards on terrorism will be acceptable,” he said, warning that the menace must be opposed “in all its forms and colours”. The comments come amid renewed concerns in India over Pakistan-based terror networks and their transnational enablers. “For the past four decades, India has been bearing the grave scars of ruthless terrorism,” Modi said, adding that the “ugly face of terrorism” was once again visible in the Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of 26 innocent tourists in April. The SCO summit’s joint declaration later echoed Modi’s tone, with member states condemning the Pahalgam attack and calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. It also mentioned two terror attacks in Pakistan. “We must state it clearly and in one voice: double standards on terrorism are unacceptable. Together, we must oppose terrorism in every form and manifestation. This is our responsibility towards humanity the prime ,” minister said. While terrorism dominated Modi’s address, he also delivered a veiled message on sovereignty concerns in regional connectivity projects, a likely reference to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Without naming any initiative, Modi said connectivity must be based on “respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all member states,” a long-standing Indian position that implicitly critiques China’s Belt and Road projects passing through disputed territory . “We believe that every effort towards connectivity must uphold the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity This is also enshrined . in the core principles of the SCO Charter,” Modi said. Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed NATO expansion and what he called the 2014 “coup in Kiev” as root causes of the Ukraine conflict. Chinese President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, took aim at “bullying behaviour” in the global order, calling for a rejection of bloc politics and Cold War mentalities, a stance widely interpreted as criticism of US dominance. Fresh meltdown: Trump says India trade a disaster E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi US President Donald Trump, in his latest meltdown, coming just hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, called the India-US trade relationship a “totally one-sided” disaster for the US. He then claimed New Delhi offered to cut tariffs on US goods to ‘nothing, but it was getting late. “We do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us,” Trump posted on Truth Social. Trump said beacuse of India’s “high tariffs”, Donald Trump the trade relationship has been a “totally one-sided disaster” for the US . Trump claimed India has now offered to cut tariffs to nothing, adding, “they should have done so years ago”. It was not just Trump who had a meltdown. His top trade advisor Peter Navarro, who has consistently criticised Delhi, claimed Brahmins are profiteering from Russian oil purchase. “I would just simply say, the Indian people, please understand what’s going on here. You got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people,” he said in an interview. AS the two-week-long ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ wound up in the Bihar capital on Monday Congress leader Rahul Gandhi issued , a stern warning to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that his party would soon drop a ‘hydrogen bomb’ of revelations on alleged vote theft, after which Prime Minister Modi would not be able to show his face to the nation. Addressing a mammoth rally here, Gandhi escalated his fusillade against the Election Commission saying votes were stolen in the Maharashtra assembly elections, and with evidence, his party showed how ‘vote theft’ was done in the Mahadevapura assembly segment in Karnataka’s Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat. “I want to tell the BJP people. Have you heard of anything bigger than an atom bomb? It is a hydrogen bomb. BJP supporters, be prepared, a hydrogen bomb is on the way People are soon going to find out the . reality of vote theft. I want to tell the youth of Bihar, vote theft means ‘snatching away rights, democracy, and employment. They will take away your ration card and other TDB differs from govt on customs in Sabarimala M S V i d ya n a n d a n @ T’Puram Indicating difference of opinion with the Kerala government on the issue of entry of women at Sabarimala, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has said it would explore all possibilities to convince the Supreme Court of the customs and practices at the age-old shrine. “We will consult legal experts on convincing the apex court on the customs and practices at Sabarimala,” TDB president P S Prasanth told reporters on Monday when asked whether the board had failed to impress upon the SC the traditions and rituals at the hill shrine before the court ruled in favour of entry of women in the age group of 10 to 50. Prasanth, however, refused to give a specific reply to a question on whether a fresh affidavit would be filed in the court, as demanded by the BJP . “I cannot comment further as the matter is pending before the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court,” he said. BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar has raised the demand for a fresh affidavit in the wake of the Global Ayyappa Meet to be organised by the board on September 20. Prasanth said union ministers and CMs of all south Indian states in addition to Maharashtra and Goa have been invited for the meet. ● More on P6 Poor construction Buildings in Afghanistan tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood. Many are poorly built | P11 EXPRESS READ Two more die of rare amoebic infection Kozhikode: Two persons — a three-month-old and a 52-yearold woman — have died of amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rare but deadly brain infection, in the state. They died on Sunday after having been under treatment at the Kozhikode MCH for weeks. With this, the toll from the infection in the state has risen to three this year. P6 Cong leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Rajesh Ram, and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav in Patna | pti SC: TET must for school teachers to be in service rights,” said Gandhi, as the crowd chanted “Vote thieves, leave the chair” — a slogan adopted during the march. Maintaining that vote theft was an attack on the Constitution, Gandhi said the same forces that killed Mahatma Gandhi are now trying to kill the Constitution. “But we will not allow that to happen at any cost,” he asserted. Braving the scorching heat, tens of thousands of supporters gathered at the ‘Gandhi se Ambedkar’ march, waving flags of RJD, Congress, CPI(ML), CPI(M), CPI, and VIP with a battle cry against the Modi government and the EC. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) is a mandatory requirement for appointment as teachers and for teachers in service to seek promotions. A bench of justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih said teachers with more than five years to retire, must qualify for TET within two years to remain in service. P10 18 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express