kannur l monday l september 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION new trade arrangements will emerge in time, says Jaishankar S Jaishankar Howard Lutnick answer lies in capacity building, says eam Speaking at an Observer Research Foundation (ORF) panel on the sidelines of the 80th UN General Assembly session in New York, the EAM said it is important to build capacities for greater self-reliance, in this turbulent atmosphere. Jaishankar’s remarks come amid recent moves by the US to raise new H-1B visa fees and impose unilateral tariffs on India External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the world will need a global workforce, while stressing India’s growing ties with S America and Caribbean Need to ‘fix’ India, says U.S. COMMERCE SECY ■ US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said that the US will have to ‘fix’ countries like Brazil and India, asserting that “these nations need to open markets and refrain from harming American interests” ■ Lutnick said these countries have to understand that if “they want to sell to the US consumers, they’ve got to play ball with US President” 50% is the tariff that indian goods now face upon entry into the u.s. 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 Oppn questions govt, police deny lapses; TVK approaches HC for independent probe blame game begins as Karur toll rises to 40 EXPRESS READ India’s Kuldeep Yadav (second right) celebrates the wicket of Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi during the Asia Cup final at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, on Sunday | ap Barricades, banners, flags and slippers left behind in the chaos of Saturday evening in Velusamypuram (left); Family members of one of the stampede victims wracked with grief as they received the body on Sunday | m k ashok kumar e x p r e ss n e ws s e r v i c e @ Karur/Chennai A day after the stampede at actor-politician Vijay’s campaign rally at Velusamypuram in Karur, located 82km from Tiruchy the death toll rose to 40 , with the death of a 17-year-old boy on Sunday. Of the deceased, 17 were women and 10 were children, the youngest being only two years old. The bodies were released to the families and laid to rest. As the dust settled, the opposition parties, AIADMK and BJP, questioned the Tamil Nadu police and Karur administration, alleging more police should have been posted at the spot given the crowds that throng the rallies of Vijay, Kollywood’s biggest superstar, and president of the fledgling TVK. While Chief Minister M K Stalin visited the survivors and be- Sexual assault accused godman in 5-day custody P T I @New Delhi A Delhi court on Sunday remanded Chaitanyananda Saraswati, a selfstyled godman and a sexual harassment accused, to five days’ police custody for questioning. Saraswati, 62, accused of sexually harassing 17 women students at a private institute here, was apprehended from a hotel in Agra Sunday morning. He was produced before the judge at 3.40 pm. The prosecution alleged that Saraswati had molested several women and sought sexual favours from them and that the testimonies of the victims had corroborated the allegations. “He had given them threats. (CCTV) Cameras were installed to monitor their movement ‘ some were installed in bathrooms. Around 16 girls have complained. Several other allegations need to be verified,” the prosecution alleged. The counsel for the accused countered the plea for custodial interrogation, saying all “16-20 women” women had already recorded their statements.“You have already taken my phones, one iPad, and my luggage. I am diabetic, having anxiety issues, whose monk’s robes have been taken away. You want police custody only to harass me,” the counsel pleaded. reaved at the Karur Medical College Hospital in the wee hours of Sunday , Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin visited later in the day, both opting not to “talk politics”. Vijay who returned to Chennai Sat, urday night, took to social media on Sunday to announce financial assistance of `20 lakh each to kin of the deceased and `2 lakh each to the injured. “I know this is not a big amount in the face of such loss. Yet at this time, it is my duty as one of your own to stand with you in spirit,” he said. Meanwhile, ADGP (Law & Order) S Davidson Devasirvatham cited overcrowding, heat stress and a sudden surge of people eager to see Vjiay, who arrived at the site three hours l a t e, a s r e a s o n s b e h i n d t h e stampede. Stating 500 police personnel were posted at the venue, he pushed back against criticism that police had denied permission for the event to be held at a larger site, claiming the original choice was a “high-risk” location. “No matter the force size, when 10,000 to 20,000 people push against the police, it becomes uncontrollable,” he said. For its part, the TVK has approached the Madras High Court seeking an independent probe. Raising doubts over the root cause of the tragedy and calling to preserve CCTV footage, it asked Justice M Dhandapani to take up a suo motu case. The judge, who will be sitting in the vacation court at the Madurai bench, agreed to hear the petition on Monday if filing for malities are completed. Missing Sabarimala pedestal traced to house of sponsor’s kin noticed, the sponsor sought permission to have the pedestal moved for The vigilance wing of the Travan- maintenance. After the work, it did core Devaswom Board (TDB) not go well with the idols, so he has recovered the peedam took it back again. Later, he (pedestal) of the dwarapalaclaimed it had been returned ka idols of Sabarimala temand kept in the strongroom. ple from ThiruvananHowever, it was not found thapuram, six years after it there despite a thorough went missing, officials said on check recently,” a senior cop Sunday . told TNIE. ‘Repair in A team led by the TDB “During questioning, we keeping with vigilance and security SP learnt that it had been kept rules’ Sunil Kumar V traced the in the house of one of his Kottayam: TDB peedam to the house of a aides. When media president P S relative of Unnikrishnan reports of the missing Potti, who had sponsored Prasanth on Sunday gold-plated dwarapalaka said the gold-clad the gold-plating of the pedidols surfaced, the aide, copper plates of estal and idols, at Puliwho had kept it without Sabarimala idols mathu in Venjaramoodu much thought, got scared were sent to on Saturday . and approached Potti, after Chennai for repair Following the Global which it was shifted to a Ayyappa Sangamam, Potti as per rules. He said relative’s house,” said the had kicked up a row when he had not indulged officer. he told the media that the in malpractice | P4 The police official said, peedam was missing. “If it was an unintentional Consequently, the Kerala High mistake, he could have rectified it. He Court ordered the TDB’s vigilance could have admitted it before the Kerwing to probe the matter, along with ala High Court during any of his apthe “reduction” in weight of the pearances. The missing case had put plates. several officials under tremendous ● More on P4 “In 2019, when discolouration was pressure.”  J A I S O N W I L S O N @Pathanamthitta Modi lauds RSS for its selfless service, discipline r A J E S H tH A KUR @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday showered praise on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for its selfless service and discipline, brushing aside speculations about a rift between the ruling party and the Sangh. In his Mann Ki Baat address, Modi said the Sangh operates with the guiding principle of ‘nation first’ and its volunteers have been working tirelessly towards this goal. Noting that the RSS was founded with the aim of freeing the country from intellectual subjugation, Modi said the organisation’s journey since its inception in 1925 has been deeply inspiring. Modi’s latest commendation comes three days before the RSS completes 100 years on October 2. This is the third time in the recent past that Modi has lauded the RSS and its leadership. In his Independence Day address, he termed the organisation as the world’s biggest NGO that shapes citizens. On September 11, Modi commended the intellectual depth and empathetic leadership of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. In his latest Mann Ki Baat address, the PM also said the government is working towards getting Chhath festival included in the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Chhath is largely celebrated in poll-bound Bihar. Whenever a natural disaster strikes anywhere in the country, RSS volunteers are the first to reach there. This spirit of ‘nation first’ remains paramount in every action and every endeavour of millions of volunteers Narendra Modi, PM iNDIAN SPINNERS COME TO THE FORE IN CRUNCH CLASH e x p r e ss n e ws s e r v i c e @ Chennai FOR a brief period, the Pakistan batters seemed to have a measure of the Indian bowlers under the Dubai lights. Fakhar Zaman and, especially Sahibza, da Farhan, had taken the attack to India’s powerplay bowlers. It didn’t come off but they were heading towards an imposing score in a ground where you don’t necessarily need an imposing score to defend a target. That’s when India captain Suryakumar Yadav, who had dismissed this contest as a rivalry because of the skewed recent record, turned full-time to his spinners. Luckily for him, Varun Chakravarthy Axar Patel and Kuldeep , Yadav bent the final of the Asia Cup, the first time the summit clash has featured these two nations in the over 40year history of the tournament, towards India. The openers had put on 84 in 9.2 overs when Farhan holed out in the deep off Varun. Sensing this was a good strip, the Pakistani batters kept going for their shots rather than maintaining a modicum of discipline. What makes Kuldeep, Axar and Varun so difficult to hit through the line is their ability to play with pace, angles and get some dip on their deliveries. No two deliveries are the same in a six-ball stretch. The end result? A seemingly below par score of 146 for Pakistan. Guv, CM share stage at Raj Bhavan T’Puram: In what could mark a thaw in the strained relationship between the government and the governor, Pinarayi Vijayan shared a stage with Rajendra Arlekar at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday. It was Pinarayi’s first visit to the governor’s official residence after the Bharat Mata controversy broke out | P4 Ex-DGP Jacob Thomas to be RSS pracharak Kochi: Former Kerala DGP Jacob Thomas will join the RSS as a full-time pracharak. The move comes at a time when RSS and BJP are aggressively luring Christian community. He said he will participate in the RSS padhasanchalan in Ernakulam district in official RSS uniform on October 1 | P5