kochi l monday l september 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late 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 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 s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Karur/Chennai A day after the stampede at actorpolitician Vijay’s campaign rally at Velusamypuram in Karur, located 82km from Tiruchy, the death toll rose to 40 with the death of a 17-yearold 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. Before the dust settled, the opposition parties, AIADMK and BJP ques, tioned 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 fledg- Sexual assault accused godman in 5-day custody P r a b h at s h u k l a @ New Delhi A Delhi court on Sunday remanded self-styled godman Chaitanyananda Saraswati to five days in police custody in an alleged sexual harassment case involving 17 women stud e n t s at a s o u t h we s t D e l h i management institute he once headed. The prosecution highlighted CCTV cameras installed in bathrooms to monitor students and threats issued to victims. Despite defence claims of health issues, the court allowed custodial interrogation of the 62-yearold, who was arrested from Agra, to verify testimonies and digital evidence. Financial irregularities of `8 crore were also uncovered. ling TVK. While Chief Minister M K Stalin visited the survivors and bereaved 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 Saturday 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. 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 late, as reasons behind the 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. The TVK has approached the Madras HC 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 agreed to hear the petition on Monday if filing formalities are completed. P5 Missing Sabarimala pedestal found at home of sponsor’s kin J AIS O N WI L S O N @Pathanamthitta The vigilance wing of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has recovered the peedam (pedestal) of the dwarapalaka idols of Sabarimala temple from Thiruvananthapuram, six years after it went missing, officials said on Sunday . A team led by the TDB vigilance and security SP Sunil Kumar V traced the peedam to the house of a relative of Unnikrishnan Potti, who had sponsored the gold-plating of the pedestal and idols, at Pulimathu in Venjaramoodu on Saturday . Following the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, Potti had kicked up a row when he told the media that the peedam was missing. Consequently, the Kerala High Court ordered the TDB’s vigilance wing to probe the matter, along with the “reduction” in weight of the plates. “In 2019, when discolouration was noticed, the sponsor sought permission to have the pedestal moved for maintenance. After the work, it did not go well with the idols, so he took it back again. Later, he claimed it had been returned and kept in the strongroom. However, it was not found there despite a thorough check recently,” a senior cop told TNIE. “During questioning, we learnt that it had been kept in the house of one of his aides. When media reports of the missing goldplated dwarapalaka idols surfaced, the aide, who had kept it without much thought, got scared and approached Potti, after which it was shifted to a relative’s house,” said the ● More on P4 officer.  Modi lauds RSS for its selfless service, discipline RA J ESH k u m a r THAKUR @ 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 tilak & spinners guide india to glory in dubai e x p r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai ONE of the most toxic cricket tournaments in recent times finished with India beating Pakistan for a third time on the bounce in as many Sundays. This one, the one that really mattered, saw them winning the Asia Cup for a ninth time under the Dubai lights on a tense Sunday night. Both teams had legit claims on lifting the title with 30 of the 40 overs done on a raucous occasion filled with subtext. In the end, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson held their nerves in the cauldron to guide India home in a relatively modest chase of 147 before Rinku Singh, playing his first ball of the tournament, lofted Haris Rauf over the in-field to spread scenes of unbridled joy and riotous celebration among the Indian team. While Varma’s unbeaten 53-ball 69 will brag headlines, India’s spin troika — Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy India’s Tilak Varma (3rd L) congratulated by teammates after the match on Sunday | ap and Kuldeep Yadav — did a lot of the damage after the Pakistan openers threatened to run-up a big score. That’s when Suryakumar Yadav, turned full-time to his spinners. Luckily for him, Chakravarthy Patel , and Yadav bent the final of the Asia Cup, the first time the summit clash has featured these two nations in the over 40-year history of the tournament, P11 towards India.  EXPRESS READ 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 row | P4