chennai l Monday l September 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION new trade arrangements will emerge in time, says Jaishankar External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the world will need a global workforce, while stressing India’s growing ties with S America and Caribbean S Jaishankar Howard Lutnick answer lies in capacity building, says eam Need to ‘fix’ India, says U.S. COMMERCE SECY 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 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” ■ US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said that the US will have 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 know this is not a big amount in the face of such loss. Yet at this time, it is my duty as one A day after the stampede at ac- of your own to stand with you tor-politician Vijay’s campaign in spirit,” he said. rally at Velusamypuram in Meanwhile, ADGP (Law & Karur, located 82km from Order) S Davidson DevasirTiruchy the death toll rose to 40 vatham cited overcrowding, , with the death of a 17-year-old heat stress and a sudden surge boy on Sunday Of the deceased, of people eager to see Vjiay, . 17 were women and 10 were who arrived at the site three children, the youngest being hours late, as reasons behind only two years old. The bodies the stampede. were released to the families Stating 500 police personnel and laid to rest. were posted at the Before the dust setvenue, he pushed back tled, the opposition against criticism that parties, AIADMK and police had denied perBJP, questioned the No matter the force mission for the event Tamil Nadu police and size, when 10,000 to be held at a larger Karur administration, to 20,000 people site, claiming the origpush against the alleging more police inal choice was a police, it becomes should have been post“high-risk” location. uncontrollable ed at the spot given the “No matter the force S Davidson crowds that throng the size, when 10,000 to Devasirvatham, rallies of Vijay, Kolly20,000 people push wood’s biggest super- ADGP (Law & Order) against the police, it star, and president of becomes uncontrollathe fledgling TVK. While Chief ble,” he said. Minister M K Stalin visited the For its part, the TVK has apsurvivors and bereaved at the proached the Madras High Karur Medical College Hospi- Court seeking an independent tal in the wee hours of Sunday probe. Raising doubts over the , Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin root cause of the tragedy and visited later in the day, both calling to preserve CCTV footopting not to “talk politics”. Vi- age, it asked Justice M Dhandajay, who returned to Chennai pani to take up a suo motu case. Saturday night, took to social The judge, who will be sitting media on Sunday to announce in the vacation court at the Mafinancial assistance of `20 lakh durai bench, agreed to hear the each to kin of the deceased and petition on Monday if filing `2 lakh each to the injured. “I formalities are completed. express news service @ Karur/Chennai Survivors recall night when it all went awry S n e h a S i v a s h a n m u g a m @ Karur A blanket of silence and grief has fallen over Emur, a small village in Karur district, from where 15 villagers had set out together on a tempo van to Velusamypuram on Saturday, eager to witness Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president Vijay’s public address. Only 10 made it back. Among those who did not return was Chandra (39), a mother of two teenage boys. Her husband Selvaraj (43) recalled his desperate attempts to reach her, only for his calls to go unanswered. Hours later, officials from the Karur Government Hospital contacted him, asking to identify Chandra’s body. “Our family has lost its pillar,” he told TNIE. Their younger son never even got to see his mother one last time, he added. Another family from Emur, lost their 10-year-old boy. Sharmila had taken her son Prithvik along with her to the rally. During the chaos of the evening, she had fainted and by the time she came to, her son was gone forever.  Full coverage on P4, P5 ‘Cops did not help us’ Eyewitnesses also spoke of a complete absence of timely police intervention. Subashini (25), another survivor, said she fell down with three others near cops. “But they did not help us,” she said ‘No network to call kin’ “An ambulance kept making U-turns inside the crowd, worsening the situation. People fell on vehicles and were crushed. We tried calling our families, but there was no network,” one survivor recalled Sexual assault accused godman in 5 day custody Modi praises RSS again, says its guiding principle is ‘nation first’ P r a b h at s h u k l a @ New Delhi RA J ESH k u m a r THAKUR @ 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 students at a southwest Delhi 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 recorded statements and health issues, the court allowed custodial inter rogation of the 62-year-old to verify testimonies and digital evidence. 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. Modi also said that 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. When Chhath Puja is included in the UNESCO list, people worldwide will be able to experience its grandeur and divinity he added. , 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 as 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 40year history of the tournament, towards India.  P11 express read Shah rejects ceasefire offer from Maoists Chandigarh: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday rejected the ceasefire offer given by Maoists, saying if the extremists want to surrender and lay down arms, they are welcome, and assured that security forces would not fire a single bullet on them | P7