KANNUR l Thursday l October 30, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION India women face dominant aussies for spot in final Shafali Verma Kaur & Co face stiff challenge Harmanpreet and Co will have to play out of their skin to overcome an indomitable Australia in the second semifinals of ICC Women’s World Cup focus on shafali and healy After what was a topsy-turvy road to the semis, it seemed like India were going in with a settled unit. But injury to Pratika Rawal meant Shafali Verma came in as a replacement. Australia are the defending champions and haven’t lost a world cup game since 2017. For them to be beaten, the hosts will have to be perfect across all 100 overs ■ ■ The Haryana batter has been given a morale boost. They have backed her to play the natural game and take the attack to the Australians. But it is a gamble and loaded with a lot of risk | p11 Australia are keeping their cards close on Healy’s fitness. She trained on Tuesday before skipping Wednesday’s optional practice Seven Australia is the only team to have won WC titles so many times 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 Trump latest: Modi tough as hell, nicest-looking guy ‘custody’ joke on pak President Droupadi Murmu with Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh, India’s first woman Rafale fighter jet pilot, at the Indian Air Force Station in Ambala. Pakistani social media had falsely claimed to have captured Singh during ‘Operation Sindoor’ ‘I’m doing a trade deal with India.’ Adds he has great respect for PM President Murmu takes ‘unforgettable’ Rafale flight President Murmu on Wednesday took a sortie in a Rafale jet from Ambala Air Force Station. She called it an “unforgettable” experience | PTI Rahul warns of ‘poll theft’ bid in Bihar Pinarayi’s pre-poll welfare trump card RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @T’Puram @ Muzaffarpur/ Darbhanga Arriving late but greeted by roaring crowds both at Sakra in Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi touched the hearts of mostly youthful audiences waving Congress and RJD flags amid drizzle on Wednesday . Launching his first election rally in Bihar’s Sakra in Muzaffarpur district, Rahul chose Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his prime target for a blistering attack at election rallies at Sakra and Darbhanga. He made passi n g re f e rences to the grand alliance’s CM face Tejashwi Yadav and the current CM Nitish Kumar while going after the PM and listing all his policy ‘follies’ from demonetisation to GST and beyond. At Sakra, in a densely populated Muslim and SC area, Rahul accused Modi of attempting to steal the Bihar election. “Whatever you are getting is due to this Samvidhan, but this Constitution is attacked by the BJP and RSS. Modi chunav chura rahe hai (stealing polls). He stole it in Maharashtra and Haryana, and is now attempting in Bihar,” Rahul alleged. India-bound Russian oil tanker does U-turn J ayanth J a c o b @ New Delhi Key decisions Social welfare ASHA workers’ pension raised honorarium hiked from L1,600 to by L1,000/ L2,000/month month Seeking to take the wind out of the Opposition’s sails ahead of the local body elections, the LDF government on Wednesday announced a slew of welfare measures, including increasing the social security pension to `2,000, a `1,000-hike in ASHA workers’ honorarium, a new pension scheme for economically backward women, and stipend for youths. In his post-cabinet briefing, akin to a “mini-budget presentation”, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Sthree Suraksha scheme would benefit women aged 35 to 60, who are not members of any other social security pension scheme. The scheme is limited to families holding AAY or PHH ration cards. The government estimates an expense of `3,800 crore a year to provide a monthly pension of `1,000 to 3 1 . 3 4 l a k h p r o s p e c t iv e beneficiaries. Announcing the `400-crore hike in welfare pension, Pinarayi said, “Social security pensions are aimed at supporting economically and socially backward people. It is difficult for the government to make L1,000/month for women & trans women from poor families not covered under any welfare pension L1,000/month for youth (18-30 years) with annual family income below L1 lakh Rubber MSP raised to L200/kg from Nov 1 this payout. Still, the government managed to avoid indefinite arrears in payment.” The government’s new promises would impose on the state exchequer an additional burden of around `10,000 crore a year. A monthly aid of `1,000 will be given to economically backward youths attending skill development programmes or competitive examination coaching after completing Plus-II, ITI, diploma or degree courses. Beneficiaries should be aged 18 to 30 and their annual family income should be below `1 lakh. About five lakh youths will benefit from the scheme which would cost `600 ● More on P4 crore a month. Ready? SSLC, Plus 2 exams in March, Results in May The SSLC exam will be held from March 5 to 30, 2026; Plus 2 theory exams from March 6 to 28. Results out on May 8 and 22, respectively | P5 US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he is “doing a trade deal with India”, while lavishing praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “the nicest-looking guy” and “tough as hell”. Speaking at the APEC CEO Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, Trump also reiterated his controversial claim that he personally averted a war between India and Pakistan by using trade pressure on both nations. “Prime Minister Modi is the nicest-looking guy He’s a killer. . He’s tough as hell. No, we will fight. I said, Whoa, this is the same man that I know,” Trump told business leaders, then he recounted how he ‘persuaded’ both India and Pakistan to halt military action. “I said, ‘You’re starting a war with Pakistan — we can’t make a trade deal.’ And within two days, they called me back and said, ‘We stopped fighting.’ Isn’t that amazing?” he said. The US President also referred to the ongoing trade negotiations A tanker carrying Russian crude oil to India turned around and went adrift in the Baltic Sea after US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Bloomberg reported. Loaded with about 730,000 barrels of crude from Rosneft on October 20, it set sail for Sikka in Gujarat and was expected to arrive in mid-November. US President Donald Trump speaks at the APEC CEO summit in Gyeongju, South Korea | PTI with India, emphasising that both countries share “a great relationship.” “I’m doing a trade deal with India, and I have great respect and love for Prime Minister Modi. We have a great relationship,” he said. Trump also praised Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir, describing him as “a great fighter,” and said he warned both countries that trade with the United Week-long standoff ends, govt to put PM SHRI on hold K S SR E E J I T H @T’Puram In a move to spare ally CPI’s blushes and dial down tensions that had built up in the ruling front, the CPM-led LDF government on Wednesday agreed to put the contentious PM SHRI (PM School for Rising India) scheme on hold until a cabinet sub-committee reviews it and submits a report. The decision will be conveyed to the Centre. The move, which marks the end of a week-long standoff between the allies, comes after the CPI softened its stance on opposing the scheme’s implementation. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the decision after the cabinet meeting, also attended by CPI ministers, on Wednesday . The CPI state leadership had decided to boycott the cabinet sitting if its demand was not met. However, after marathon party meetings and bilateral talks, the allies decided to put to rest the controversy . “After considering the controversies and concerns over signing the MoU, the government has decided to conduct a review. A seven-member cabinet sub-committee has been formed with General Education Minister V Sivankutty as chairman. Ministers K Rajan, P Prasad, Roshy Augustine, P Rajeeve, A K Saseendran and K Krishnankutty are the ● More on P4 members,” the CM said. It’s a dud Cloud seeding fails to open up the skies in Delhi PR A B H AT S H U K L A @ New Delhi An aircraft sprinkling silver iodide over clouds over Northwest Delhi | X.com Delhi’s attempt to coax rain out of the clouds hit a temporary roadblock on Wednesday, with the next round of cloudseeding operations called off due to low moisture levels in the atmosphere. The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K), which is leading the experiment in collaboration with the Delhi government, said the process was “highly dependent on suitable atmospheric conditions” that were not met on Wednesday . The development comes a day after two sorties were carried out over parts of Delhi, including Burari, North Karol Bagh, Mayur Vihar and Badli, as part of the capital’s first artificial rainfall trials, but it did not lead to rainfall in Delhi. Meanwhile, environment minister Manjinder Singh declared the cloud-seeding trials a success. The AAP challenged the government’s claim, pointing out there was no rainfall and raising doubts about the experiment’s effectiveness. It was said that cloud seeding had been done, but there was no rain — AAP States would cease if hostilities continued. “These are two nuclear nations. I told both sides we won’t do trade if they fight. Within 24 to 48 hours, it was over,” he claimed. Trump claimed that the leaders of both India and Pakistan called him after two days and stopped fighting. “After literally two days, they called up, they said, we understand, and they stopped fighting.” EXPRESS READ Govt calls all-party meet against SIR T’Puram: The government will convene an all-party meeting on November 5 to discuss the Election Commission’s decision to go ahead with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls despite the legislature’s objections, CM Pinarayi Vijayan said | P5 India, China agree to keep peace along LAC New Delhi: India and China held a fresh round of high-level military talks focusing on maintaining peace and security along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. It was the first such interaction between them after Special Representatives’ talks in August | P8