KOZHIKODE l thursday l november 27, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Officially india’s, amdavad to host 2030 C’wealth Games Amdavad (aka Ahmedabad) was on Wednesday formally ratified by the Commonwealth Sport general body for the Centenary CWG 74 15-17 The number of sports Commonwealth Sport has confirmed for 2030 sports that are confirmed Delegates of the 74 Commonwealth member nations and territories ratified the only bid after its executive committee forwarded the recommendation last month more disciplines to be added soon ■ Athletics & para athletics, swimming & para swimming, table tennis & para table tennis, bowls & para bowls, netball and boxing are among confirmed names, said CS ■ ■ Though sports like cricket, badminton, archery, shooting are not yet confirmed, there is all likelihood that they will be included later. Presently, archery, badminton, 3x3 basketball and 3x3 wheelchair basketball, beach volleyball, cricket T20, cycling, diving, hockey, judo, rhythmic gymnastics, rugby sevens, shooting, squash, triathlon and wrestling are being considered for 2030. Two new traditional sports can be added. Yoga likely to be added new look Local resonance & global appeal The 2030 team will work closely with CS and the International Federations to shape a dynamic and exciting sport programme that will have a strong local resonance and global appeal 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 Could push date of post-SIR draft roll in TN, WB: SC Hearing on pleas challenging nationwide SIR; political parties creating a scare, alleges ECI don’t have any power now? Court can always say the CJI said. ,” THE Supreme Court on WednesFor its part, the ECI told the day said it would not hesitate to court that some political parties extend the deadline for the pub- are creating a ‘scare’ about the lication of the draft electoral SIR being undertaken Tamil rolls in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala. Nadu if the petitioners make a “Political parties are creating strong case, while the Election unnecessary scare,” the poll Commission of India panel said. (ECI) claimed that some Advocate Prashant political parties were Bhushan said the SIR trying to create “a was being conducted in scare” about the Special a “great hurry”. Intensive Revision (SIR) The bench asked the of electoral rolls. ECI to file its counter‘Reason to A bench of Chief Jusaffidavit to the petitions challenge tice Surya Kant and relating to Tamil Nadu not good Justice Joymalya and West Bengal by Deenough’ Bagchi made the oral cember 4 and December observation while hear9, respectively . That the SIR ing petitions challengThe bench also posted was never ing the SIR exercise in the pleas seeking deferconducted the two states. ment of the Kerala SIR before is not a The remark about exto December 2, while ground to tending the deadline for asking the ECI and State challenge the publication of the draft Election Commission to Election rolls came after the parfile their responses by Commission’s ties appearing in the December 1. SIR in decision to SIR for West Bengal Tamil Nadu has been carry out this raised concerns about challenged by DMK, exercise in the court fixing the next CPI(M), and actor Viseveral states, date of hearing to Dejay’s TVK. The AlADthe SC said cember 9, which they MK, on the other hand, claimed was the date for publica- has filed an application supporttion of the draft roll as per the ing the SIR. SIR schedule. During the hearing, the bench “So what? If you make out a observed that the EC has “inhercase, then we can direct them to ent power to determine correctextend the date. Can that date ness of entry in Form 6”. (publication of draft roll) be a The hearing will continue on ground for the court to say we Thursday . U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi Towering inferno Smoke and flames rise as a fire engulfs apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, killing at least 36 people. Over 250 others are missing. The fire, which broke out in the afternoon, continued till late night | AFP | P9 `7.3k cr push for rare earth atmanirbharta M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi Amid a shortage of rare earth magnets blamed on China’s export restrictions, the Centre on We d n e s d ay a p p r o v e d a `7,280-crore scheme to boost domestic manufacturing of these critical materials. Minister for Information & Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters that the ‘Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Sintered Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPM) has been approved with a financial outlay of `7,280 crore. The aim is to establish 6,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) of integrated man- Ashwini Vaishnaw | PTI ufacturing in the country, Vaishnaw added. “This first-of-its-kind initiative aims to establish 6,000 metric tonnes per annum of integrated rare earth manufacturing in India, thereby enhancing self-reliance and positioning India as a key player in the global market,” a government statement noted. “The total financial outlay of the scheme is `7,280 crore, comprising a sales-linked incentives of `6,450 crore on REPM sales for five years and capital subsidy of `750 crore for setting up an aggregate of 6,000 MTPA of REPM manufacturing facilities,” the statement said. China controls about 60% of global rare earth mining and nearly 90% of refining and processing capacity In April, it . imposed restrictions on Sintered REPM exports, tightening supply to India’s automobile and electronics sectors. Lost empire: Gambhir times for India s w aroo p s w aminat han @Guwahati India: Hasina extradition plea under scrutiny J ayan t h J aco b @ New Delhi India on Wednesday confirmed it has received a request from Bangladesh to extradite former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and said the matter is under examination through “ongoing judicial and internal legal processes”. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “The request is being examined as part of ongoing judicial and internal legal processes. We remain committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including peace, democracy in, clusion and stability in that country and will continue to engage constructively in this regard with all stakeholders.” Hasina has been living in exile in India since August 5 last year following the collapse of her government after violent student-led protests. Last week, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Dhaka sentenced her to death in absentia for “crimes against humanity” linked to her government’s handling of the unrest. Following the verdict, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry had requested Hasina’s return in a formal letter to New Delhi, calling her a “fugitive accused” and citing the bilateral extradition agreement. AS soon as Marco Jansen ran behind and took the catch to condemn India to their worst Test defeat in history (in terms of runs), attention and the focus had turned towards multiple things. What seems astonishing is that India allowed a proud home record to be smashed to bits. For a side that had lost four home Tests from the beginning of 2013 to the end of 2023, they have now endured a run of five losses in seven Tests in 13 months. By any measure, this makes for grim reading. Coach Gautam Gambhir, one of the few constants in all of those losses, offered transition but he was categorical in saying he wasn’t using that as an excuse. Sure, this team has had a South Africa team celebrates with the trophy after winning the Test series | PTI significant amount of churn over the last year in terms of retirements, new non-playing staff and some injuries. But the top management legislate for this in all elite teams. This team either clearly hasn’t or thought the ones who were coming in as replacements were readymade. The team management including the coach seemed confused with what kind of pitch the team wanted and what kind of combination would succeed. Gambhir said: “That is why it is called transition. That is why these guys need time. Whether it’s the batting unit or the bowling unit. I don’t think ever in Indian cricket something like this has happened where the transition is happening in the spinbowling department and in the batting department as well... in both skillsets.” Going forward, the coach wants the BCCI to prioritise Test — something they have already been doing to a vast extent. He also questioned the logic of ending a full white-ball tour of Australia days before the first Test. A question he should ask his employers, BCCI. With India playing no home WTC Test in all of 2026, this gives all stakeholders a chance to reassess and reset. An empire is over, the fortress is in ruins. The BCCI needs to rebuild the team with P11 focus on future.  HC clears tax hurdle; relieved Munambam residents to end stir E x p ress N e w s S ervice @Kochi In a major relief to hundreds of coastal residents, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday granted temporary restoration of revenue rights to Munambam families, prompting protesters to announce that their agitation will be formally called off on Sunday the 414th day of , the stir. The interim order brings long-awaited respite to 610 families who have been living with legal uncertainty for more than four years. The interim order by the single bench of Justice C Jayachandran directed the state government to accept land tax from the affected families until the final verdict is delivered. The court was considering a batch of petitions, including one by Munambam Land Protection Council, seeking restoration of revenue rights as residents continued to face administrative curbs triggered Munambam residents watch live debate by the Waqf Board’s on Waqf Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha during their protest in Kochi | File pic claim over the land. The court’s direcFour nightmarish years tive immediately set off a rush to village Kochi: For the residents, the past offices, as residents four years were nothing short of a hurried to resume waking nightmare. In 2019, the paying land tax, a Kerala Waqf Board formally process frozen since registered their land as waqf the dispute began. property, and in 2021, they were “Fifteen people man- not allowed to pay land tax, which aged to pay taxes to- ended up triggering a four-year day (Wednesday) . battle for revenue rights | P2 Others are gathering documents and will complete the procedure in the coming days,” said Joseph Benny convenor of Munambam , Land Protection Council. The relay hunger strike, held on the premises of the Kadappuram Velankanni Matha Church for more than a year, will officially conclude on Sunday said Fr Antony Tharayil, the vicar. , The state government supported the petitioners, urging early resolution on the basis of a previous ruling that had gone against the Waqf Board. That ruling — a landmark judgment delivered on October 9 — by a Division Bench comprising Justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Syam Kumar V M, plays a pivotal role in the ongoing proceedings. The bench had held that the disputed 1950 endowment deed did not constitute a permanent religious dedication and therefore could not be treated as a waqf deed under any of the Waqf Acts of ● More on P5 1954, 1984 or 1995.  2 2 . 5 c r o re k m a w a y Next destination: Valiamala Crater, Mars P.O. Mars-Kerala connect S O V I V I D YA D H A R A N @T’Puram For decades, it has been joked that Neil Armstrong was beaten to the moon by a Malayali tea vendor. But when humanity sets foot on Mars, landforms named after places in the state will be waiting for them. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has, in a first, approved names of Kerala localities — Valiamala, Thumba, Bekal, Varkala and Periyar — as well as of noted geologist M S Krishnan, to identify various craters on the red planet. Kerala-based researchers Prof Rajesh V J from the department of earth and space Name Named after pioneering Indian geologist Small crater Site of IIST, Thiruvananthapuram Thumba sciences, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology , (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram, and Asif Iqbal Kakkassery, a former IIST research scholar who is currently the assistant Significance Large crater Valiamala The Martian landforms named after places in Kerala and eminent geologist M S Krishnan | Special Arrangement Category Krishnan Small crater Birthplace of India’s space programme Varkala Small crater Geologically unique cliff formations Bekal Small crater Site of historic Bekal Fort in Kasaragod Periyar Martian Valley Longest river in Kerala geology professor at Government College in Kasaragod had jointly submitted the proposal. The research at IIST on an unnamed crater in the Xanthe Terra region of Mars had iden- tified signs of ancient glacial processes and fluvial activity . Krishnan’s name was proposed for a 3.5-billion-year-old crater located in a region where evidence of ancient gla- ciation was scientifically established. The team also proposed several Kerala-based names for nearby Martian landforms. “Although many names were initially rejected due to pronunciation and compliance issues related to IAU naming conventions, persistent documentation and review ultimately resulted in the approval of the names, including Valiamala, the home of IIST,” Rajesh said. IAU guidelines say large, significant Martian craters may be named after late scientists who made significant contributions to planetary ● More on P5 science.  EXPRESS READ 2 schoolchildren killed after auto falls into ravine Pathanamthitta: Two schoolchildren died after an autorickshaw carrying six of them overturned and plunged into a ravine at Thumpakkulam in Pathanamthitta on Wednesday. The deceased are Adhyalakshmi, 8, and Yadu Krishnan, 4, both students of Sree Narayana School, Karimanthode. The driver told the police that the vehicle slid off the road when he tried to avoid a snake that suddenly appeared on the road. It fell nearly 150 feet. Adhyalakshmi died on the spot | P5