KANNUR l thursday l December 11, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION india secure bronze, Germany lift junior hockey crown India produced a brave-heart performance to nullify a two-goal deficit to beat Argentina 4-2 in the third-place play-off in Chennai on Wednesday Pic: Ashwin Prasath Set-piece goals help hosts Sreejesh remains coy on what next On a night when nothing worked for India, they managed to win and convert four deadball situations; three penalty corners and one penalty stroke. Arshdeep Singh won each of India’s first three deadballs in the 4th quarter. Ankit Pal converted the first while Manmeet Singh the second. Shardanand Tiwari struck from the spot while Anmol Ekka scored the last ■ Over the last 12 months, coach PR Sreejesh has dedicated his time to mould this squad. When asked if he will remain with the junior programme, ex-India goalkeeper said he will continue to learn ■ Germany, who breezed past India in the semifinals, beat Spain 3-2 via penalties to win an incredible eighth title at this level | p11 04 India won 4th medal at the event (gold in 2001 & 2016, silver in 1997) 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 US sends mixed signals as trade talks resume P U S H P ITA D EY @ New Delhi AS the US and India look to finalise a broader bilateral trade deal, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said India’s offers are “the best Washington has received”, though challenges remain in getting New Delhi to open up its agriculture sector. “There is resistance in India for certain crops and meats and products. They are a difficult nut to crack… but they have been quite forward leaning. The types of offers they have been talking to us about are one of the best that we have ever received as a country said Greer ,” while speaking at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington, DC. The comments came as the US trade negotiation team led by Deputy Trade Representative Rick Switzer commenced the two-day talks in New Delhi on Wednesday. On the first day he held , discussions with Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal. Both reviewed the ongoing negotiations for the agreement. Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch is the US’ chief negotiator. India’s chief negotiator is Darpan Jain, Joint Secretary Commerce. In, Amazon to invest $35 bn more in India US team during negotiations with Indian officials in New Delhi on Wednesday | X dia’s former chief negotiator and current Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal will be supervising the progress of the negotiations. “The two sides exchanged views on matters related to India-US trade and economic ties, including on the ongoing negotiations for a mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement,” the Department of Commerce said. Meanwhile, speaking on the sidelines of the Pravasi Rajasthani Divas in Jaipur on Wednesday, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal reiterated that the ongoing trade negotiations with the US are progressing well. reply to opposition E X P R ESS R EA D Want to remove all infiltrators: Shah A combative Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday hit out at the Opposition in the Lok Sabha for its campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the Opposition wanted to keep infiltrators on the voter list. The Narendra Modi government’s policy, Shah said, was unambiguous — “detect all aliens from the rolls and throw them out of the country Shah .” said the Opposition had raised the issue only because it could n o l o n g er win elec t ions through “corrupt practices,” asserting that “the Congress’ repeated poll defeats stemmed from its leadership and not from EVMs or vote theft.” Intervening in the debate on electoral refor ms, Shah rebutted the Opposition’s charges. His 90-minute speech saw frequent interruptions from Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who challenged him to a debate on his three press conferences alleging “vote chori” by the BJP. The heated exchanges eventually led to an Opposition walkout. Seeking to corner the Congress, Shah claimed three episodes of “vote chori” involving party icons, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. He said Nehru became Prime Minister in 1947 despite having fewer internal votes than Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel; that Indira Gandhi New cic appointment Rahul gets anticipatory Despite top court diktat, bail in second rape case guv-govt tussle continues T’Puram: In a huge relief for MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, the additional district and sessions court on Wednesday granted him anticipatory bail in the second rape case “in the absence of any prima facie material which link the accused to the offence alleged”. The case was registered on the complaint of a 23-year-old woman. The Palakkad MLA, who is in hiding, is likely to resurface on Thursday to cast his vote in the local body elections | P5 An outstanding speech by Home Minister Amit Shah Ji. With concrete facts, he highlighted diverse aspects of our electoral process and also exposed the lies of the Opposition j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi — Narendra Modi, Prime Minister IndiGo to rope in external tech experts for help E x pr e ss n e w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi granted herself immunity after her election was set aside by courts. He said the dispute of the third “vote chori” has just reached the civil courts on how Sonia Gandhi “became a voter before becoming a citizen of India,” a remark that invited sharp reactions from the Congress benches. Shah said SIR was a long-standing administrative exercise to maintain integrity of elections. No party, he said, had opposed SIR between 1952 and 2004. He listed revisions carried out under former Prime Ministers Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shatri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao, A B Vajpayee and even during the Manmohan Singh government. Shah also accused the Opposition of attempting to “normalise and formalise” infiltrators by resisting SIR in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaks in the Lok Sabha | PTI Oppn seeks poll reforms Opposition MPs on Wednesday sought machinereadable voter lists, a rollback of the 45-day CCTV wipe-out rule, access to EVMs, and changes to laws that allow ECI officers to act with impunity | P7 PM-led panel on Wednesday met to decide on the new Chief Information Commissioner and commissioners. LoP Rahul Gandhi submits dissent note | P7 INDIGO’s top management has broken its silence on the largescale flight disruptions caused by the airline this month. Late on Wednesday night, the airline’s chairman Vikram Singh Mehta said that exter nal experts would be roped in to ensure no disruption occurs again. “The Board will involve external technical experts t o. . . i d e n t i f y root c au se s Vikram Mehta and ensure corrective action so that this disruption never occurs again,” Mehta said in a video message released by IndiGo. “On 3rd December, an unexpected chain of events led to large-scale flight cancellations... I know how much distress this caused. I want to say, We are sorry!” he said. The disruptions were due to a combination of internal and external events, adverse weather conditions, congestion, and implementation of/ and operation under the crew roster rules, Mehta added. Metal meets mettle KSRTC looks to be on song with ‘Ganavandi’ U n n i k r i s h n a n S @T’Puram From exhaust notes to melodic scores, a group of KSRTC employees are looking to tune themselves up for runaway success. The 18-strong musical ensemble -named ‘Ganavandi’ — will debut on Thursday at the Uchakkada Sree Durga Sree Dharmashastha temple, on the outskirts of the capital city . The musicians were assembled as part of an enterprising move to break the monotony of work and generate additional revenue for the corporation, which continues to struggle with its finances. The troupe brings together drivers, conductors and mechanics from de- KSRTC staff, part of the musical troupe ‘Ganavandi’, during the rehearsal at one of the depots. The ensemble will debut on Thursday pots as spread out as Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Pala, Vaikom, and Edapal -- and their family members. Selected on the basis of auditions, A day after Microsoft committed $17.5 billion investment in India to help build AI capabilities, Amazon said it will invest $35 billion over the next five years to expand its businesses in the country from quick commerce to cloud computing and AI. The $35-billion investment, the company said, would create one million job opportunities and quadruple cumulative e-commerce exports to $80 billion by 2030. Amazon has 1.7 million sellers in India. Of these, over 200,000 export to more than 200 countries and have generated $20 billion in cumulative exports. Since 2010, Amazon has invested $40 billion in India | P10 the well-drilled group’s premiere will be a two-hour programme that will be interspersed with mimicry acts. The show will open with a classical performance by Neelambari, a Class 5 student and daughter of KSRTC conductor Devadas from Idukki. “The debut is crucial,” says Hena P N, KSRTC’s chief law officer and cultural coordinator. “Its success will help us further structure the troupe. We already have a pool of talented employees across zones who have volunteered out of their passion for art, and their skills will be utilised based on programme locations.” The group has already secured six bookings across the state.  ● More on P5 T’Puram: Discussions between Governor Rajendra Arlekar and the state government on the selection of permanent VCs to APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and Digital University Kerala ended in a deadlock on Wednesday, paving the way for the Supreme Court’s direct intervention in the appointment process. The apex court is scheduled to take up the matter for further hearing on Thursday | P5 HC to examine letter that predicted actor assault case verdict P R A M D A S @Kochi The Kerala High Court is set to examine the alarming revelations in the anonymous letter that predicted the verdict in the 2017 actor abduction and assault case a week before it was pronounced. The administrative committee of the HC comprising the Chief Justice and four other senior-most judges will meet on Thursday At the meeting, . it is expected to consider the matter in view of the communication sent by the president of the Kerala High Court Advocates’ Association (KHCAA). The anonymous letter, dated December 2 and signed by “an Indian citizen”, was sent to the association via registered post. It reached advocate Yeshwant Shenoy, the KHCAA president, on December 6 and he forwarded it to the Chief Justice on December 8, the day the sessions court delivered its ruling. Describing the contents of the letter as suggestive of a “serious breach of confidentiality,” Yeshwant had requested the HC to hand over the matter to its vigilance wing for a detailed investigation. The letter stated: “...the 7th accused Charly Thomas, the 8th accused Gopalakrishnan alias Dileep, and the 9th accused Sanilkumar alias Mesthiri Sanil will be acquitted, and only six accused will be convicted.” Former Kerala HC judge Justice B Kemal Pasha confirmed to TNIE on Wednesday that he too received the letter on December 4, but disregarded it as it was anony m o u s. “ H oweve r, when I heard the verdict, I was shocked, as the revelations in the letter were almost identical,” he said. “A fool-proof investigation is needed regarding the origin of the letter and whether details of the verdict were leaked.” Meanwhile, the KHCAA distanced itself from the communication sent by Yeshwant to the Chief Justice. In a statement, advocate M R Nandakumar, KHCAA secretary, said the communication was issued without the knowledge or concurrence of the associa● More on P5 tion.