kochi l saturday l june 13, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Indian shooting’s father figure Jaspal Rana passes away Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker pays tribute to her coach Jaspal Rana at his residence in Dehradun. Rana breathed his last in Delhi on Friday | PTI champ shooter, coach: man of many hats From Uttarakhand, he burst into the limelight as a teen at the Asian Games in 1994. His rich medal hauls inspired his peers to achieve similar feats. Then, he donned the role of coach-cum-mentor to ready India’s next generation of shooters. Manu Bhaker, who won two Olympic medals in 2024, was a protege of Rana’s. He also oversaw India’s junior programme One of the shooters responsible for putting India on the global map in the sport, died following cardiac complications after a heart attack he helped shape Indian shooting: Bindra ■ ■ Abhinav Bindra, who was a former teammate of Rana’s, said he was part of a generation that helped shape Indian shooting. He was gifted, and carried the pride of the country A teenager (Rana after his 1994 Asiad gold) had shown the whole country that an Indian could rule this sport: Gagan Narang | P12 13 he won 13 gold across asian (4) and Commonwealth games (9) 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-Iran deal close Signing ceremony may be held in Geneva as early as Sunday A G EN C IE S @ Dubai/Washington Cabinet secy reviews NEET re-test prep Pa r v e z S u lta n & S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi FOUR weeks after the NEETUG paper leak scandal forced its cancellation, the government on Friday signalled it was leaving nothing to chance, with the Cabinet Secretary chairing yet another review and the NTA quietly rolling out a series of candidate-friendly changes for the June 21 re-examination. Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan reviewed examination readiness with NTA Director General Abhishek Singh and war ned that wrongdoers would face the full force of law. “The full might and weight of law will fall on any person trying in any manner to distort, disrupt, or tamper with the integrity…of the re-examination,” he said. The Ministry of Home Affairs has specifically asked the CRPF and CISF to guard question paper consignments in transit. For its part, the NTA has made quiet but meaningful changes to the exam format. Rough sheets per booklet have been doubled from two to four, with the additional sheets now split between the front and back portion of the booklet. This was done keeping in mind nearly 15% of candidates who are left-handed and who previously struggled with sheets bunched at the booklet’s end. Based on feedback from students, the exam will run 15 minutes longer, from 2 pm to 5.15 pm. THE White House is signaling optimism about a prospective peace deal with Tehran, voicing confidence that it will wrap up the deal with support from Iran and Israel after weeks of negotiations on the most intractable issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear program. A senior US administration official, on condition of anonymity, said the deal was 80% to 85% done and that the US side believes “most of the people who have authority” in the Iranian government want to sign onto the deal. Sources say a signing ceremony could be held in Geneva, Switzerland, as early as Sunday. A signed proposal would trigger a 60-day period for “technical” negotiations on how to implement the deal and resolve remaining issues, according to a US official. Plans for the next round of peace talks are already underway . Separately Pakistan’s Prime Minister Sheh, baz Sharif said Friday that the final text of a US-Iran peace deal had been agreed upon. Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi had suggested progress in the negotiations, saying the “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has never been closer”. “Pending its finalisation, the media should refrain from entering speculation about its content,” he said in a social media post, without providing any details. President Trump shared Araghchi’s post on his own social media timeline, but without giving further details. Donald Trump, US President Abbas Araghchi, Iran Foreign Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan PM We can now confirm that a final, agreed upon text of the peace deal has been reached... Peace has never been this close as it is now Shehbaz Sharif US diplomat summoned for second time J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi US President Donald Trump on Friday blamed Iran for the attacks on Indian ships leaving the Strait of Hormuz, describing the incident as “totally unacceptable.” In a post on Truth Social, he said: “....Their (Iran’s) totally rebuffed drone attack last night against Indian ships leaving the Hormuz Strait is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.” Trump’s remarks came hours after New Delhi summoned US Chargé d’Affaires Jason Meeks for the second time on Friday to lodge a strong protest over recent attacks on vessels that killed three Indian seafarers off the coast of Oman. The government conveyed its deep concern and reiterated India’s opposition to the use of force against civilian shipping. The developments added a new layer of diplomatic complexity, with Washington publicly blaming Iran while India has raised concerns with the US over the attacks. E X P RE S S NEW S S ERVI C E @ T’Puram In a move that could have had farreaching political and social implications, the health department told the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) that it can no longer shoulder the responsibility of deploying doctors and paramedical staff for the annual Sabarimala pilgrimage. However, the government moved swiftly to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation and relieved Dr K J Reena of her responsibilities as director of health services (DHS), after details of the letter she wrote to TDB began to emerge on Friday Citing an acute shortage of . medical personnel and mounting financial constraints, the DHS asked the TDB to make its own arrangements for appointing doctors and paramedical staff for the pilgrimage season. When contacted, Health Minister K Muraleedharan, who also holds Devaswom portfolio, told TNIE that “everything will continue as it is”, indicating that existing arrangements for Sabarimala pilgrimagehealthcare services would remain unchanged. “The DHS is not empowered to take such decisions. Policy decisions on behalf of the gover nment are taken by health ● More on P4 minister,” he said.  E x p r e s s Re a d Retail inflation rises to 3.93% in May New Delhi: Retail inflation rose to a 16-month high of 3.93% in May, primarily due to the increase in fuel prices and cost of services such as restaurants and accommodation, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Friday showed. Despite the uptick, inflation remained well within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) target of 4%. P10 18 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express Today's matches (IST) (Jun 14, Sunday) Group B: Qatar vs Swiss 12.30am; Group C: Brazil vs Morocco 3.30am; Haiti vs Scotland 6.30am; Group D: Australia vs Turkiye 9.30am Longer wait for final AI 171 crash report S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi Exactly a year after Air India flight 171 crashed during takeoff at Ahmedabad, killing 260 passengers and crew, there was no closure for the family members of the victims as the much-awaited final probe report remained elusive. Instead, the Aircraft Accident Investigations Bureau put out an interim statement, saying “The Final Report will be released upon completion of all investigative activities and the requisite international review and consultation processes prescribed under ICAO (International Civil Aviation Family members of the AI 171 crew, who died in the air crash, pay tribute during a memorial service on the first anniversary of the tragedy, in Mumbai on Friday; and (inset) a distraught relative | PTI Power alert El Nino threat, low reservoir levels worry KSEB M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n @ Kochi Electricity stats (June 2026) water level in key KSEB dams Max consumption (June 2): 96.3 million units Dam Top peak-hour demand (June 11): 4,505 MW Idukki 1,460 337.08 23 Sabarigiri 446.5 86.8 19 Average storage in KSEB reservoirs on June 11: 21% Sholayar 149.2 19.3 13 Hydel generation on June 11: 11.28 million units Idamalayar 1,017.8 250.9 25 Banasurasagar 201 16.35 8 high all-time With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) confirming the arrival of El Nino, the state is staring at deficit southwest monsoon. But more than the agriculture sector, the news has left the KSEB worried. The state meets around 75% of its power demand through purchase from the Central Grid and private power generators. The rest of the power is generated by state’s hydroelectrical projects like Idukki, Sabarigiri and Idamalayar. The average daily power consumption, which had touched 118 million units on April 27, has fallen to 85 million units with the onset of monsoon. DHS transferred for telling TDB to post own docs at Sabarimala Maximum Storage on % storage (MCM) June 11 (MCM) Daily consumption (April 27, 2026): 118.26 million units Peak hour demand (April 24, 2026): 6,033 MW However, the alarming factor is that the water level in the reservoirs has fallen to an average of 21% and the KSEB can generate only 851 million units with the current storage. If the monsoon does not deliver and the flow to dams gets reduced, the state will have to depend entirely on electricity bought from outside. Kerala received 22% excess rainfall from June 1 to June 12. But the monsoon is expected to weaken from next week. According to IMD, El Nino conditions are confirmed if the sea surface temperature for three months show an average anomaly of 0.5 degree Celsius. “El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-neutral conditions prevailed over the equatorial Pacific Ocean during June and July 2025. La Nina conditions emerged in August 2025 and persisted through February 2026. ENSOneutral conditions redeveloped in March 2026. The latest 3-month running mean anomaly for April–May–June has crossed the El Nino threshold of +0.5°C,” the IMD release ● More on P4 said.  Significant progress in probe, claims AAIB AAIB’s interim statement claimed significant progress in the examination and analysis of AI 171’s systems, flight recorder data, engine-related components, maintenance and operational records, and other relevant evidence. “The evidence gathered and the results of various examinations are currently being analysed” Organisation) Annex 13.” The final report will take two-three more months for wrap-up, said a source familiar with the developments. Asked about ICAO’s recommendation on the final probe report into any major accident within 12 months of the incident, the source said, “It only encourages the submission of the report. It is not binding on us. Interim reports also can be submitted or statement on the progress too can be furnished, which is what we have done.” When asked what part of the report was pending, the source said since there was massive condemnation after the preliminary report was released on July 12, 2025, which attrib- uted the accident to human error, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had decided to carry out an inspection of the Boeing’s Fuel Control Switch (FCS) in the US to be doubly sure as multiple reports and experts repeatedly spoke of its malfunctioning. AI 171’s fuel switch moved to OFF shortly after take-off, resulting in the crash. Another Air India Boeing flight AIC 132 was grounded on Feb 2, 2026, after pilots reported that the FCS slipped from RUN to CUT OFF when pushed slightly as it did not lock securely “The DGCA visit . will happen soon,” he added. Green bonds & NRI money may power high-speed rail plan RAJE S H A B RAHA M @ Kochi CROWDFUNDING Even as the proposed Kerala high-speed railway banks on crowdfunding for 40% of its `60,000-crore project cost, a significant portion of that financing is expected to be mobilised through institutional investors and green bonds, according to sources associated with the project. The financing model outlined by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) envisages `24,000 crore being raised through crowdfunding, while the remaining `36,000 crore would come as equity participation from the Centre and the Kerala government in a 51:49 ratio. Kerala’s share of the equity contribution is estimated 40% of the estimated K60,000-crore project cost is envisaged to be met by crowdfunding The remaining amount would come as equity participation from Centre and the Kerala government on a 51:49 ratio at around `17,600 crore. Sources said the crowdfunding component is likely to be executed through a combination of green bonds, infrastructure bonds, institutional placements, and community participation. Since the project is being positioned as the world’s first ‘green rail corridor’, powered entirely by renewable energy, it is expected to qualify for green financing instruments that generally attract strong investor interest. “Green bonds could constitute a substantial portion of the funding. Such bonds are typically issued for environmentally sustainable infrastructure projects and can attract institutional investors such as LIC, State Bank of India and other major financial institutions. International development finance agencies may also participate either through debt or equity investments,” a source familiar with the pro● More on P4 posal said.