coimbatore l Wednesday l July 08, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION Govt to ask refiners to cut lpg production to pre-war levels With the West Asia situation stabilising, the Centre is likely to direct oil companies to scale back domestic LPG production to pre-crisis levels move follows easing of supply pressures ceasefire helps restore lpg imports The move comes after supply concerns triggered by the conflict involving Iran, Israel and the US began to ease. According to sources, Indian refineries have started reducing domestic LPG production to 40,000 metric tonnes per day. During the peak of the crisis, both public and private refiners increased output to a record 54,000 metric tonnes per day ■ ■ Strait of Hormuz handles nearly 40% of India’s crude oil imports, 60% of its LNG imports and about 90% of its LPG imports LPG was the worst-hit fuel as India imports nearly 60% of its domestic requirement. With a ceasefire in place, shipping through the strategic waterway has resumed, restoring normal LPG imports | P12 33 crore households across the country use Domestic LPG 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 India, Indonesia expand strategic partnership Screengrabs from a CCTV footage showing people running for their lives as the landslide strikes Wayanad, Kerala | Express Landslip at Wayanad tunnel road site kills 3 L e sly J o s e ph @ Meppadi a landslip at the twin-tunnel road project near Kalladi Meenakshi Bridge in Wayanad on Tuesday claimed three lives, left at least seven persons missing, and ignited a political and legal storm. While heavy monsoon rains triggered the initial slope instability, residents and local representatives termed it a “man-made disaster”, blaming corporate negligence and a complete failure of regulatory oversight. The victims have been iden- tified as Chandra Ban, an operator from Madhya Pradesh; Bikash Kumar, a civil foreman from Bihar; and Anmol, a worker from Jharkhand. The collapse occur red around 11 am, sending a massive torrent of liquefied mud, rocks and construction debris crashing onto the Meppadi– Chooralmala road. The deluge buried the Meenakshi Bridge, engulfed a private bus and flattened a roadside eatery where workers had gathered. Nine labourers were pulled from the sludge and rushed to hospital. Two of them are in critical condition. At the heart of the growing outrage is the dumping of tens of thousands of tonnes of excavated earth by the tunnel project’s contractor, Dilip Buildcon, operating under the supervision of the Konkan Railway Corporation. “I had a miraculous escape. I saw the massive soil sliding down and ran for my life,” said local resident Hamsa Manthikkara. “The company had piled up the excavated soil at the site. Though concrete retaining Jakarta to procure two batteries of BrahMos cruise missile system, Astra air-to-air missile A bus stuck in debris after falling into a rivulet near the Meppadi tunnel project site at Kalladi in Wayanad, where the massive landslide struck | Vincent Pulickal walls were built around the heaps, we had warned they were inadequate,” he said. Chief Minister V D Satheesan said a string of official warnings issued more than a fortnight before the landslip went unheeded. “On June 20, the district collector directed the contractor to remove the excavated soil. The disaster management authority issued a similar order, and the PWD minister also instructed the contractor to clear the soil. None of these directives was complied with,” the CM said. The Konkan Railway Corporation has ordered an inquiry but maintained that incessant rain triggered the collapse. Dilip Buildcon said the project complied with all engineering, safety and environmental norms, and protocols. Local leaders said the suspension of drilling work due to rains averted a bigger tragedy as more than 100 workers , were off the site. A 60-member team of NDRF, along with Fire Force personnel, is undertaking a block-byblock clearance of the mud. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal’s WC quest ends at the hands of Spain while Belgium make lightwork of US. A look at what transpired in Monday’s games... HC upholds death for 38 in Ahmedabad serial blasts case Spain too good for Portugal @ Ahmedabad Ronaldo’s WC dream over as Spain, Belgium advance Spain hardly gave Portugal a sniff before scoring the game’s solitary goal in the stoppage time. Ronaldo, in his last World Cup, was hardly involved as the match appeared to pass him by without the 41-year-old influencing it in any way La Roja vs France in semis? If results hold, then the two European superpowers will face each other for a place in the final. But it won’t be straightforward for them as France face Morocco and Spain have to play Belgium in the last eight stages Belgium blow away US After a controversy over Folarin Balogun’s suspension of the red card, the 2018 semifinalists blew the co-hosts away 4-1 in a supreme show of strength. After the game, they also trolled FIFA for their role in the controversy. “Overturn this,” they posted on their socials express read Online regn must for first sale of flats from Aug 17 Chennai: In the first step to introduce ‘Anywhere Registration’ of properties across TN, the state has made online registration must for the first sale of plots and flats from August 17. Minister D Logesh Tamilchelvan made the announcement on Tuesday | P2 Two senior AIADMK MLAs skip EPS’s meet Chennai: Two AIADMK MLAs, KC Veeramani and SM Sukumar, skipped a meeting called by Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday, sparking rumours about their continuation in the AIADMK. After backing the Vijay-led TVK government, both leaders were stripped of their party posts | P4 Meta blog on child abuse after govt slaps notice New Delhi: Meta on Tuesday published a detailed blog outlining measures it has taken to combat child sexual abuse material across its apps, after the government slapped a notice on it over reports of Instagram ads promoting such content. stake sale by centre expedited The government will raise `2,000 crore following its 5% minority stake sale in Cochin Shipyard. It’s the latest disinvestment process for the current financial year | P12 D I L I P S I N G H K S H AT R I YA THE Gujarat High Court on Tuesday upheld the Ahmedabad Sessions Court’s ruling in the 2008 serial bomb blasts case, confirming the death sentence for 38 members of the banned Indian Mujahideen and life imprisonment for 11 others. A division bench of Justices A Y Kogje and Samir Dave rejected the appeals filed by the convicts against the capital punishment awarded by the lower court in February 2022. The HC directed the Gujarat government to pay `10 lakh to the family of every deceased victim, `5 lakh to each seriously injured survivor, and `1 lakh to those who suffered minor injuries. The compensation must be paid before March 31, 2027. The verdict comes 18 years after 21 coordinated blasts at 20 locations ripped through Ahmedabad on July 26, 2008, killing 56 and injuring more than 200 people. The case remains one of India’s biggest criminal prosecutions. Out of 78 accused who faced trial, the trial court convicted 49 persons, acquitted 29, sentenced 38 to death, and awarded life imprisonment till natural death to 11 convicts. The probe into the serial blasts was unprecedented in scale. Police registered 35 FIRs, filed 548 charge sheets, produced around 6,000 documentary and material exhibits, and examined 1,163 witnesses. The Sessions Court’s judgment ran into nearly 7,000 pages, while the complete paper book exceeded 7.88 lakh pages, making it one of the larg est criminal case records in India. Lawyers representing the accused said they would challenge the HC’s decision in the Supreme Court after reviewing the full judgment. J ayanth J a c o b @ New Delhi India and Indonesia on Tuesday significantly expanded their strategic partnership, with Jakarta agreeing to procure two batteries of India’s BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system in a deal worth about $200 million, alongside Astra air-to-air missile systems, as the two countries unveiled an ambitious roadmap covering defence, maritime security, critical minerals, technology digital connectivity and , resilient supply chains. The agreements were announced after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta during the first leg of Modi’s three-nation Indo-Pacific tour, which will also take him to Australia and New Zealand. The defence component marks another milestone in India’s push to become a major exporter of indigenous military hardware. A BrahMos battery typically comprises four launchers and 12 ready-to-fire missiles, along with commandand-control systems, support equipment and specialised vehicles, though configurations vary depending on whether the system is deployed for land attack or coastal defence. Sources said Indonesia has also decided to procure India’s Astra beyond-visual-range airto-air missiles following their operational performance during Operation Sindoor. The agreements also envisage wider collaboration in defence manufacturing and technology transfers, reflecting a shift from a buyerseller relationship towards long- Tasmac staff get 25% salary hike, ESI med cover EX P R E S S N E W S S E R V I CE @ Chennai In a major relief to over 23,000 employees of the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac), the state government on Tuesday announced a 25% salary hike for them from next month. The happy news came with a fresh warning to the employees as the government said that those selling liquor above the maximum retail price (MRP) would face stringent disciplinary action, including dismissal from service, for repeated violations. Making the announcement at the secretariat, Prohibition and Excise Minister K Vignesh said the wage revision was ap- Pay revision will entail `110 crore additional annual expenditure for exchequer | file pic proved after Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay accepted the employees’ long-pending demand. With the wage hike, the monthly salary of assistant salesmen will increase from `14,340 to `17,925, salesmen’s pay will rise from `15,530 to `19,413, and that of supervisors from `17,850 to `22,313. Noting that the highest wage revision ever granted to Tasmac employees in the past was only around `2,000, Vignesh said the government has now decided to provide a substantial increase considering their representations. The revision would impose an additional annual burden of `110.74 crore on the state exchequer, taking the total annual salary expenditure for Tasmac employees to `553.72 crore, he added. Vignesh also announced that the government has accepted another long-pending demand for Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) medical coverage, which had remained unresolved for nearly 20 years. Tasmac employees and their family members will now be covered under the ESI medical insurance scheme, he said.  P7 J’khand bank’s KYC delay kills 75-yr-old Miracles made possible, TN M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi IN a tragic incident that has s p a rk e d o u t r a g e a c r o s s Jharkhand, a 75-year-old ailing man died after being repeatedly denied access to his own pension money due to pending KYC formalities at a rural bank. Ratan Lakra, a resident of Bargarh village in Garhwa district, passed away on Monday after struggling for months to withdraw funds from his account at the Bargarh branch of Jharkhand Gramin Bank. The money, primarily his govern- ment pension, was needed for urgent medical treatment. His family maintained Lakra had been making repeated trips to the bank for three months at the manager’s insistence to complete the KYC process. Even after he was brought to the branch in an auto-rickshaw, officials allegedly turned them away. His daughter-in-law, Phoolmani Lakra, said that on one occasion, the manager ordered a peon to drag them out. “My father-in-law was ill and could not get the required treatment because the bank didn’t give him his own money she said. ,” Heartbroken family members and villagers staged a protest by placing Lakra’s body at the rural bank’s entrance, refusing to cremate him until action was taken. Chief Minister Hemant Soren promptly ordered an investigation. In a post on X, he directed the Garhwa Deputy Commissioner to “promptly investigate the matter, take strict action, and inform.” DC Pashupati Nath Mishra directed the Sub-Divisional Magistrate to conduct a detailed probe, and warned of action against those found guilty . GH welcomes first IVF twins S ind u ja J an e @ Chennai A 32-year-old woman became the first mother in Tamil Nadu to give birth through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment done at a government hospital. The successful procedure was performed at the Centre for Assisted Reproduction at the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecolo g y Gover nment Hospital for Women and Children in Egmore, Chennai. Opened in 2024, the centre is the state’s first government facility of its kind. It was launched to provide accessible IVF treatment to couples from lower-income families who may otherwise have to depend on private hospitals that charge several lakhs for the procedure. According to doctors, the couple was married for five years but did not have children. Doctors at the facility first transferred the embryo to the uterus of the woman in the first week of December, 2025, and the woman delivered twin babies — a boy and a girl — in the 31st week through caesarean section on June 23.  P7 Pic: PTI Prime Minister Narendra Modi being conferred Indonesia’s highest civilian honour by President Prabowo Subianto term industrial ties. Addressing a joint media interaction, Modi described the outcomes as a golden chapter in bilateral ties. “The growing trust between our two countries has strengthened cooperation in defence, security and the maritime domain,” he said. The two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to a free, open and rules-based IndoPacific. President Prabowo echoed the sentiment. A major economic outcome was an agreement to deepen cooperation in critical minerals, with India set to invest in Indonesia’s steel, nickel and rare earth magnet manufacturing ecosystems, as New Delhi seeks to diversify strategic mineral supply chains. The two countries also agreed to jointly develop the strategically located Sabang Port near the Strait of Malacca and expand cooperation in the blue economy and maritime infrastructure. Modi announced that IIM Bangalore would establish a campus in Indonesia, while UPI will be integrated with Indonesia’s payment system to facilitate cross-border transactions. CM’s Karur visit DMK drops petition after SC pushback S UC H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Clearing the decks for Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s visit to Karur on July 10, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea filed by the DMK that sought directions to restrain the chief minister and others from making public comments on the Karur stampede or meeting the families of the victims. The plea, which was later withdrawn by the DMK, alleged that such visits could interfere with the investigation. “How can the Supreme Court implead a political opponent in a case? Is this a well-thoughtout petition? Instead of fighting it out outside, you are turning the court into a political arena,” Justices KV Viswanathan and Alok Aradhe said. The DMK’s plea referred to reports that the CM is scheduled to visit Karur to distribute government orders on compassionate appointments and other benefits to the families of the deceased and injured victims.The bench asked DMK — represented by senior advocate Ranjit Kumar — how visiting victims amounted to influencing witnesses, and questioned the party as to how could the court regulate the visit of the executive head.  P7