kozhikode l saturday l july 18, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION india’s First Hydrogen-Powered Train flagged off in haryana Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated India’s first hydrogen-powered train from Jind railway station to Sonepat in Haryana PM Narendra Modi inspects the engine room of the train in Jind Friday | PTI zero emission, yet massive power success of make in india, says PM Modi The indigenously designed train features 10 coaches and a 3,200 hp propulsion system, making it one of the most powerful and largest hydrogen-powered trains in the world. Most hydrogen trains currently operate with only 2-4 coaches. The new train runs on hydrogen fuel cell tech, produces zero emission and can accommodate 2,600 passengers ■ ■ At the inauguration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India has joined an elite group of nations — Germany, Japan, China, and the US — actively developing hydrogen-based rail transport The PM said the train is a shining example of ‘Make in India’, designed by Indian engineers and built solely by domestic companies 75 kmph maximum speed that the train can attain on jind-sonepat route 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 Wayanad landslip was foreseeable: Amicus curiae JPC seeks to temper higher education bill E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kochi Suggests key changes in draft, curbs on govt’s sweeping powers The landslip at the under-construction Anakkampoyil-Kalladi-Meppadi twin tunnel project site in Wayanad on July 7 was not an unforeseeable tragedy but one that had been repeatedly flagged in advance, according to a report submitted by the amicus curiae before the Kerala High Court. It also stated that the government and the public works department cannot shrug off the responsibility of ensuring compliance of environmental clearance conditions. “On a preliminary understanding, the Kalladi disaster of July 7 was not unforeseen; it was foreseen, in writing, five times over,” stated the report. Stating that the authorities disregarded the repeated statutory warning, the amicus curiae pointed out that the District Disaster Management Authority/district administration, Wayanad, issued as many as five successive written communications to the Kerala PWD/ executing agency requiring steps to be taken to avert a disaster by removing the dumped soil. “These directions were not complied with. The DDMA had also directed the company to remove the soil, but it did not,” said the report which was filed in response to a case initiated suo motu for prevention of natural disaster in the wake of the Mundakkai-Chooralmala land● More on P4 slides in 2024.  P REET H A NAIR @ New Delhi With the Centre preparing to move the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 for passage in the monsoon session of Parliament, a Joint Parliamentary Committee has sought safeguards against excessive centralisation, recommended stronger consultation with states, and protection of institutional autonomy . According to the draft report circulated among members, the panel recommended changes to key clauses that drew sharp criticism from multiple quarters, including NDA allies, for granting the Centre sweeping powers to override policy disagreements, supersede regulatory bodies, and control funding. The Bill proposes an overhaul of the higher education sector by dissolving the University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education, and the National Council for Teacher Education to create a single, unified regulatory commission. While Clause 47 allows the Centre to supersede the Commission or any Council with Presidential approval, the panel recommended that ‘supersession’ should be invoked only in extraordinary circumstances, for a limited duration and as a last resort. NDA-ruled Andhra Pradesh, Report on bill to sack PM, CMs put off The JPC examining the bill on removal of the prime minister and chief ministers detained on serious charges, on Friday decided to defer the adoption of a draft report when voting was underway on the panel’s recommendations. AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule had submitted their dissent notes but withdrew them after the panel decided to defer the adoption several universities, opposition and other stakeholders have characterised the provision as “critical vulnerability” as it allows the Centre to dissolve the regulator entirely without adequate safeguards. In its recommendation, the panel said, “Clause 47 be comprehensively reviewed and the expressions 290 “unable to dis- charge functions” and “persistently made default” shall be defined through objective, measurable, and verifiable criteria in the Act or the rules, to eliminate ambiguity, ensure transparency, and prevent arbitrary invocation of the power of supersession.” It further said that the Clause 47(2)(a) shall be amended may be read as, “The Chairperson of the Commission, or the Presidents of the Councils and other members of the Commission or the Councils, as the case may be, shall, as from the date of ‘supersession’, cease to hold their respective office and desist from exercising all the powers, functions and duties under the provisions of this Act, and their office shall deemed to have been as vacated.” While Clause 45 empowers the Centre to issue binding directions on questions of policy, the panel called for objective thresholds, procedural safeguards and transparency requirements governing the Centre’s power. It proposed adding the words “for the purposes of this Act” to the provision allowing the government to assign additional functions, to restrict its scope. The JPC also recommended increasing the number of state government nominees on each of the three councils under the Commission to three. India raps Japan leader’s charges on bullet train j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi INDIA on Friday squarely rejected claims by former Japanese minister Hideki Makihara that New Delhi was responsible for delays in the MumbaiAhmedabad high-speed rail project, describing his remarks as a personal opinion that was “at considerable variance with facts” and asserting that the flagship India-Japan venture is progressing as planned. Makihara, a former Justice Minister and a member of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party had alleged in a social , media post that India’s handling of the Shinkansen project was marked by broken commitments and poor negotiations. “The Shinkansen project in India is something I was involved with myself, but what stood out in international meet- They keep pushing their own self-interest to the end. I feel 100% that the reason this hasn’t moved forward is on the Indian side Hideki Makihara, Former Japanese minister ings and negotiations was the sheer recklessness of the Indian side, repeated over and over. They just don’t keep promises,” he wrote. He went on to criticise the In- dian leadership overseeing the project, saying, “They keep pushing their own self-interest right up to the very end. The minister in charge was especially awful—if the top guy’s E x p r e ss R e a d UDF faces backlash over Waqf Board case Malappuram: The UDF government and the Muslim League are facing growing political backlash over the stand it adopted before the Kerala High Court in petitions challenging the legality of the current Kerala Waqf Board. The petitions, including one filed by BJP leader Shone George, argue that the Board is invalid as it was constituted without appointing non-Muslim members as required under the amended Waqf law. The government’s position in supporting this argument has drawn strong criticism from Muslim organisations and political parties. P4 KSEB scrambling to Lorry ploughs into meet power demand pedestrians, 1 dead Kochi: With a weak monsoon sending both mercury and power consumption soaring, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) is scrambling to meet a shortage of power during peak hours. Complaints have been pouring in at KSEB offices regarding multiple outages during night hours and opposition parties have launched protests against power regulations. P4 Palakkad: A 19-year-old college student was killed and five others, including four students, were injured after a speeding lorry carrying hospital waste veered off the road and rammed pedestrians at Mundur in Palakkad on Friday. The deceased is Mohammed Farhan, 19, a second-year BCA student of a private college in Mundur who hailed from Parakkunnam. P5 like that, there’s no way to have any decent dealings.” Responding to the remarks, Exter nal Affairs Ministry (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed them as unrepresentative of the bilateral engagement. “It is an individual opinion and at considerable variance with facts,” he said. Japan, he added, will supply the next-generation E10 series Shinkansen trains in the early 2030s, as the rolling stock is still under development. “First section will be opened in 2027 itself. Both sides agreed to start the operations with Indian high speed train. The signalling equipment has been ordered accordingly... No Japanese offer was received in this context. The project execution is in line with the common goal of starting the high speed train at the earliest,” Jaiswal said. Consolation match In the rebranded ‘Bronze match’ at the World Cup’s penultimate game, England face France. A look at the game.  Today’s match: 3rd place play-off: France vs England 2.30 AM* (*IST Sunday) Mbappe, Kane, Jude and the golden boot This match has historically seen coaches play fringe players. This one could see the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham start because of what's at stake: the Golden Boot. Both Mbappe and Lionel Messi have the same goals but the latter is the leader on account of more assists. Trump to attend final US President Donald Trump will attend Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, the White House said, saving his first appearance at the tournament for its grand finale After Tata rebuttal Govt says `10k cr is total maritime investment goal shipbuilding ecosystem in Kerala. Soon after media reports According to the official quoted Tata Group officials statement, Mission Samudra explicitly denying Chief is a comprehensive mariMinister V D Satheesan’s time development plan, not a claim of a `10,000-crore in- single shipbuilding project. vestment for a shipbuilding It aims to leverage Kerala’s unit in Kerala, the state gov- key coastal assets, including ernment on Friday launched Vizhinjam Inter national a damage-control exercise, Seaport, Cochin Port and clarifying that the figure re- Cochin Shipyard, by inteferred to the total investment grating industries such as the state aims to attract, not shipbuilding, ship repair, a finalised commitoffshore fabricaMission ment from a single tion, marine engiSamudra company . neering, coastal The official note manufacturing, loAccording to the said the figure repgistics and allied official note, the resented the total figure represented maritime services. The government investment targetthe total reiterated that talks ed over the coming investment years through mul- targeted over the are under way with several leading dotiple projects and coming years investors under its through multiple mestic and international investors and newly launched projects and ‘Mission Samudra’ investors under its expressed confidence that they initiative. newly launched would translate H o w e ve r, t h e ‘Mission note said a joint Samudra’ initiative into major investments in the near venture involving a future. It said deTata Group subsidiary is already setting up a tails of each project would be shipbuilding unit at Cochin announced transparently Port. The project, facilitated once they reach the final by the state government, is a stage. Satheesan’s original rejoint venture between stateowned Malabar Cements Ltd marks came in the wake of and Artson Engineering Ltd, the Mediterranean Shipping a subsidiary of Tata Projects. C o m p a n y ’ s p r o p o s e d It said all major clearances `13,000-crore investment, have been secured and the billed as the single largest forCochin Port Authority has eign private investment in Inallotted the required land, dian port infrastructure. enabling preliminary work He had said that talks with to begin on what the govern- the Tata Group were expected ment described as a key step to be finalised within a towards building a modern month. E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @T’Puram final goodbye to legend For me, Bradman and Sobers are the same Madan Lal Legends always seem to live with you whether you play against them or not. I remember meeting Sir Garfield Sobers at Bishan (Singh Bedi) paaji’s home. He was in India and went to meet Bishan paaji. We were just listening to them. The two legends talking about the sport and for us it gave us a good insight into the game. That itself was an experience of a kind. I also met him and played a few benefit games with him when I was featuring in league cricket in England. He was one of the best human beings I have ever met. It would not be an exaggeration if I say that the word all-rounder was coined only after he graced the game. He redefined the art of batting, bowling and fielding. The way people still remember Don Bradman, for me Sobers is also the same. The world still remembers the duo whenever they talk about cricket. I had toured West Indies twice and met Sobers as well. He was always ready to help India players. In fact, he has special liking for us. Wearing those big smiles, he will be ever ready to give us tips. More than anything, just listening to his talks benefitted me a lot. He was altogether on a different level. It was West Indies cricketers who made the 93 365 Sobers played 93 Test between 1954 and 1974, scored 8,032 runs and claimed 235 wickets the left-handed batter scored 365 not out against Pakistan in 1958. It remained the record individual score in Tests till 36 years and was broken by Brian Lara when he scored 375 against England 1st he became the first player to hit six consecutive sixes in an over while playing a match for Nottinghamshire in 1968 Sir Garfield Sobers 28.7.1936—17.7.2026 game popular and Sobers was one of their rockstars. He was revered across the world. The game has lost one of its finest gems today . Madan Lal, former India all-rounder and 1983 World Cup winner recounts his encounters with the legend As told to Firoz Mirza Big buzz on Sharad Pawar party joining NDA sudhir surywanshi & Rajesh k u m a r t h a k u r @ Mumbai/New Delhi SPECULATION that Sharad Pawar’s NCP(SP) is set to join the BJP-led NDA and merge with the Ajit Pawar faction intensified after senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil held key meetings with BJP general secretary Vinod Tawade, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Shiv Sena minister Sanj ay S h i r s a t claimed the picture would Sharad Pawar become clear within the next eight days. Highly placed sources said Sharad The BJP has given the green Pawar has per- light (to the s o n a l l y e n - merger), but trusted Patil, NCP national his confidant, president with negotiat- Sunetra Pawar ing the terms has raised the of NCP(SP)’s red flag, saying entry into the it will end their career NDA and the merger of the Top BJP leader two NCP factions. Sources said Patil and Jitendra Ahwad could be inducted as cabinet ministers in Maharashtra, while Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule and Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel could be inducted as cabinet ministers at the Centre. However, Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar and NCP national president, has opposed the move fearing it would end her family’s control over the party and jeopardise the political future of her sons, Parth and Jay . The BJP, however, is not inclined to accommodate NCP (SP) separately in the Maharashtra NDA government, a senior BJP source said. Instead, it is pushing for a merger of the two NCP factions, with the merged entity continuing as a key NDA ally, the senior BJP source said. SIT on Ram temple may submit interim report to the SC The SIT probing the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple may submit an interim report to the SC on July 20 in compliance with its directions, sources said