COIMBATORE l saturday l august 01, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION Hamas agrees to disarm, accepts Trump’s peace plan for Gaza Hamas on Friday threw up a surprise, saying it will disarm and accept a deal announced by US President Donald Trump to end its war with Israel Israel wary, No official reaction yet Concessions to save Gazans, says Hamas Israel is yet to officially comment, but sources said there will be no withdrawal of Israeli forces from their current lines untill the disarmament is genuine and total. “A lot needs to fall in place for this to work,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “Verifying Hamas’ compliance will be a challenge. Israel would need to eventually withdraw from Gaza,” he said ■ ■ Trump says “complete disarmament” by Hamas is a critical step toward a new Palestinian government in Gaza Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’ negotiating team, said the movement was making “concessions for the sake of our people in the Gaza Strip, to save them from killing and displacement” | P9 4-page plan for Hamas disarmament and gradual Israeli withdrawal 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 Mega allocation for offshore oil & gas exploration Spain Strait of Gibralter Ceuta Morocco Cabinet clears `84K-cr Samudra Manthan plan to strengthen long-term energy security Risky business Drilling in ultradeepwater areas could cost up to `2,400 crore per well. Plus, there is no certainty that the investment will result in a discovery or production increase Floating solar projects To boost India’s solar power generation, the government approved the Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana, a `5,070-crore scheme to set up 5,000 MW (5GW) of floating solar power projects over the next five years. According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, India currently has 0.7 GW of installed floating solar capacity IN a bid to increase domestic oil and gas production, the government on Friday approved the `84,000-crore Samudra Manthan scheme to accelerate deep-sea exploration. According to the petroleum ministry, the scheme will add 600 million tonnes of oil equivalent (MTOE) to India’s hydrocarbon reserves. It is projected to increase annual domestic oil and gas production by 10-15 MTOE, with the potential to reach 20 MTOE at peak production. The biggest share of the scheme—`43,200 crore—has been earmarked to support the drilling of 60 deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration wells. The government will provide financial support to staterun ONGC and Oil India as well as private exploration firms to encourage drilling in deepwater areas where exploration is expensive and highly risky . The support comes after the government opened nearly 99% of the offshore areas that were earlier classified as ‘no-go’ zones due to defence and space-related restrictions. Another `28,500 crore has been allocated for large-scale 2D and 3D offshore seismic surveys and advanced data processing using technologies such as artificial intelligence. The surveys will help create detailed maps of the seabed and identify promising locations for drilling. The scheme also provides `10,000 crore to build common offshore infrastructure for developing stranded discoveries in basins such as Mahanadi and Kutch, where high evacuation costs have made projects commercially unviable. Shared infrastructure is expected to reduce project costs and bring these discoveries into production. In addition, `2,000 crore has been allocated for setting up an Oil and Gas Manufacturing and Services Zone to promote domestic manufacturing of oilfield equipment and services under the Make in India initiative. The government expects the move to reduce import dependence and strengthen the domestic supply chain. India currently imports more than 88% of its crude oil requirement. The scheme will help cut dependence on imported crude. The move follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of the National Deep Water Exploration Mission, named Samudra Manthan, during his Independence Day address on August 15, 2025. Migrant Tsunami Morocco R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi Algeria Mauritania Mali Over 48,000 migrants returned to Morocco from Spain’s Ceuta after an estimated 60,000 of them crossed the frontier into its north African enclave in recent days. At least 43 migrants died during the crossing. The influx came after Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla, another Spanish exclave, cannot be summarily returned to Morocco | PTI | Report: P9 DKS postpones Vijay meet as tensions escalate E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ Bengaluru Amid tensions escalating in the state over the Cauvery river water issue, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has postponed the bilateral talks with his Tamil Nadu counterpart C Joseph Vijay, scheduled to be held at Vidhana Soudha on August 3. The decision was taken because of ongoing protests in the Cauvery basin by Kannada activists and farmer organisations against the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) order to release water to Tamil Nadu. The activists had also warned Shivakumar against holding talks with Vijay. Shivakumar on Friday requested Vijay, who had proposed the talks first, to defer their meeting till the situation returns to normal. Shivakumar, when he was deputy chief minister and water resources minister under 968 inspectors stuck in same rank for 18 yrs M S ara v anan @ Coimbatore Stalled promotions in the Tamil Nadu police department have left 968 officers of the 1999 direct recruitment batch of sub-inspectors in limbo across the state for nearly two decades. Despite completing 27 years of service, members of the batch have secured just one promotion, to the rank of inspector, in 2008. They have remained as inspectors for the past 18 years, missing out on promotion to DSP posts due to legal hurdles. The delay in promotion of these officers has also affected the elevation of officers of other batches, and over 140 DSP posts are lying vacant across TN, sources said. The inspectors, who have remained in the same rank for over 18 years, have now urged the department to present their position before the court.  P5 Delhi riots: Ex-AAP leader gets lifer for killing IB man E XP R E S S N E W S S E R VIC E @ New Delhi gold rush Asmita Dey celebrates her gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Friday. Coming from a humble background, the judoka from a small town in Tripura became India’s first gold medallist. Later, Harsh Singh added another gold to tally | PTI I P11 A Delhi court on Friday awarded life imprisonment to former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and four others for killing Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 Delhi riots. Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh awarded the minimum punishment prescribed for murder under law, saying the prosecution was not able to prove that the convicts were not beyond reformation. The judge said the case did not fall within the “rarest of rare” category warranting the death penalty . Hussain and other convicts – Nazim, Kashim, Anas, and Javed – were present before the court while the order was pronounced. The convicts were brought before the court in tight security. The judge said the State had not brought anything on record to establish that the convicts had any propensity to crime. Will move High Court Tahir Hussain, 48, a former AAP councillor from Nehru Vihar, said he will move the High Court for justice. 16 yrs on, SC permits Omar, Payal divorce S U C H IT R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi PUTTING a lid on a long legal chapter of matrimonial dispute spanning over 16 years, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to dissolve the marriage of J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Payal Abdullah after noting their joint position that they have “embraced freedom”. “We will make it a part of our order and will dispose it of in terms of that ... will pass a formal order later,” said a bench of justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the National Conference leader, on Friday informed the bench that an application under Article 142 of the Indian Constitution, seeking dissolution was filed as the matter was “settled between the parties.” “Both of them have embraced freedom. It’s all settled. (Article) 142 has been filed in the case. Your lordships may grant divorce,” he contended before the court. The court was hearing two petitions, including Omar’s plea seeking divorce on grounds of cruelty The couple . had got married on September 1, 1994. In July 2024, the court sought Payal’s response to Omar’s challenge to a Delhi High Court order that dismissed his appeal and upheld the 2016 family court decision denying divorce. After his divorce plea was dismissed by the Delhi High Court, Omar moved the Supreme Court. A ‘dead’ union Box Earlier during several occasions, the Supreme Court had asked the couple to resolve their disputes amicably. Presenting the case for divorce, Sibal submitted that the marriage was “dead.” TN may move SC soon Tamil Nadu is likely to approach the SC after August 5 over the delay by Karnataka in releasing Cauvery water despite CWRC and CWMA telling the upper riparian state to release 3,500 cusecs of water for 15 days to TN | P4 Siddaramaiah, had proposed that then Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin visit the state, but the latter had declined the offer. “After the elections in TN, the government changed. Vijay said he would come with his team, but protests do not give us confidence. We should resolve this with goodwill. If the problem is solved, both sides benefit. The situation is not good now. So, I request the TN CM to defer the meeting. When guests come from another state, we must show courtesy and respect. I will ask him to choose another date. If they (Vijay and team) want to protect their state’s interest, we want to protect ours. We are discussing whether this can be resolved amicably he said, ad,” dressing a press conference. The decision came after Shivakumar held a meeting with ministers and officials on the CWMA order. In fact, the conference hall at Vidhana Soudha had been decked up to host Vijay. The talks could still be held if there is good rain in both Karnataka and TN in August with weather predictions pointing to that.  P5