hyderabad l sunday l august 02, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION Elite mountaineer Nirmal Purja killed in poK avalanche Famous mountaineer Nirmal Purja and nine others were on Saturday confirmed dead, days after an avalanche hit Broad Peak in PoK was leading 10-member team to broad peak Climbed all 14 ‘super peaks’ in just 6 months British-Nepali climber Purja, popularly known as Nims or Nimsdai, was leading a 10-member climbing team when the avalanche hit on Thursday morning. The mountaineers were ascending at an altitude of around 6,600 metres when they were swept away, local authorities said. Broad Peak, standing at 8,051 metres, is the world’s 12th-highest mountain | P9 ■ ■ Purja famously scaled all of the world’s 14 highest peaks in just over six months in 2019, breaking the previous record of seven years He wrote on X this week that he was close to becoming the first person to climb all 14 “super peaks” twice without oxygen. “Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down,” he wrote 2018 Purja was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire 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 Nonstop rain pummels Kerala, leaves 7 dead Boxers Sakshi Chaudhary (L) & Priya Ghanghas (R) finished on top with gold medals on Saturday | pti/ap CM deputes team of ministers to camp in rain-hit districts to manage rescue and relief M an o j V iswanat h an @ Kochi Six years on, border trade via Nathu La Pass resumes P rasan ta M a z u m d ar @ Guwahati Border trade via Nathu La Pass, which had remained suspended for six years amid the Covid-19 pandemic and India-China border tensions, resumed on Saturday . The inaugural ceremony was attended by Sikkim’s Commerce & Industries Minister Tshering T Bhutia among others. The reopening is expected to inject fresh momentum into the local economy by generating business for registered traders, transport operators and other stakeholders dependent on border trade. Border trade through Nathu La will operate from Monday to Thursday and continue until November. Under the Nathu La border trade arrangement, the approved cate gories of goods, including handicrafts, handloom products, traditional religious items, and ready-made garments, can now be imported and exported. This year, 38 traders have been issued passes to participate in the cross-border trade. Currently, there are around 35 tradable items. Bhutia said the Sikkim government had already sent a proposal to expand the list of tradable items. WITH THIS ISSUE Take a Seat PLUS 12 P AGES AT least seven people were killed on Saturday after torrential rain battered Kerala, triggering flash floods and multiple landslides that revived painful memories of the 2018 deluge. Central Kerala districts of Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Kottayam bore the brunt. Pathanamthitta got over 300 mm of rain in two hours. Heavy rain began pounding eastern parts of southern Kerala around 11 pm on Friday causing , rivers to swell rapidly By 2.30 am, floodwaters en. tered homes along riverbanks, forcing residents to flee in panic. The Pampa river rose sharply in, undating Ranni and Vadasserikkara towns on the Sabarimala route. Landslides disrupted traffic on key highways including Kochi-Dhanushkodi, KottarakaraDindigul, and Kuttikkanam-Kattappana. Floodgates of the Pambla, Kallarkutty , and Malankara dams were opened due to heavy inflow. I n K o t t ay a m ’ s Poonjar Thekkekara panchayat, Rejina and her 24-year-old son Josephine Johny perished when their house collapsed in a landslide. Sumathy 69, was killed at Adurma, la near Kudayathoor when her home got buried in slush. Prabhakaran Nair, 72, died in a landslide at Kolahalamedu in Vagamon. The children — threeyear-old Abdul Muhaini, four-year-old Adam Aymen, and 11-year-old Milan K Shinu — drowned in separate waterlogging incidents in Malappuram and Kottayam districts. The relentless weather system wreaked havoc in northern Kerala as well. In Kannur, search and rescue operations are underway for two missing individuals — a 40-year-old man who fell into the Kanjirapuzha river, and a swimming instructor at Pulingome. In Kozhikode, major rivers like Poonoor and Vilangad overflowed, submerging the Kozhikode-Mysuru Highway at Engapuzha. Chief Minister V D Satheesan deputed a team of ministers to camp in the worst-hit districts: C P John in Thiruvananthapuram, P C Vishnunadh in Pathanamthitta, Mons Joseph in Kottayam, and Anoop Jacob in Idukki. glasgow gold mine and old. That they have designs on finishing in the top four — currently fourth with 13 gold — in the medals tally is notable. Those designs would not have been possible if it weren’t for the exploits of the para-athletes (three gold) and boxing (seven gold). There is the obvious caveat that boxing at the Games isn’t of the greatest standards, but this is a quiet win for the high-performance E xpress N ews service NDRF, Fire and Rescue Services, police, the Coast Guard, the local administration, public representatives and locals are participating in the efforts Statement from CM’s office WHEN the Commonwealth Games began in Glasgow on July 23, there was an expectation that India’s medals tally could suffer because of the absence of shooting, badminton and wrestling. In these three events, they are elite at this level. But this has still been a very creditable campaign thanks to other heroes, young numero uno TG at top with `4.2L per capita E xpress N ews S ervice @ Hyderabad A rescue operation following a landslide in Kottayam on Saturday| express Flood control Shutters of dams in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kannur districts were opened following rising water levels, to prevent floods Telangana has recorded the highest per capita income among all states, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy . Reacting to the report, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said the state has been achieving new milestones since the Congress came to power in December 2023. Taking to X, Revanth said, “We are India’s topperforming state. Our per capita income for this year (2025-26) is `4,18,931 per person, an increase from `3,80,031 in the last year. We grew by 10.23 per cent in a single year, an increase of `38,900.” He attributed the achievement to policydriven governance, economic growth, investments and job creation, saying the government’s focus on regular reviews and stakeholder engagement had replaced a decade of “poor governance” with optimism. He said women, farmers and youth had benefited the most, and voiced confidence in Telangana’s continued growth. Delimitation backers ‘traitors’ of TN: Rahul EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai Amid speculation regarding a possible shift in the DMK’s stance on the revised Delimitation Bill, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi strongly condemned supporters of the bill on Saturday branding them “21st-centu, ry Ettappans (traitors)”. He accused the BJP of exploiting the delimitation exercise to dilute Tamil Nadu’s political power and jeopardise its future. Speaking to reporters in Chennai, Rahul accused the BJP of conspiring against Tamil Nadu. “Delimitation is designed to take away power from Tamil Nadu,” he said. Drawing a historical parallel, Rahul said, “There was a historical character in Tamil Nadu called Ettappan. He is an example of betrayal. Anybody who supports delimitation is an Ettappan. They are betraying Tamil Nadu and its future by allowing the BJP and the RSS to attack the people of the state.” The Congress leader’s statement came after the recent breakdown of the party’s relationship with the DMK in Tamil Nadu. The DMK bloc has 22 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha MPs. Following the 2026 Assembly elections, Congress severed its pre-poll ties with the DMK alliance to back the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)led front and shared power in the new government.  P7 Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at the Chennai airport on Saturday | Ashwin prasath p o l ishi n g a g e m HYDRAA efforts pay off as Uppal lake springs to life E xpress N ews S ervice @ Hyderabad The rejuvenated Nalla Cheruvu at Uppal Once a garbage dump overflowing with plastic and other waste, Uppal’s Nalla Cheruvu has emerged as one of Hyderabad’s key flood buffers. Restored by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), the rejuvenated lake has been filled with fresh rainwater following the recent heavy showers, significantly reducing flood risks in surrounding residential areas. Reacting to the transformation of the lake on X, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy congratulated HYDRAA officials and its staff, saying the revival of lakes in Hyderabad gave him “immense satisfaction”. Calling lake restoration an investment in the state’s future, Revanth said, “As HYDRAA works across the Hyderabad Core Urban Region Economy (CURE) area, it is not only restoring water bodies but also breathing new life into our lakes and securing a vibrant and sustainable future for generations to come. Protecting lakes is not merely about conserving water resources; it is about safeguarding the future of our coming generations. We remain committed to protecting every lake and preserving every inch of public property for the benefit of the people and the environment.”  Continued on p5 programme and the federation’s talent ID at the highest level. Another combat sport that deserves its two minutes in the limelight is judo. Even before the campaign had begun, it had become a bad word after another dope-related news item. However, on Friday, judokas won two gold medals in less than an hour after going without one since the sport’s inception 40 years ago. That is how you change history and create new narratives.Finish fourth and that’s basically the best of the rest outside the big three of Canada, England and Australia (New Zealand are great at the Olympics but some of their biggest athletes skip the Commonwealth Games). Tejaswin Shankar’s bronze in the decathlon is a similar narrative-creating medal. On Saturday, Gulveer Singh became the first Indian to win two medals in long-distance running with a bronze in men’s 5000m. He had won silver in men’s 10000m earlier. Neeraj Chopra, found some form with a season’s best of 85.83m for silver. He won’t be happy with the result but will be quietly satisfied with the performance. For the next four years, as Ahmedabad gets ready to welcome the 70-plus nations and territories for what’s likely to be one of the biggest Games in history, the expectation will continue to rise.  P11 Modi urges youth to turn Vivekananda’s vision into reality K ar t h ik K K @ Mysuru We must mould youth who place the interests of society, the nation and the poor above their own joys and sorrows, with ‘Nation First’ as their guiding principle Narendra Modi, prime minister AMID growing protests by youngsters and Gen-Z demanding greater government accountability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called upon the youth to transform Swami Vivekananda’s vision of India into reality, saying that the country’s future rests on the strength, aspirations and character of its young generation. Addressing a large gathering after inaugurating the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Youth Centre — Viveka Smaraka — in Mysuru, PM Modi said Swami Vivekananda embodied the spirit of India and the newly inaugurated memorial would serve as a centre for inspiring generations of young Indians towards nation-building, service and patriotism. Nation First spirit among youth: PM “I am confident that the Viveka Smaraka will become a pilgrimage centre for spiritual upliftment for seekers and devotees. “Through this memorial, we must mould young people who place the interests of society, the nation, and suffering of the poor above their own personal joys and sorrows. Youth for whom ‘Nation First’ is the supreme guiding principle and whose life’s mission is the service of Mother India,” PM Modi said.