COIMBATORE  MONDAY  SEPTEMBER 14, 2026  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION LADAKH GROUPS OPEN TO DROPPING STATEHOOD DEMAND, WITH RIDER The Kargil Democratic Alliance and Leh Apex Body are closely looking at MHA’s UT-level elected body to meet aspirations of the people ELECTED BODY WITH LEGISLATIVE POWERS NEW ARRANGEMENT ONLY FOR LADAKH The proposed UT-level body would be elected and will have legislative powers with respect to land, culture and language, forest, environment, natural resources, and any other subject reserved under Article 240. “We have agreed to discuss in principle this model of governance. If it is satisfactory, we will accept it,” said Sajjad Kargili, co-chairman of KDA ■ ■ The UT-level elected body under Article 371 was conceptualised in a meeting in Delhi on September 9, and will only apply to Ladakh The two groups — KDA and LAB — have now climbed down from their earlier demands and have dropped their Sixth Schedule demand for constitutional safeguards under Article 371 | P8 `15 lakh EACH BEING GIVEN BY L-G TO THE KIN OF 4 PERSONS DIED IN 2025 VIOLENCE 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 Don’t weaponise minerals, tech: PM Modi says BRICS must strengthen the ability to anticipate and deal with crises; calls for inclusivity in new tech adoption J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on the concluding day of the BRICS summit warned that the “weaponisation of technology and critical minerals” could hinder shared global progress, while calling for greater inclusivity in the adoption of new technologies and stronger cooperation with the Global South. Addressing the BRICS session on Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability Modi said on Sunday India’s , presidency had focused on translating these four pillars into practical cooperation, particularly as conflicts, pandemics, climate disasters and supply-chain disruptions increasingly affect economies and ordinary people across borders. “The weaponisation of technology and critical minerals can hinder our shared progress. Therefore, we have emphasised inclusivity in the adoption of technology Modi said. ,” His remarks come as critical minerals assume growing strategic importance for clean-energy systems, advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies, making access to reliable and diversified supplies an increasingly important element of economic and geopolitical resilience. He said the interconnected nature of the world requires BRICS members to strengthen ON P7 their ability to anticipate and respond to crises, pointing to initiatives including an integrated early-warning system for infectious diseases, disaster-management data guidelines and a logistics supplychain cooperation framework. On innovation, he highlighted the BRICS Incubator Network, the proposed BRICS Startup Innovation Fund and the BRICS Network on Digital Agriculture, which aims to connect artificial intelligence, geospatial technology and digital public infrastructure with the needs of farmers. Modi stressed that BRICS cooperation should extend beyond governments and involve entrepreneurs, farmers, researchers, women, youth and ordinary citizens. “Our endeavour has been to ensure that BRICS cooperation does not remain limited to governments alone,” he said, citing initiatives aimed at skills development, women’s workforce participation, social security capacity building and sup, port for small businesses. On the subject of sustainability Modi said development and , environmental protection should not be viewed as competing priorities. “In Indian civilisation, nature has been accorded the status of a mother,” he said, adding that India had long believed that development and the environment were “not alternatives to each other, but are complementary .” INDIA’S BILATERAL OUTREACH ACROSS GLOBAL SOUTH ‘Might makes right’ logic does not hold, says Xi J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the Bharat Mandapam during the BRICS Summit on Sunday; Chinese President Xi Jinping waves before boarding his aircraft upon concluding his India visit | PTI Pandemics, climate disasters, and supply-chain disruptions have shown that in today’s interconnected world, no crisis remains confined to a single region — Narendra Modi, Prime Minister INDIA, VIETNAM STEP UP DEFENCE, INDUSTRIAL TIES Shah sure UCC will be rolled out in all NDA states by 2029 S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai UNION Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that he was confident the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) would be implemented in all 21 NDA-ruled states and Union territors before the next Lok Sabha elections in 2029. Shah was in Mumbai to launch the 30-day Seva Sankalp Abhiyan, aimed at encouraging public participation in the government’s vision of a developed India by 2047. He said the Centre had already introduced UCC in several states and expressed confidence that all NDA-led states would follow suit before 2029. Uttarakhand became the first state to pass a UCC law, in Feb- Home Minister Amit Shah at a press conference in Mumbai on Sunday | PTI ruary 2024, and has fully enforced it since January 2025. Gujarat followed last year, and Assam became the first northeastern state to pass the UCC Bill, in May 2026. Madhya Pradesh is the latest to come on board, with its cabinet unanimously approving the code at a Xi urges member countries to defend rules-based international order, proposes five-point agenda for greater BRICS cooperation special meeting in July . The UCC laws in Gujarat, Assam and Madhya Pradesh are awaiting Presidential assent. Maharashtra, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, meanwhile, have set up drafting committees. Asked whether 1951 would be used as the baseline year for implementing the National Register of Citizens in Manipur, Shah said the matter was still under discussion. “We are discussing these issues with our allies and also with the political parties of Manipur. Whatever decision is taken, we will inform you,” he said. On the BJP government’s achievements, Shah pointed to the abolition of triple talaq, which he said had given Muslim women equal rights. A world without rules is like a crossroads without traffic lights... Fairness and justice is a universal aspiration, and international rules must be written by all countries — Xi Jinping, Chinese President MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER SINGS AT BRICS GALA DINNER Left parties to contest both TN bypolls, rule out backing TVK front E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai/Tiruchy THE Left parties, which support the TVK government from the outside, on Sunday announced that they will contest the upcoming bye-elections to two Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu together and would not support any other alliance in the state, including that of the ruling party. The CPI will contest in the Dharapuram seat, while the CPM will field its candidate in Madurantakam. Their candidates for the October 6 bypolls are expected to be announced on September 15. Stating that the Left parties would contest the two seats together, CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugam said in Tiruchy on Sunday that their decision is against all three alliances in the fray, namely the DMK-led alliance, the AIADMK-BJP combine and the P5 TVK alliance. MASINAGUDI-OOTY Ghat road limit for tourist vehicles breached in just 1 hr S S E N T H I L K U M A R @ Nilgiris THE heavy influx of tourists to Ooty through the Kalhatty Ghat Road in the Nilgiris has put the authorities between a rock and a hard place. In the first weekend of its implementation, the 200-vehicle limit on tourists allowed on the route was exhausted within the first hour on both Saturday and Sunday due to the visitors hoping to enjoy the extended Vinayagar Chathurthi weekend in the ‘Queen of Hill Stations’. The limit on tourist vehicles on the route between 10 am and 4 pm was imposed by a special division bench of the Madras High Court on August 28 to mitigate impact of vehicular movement on the environment and wildlife. The rule was implemented from September 8, offering relief to local businesses as vehicular movement on the route had been barred since this July. Since implemented, the quota was only exhausted by 3 pm on weekdays. With the quota running out early on Saturday and Sunday , serpentine queues of cars, maxi cabs and other vehicles were seen stretching several kilome- Vehicles lined up on Kalhatty Ghat Road during festival rush on Sunday | EXPRESS tres from the forest department checkpost at Mavanalla. The congestion also caused difficulties for TNSTC bus passengers and local residents travelling between Masinagudi and Ooty . After nearly two hours on Sun- day the waiting tourist vehicles , were asked to turn back and take the Gudalur route to reach Ooty instead. The Madras High Court, in imposing the temporary measure, had noted that tourists are generally unaware of the behaviour and movement patterns of elephants and other wild animals in the area. The restriction will remain in force until the state forest department files a report indicating the actual number of vehicles passing through the Kalhatty Ghat Road from P5 Masinagudi. Quota to protect wildlife The limit on tourist vehicles on the Kalhatty Ghat Road between 10 am and 4 pm was imposed by Madras HC on August 28 to mitigate impact of vehicular movement on wildlife CHINESE President Xi Jinping said on Sunday that “the logic of ‘might makes right’ does not hold, and should have been discarded long ago,” urging the BRICS countries to defend a rules-based international order and strengthen the voice of the Global South. Addressing the concluding session of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Xi said the world was undergoing “changes unseen in a century” as the collective rise of the Global South accelerated the shift towards a multipolar order. He urged BRICS to “seize the historical initiative” and become “an active, stabilising and positive force in international affairs”. He called on developing countries to uphold sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs and the peaceful settlement of disputes, while strengthening the authority of the United Nations and pushing for reforms that ensure greater participation of developing countries in global institutions. Xi called for reform of the international financial architecture to increase the representation and voice of developing economies, and urged BRICS to support reform of the World Trade Organization and the continued development of the New Development Bank. The Chinese president said BRICS should use its ties with emerging markets and developing countries to safeguard industrial and supply chains and build a large integrated market. He proposed a five-point agenda covering artificial intelligence, trade and investment, digital industries, intelligent manufacturing, and science and technology talent. BJP TO MAKE SUMMIT SUCCESS A POLITICAL ASSET FOR STATE POLLS India players sing Vande Mataram ahead of the match | SAYANTAN GHOSH VANDE MATARAM National song sung at int’l tie for first time E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru IN a first, India’s national song as well as the national anthem were played before the start of an international cricket match. After both Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana reverberated around the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Afghanistan’s national anthem was played. Curiously enough, even though the national song was played, for the purposes of record-keeping, Afghanistan will be the home team for the entirety of the threematch T20I series (the other two matches will also be held at the venue). This is in line with a new directive issued by the Union Home Ministry from earlier this year to celebrate the 150th year of the song. “It is not possible to give an exhaustive list of occasions on which the singing (as distinct from playing) of official version of the national song can be permitted,” the order had said. “But there is no objection to the singing of the national song accompanied by mass singing so long as it done with due respect as a salutation to the motherland and proper decorum is maintained.” Interestingly the , venue had this arrangement in place for all Delhi Premier League games this year.