thrissur l Sunday l august 17, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city edition flashfloods wreak havoc in pak, 344 dead The toll from monsoon rains that have triggered flashfloods across northern Pakistan rose to 344 on Saturday maximum damage in khyber pakhtunkhwa blocked highways being restored The majority of the deaths were recorded in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Most were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses. Torrential rains, which triggered flash floods, are expected to continue intermittently until August 21, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority’s note on Saturday ■ The affected districts include Bajaur, Buner, Swat, Manaehra, Shangla, Torghar, and Batagram. Buner was the worst-hit, recording 184 deaths, followed by Shangla’s 36 deaths | P9 ■ Instructions have also been issued to mobilise all resources for restoration of blocked highways and link roads in tourist areas 2,000 workers deployed for rescue and relief operations 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 Some positives for India as Trump open to secondary tariff rethink US prez nudges Putin towards peace deal at summit, lines up Monday talks with Zelenskyy J aya n t h J a c o b a n d P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi A high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday produced no ceasefire in Ukraine but shifted the diplomatic narrative toward a possible peace deal — one that remains vague, contested, and fraught with uncertainty . For India, caught in the crosshairs of the looming US penalty tariffs over Russian oil imports, the suspense now tilts slightly toward hope. The nearly three-hour summit in Alaska, the first face-toface meeting between the two leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, ended with Trump calling for a direct peace pact between Kyiv and Moscow, bypassing the ceasefire route long advocated by Ukraine and its Western allies. “It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war... is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, and not a mere Ceasefire,” Trump said on social media. Calling Russia a “very big power” and Ukraine “not”, Trump urged Kyiv to “make a US President Donald Trump (C) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shake hands after a joint press meet in Alaska | AFP deal”, suggesting that continued resistance might be futile. He said he would host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday and if that went well, , would schedule a follow-up meeting with Putin. “Potentially millions of people’s lives will , be saved,” he said. India welcomed the summit terming the pursuit of peace is commendable. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “In- dia appreciates the progress made in the Summit. The way forward can only be through dialogue and diplomacy. The world wants to see an early end to the conflict in Ukraine.” Zelenskyy, while cautious, said after a long call with Trump that Ukraine was ready for “constructive cooperation” and supported the idea of a trilateral summit. But Moscow was non-committal. In a post-summit interview with Fox News, Trump indicated that land swaps and security guarantees were part of the informal talks. “I think we’re pretty close to a deal... Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they’ll say no,” he said. For India, the lack of a definitive ceasefire or framework complicates matters. But it doesn’t close the door. T r ump had earlier announced a 25% secondary tariff on Indian purchases of Russian oil, set to take effect on August 27. But in remarks after the summit, he signalled the measure might be delayed. “Because of what happened today... I don’t have to think about that right now. I may have to think about it in 2–3 weeks,” he told Fox News, implying that the tariff deadline could quietly lapse. “It’s still fingers crossed. But we are ready to deal with any eventuality in our national interest,” said a source. However, Trump’s additional claim that India had “already stopped buying Russian oil” raised eyebrows. New Delhi made no such announcement and continues to defend its sovereign right to energy diversification. National Medical Special NCERT module on Partition Register is no more mandatory gets Cong’s goat K a v i ta B a j e l i D at t @ New Delhi P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi A political row broke out on Saturday over a new special module by the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), which holds the Congress leadership, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and Viceroy Lord Mountbatten responsible for Partition of India. The module, released by NCERT to mark ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’, drew the ire of the Congress, which demanded that the module be set on fire as it presents a distorted history . Speaking to reporters on Saturday Congress leader Pa, wan Khera said, “Is 1938 mentioned or not in the NCERT module? In 1938, the Hindu Mahasabha’s national conference in Gujarat announced that Hindus and Muslims could not live in one country . Is 1940 mentioned in the module?” he asked. In 1940, Jinnah adopted the Hindu Mahasabha’s idea at the Muslim League’s Lahore session. “It was mooted in 1938 by the Hindu Mahasabha, and Jinnah repeated it in 1940,” he said. Inaccuracies in state textbook spark row Kalpetta: Inaccuracies in the social studies textbook prescribed to fourth graders and the initial digital draft of the teachers handbook under the Kerala syllabus have sparked outrage among educators, who warn that they risk distorting children’s understanding of India’s history and freedom struggle. P2 “Burn the document if all this is not mentioned in it. Partition happened due to the nexus between Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League. Generations will not forgive them,” he said, adding that MahasabhaMuslim League coalition governments in Bengal, Sindh and North West Frontier Province after 1942, led to Partition. Responding to the Congress’ allegations, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said: “NCERT has brought the truth of Partition to textbooks. The RahulJinnah party is rattled because their role is exposed,” Bhatia said. THE government’s ambitious National Medical Register (NMR), launched last year with the aim of creating a centralised and dynamic database of modern medicine practitioners in the country has failed to take off. Less than a year after , it was made mandatory the Union Health Min, istry has quietly rolled back the requirement, declaring registration as voluntary . The NMR portal, launched on August 23, 2024, by Union health minister J P Nadda, was billed as a big leap to ensure transparency and verification in India’s medical workforce. This paper on May 1 was the first to report that the NMR portal was largely unsuccessful in registering modern medicine practitioners. Less than one per cent of doctors had enrolled on the platform by May . In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha by Samajwadi Party MP Aditya Yadav, MoS (Health) Anupriya Patel confirmed on August 8 that NMR registration was no longer mandatory . “The application for issuance of NMR is voluntary she stated in Parliament.Yadav had posed ,” his question based on a report published in this newspaper earlier this year, which highlighted the poor response to the registration drive. As per an RTI reply received by Kerala-based ophthalmologist and RTI activist Dr K V Babu, only 996 doctors had registered on the NMR portal as of August 8 — of over 13 lakh doctors in India.“This move is welcome. But it does not absolve National Medical Commission of its failure,” Dr Babu said. ‘Injury replacement’ rule for domestic cricket g o m e s h s @ Chennai IN what could be a major rule change for the upcoming 2025-26 domestic season, the Indian cricket body has made provisions for ‘serious injury replacement’ for multi-day red-ball cricket. This rule change comes after the ICC announcement in June that fullmember nations will trial replacement players for domestic first-class cricket. Unlike the past where a like-forlike replacement was allowed only for concussion substitutes, if a player suffers an external injury on the field they can be replaced by the respective teams. This change, along with a few others, was briefed to the umpires during a seminar in How it works When a player suffers an external injury (fracture, deep cut, etc.) within the playing area and gets ruled out of the match, the on-field umpires have the authority to determine extent of the injury. They can consult match referee and doctor to determine The team manager submits a request for a like-for-like replacement as soon as possible to the match referee The referee determines whether it is a valid replacement or one team gets an advantage before approving Ahmedabad ahead of the season. “The serious injury must have been sustained during play and within the playing area described in clause 1.2.5.2 above. The injury must have occurred due to an external blow and result in fracture / deep cut / dislocation etc. The injury should render player unavailable for remainder of The names should be from nominated substitutes unless it is a keeper the match,” the new playing conditions document reads. Last month when Rishabh Pant fractured his foot and could not be replaced during the Manchester Test between India and England, it sparked a debate on the subject. Dhruv Jurel kept wickets but was not allowed to bat. No blanket ban on bikes and autos on six-lane NH 66 the official said. Further, while the central No blanket ban will be en- agency is developing service forced on bikes and autorick- roads along the 644-km stretch shaws along the widened NH- being widened from Thalap66 corridors in the state, pady (Kasaragod) to Mukkola according to a senior official (Thiruvananthapuram), suffiwith the National Highways cient width is not available at Authority of India many places. At cer(NHAI). NH-66 work tain locations, serv“As per the general ice roads are entirely Original Indian Roads Congress absent. “However, vecompletion (IRC) codes, the entry hicles can’t just enter date: Dec 31, of such small vehicles the carriageway from 2025 is not allowed on major any point. Also, there expressways and sixwill be no U-turns or Estimated lane highways — for traffic signals along completion: instance, the Dwarka June 30, 2026 the entire NH-66 Expressway in the nastretch. Instead we tional capital. However, Total kms being are providing suffiwidened: it will be a different cient underpasses. In scenario in Kerala, 644 km (From some sections, we are Thalappady where there will be no constructing underblanket ban on entry of (Kasaragod) to passes just 200-400 m Mukkola two-and three-wheelers apart, like in Koon(T’Puram) when the ongoing widammavu,” the official ening of the NH-66 into said. six-lane is completed,” the ofAlso, a blanket ban will adficial, working in the capacity versely affect the people in the of project director, said. state, where two-wheelers A main reason is the width form the majority of the veof the NH-66 stretches. “The hicular population, the official IRC codes specify that the re- cited. “How could these high striction can be implemented numbers be accommodated if in six-lane highways with a we close the main carriageway , minimum width of 60 m, as in as the service roads will be the case in most other states. grossly inadequate in that ● More on P5 However, here it’s only 45 m,” case,” he said.  K r i s h n a K u m a r K E @ Kochi WITH THIS ISSUE Code Green PLUS 12 P AGES EXPRESS READ CPM leadership peeved at Govindan’s remarks on archbishop Pinarayi flays PM Modi’s I-Day speech BJP calls for legislation against ‘Love Jihad’ T’Puram: State secretary M V Govindan is facing criticism from within the CPM leadership for his remarks against Thalassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany. Govindan had reportedly termed the Archbishop as ‘someone who is very opportunist’. Sources in the CPM told TNIE that the state secretary faced criticism in the party forum for his unwanted remark. P5 T’Puram: Condemning what he termed a calculated distortion of history, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attempts to glorify the RSS and V D Savarkar in his Independence Day address. P5 Kochi: Alleging the involvement of anti-national forces behind the death of a 23-year-old woman— who died by suicude — in Kothamangalam, the BJP has demanded that the state government bring in a piece of legislation against Love Jihad. P5