NAGAPATTINAM l Friday l January 02, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION 1st Vande Bharat sleeper train to run between Guwahati and Kolkata India’s first Vande Bharat sleeper train, equipped with world-class amenities, will run between the capitals of poll-bound Assam and West Bengal Modi to flag off service later this month The services are expected to become operational in the next 15-20 days, possibly around January 18 or 19, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. “We have requested the prime minister (to flag off the service). I will announce the exact date in the next two to three days,” the minister said, adding that the final date is being worked out with the PMO speed of 180 km per hour. However, it will operate at a speed of 120130 kmph, covering the distance between the two cities overnight ■ The 3rd-AC fare will be around `2,300, 2nd-AC `3,000, and 1st-AC around `3,600, which will include food, Vaishnaw said 12 Fare starts at `2,300 for 3rd ac coach ■ The 16-coach train, with a passenger capacity of 823, has a design Vande Bharat sleeper trains are expected to be put into service in 2026 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 Crucial Manipur meeting today 40 dead in Swiss bar explosion Could draw roadmap for political transition M u k e s h Ra n j a n @ New Delhi Union home minister Amit Shah will chair a high-level review meeting on Manipur on January 2, as the state prepares for a possible political transition ahead of the scheduled end of Central rule on February 13. The meeting assumes significance as Manipur has seen relative calm after nearly two-anda-half years of ethnic violence, raising expectations that the Centre may soon move towards facilitating a political solution and restoring elected government. Sources said the review will focus on assessing ground-level conditions and determining the roadmap for the coming weeks. The meeting will be attended by Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, state gover nment adviser Kuldie p Singh, Chief Secretary P K Goel and Director General of Police Rajiv Singh, along with senior officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. All key state officials have already arrived in New Delhi for the deliberations. “The home minister will review recent developments on the ground, assess the prevailing security environment and evaluate coordinated deployment of forces. Discussions are also likely on development initiatives aimed at rebuilding infrastructure and restoring normalcy in affected areas,” a source said. President’s rule was imposed in Manipur following the resignation of the then chief minister N Biren Singh amid sustained ethnic violence. Ever since, the state has been administered by the Governor. Political parties have already begun informal consultations on the possibility of government formation. The outcome of the January 2 meeting will set the tone for the next phase, including decisions on whether to move towards an elected government or continue with administrative arrangements under Central oversight. Agencies Videograb of the fire at Le Constellation bar in the luxury ski resort town of Crans-Montana in Switzerland. Inset: Police officers and rescuers at the site | AFP Expect warmer winter, lesser rainfall this year while the Northwest region experienced its fourth warmest December during the This winter from January to March same period. Besides, December 2025 would be warmer in most parts of the was among the driest winter months, country, resulting in less rainfall and with Central India recording the lowest fewer cold waves, the Indian Meteoro- rainfall ever in the history of the IMD. logical Department has predicted. The warmest year on record was 2024, The weatherman expects below nor- when mean temperature across India mal rainfall over Northwest, Northeast, was 0.65°C above the long-term average and Peninsular India in (see table). winter. It could lead to In 2025, heavy rainfall Five warmest higher temperatures in years on record and subsequent flooding most parts of India. led to the deaths of over Year Warmer by The reduced rainfall 1,370 individuals, while 2024 +0.65°C and early temperature rise heatwaves accounted for could impact the flowermore than 35 fatalities 2016 +0.54°C ing of the wheat crops, across different regions. 2009 +0.40°C which are predominantly Thunderstorms and lightgrown in the Northwest. ning were responsible for 2010 +0.39°C Regarding the monthly over 1,310 more deaths. 2017 +0.38°C) forecast, the IMD indicatIndia also faced four cyed that nights will be clonic storms during the colder while days will be relatively post-monsoon season in the North Inwarm, with normal rainfall expected in dian Ocean: Shakti, Montha, Senyar and January Additionally a higher number Ditwah. While Montha, Senyar and Dit. , of cold wave days are expected in some wah were formed over the Bay of Benareas of Central India, eastern Uttar gal, the Shakti system originated over Pradesh, and Bihar this month. the Arabian Sea. As for the year that just went by 2025 , The year 2025 was also the 12th time was the eighth warmest year in the last no cyclones formed between January 125 years of IMD’s recorded history, and September since 1891. J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi express read Hindu businessman attacked in B’desh Another Hindu businessman was critically injured in a mob attack in Shariatpur district of Bangladesh, on December 31 night. He was stabbed, beaten, and doused with petrol before being set on fire | P9 TN’s fiscal situation stable: Chidambaram Chennai: In a rebuttal to Praveen Chakravarty’s tweet on TN debt, Congress leader P Chidambaram said that TN’s debt-to-GSDP ratio has been stable for the last five years, indicating fiscal stability | P4 Literary awards All set for RNG Sahithya Samman today Pa r a m i ta G h o s h @ New Delhi The Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman (RNGSS) 2025 is homebound. In the 1930s, Ramnath Goenka, a doyen of the Indian print industry and the visionary behind The New Indian Express (TNIE) Group, conceived the idea of a newspaper in Chennai that would be synonymous with fearless journalism. He also seeded the idea of an award for timeless literature, and for giving a platform to young writers who were thinking outside the grid, building new worlds with the power of imagination, with new ideas, styles, narratives and courage. Announced at the Odisha Literary Festival 2023, and after a strong launch in Delhi in 2024, the RNGSS heads to Chennai, the TNIE group’s headquarters. Four awards—for Lifetime Achievement, Best Fiction, Best Non-Fiction and Best Debut – will be given at a prestigious ceremony in Chennai on Friday Vice President of . India, C P Radhakrishnan, will grace the occasion as Chief Guest, at a function to be attended by the city’s intelligentsia and who’s who. This year, Manoj Kumar Sonthalia, Chairman and Managing Director of TNIE Group, proposed combining Debut Fiction and Non-Fiction into a single Debut category, while maintaining separate Fiction and Non-Fiction categories for more established writers. For the third edition of RNGSS, the TNIE team began curating the longlist in July Submissions . poured in from senior editors across TNIE centres in New Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha. Publishers also sent in their recommendations. Books released between July 2024 and June 2025 were considered for nomination. The winners were shortlisted at a meeting in Delhi in October, attended by the internal and external jury. Each book was closely studied, discussed and fought for to arrive at the winners. The jury was chaired by author and former diplomat Pavan Varma; author Githa Hariharan and economist Sanjeev Sanyal were the other external jury members. From books on lesser-known public figures such as Irawati Karve, the Partition, the story of every woman who struggles to find a foothold in the city to a study of rage and true crime—the mix this year showed Indian authors writing about India, the neighbourhood, the borderlands, and the urban sprawl with young and wise eyes, critical and social conscience, and a mature handling of their material. To us, all these books are winners. AT least 40 people were killed and 115 others injured, many of them seriously, after fire ripped through a crowded bar in the upscale Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana during a New Year’s party, police said on Thursday . The fire broke out at 1.30 am local time in a luxury bar called Le Constellation in the resort in southwestern Switzerland, which locals said was popular with teenagers. The cause of the blaze, which was initially reported as an explosion, remains unclear but authorities said it appeared to be an accident rather than an attack. Initial reports said there were around 200 people in the venue at the time, mainly aged between 15 and 20. Swiss authorities told reporters that there could be a number of foreign nationals among the dead as the CransMontana resort is an international ski and golf venue. Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families, adding that the community is “devastated.” Axel Clavier, a 16-year-old from Paris who survived the blaze, described “total chaos” inside the bar. One of his friends died and “two or three were missing,” he told The Associated Press. He said he hadn’t seen the fire start, but did see waitresses arrive with Champagne bottles with sparklers, he said. Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV that they were inside when they saw a male bartender lifting a female bartender on his shoulders as she held a lit candle in a bottle. The flames spread, collapsing the wooden ceiling, they told the broadcaster. Officials said the blaze likely triggered the release of combustible gases that ignited violently . Swiss President Guy Parmelin said in a social media post t h a t t h e g o ve r n m e n t ’s ‘thoughts go to the victims, to the injured and their relatives, to whom it addresses its sincere condolences’. Aavin to triple buffalo milk procurement B A n b u s e lva n @ Chennai Aavin has set an ambitious target of tripling its daily procurement of buffalo milk from the current 10,000 litres to 30,000 litres by the end of 2026, as a dedicated scheme to revive buffalo rearing in Tamil Nadu begins to yield results. The Buffalo Calf Rearing Scheme (BCRS), launched in March 2025 in collaboration with the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, aims to increase the buffalo population and boost buffalo milk production across the state. In its first year, nearly 250 buffaloes were impregnated through artificial insemination, of which 52 have already calved, while 198 are currently pregnant, according to official sources. Under the scheme, Aavin has adopted 2,000 female buffalo calves, around six months old, from dairy farmers supplying milk to the cooperative. Farmers are provided protein-rich cattle feed and mineral mixtures for a period of 26 months, along with doorstep veterinary services, across 12 districts including Salem, Erode, Tiruppur and Karur.  continued on: P5