THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l friday l January 02, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE 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 Fare starts at L2,300 for 3rd ac coach 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 ■ The 16-coach train, with a passenger capacity of 823, has a design 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 I2,300, 2nd-AC I3,000, and 1st-AC around I3,600, which will include food, Vaishnaw said 12 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 At least 47 dead in Swiss bar fire Could draw roadmap for political transition M u k e s h R a 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. Ag e n c i e s 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 Sabarimala gold theft case Probe team doubtful about authenticity of seized gold E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @T’Puram express read Pinarayi dismisses UDF’s allegations T’Puram: CM Pinarayi Vijayan has dismissed allegations raised by UDF convenor Adoor Prakash, who had linked CM’s political secretary P Sasi to reports that the SIT probing the Sabarimala gold theft had summoned him for questioning. P4 Hindu businessman attacked in B’desh Another Hindu businessman was critically injured in a mob attack in Shariatpur, Bangladesh, on December 31 night. He was stabbed and doused with petrol before being set on fire. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) will examine whether the gold plating on Sabarimala temple’s door frames was replaced before reinstallation. The probe also raises questions about the authenticity of the seized gold. In its report before the Kollam Vigilance Court, the SIT suggested that more gold may have been stolen from other temple artefacts. Final confirmation, however, awaits scientific analysis by the VSSC of the samples taken from the existing gold-plated sheets. The probe team, in its report, told the court that it has so far been able to recover about 584 grams of gold, which is only a part of the yellow metal that was stolen from Sabarimala. The SIT made the revelation before the Kollam Vigilance Court in its custody application of three accused persons, who have been in judicial custody . According to the SIT, the gold was extracted from the sheets wrapping the dwarapalaka idols, door frames and pillar frames. The door frames have seven plates, which were embossed with ‘dasavathara’ icons, zodiac symbols, and images of Siva and ‘Vyali’, while the ‘prabhamandala’ is attached to it. The gold from these artefacts was extracted at the Chennai-based Smart Creations, owned by Pankaj Bhandari, using a chemical mixture. Prime accused Unnikrishnan Potti, Bhandari and Govardhan, owner of Ballari-based Roddam jewellery , were behind this act, the SIT stated. Bhandari took 109.243 grams of gold as a fee for the work. The probe team recovered equivalent quantity of gold from Bhandari, and 474.96 grams of gold from Govardhan, which was equivalent to the quantity he had received from Smart Creations, the SIT report said. The probe team, however, said there was more gold in the sheets and that was stolen and used by the accused for personal purposes. It needs to be probed further, the SIT said. The SIT has so far made 10 arrests, including that of former Konni MLA A Padmakumar, who was the former Travancore Devaswom Board president. 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 everywoman 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 47 people were killed and 115 others seriously injured after a massive fire ripped through a crowded bar in the upscale Swiss ski resort town of Crans-Montana during a New Year’s party reports , 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. Reports said there were around 200 people, mostly youngsters, in the basement venue at the time. The fire intensified into a flashover, when extreme heat caused everything inside the enclosed space to ignite all at once, leaving people little chance to escape. Many perished in the crush to get up the single staircase to the exit, The Daily Mail reported. Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said work was underway to identify the victims, who may include foreign nationals as Crans-Montana is an international ski and golf venue. 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 saw waitresses arrive with Champagne bottles with sparklers. 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 that the government’s ‘thoughts go to the victims, to the injured and their relatives, to whom it addresses its sincere condolences’. Expect warmer winter, lesser rainfall this yr J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi This winter from January to March would be warmer in most parts of the country, resulting in less rainfall and fewer cold waves, the India Meteorological Department has predicted. The weatherman expects below normal rainfall over Northwest, Northeast, and Peninsular India in winter. It could lead to higher temperatures in most parts of India. The reduced rainfall and early temperature rise could impact the flowering of the wheat crops, which are predominantly grown in the Northwest. Regarding the monthly forecast, the IMD indicated that nights will be colder while days will be relatively warm, with normal rainfall expected in January. Additionally, a higher number of cold wave days are expected in some areas of Central India, eastern Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar this month. As for the year that just went by, 2025 was the eighth warmest year in the last 125 years of IMD’s recorded history, while the Northwest region experienced its fourth warmest December during the same period. 18 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express