KOLLAM 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 nd 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 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. He (Putin) lost an oil client, so to speak, which is India, which was doing about 40% of the oil. China, as you know, is doing a lot…And if I did what's called a secondary sanction, or a secondary tariff, it would be very devastating from their standpoint. If I have to do it, I'll do it. Maybe I won't have to do it Donald Trump US President Donald Trump (C) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shake hands after a joint press meet in Alaska | AFP India welcomed the summit terming the pursuit of peace is commendable. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “India 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. No blanket ban on bikes and autos on six-lane NH 66 (Thiruvananthapuram), sufficient width is not available at No blanket ban will be en- many places. At certain locaforced on bikes and autorick- tions, service roads are entireshaws along the widened NH- ly absent. “However, vehicles 66 corridors in the state, can’t just enter the carriageaccording to a senior official way from any point. Also, with the National Highways there will be no U-turns or Authority of India (NHAI). traffic signals along the en“As per the general Intire NH-66 stretch. Indian Roads Congress stead we are providing (IRC) codes, the entry sufficient underpassof such small vehicles es. In some sections, is not allowed on mawe are constructing jor expressways and underpasses just 200six-lane highways — 400 m apart, like in Highway for instance, the DwarKoonammavu,” the ofwork ka Expressway in the ficial said. national capital. HowAlso, a blanket ban Original ever, it will be a differwill adversely affect completion ent scenario in Kerala, the people in the state, date: Dec 31, where there will be no where two-wheelers 2025 blanket ban on entry form the majority of Estimated of two-and threethe vehicular populacompletion: wheelers when the ontion, the official cited. going widening of the June 30, 2026 “How could these high NH-66 into six-lane is Designed speed numbers be accommocompleted,” the offi- of widened NH: dated if we close the cial, working in the main carriageway, as 100 kmph capacity of project dithe service roads will Total kms being be grossly inadequate rector, said. widened: A main reason is in that case,” he said. the width of the NH-66 644 km (From Earlier, there were Thalappady stretches. “The IRC reports of the NHAI codes specify that the (Kasaragod) to planning to restrict Mukkola restriction can be imentry of two- and(T’Puram) plemented in six-lane three wheelers, and highways with a mini- Total stretches tractors on stretches mum width of 60 m, as like Ramanattukaraof work: 22 in the case in most Valanchery and Kaother states. However, zhakuttom-Karode. here it’s only 45 m,” the official “There will be no restriction said. on most of the stretches. Any Further, while the central decision on banning such vehiagency is developing service cle entry will be based on local roads along the 644-km stretch topography and the availabilibeing widened from Thalap- ty of service roads,” the offi● More on P5 pady (Kasaragod) to Mukkola cial said.  K r i s h n a K u m a r K E @ Kochi Special NCERT module on Partition gets Cong’s goat P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi grand feast ‘Mahabali’ spends time with children during the mega feast organised as part of Onam celebrations at St Mary’s Higher Secondary School in Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram, which has one of the largest student counts in Asia. Around 10,000 people were served sadya during the event | Vincent Pulickal Nat’l Medical Register no more mandatory K a v i ta B a j e l i D at t @ New Delhi 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 Ministry has quietly rolled back the requirement, declaring re gistration 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 IMA’s concerns The Indian Medical Association had raised concerns about the redundancy of the process, and urged the NMC to streamline the system 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 (NMC) of its failure,” Dr Babu said. 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 Pawan 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 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 League’s Lahore session. “It was mooted in 1938 by the Hindu Mahasabha, and Jinnah repeated it in 1940,” he said. “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 Mahasabha-Muslim League coalition governments in Bengal, Sindh and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) after 1942, led to Partition. Responding to the Congress’ allegations, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said Rahul Gandhi’s ‘appeasement politics’ mirrors Jinnah’s divisive ideology. “NCERT has brought the truth of Partition to textbooks. The Rahul-Jinnah party is rattled because their role is exposed,” Bhatia said. NCERT published two separate modules — one for Classes 6 to 8 and another for Classes 9 to 12. These are supplementary resources in English and Hindi, not part of regular textbooks, and are meant to be used through projects, posters, discussions and debates. The module quotes Jinnah as saying he never thought Partition would happen. “Later, even Jinnah admitted that he had not expected Partition to happen. He told his aide, ‘I never thought it would happen. I never expected to see Pakistan in my lifetime’,” it said. EXPRESS READ CPM leadership peeved at Govindan’s remarks 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 Govindan faced criticism in the party forum for his unwanted remark. P5 BJP calls for law against ‘love jihad’ Kochi: Alleging the involvement of anti-national forces behind the death of a 23-year-old woman in Kothamangalam, the BJP has demanded that the state government bring in a piece of legislation against Love Jihad. “If the government is apprehensive about the term ‘Love Jihad’, they can change it. But we want strong legislation to protect women who are cheated in the name of love and then tortured to convert to Islam,” said BJP state vicepresident Shone George. P5 Pinarayi flays PM Modi’s I-Day speech 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. “Choosing Independence Day to glorify those who served the British amounts to insulting freedom struggle,” he said. P5 WITH THIS ISSUE Code Green PLUS 12 P AGES New ‘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 202526 domestic season, the Indian cricket body has made provisions for ‘serious injury replacement’ for multi-day redball cricket. This rule change comes after the ICC announcement in June that full-member nations will trial replacement players for domestic first-class cricket. Unlike the past where a likefor-like replacement was allowed only for concussion sub- 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 onfield 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 stitutes, 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 The names should be from nominated substitutes unless it is a keeper briefed to the umpires during a seminar in 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 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 P11 allowed to bat.