TIRUCHY l thursday l july 04, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE city EDITION Poll finds Harris, not Biden, has better chance of beating Trump Indian-origin US Vice President Kamala Harris is better placed to beat Donald Trump than President Joe Biden, according to a CNN poll Trump has 6-point lead over president More pressure on Biden to step down About 47% of registered voters support Trump, while 45% back Harris in a hypothetical matchup, the poll found. In the Biden vs Trump matchup, 49% of registered voters said they would vote for Trump as against 43% for Biden. His poor performance in last week’s debate with Trump has put the spotlight back on Biden’s advanced age and ability to lead the US | P9 ■ Pressure is mounting on Biden to step down as Democratic party’s presidential nominee. “There’s a large and increasing group of House Democrats concerned about (his) candidacy,” a Democratic lawmaker said ■ According to one Democratic aide, at least 25 party lawmakers in the House of Representatives are preparing to demand that Biden step aside Sept 10 is when Biden and trump will face off in the next debate 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 Judicial probe into Hathras stampede Markets on a roll, Sensex at 80,000 level Ex-Allahabad HC judge Brijesh Srivastava to head 3-member panel, submit report in 2 months; Yogi flags conspiracy angle N A M I TA B A J PA I & P R A B H AT S H U K L A @ Lucknow / New Delhi A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi Registering a new landmark for India’s equity market this year, the BSE Sensex scaled the 80,000-mark on Wednesday. The 30-share benchmark hit a high of 80,057.90 during the first 30 minutes of the trading session. The Nifty50 index also touched an all-time high of 24,294.60. The Sensex has added the latest 10,000 points in less than seven months as it had first breached the 70,000 mark on December 11, 2023. Its journey from 60,000 to 70,000 was a lengthy one as it took 1.5 years for the market to add the previous 10,000 points. Sensex had scaled the 60,000 mark on September 24, 2021. What is notable is that the index has added about 8,000 points from the lows of June 4, the general election result day Sensex had ended the . June 4 session with a massive loss of 4,390 points, or 5.74%, at 72,079.05. Much of Wednesday’s early gain is attributed to a sharp pick-up in HDFC Bank shares. The stock opened 3% higher and hit a high of 1,792 per share as its weightage is expected to shoot up in the MSCI index. “The focus of market activity today will be HDFC Bank which will continue its upward move factoring in the news of potentially increasing the weightage of the stock in the MSCI Index. The delivery based buying in the stock witnessed in the last many days has the potential to continue for a few more days pushing the stock further up and imparting resilience to it. As the weightage of HDFC Bank in Nifty increases there will be more delivery based buying by ETFs and also active funds,” said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services. He added that the US Fed’s take on inflation is also positive news for equity markets globally “The Fed’s next rate action is likely to be a rate . cut. RBI also is likely to follow suit with a rate cut in the next policy meeting,” he said. Road to 80K Sensex has given a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.8% since July 1990 1K Jul 1990 10K 20K 30K 40K 50K 60K 70K 6 Feb, 19 Oct, 4 Mar, 23 May, 21 Jan, 24 Sep, 11 Dec, 2006 2007 2015 2019 2021 2021 2023 BSE m-cap ( lakh cr) 80K 3 Jul, 2024 445 lakh crore 6.9 25 73 100.4 188 2000 2005 2010 DMK mayors of Coimbatore, Nellai quit posts E x pr e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Coimbatore /Tirunelveli Internal party feud seems to have taken its toll as the DMK mayors of Coimbatore and Tirunelveli corporations resigned their posts on Wednesday, according to sources. The resignees, however, have cited health and family issues, respectively, for quitting their posts. Kalpana Anandakumar, the first woman mayor of Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC), submitted her resignation letter to CCMC commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran through her personal assistant on Wednesday The 42. year-old got elected from ward 19 of the city as councillor and was elected unopposed as mayor on March 4, 2022. Her resignation has been speculated for a long time and DMK sources said the party leadership was awaiting the parliamentary election results. Things came to a head after DMK candidate Ganapathy Rajkumar polled 300 votes fewer than BJP rival K Annamalai in the mayor’s ward in the recent Lok Sabha polls. Kalpana was also facing heat from her own party members and fellow councillors, sources said. Continued on P5 2015 2024 2020 Bags and other belongings lying at the scene a day after a massive stampede that took place after a satsang in Sikandara Rao area in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday | PTI Baba on the run, police raid trust A day after the stampede in Hathras claimed 121 lives, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yo gi Adityanath said on Wednesday announced a judicial probe led by former Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava into the tragedy Retired IAS officer . Hemant Rao and former IPS officer Bhavesh Kumar Singh are the other members in the judicial commission. Speaking to reporters after visiting the spot and meeting the injured persons admitted in hospitals, Yogi said a conspiracy angle can’t be ruled out. He said the panel will look into all aspects of the tragedy . The panel will complete its probe and submit its report within two months. To prevent such mishaps from recurring, the judicial commission will also suggest the standard oper- Hathras deputy superintendent of police Sunil Kumar said the baba is on the run and yet to be traced. On Wednesday, police raided Baba’s abode at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri district Modi finally ends silence, says Manipur violence is declining R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi Breaking his silence on Manipur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that violence in the troubletorn state is declining and security and social stability are improving. He saw in them a positive trend towards peace. Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address, Modi said, normal life has been restored in most parts of Manipur with schools, colleges, offices, businesses and other institutions functioning normally in Manipur. The state, however, is facing floods now, he added. Amid walkout by the Opposition, Modi said law enforcement agencies have lodged more than 11,000 FIRs and arrested over 500 suspects in Manipur after the eth- nic violence erupted in the state. “Our government is continuously making efforts to restore normalcy and it is showing results. Union home minister Amit Shah camped there and steered all efforts of peace,” he said. In a stern message, he said, “I want to warn all the elements trying to add fuel to the fire in Manipur to stop such activities. A time will come when Manipur itself will reject such people.” Keeping up his tirade against the Congress, Modi said the grand old party was the “biggest opponent of the Constitution” and was anti-SC, ST and OBCs. Taking a swipe at the Opposition for its walkout, he said, “They are unable to digest the people’s mandate to the NDA to serve the nation. That’s why they never face the government on the floor.” Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren on Wednesday staked his claim to form the Jharkhand government, hours after Champai Soren resigned as chief minister. Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a land scam case in January. He was released on bail last week. Hours before his arrest, he had resigned as Jharkhand chief minister and Champai Soren was sworn in. Earlier on Wednesday, a meeting of INDIA bloc MLAs was held at the official residence of the chief minister in Ranchi. During the meeting, it Jharkhand Governor C P Radhakrishnan (centre) receives the resignation letter from Chief Minister Champai Soren (fourth from right) at Raj Bhavan in Ranchi | PTI was decided to make Hemant Soren the chief minister again. Soon after the meeting, he was unanimously elected as the leader of the JMM legislative party. Hemant Soren told reporters that all the formalities have been completed. “Every- thing will be disclosed soon,” he said. Confirming his resignation, Champai Soren said, “Earlier, a change of guard was done in the state and I was given the responsibility. You all are aware of the developments 8%-30% methanol in hooch; no need for CBI probe: TN to HC R S i v akumar @ Chennai Kharge with Sonia Gandhi after walking out of the Rajya Sabha | PTI Kharge raps RSS Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, of being antiConstitution, quoting an article from Organiser’s November 30, 1950 edition Champai exits, Hemant stakes claim to be CM M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi ating procedure to be followed during such events, Yogi said. Referring to the initial report filed by the special investigative team led by ADG Agra zone Anupam Kulshreshtha, Yogi said the volunteers of Bhole Baba, in whose event the stampede happened, were managing it and district administration officials were not allowed inside the pandal. Police personnel were stationed outside the pandal. Yogi said the baba’s volunteers fled immediately after the stampede without making any effort to help the injured. Referring to pictures and videos of the baba seen with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, he said it showed the baba’s political connections. On why the baba’s name was missing in the FIR, which only named the organisers, Yogi said the initial report was filed against those who sought permission for the event. “As the investigation progresses, the ambit of the FIR will also expand to include all those responsible and accountable for the tragedy he added. ,” Meanwhile, eyewitnesses and locals who rushed to the spot immediately after the tragedy blamed the organisers for poor management. Locals said the crowd was so large that national highway abutting the venue was cut off for up to 5 km on both sides, blocked by buses carrying devotees from far-off places. Because of this, ambulances took an hour to reach. since then. Now Hemant Soren is back and the alliance partners took a decision to choose Hemant babu as our leader once again,” said Champai Soren. Jharkhand health minister Banna Gupta said a copy of the letter of support from alliance members has been handed over to the Governor. “It is an appeal to the Governor to pave the way for the formation of a new government in the state,” he said. If sworn in, Hemant Soren will be the 13th chief minister of Jharkhand. Sources said Champai Soren is likely to be appointed as the chairman of the UPA coordination committee or the working president of the JMM. The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday told the Madras High Court that preliminary tests of samples of illicit arrack, consumed by the victims of Kallakurichi hooch tragedy , showed that they had 8.6% to 29.7% methanol composition. A status report, filed by Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena through Additional Advocate General J Ravindran before the first bench of Acting CJ R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq, also said that none of the well-settled circumstances under which the transfer of investigation to the CBI is ordered apply to the current hooch tragedy case. The top officer said the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy is a separate incident and not a sequel to the Villupuram and Chengalpattu incidents of 2023 where the content of methanol in illicit arrack was 99.1% and the source of methanol was also different. Several measures have been taken to check illegal supply of methanol for arrack, Meena said. “Industrial units using methanol are being checked diligently to prevent pilferage of methanol for use as arrack,” he said. Twenty-one individuals, six 3 hospitalised after drinking illicit liquor Two weeks after the hooch tragedy in Kallakurichi that left 65 dead, three men from Villupuram got admitted to Mundiyambakkam Government Hospital after they allegedly consumed illicit liquor on June 29. One of them is in coma | P2 retail sellers, seven transporters and eight suppliers were arrested within six days of the tragedy Three FIRs were regis. tered and 132 witnesses were examined so far, he said. The officer said, “I am advised to state that transfer of cases from the state investigation to a central investigation by the CBI acting under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act is not to be resorted to routinely but only to be used in rare cases where probe was found by the Constitutional courts to have failed.” P5 court relief FOR EX-MIN Balakrishna reddy HC sets aside conviction and three-year jail term awarded to former AIADMK minister P Balakrishna Reddy in a riot case. Judge says evidence weak & uncorroborated | P4 Clean sweep: 63L ‘ineligible members’ weeded out from TN coop societies B A N B U S E LV A N @ Chennai As part of the preparation for elections to over 23,000 cooperative societies in the state, membership of 63.23 lakh ineligible persons who were allegedly enrolled in cooperative societies during the previous AIADMK regime, has been revoked, and their names have been removed from the voters’ list. Various cooperative societies collectively have nearly 2.20 crore members. Cooperative elections have huge political significance as the office-bearers --- including board directors, president, and vice-president of societies --wield considerable influence among members. This helps the party in power consolidate its support base at the grassroots level. Additionally, these elections serve as a means to accommodate and placate disgruntled party members who were denied tickets in rural and urban local body elections. A total of 2.2 lakh office-bearers will be elected across all societies. According to official sources, a total of 1.9 crore members have been enrolled in various press clusive cooperative societies between 2012 and 2018 when the AIADMK was in power, of which 63.23 lakh have now been found ineligible and removed. The reasons for their removal include duplication of names, non-renewal of membership in societies, default in repaying agriculture, jewel and other loans, and mismatch of address. Official sources said the voters’ list purification exercise, which began last year, is 60% complete. “The verification of the remaining voters is under way and is expected to be completed in a few months,” said an official, indicating that more members found to be in- eligible may be removed. The DMK had boycotted the first election held in 2013. Alleging extensive malpractice during the 2018 cooperative elections, which led to largescale misappropriation of funds in cooperative credit societies and the issuance of loans for fake jewellery, the DMK government, after assuming power in 2021, passed a bill The voters’ list purification exercise which began last year is 60% complete. The exercise is expected to be completed in the next few months. More ineligible members may be removed — Official sources to reduce the tenure of officebearers of 18,500 cooperative societies from five to three years. However, the state government later withdrew the bill as Governor R N Ravi delayed his assent. Meanwhile, the tenures of majority of these societies ended between April and September last year. The Tamil Nadu State Co-operative Societies Election Commission is carrying out the exercise to clean the voters’ list as per a Madras HC order. Continued on P5
Express Network Private Limited publishes thirty three E-paper editions of The New Indian Express newspaper , thirty two E-paper editions of Dinamani, one E-paper edition of The Morning Standard, one E-paper edition of Malayalam Vaarika magazine and one E-paper edition of the Indulge - The Morning Standard, Kolkatta.