SpaceX ‘catches’ rocket booster in historic first SpaceX on Sunday successfully caught the returning first-stage booster minutes after the launch of its fifth Starship test flight Catching the booster The launch tower sported monstrous metal arms that caught the descending booster. It comes after the US regulator granted SpaceX its long-awaited license to move forward with the fifth test launch of Starship How it helps SpaceX Recycling boosters will help SpaceX speed up the launch rate and save millions in cost | P9 chennai l Monday l October 14, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION 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 orange alert Chennai region to get very heavy rain until Oct 17 Ex p r e ss n e ws s e r v i c e Bishnoi gang claims responsibility for Baba Siddique murder, two held Two suspects on the run; FB post of purported gang member threatens actor Salman Khan @ Chennai S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has forecast rainfall across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry until October 17. The rain is expected to hit Chennai and its surrounding districts on Sunday night and intensify on Tuesday and Wednesday. The centre has also warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall or extremely heavy rainfall in these districts, and issued an orange alert for October 15 and 16. Extremely heavy rainfall is predicted in isolated areas of Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, and Chengalpattu on Wednesday . Seven places in the state received very heavy rainfall and 21 received heavy rainfall in the 24 hours ending Sunday morning. Madurai recorded 16cm rainfall, the highest, while Tirubhuvanam in Sivanganga got 14cm. On Sunday evening, RMC Chennai additional director general of meteorology S Balachandran said that two weather systems in Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal are expected to bring rainfall to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry There is . a well-marked low pressure over the east-central and adjoining west-central Arabian Sea, and a cyclonic circulation over the southeast Bay of Bengal. Due to the interaction of both weather activities, the rainfall can be high, he said. 5 P HOURS after former Maharashtra minister and NCP (Ajit Pawar) leader Baba Siddique was shot dead in Mumbai late on Saturday night, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the murder, citing his close relationship with Bollywood star Salman Khan. The gang has threatened the actor for allegedly poaching blackbucks in Rajasthan during a film shoot in 1998. The Bishnoi community considers blackbucks holy In April this . year, some Bishnoi gang members were held in connection with the firing outside Salman Khan’s residence in Mumbai. Siddique, 66, was gunned down outside his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai’s Bandra East. According to police, three shooters were involved in the murder and two Zeeshan Siddique and Arshia Siddique, son and daughter of NCP leader Baba Siddique, lead his funeral procession in Bandra, Mumbai on Sunday | ANI of them, identified as Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23) and Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), have been arrested. The third accused, Shivkumar Gautam of UP, is on the run. A fourth person, believed to be express read Train services resume 36 hours after crash Chennai: The ChennaiGummidipoondi line was reopened for both express and local trains on Sunday morning, nearly 36 hours after the Kavaraipettai train crash. The suburban services that had been suspended between Minjur and Gummidipoondi for track restoration also resumed | P4 Israel exploring plan to seal off northern Gaza Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is exploring a plan to seal off humanitarian aid to northern Gaza in a bid to starve out Hamas militants, a plan that, if implemented, could trap without food or water hundreds of thousands of Palestinians unwilling or unable to leave their homes | P9 the handler and did the recce for the shootout, is also on the run, police sources said. “Between 9.00 and 9.30 pm on Sunday night, Baba Siddique was shot dead outside his son’s office. The assailants fired multiple rounds, fatally striking the politician in the chest. A case has been registered and handed over to the Crime Branch for further investigation. The police nabbed two accused and recovered two pistols and 28 rounds from them,” said Datta Nalawade, deputy commissioner of police (crime branch), at a press conference. Nalawade said the police are also investigating the role of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which claimed responsibility for the murder through a Facebook post, in the crime. “Probe agencies are perusing the post, reportedly linked to a Facebook account of Shubuu Lonkar, who may actually be Shubham Rameshwar Lonkar, who was arrested earlier this year for possession of illegal weapons. He is believed to have strong connections with the Bishnoi network,” police sources said.  P8 Palestine, Syria among 34 eyeing BRICS membership Y e shi s e l i @ New Delhi Palestine, Syria, and Myanmar might be among the 20 countries that would either become members or partners of the BRICS grouping during its annual summit in Russia this month. In all, 34 countries have applied to join the bloc, sources said ahead of the upcoming meet in Kazan, Russia. Ten new members and 10 partners are expected to be announced after existing members of the bloc arrive at a consensus during the summit scheduled to be held from October 22 to 24, sources said. Partners won’t have the same rights as members, but will, in all likelihood, become permanent members by the next summit, a source told this newspaper. According to the source, the 34 candidates are: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Honduras, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, State of Palestine, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vi e t n a m , a n d Zimbabwe. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel to Russia later this month, his second visit to that country in three months, to take part in the summit. He is likely to hold bilateral meetings with other leaders on the sidelines of the event. There’s also speculation about Modi sitting down with Chinese President Xi Jinping for a one-on-one talk. Social media injurious to mental health: Top US doc R ishi ta K hanna @ Bengaluru SOCIAL media has created a culture of comparison that impacts self-esteem, particularly among young people grappling with feelings of inadequacy and isolation, US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy said. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event here, Dr M u r t hy s a i d m a ny both in the US and Inyoung people feel disdia, he said this presconnected despite being sure to succeed acaconnected online, adddemically coupled with , ing that the pressure to comparison fostered by showcase an ideal life social media, can lead on social media contribto significant stress. utes to these feelings. Dr Murthy called for Dr Vivek Murthy Addressing the imurg ent refor ms in mense academic and social medical education to better pressures faced by students, i n t e g r at e m e n t a l h e a l t h training, noting that many medical curricula have not adequately addressed mental health issues. For far too long, mental and social health have been viewed as less important than physical health, America’s top doctor said, adding that mental health is an issue on which the US and India can work together.