cHENNAI l thursday l november 28, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l VELLORE EDITION Guns silent as Israel-Hezbollah truce takes effect in lebanon The ceasefire, brokered by the US and France to end 13 months of fighting, appeared to be holding on Wednesday Lebanese army moves to hezbollah’s turf The ceasefire deal, which calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting, requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. With the deal taking effect, the Lebanese military started reinforcing its presence in the country’s south, where Hezbollah fighters have long held sway | P9 Hundreds of refugees head home to south ■ ■ Hundreds of displaced south Lebanon residents headed home from Beirut and other cities, ignoring warnings from the Lebanese military that Israeli forces were yet to complete withdrawal from some areas With its ally Hezbollah silencing the guns, Hamas on Wednesday said it is ready for ceasefire and prisoner-exchange talks with Israel 3,760 people killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months 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 Maha power end game in sight Shinde drops out of the CM race, says any call by Modi, Shah will be acceptable to his party Talks with Shah S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday appeared to withdraw from the leadership race of the new gover nment in Maharashtra, claiming he was not an obstacle, adding any decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah will be acceptable for him and his Shiv Sena. The statement came after the BJP top brass in Delhi requested him to yield. “Shinde was told that they cannot disappoint the BJP rank and file who want to see their leader as chief minister, since the party was just 13 short of a simple majority in the assembly Shinde was . Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar pursuaded to look at the larger picture,” a source said requesting anonymity . Clearing the air at a press meet in Thane, Shinde said, “I spoke with the prime minister and Union minister Amit Shah and informed them that whatever decision is taken by them will be acceptable to me and my party Even if I am not made ... CM, I will not be unhappy .” Reacting to Shinde’s an- Shinde, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar are expected to fly to Delhi to meet Shah to discuss modalities of government formation. The new CM may continue to have two deputy CMs nouncement, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said, “We in the Mahayuti have always made decisions together. A few people had doubts, which Shinde ji has clarified. Soon we will meet our leaders and make the decision.” Shinde, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar are expected to fly to Delhi to meet Shah. While Fadnavis is the frontrunner for heading the government, it might not be done deal, claim sources. Consider this: NCP and Shiv Sena have elected Ajit Pawar and Shinde as their legislative party leader respectively, but BJP has yet to take that call. “The top brass is exploring other options as they want to break the Vidarbha versus Western Maharashtra matrix. They are looking to promote an alternative leadership from North Maharashtra,” the source said. Its dark horses from North Maharashtra include Girish Mahajan and Radha Krishna VikhePatil. While Mahajan is close to Fadnavis, Vikhe-Patil has a good equation with Shah. “The names of some women leaders are also in circulation.” Stormy session Oppn steps up heat on Adani row, disrupts Parliament PREETHA NAIR @ New Delhi THE Adani row continued to rock Parliament on Wednesday as neither the Lok Sabha nor the Rajya Sabha could transact any business. Both Houses were adjourned till Thursday . As soon as the House met for the day, Opposition members were on their feet demanding discussion on bribery charges against the Adani conglomerate, Manipur unrest, and the recent violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal. Several Opposition members including Congress’ Manickam Tagore K C Venugopal and Manish Tewari moved adjournment motions to discuss the Adani controversy As the mem. bers resorted to sloganeering, Speaker Om Birla asked them to allow the Question Hour, adding they can discuss their issues later. With the Opposition refusing to relent, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon amid the ruckus. As the protests continued after the House was reconvened, the Chair adjourned it for a day . Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged the government is protecting Adani, and reiterated his demand that the industrialist be arrested. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Opposition will furnish evidence against the Adani group if the government demands it. Speaking to this newspaper, Congress MP Suresh Kodikunnil said his party will demand a JPC probe into Adani’s indictment in the US. The Upper House also witnessed sloganeering after Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar rejected 18 notices under Rule 267 of the House. Amid the din, the House was adjourned for the day . Waves crashing against the rocky shore at Kasimedu fishing harbour on Wednesday | Ashwin prasath Storm may cross TN coast on Nov 30; swathes of farm land in delta flooded S V KRI S HNA CHAITANYA @ Chennai The deep depression developing over the Southwest Bay of Bengal may intensify into a cyclonic storm within the next 12 hours and bring widespread rainfall to Chennai and parts of Tamil Nadu over the next few days. The cyclone is expected to cross the coast between Cuddalore and Chennai around November 30. As of Wednesday evening, the weather system was positioned approximately 100km east-southeast of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, 320km southeast of Nagappattinam, 420km southeast of Puducherry and 500km , south-southeast of Chennai. Moving north-northwest at a speed of 3 kmph, the system is projected to approach the Tamil Nadu coast over the next two days. Puducherry declared a holiday for schools and colleges on Thursday . In the 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Wednesday, Nagapattinam recorded the highest rainfall at 19 cm and several other stations in Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Chennai and its neighboring districts reported over 10cm rainfall. The intense rainfall inundated thousands of acres of paddy crops across Cauvery delta areas. While 7,500 of 61,000 hectares of samba and thaladi paddy crop in Nagapattinam were flooded with water, over 3,000 hectares in Vedaranyam block and 3,000 hectares in Thalaignayiru block in the district were completely submerged in water, triggering fears of huge damage to the crop. In Mayiladuthurai, around 3,000 hectares in blocks such as Sembanarkoil and Kollidam were affected, officials said. Continued on P5 Oppn, BJP on same page Waqf Bill JPC to seek extension till Budget Session line in a hurry . Later speaking to the media, Pal said, “Nishikant Dubey and others said since we have to invite and hear some other stakeholders and state officials, we need an extension. I will consider this and then we will bring a resolution before Lok Sabha tomorrow or the day after.” Earlier, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, DMK’s A Raja, AAP’s Sanjay Singh and TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee said the panel chairman was keen to wrap up the proceedings by the November 29 deadline without following due process. “The Speaker had indicated the committee could be given an extension, but it appeared that some “big minister” was directing Pal’s actions,” alleged Gogoi. Sanjay Singh said the panel hasn’t heard the governments of Delhi, J&K, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. “States that have maximum Waqf property weren’t called, including Delhi. Seven people died in Sambhal for Waqf property They are . not taking things seriously said ,” Kalyan Banerjee. P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi With BJP members of a Joint Parliamentary Committee scrutinising the Waqf Amendment Bill joining the extension chorus, the panel will request Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to extend its tenure until the Budget Session, 2025. The panel was scheduled to submit its report by the first week of the ongoing session of Parliament. This paper was the first to report on November 10 that the Modi government, under pressure from allies Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and JD(U), may buy more time to table the revised Waqf Bill in Parliament and that the panel may seek more time to submit the report. On Wednesday, amid Opposition protests, BJP members Nishikant Dubey and Aparajita Sarangi urged panel chairman Jagadambika Pal to request the Speaker to postpone the submission of the committee report until the Budget Session. This came after the Opposition members boycotted the meeting saying the chair man w a s ke e n t o close proceedings by the November 29 dead- You read it first here on November 10 express read ‘TN won’t implement PM Vishwakarma Scheme’ Chennai: Recalling concerns about PM Vishwakarma Scheme’s potential to reinforce caste-based vocations, Tamil Nadu told the centre that the state will devise an inclusive and comprehensive scheme for artisans that won’t discriminate based on caste | P4 Dhanush files case against Nayan over documentary Chennai: Actor Dhanush has filed a civil suit seeking damages from Nayanthara for the unauthorised use of behind-the-scenes video clippings from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, a film produced by his company, in her documentary released by Netflix recently| P2 Rescue works underway at the ancient site of Lothal after a pit dug to collect soil collapsed | special arrangement IITian dies as research pit in Lothal caves in D i l i p S i n g h Ks h at r i ya @ Ahemedabad A IIT-Delhi researcher who went to collect soil samples from the ancient Harappan civilization site of Lothal in Gujarat died after the cliff of a pit, dug to collect the samples, collapsed and buried four persons in a pile of soil on Wednesday . A team of researchers from IIT-Delhi and IIT-Gandhinagar descended into a 15-foot-deep pit dug using an excavator near an under-construction maritime museum at the archeological site, about 80 km from Ahmedabad. As they were collecting the samples, the cliff of the pit caved in burying them in soil. Surabhi Verma, a 23-year-old PhD scholar at IIT-Delhi died on the spot. Yama Dixit, a 45-yearold geologist, also from IIT-Delhi, sustained serious injuries and is under treatment at Bagodra government hospital. Bagodra police have launched an investigation into the incident. Situated near Sargwala village in Dholka taluka of Ahmedabad district, Lothal was a port town and a significant centre of the Indus Valley civilisation. This historical site was discovered in November 1954, and extensive excavations have since been conducted. Five women resting on roadside run over by car E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai Gukesh hits back D Gukesh converted his advantage with white pieces to restore parity at the ongoing chess World Championship in Singapore on Wednesday. The Indian teen controlled the game from start to finish. His opening preparation was more extensive than the Chinese world champion and it paved the way for the Indian’s first win | Pti | P11 Five women herders resting on the roadside near Thiruporur in Chengalpattu district were killed on the spot after a speeding car ploughed through them on Wednesday afternoon. M Andhaayi (71), C Logammal (56), G Yasodha (54), S Vijaya (53), and K Gowri (52), all residents of Payanoor village, were sitting along the road after letting their cattle graze in nearby fields when tragedy struck them. Two of the victims were flung several feet away from the spot in the impact of the collision, sources said. The car, with four students from a private college near Thiruporur, was on its way to Mamallapuram when the accident occurred at the PayanoorPandithamedu junction on the Old Mahabalipuram Road. While Joshua (19), who was driving the car, and Ahmed (20) were apprehended by villagers, two others fled the spot. Enraged over the accident, the villagers thrashed Joshua and Ahmed before handing them over to police. Chengalpattu district police took the two into custody and sent them An inconsolable woman at the accident site in Chengalpattu | Express for medical examination. A senior police officer told TNIE, “Prima facie, the two did not appear to be under the influ- ence of alcohol, but tests have been ordered to confirm this.” The bodies of the deceased were sent to Chengalpattu Government Hospital for postmortem examination. Following this, a group of villagers staged a protest, blocking a police vehicle and demanding strict action against the students, along with financial assistance for the victims’ families. The protest ended after police assured their concerns would be addressed. CM M K Stalin expressed condolences and announced aid of `2 lakh each for the victims’ families. Panel flags safety lapses in new `531cr Pamban bridge, compares it to ‘century-old marvel’ M S T h a n a r a j @ Ramanathapuram The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), who carried out safety inspection on the new railway sea bridge at Pamban on November 13-14, has said that the century-old Pamban Bridge is a technical marvel but the newly-constructed bridge is built with glaring lapses in planning and execution. AM Chowdhary, CRS, Southern Circle, however, has authorised operation of trains with speed restriction on the new bridge. Considering the safety of the century-old railway sea bridge in Pamban, the railways had started the construction of the new bridge next to the old one in 2019 at a cost of `531 crore. The CRS has pointed out various lapses in planning and execution, including the center lift grider not being in conformity with the Research De- signs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) design. CRS in its report said, “It is unfortunate that the railway board has been flouting its own guidelines by disassociating the RDSO from the project.” CRS also pointed out that adequate measures have not been taken to address corrosion, since the area is known to have the second worst corrosive environment in the world. “Effects of corrosion are very se- A test run of a train on the new Pamban bridge in Ramanathapuram district | File picture vere even before the commissioning of the bridge. Railways must get some new methods to protect the bridge as the existing method is inadequate,” the CRS said. Authorising train operations on the line, AM Chowdhary said, “Passenger and goods trains can be operated at a maximum speed of 75 kmph from Mandabam to Pamban stations. A speed restriction of 50 kmph shall be imposed over the lift grider, and based on performance and response, speed restriction can be relaxed. All BG diesel locomotives presently sanctioned in the line are permitted to run on the bridge.” He also added that the officials shall inspect the lift span grider every year to certify its fitness for running of passenger traffic for the next five years. Continued on P5