KANNUR l Sunday l august 11, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city edition Jaishankar meets Maldives Prez, says relations take top priority External Affairs Minister met Mohammed Muizzu on Saturday, affirmed New Delhi’s commitment for development of the region water projects handed to Island nation india to help introduce UPI interface The foreign minister handed over water and sanitation projects in 28 islands of Maldives, which are commissioned under the Indian line of credit. “I thank the Government of India ... for always supporting the Maldives. Our enduring partnership continues to strengthen, bringing our nations closer through cooperation in security, development,” Muizzu tweeted ■ The water project has brought safe drinking water to 32 islands and has directly impacted the lives of 28,000 Maldivians, Jaishankar said. The sanitation project has introduced sewerage system in 17 islands, he added. All buildings come with solar rooptops | P7 ■ India signed an MoU with Maldives to bring the UPI interface to the island 1,000 Maldivian civil servants to receive training from India 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 Eco-sensitive area tag: States propose to omit pvt lands S V K RIS H N A C H AI TA N YA @ Chennai The final draft notification issued by the Union environment ministry on July 31 on declaration of ecologically sensitive areas (ESA) in the Western Ghats shows that some of the states have proposed to include more reserve forest areas in the ESA than ‘highly vulnerable’ non-forest private land holdings as suggested by the Kasturirangan report. The plan by the state governments to leave private lands — where extensive human settlements have come up over the years — off the hook may lead to change in land-use pattern in the already fragmented hilly regions in the future and may trigger more Wayanad-like disasters, some experts said. Incidentally the July 31 no, tification came just a day after the deadly landslides in Wayanad. Six states —Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra — covered under the notification have been dilly-dallying over the declaration of ESAs in the Western Ghats for the past 13 years. A High-Level Working Group led by K Kasturirangan, which submitted its report to the Union environment ministry in April 2013, has recommended notification of 6,914 sq km area of Tamil Nadu in Western Ghats, including 135 villages of the state, as ESAs. But, according to sources, the state may have left out 50 villages with substantial human settlements from being designated as ESA and instead included reserve forests in ESA to comply with the land mandate. WITH THIS ISSUE Children of Rage PLUS 12 PAGES In Wayanad, PM vows all support for rehabilitation Modi visits landslide spots, meets survivors at hospital, relief camp Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with a child affected by the landslide, at a hospital in Wayanad | PTI P o o j a N a i r @ Kalpetta Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the landslide-ravaged areas of Wayanad on Saturday and promised all support in the relief and rehabilitation efforts. Stating that the Centre will stand with the state government in the rebuilding process, the prime minister said funds will not be a constraint for the rehabilitation of the survivors of the devastating landslides that shattered Chooralmala and Mundakkai villages. The prime minister, who undertook an aerial survey of the disaster-stricken areas, later visited the landslide spots at Chooralmala and Mundakkai. He walked through some of the affected areas for a closer look at the devastation. He also met survivors at a hospital and a relief camp in Meppadi, lending an ear to their concerns. “The country and the government are with the survivors. We wish to let the affected people know that they are not alone,” he said after the review meeting at the collectorate conference hall in Kalpetta. Modi said he has sought a de- The country and the government are with the survivors. We wish to let the affected people know that they are not alone Narendra Modi, Prime Minister ‘Financial aid sought’ CM Pinarayi Vijayan said the state has requested the PM to provide financial help to rehabilitate survivors, and a note in this regard has been handed over to him. Committee formed A 5-member committee headed by Wayanad District Collector D R Meghashree has been formed to assess the arrangements for temporary rehabilitation of those in the relief camps, said cabinet sub-committee members.P2 tailed memorandum from the state government on the extent of damage and loss. “The Central government will act favourably once we get the mem- orandum,” Modi said. The prime minister assured that both the state and the Central governments will join hands for the rehabilitation package. Central ministers and officials have already had a round of discussion with the chief minister and the state officials. Later in the day Chief Minis, ter Pinarayi Vijayan said the state has requested the PM to provide financial help to rehabilitate the survivors. In a statement, he said a note in this regard has been handed over to the prime minister. At the review meeting, Modi recalled his experience as a relief volunteer during the tragedy at Morbi in Gujarat in 1979. He said he can understand the grief of the survivors. “A long-term project is needed to address the issues related to children who are victims of the tragedy I hope the state gov. ernment will consider this too,” he said. Modi said he has been in contact with the state government ever since the disaster and that all the arms of the Central government were mobilised in the rescue and relief opera● More on P2 tions. 2 soldiers killed in encounter in poll-bound J&K f aya z w a n i @ Srinagar Two soldiers were killed while three other jawans and two civilians were injured in an encounter with militants in the forest area of Kokernag in pollbound Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Saturday The militants . are said to be involved in the recent attacks on the Army in Doda, A police official said acting on specific inputs about the presence of militants, a joint contingent of the Army, police and CRPF laid siege around the Ahlan Gagarmandu forest area in Kokernag on Saturday afternoon. Kashmir Tigers, which is said to be an offshoot of Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed its fighters are involved in the ongoing encounter. It is believed that two to three militants are trapped in the Army siege. The gunfight is taking place in a high altitude area with thick undergrowth, large boulders and nallahs. The terrain poses a serious challenge to the jawans, a defence spokesman said. Somanathan appointed new cabinet secy The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved his candidature for two years from August 30 | P7 4 players ‘hit’ over R7L in Kerala cricket League auction tion featured 168 players in three categories with different The players’ auction ahead base prices. Category A inof the inaugural Kerala Crick- cludes players who have played et League (KCL) saw four in the IPL and Ranji Trophy, players securing contracts with a base price of `2 lakh. worth over `7 lakh Category B includes Top buys each. M S Akhil players who have emerged the costliparticipated in CK M S Akhil est buy in the auc- (Trivandrum Royals) Nayadu Under-23, tion held at Hyatt Under-19 state, and L7.4 lakh Regency in ThiruUnder-19 ChallengVarun Nayanar vananthapuram er tour naments, (Thrissur Titans) on Saturday, with with a base price of L7.2 lakh Trivandrum Roy`1 lakh. Category C inals acquiring the Manu Krishnan cludes Under-16 all-rounder for `7.4 (Kochi Blue Tigers) state, university lakh. L7 lakh Thrissur Titans players and club spent `7.2 lakh on cricketers with a Salman Nizar wicketkeeper-batbase price of (Calicut Globstars) ter Varun Nayanar. `50,000. L7 lakh Manu Krishnan Notably, seven went to Kochi Blue Tigers for players from Category B were `7 lakh, while Salman Nizar sold for amounts higher than was picked up by Calicut Glob- the base salary of Category A, stars for the same amount. In with all-rounder Akshay category C, all-rounder M Manohar fetching the highest Nikhil with a base price of price of `3.6 lakh in category `50,000, was sold for `4.6 lakh B. He was acquired by Thris● More on P5 to Calicut Globstars. The auc- sur Titans. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram Credible deterrent Govt green light for desi nuclear-powered submarine expected this year Indian Navy’s at present has 16 conventional submarines, most of which are over 20 years old The nuclear edge Jan 1988 Indian Navy acquired INS Chakra, its first nuclear submarine from the Soviet Union on lease INS Arihant First indigenous nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, was launched on July 26, 2009 INS Arihant’s nuclear reactor activated in August 2013 INS Arihant inducted in the Indian Navy in 2016 +350 130 China has India’s more than fleet 350 warships strength submarines Project approval for first nuclear-powered submarine expected this year MAYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi A government green light to enhance the attack capability of the Indian Navy is due this year through the manufacture nuclear powered submarines. It is expected to serve as a deterrent for the Chinese Navy’s increasing foray into the Indian Ocean Region. This ambitious project is going to be indigenous. “The submarine will be more than 90% indigenous,” sources said. “By the end of the year, I think we should get the goahead for indigenous construction, as policy makers at every level have shown their inclina- trials of its Fujian aircraft cartion towards the project,” one rier weighing a whopping of the sources said. “The Chi- 80,000 metric tons. The PLA alnese are unbelievably fast. We ready has two active carriers can take them lightly at our — the 66,000-ton Shandong and own peril,” they added. the 60,000-ton Liaoning. Since 2008, the Chi“If any Chinese airnese Navy has been rapcraft car rier comes Sunday close by, our nuclear idly deploying various Special submarine will serve as assets, including attack submarines, in the Ina deterrent because it dian Ocean region on ancan stay under water for ti-piracy duty. Prolonged close to a month.” deployments help gain familiThere are two types of nuarity and confidence. Addition- clear submarines, SSN and ally, Chinese survey vessels SSBN. SS stands for submersihave been continuously operat- ble ship; SSN is a nuclear-powing in the region. ered submarine; and SSBN is a In May China completed sea nuclear-powered ballistic mis, sile submarine. India already has SSBNs. They made the country’s nuclear no-first use policy operational. SSNs have multiple mission utility like anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, besides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. SSBNs offer assured second strike in the event of a nuclear attack. India’s foray in the nuclear submarine domain began with the induction of INS Arihant. It is suitable for the policy of no-first use of nuclear weapons with maintenance of minimum credible deterrence, as part of the nuclear triad. B’desh chief justice forced to resign Y e s h i Se l i @ New Delhi On a day when Chief Justice of Bangladesh Obaidul Hassan’s forced resignation dominated the news cycle, rampant lawlessness, protests seeking the return of exiled former PM Sheikh Hasina, Hindu minorities demanding their right to safety, and Chinese snooping were other issues that required interim leader Muhammad Yunus’ immediate attention. ATMs have also run dry and businesses are yet to take off in the riot-torn nation. On Saturday, Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan along with five appellate judges were forced to quit by students as there was apprehension that they could call a meeting to declare the interim government unconstitutional. High Court Judge Syed Refaat Ahmed is likely to replace Hassan.
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