HUBBALLI l sunday l august 02, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l CITY EDITION Elite mountaineer Nirmal Purja killed in poK avalanche was leading 10-member team to broad peak Famous mountaineer Nirmal Purja and nine others were on Saturday confirmed dead, days after an avalanche hit Broad Peak in PoK Climbed all 14 ‘super peaks’ in 6 just months British-Nepali climber Purja, popularly known as Nims or Nimsdai, was leading a 10-member climbing team when the avalanche hit on Thursday morning. The mountaineers were ascending at an altitude of around 6,600 metres when they were swept away, local authorities said. Broad Peak, standing at 8,051 metres, is the world’s 12th-highest mountain | P11 ■ ■ Purja famously scaled all of the world’s 14 highest peaks in just over six months in 2019, breaking the previous record of seven years He wrote on X this week that he was close to becoming the first person to climb all 14 “super peaks” twice without oxygen. “Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down,” he wrote 2018 Purja was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire 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 Nonstop rain pummels Kerala, leaves 7 dead CM deputes team of ministers to camp in rain-hit districts to manage rescue and relief M a n o j V isw a n at h a n @ Kochi Six years on, border trade via Nathu La Pass resumes P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati Border trade via Nathu La Pass, which had remained suspended for six years amid the Covid-19 pandemic and India-China border tensions, resumed on Saturday . The inaugural ceremony was attended by Sikkim’s Commerce & Industries Minister Tshering T Bhutia among others. The reopening is expected to inject fresh momentum into the local economy by generating business for registered traders, transport operators and other stakeholders dependent on border trade. Border trade through Nathu La will operate from Monday to Thursday and continue until November. Under the Nathu La border trade arrangement, the approved cate gories of goods, including handicrafts, handloom products, traditional religious items, and ready-made garments, can now be imported and exported. This year, 38 traders have been issued passes to participate in the cross-border trade. Currently, there are around 35 tradable items. Bhutia said the Sikkim government had already sent a proposal to expand the list of tradable items. WITH THIS ISSUE Take a Seat PLUS 12 P AGES AT least seven people were killed on Saturday after torrential rain battered Kerala, triggering flash floods and multiple landslides that revived painful memories of the 2018 deluge. Central Kerala districts of Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Kottayam bore the brunt. Rescue operations were on with the help of NDRF0. Heavy rain began pounding eastern parts of southern Kerala around 11 pm on Friday causing , rivers to swell rapidly By 2.30 am, floodwaters en. tered homes along riverbanks, forcing residents to flee in panic. The Pampa river rose sharply in, undating Ranni and Vadasserikkara towns on the Sabarimala route. Landslides disrupted traffic on key highways including Kochi-Dhanushkodi, KottarakaraDindigul, and Kuttikkanam-Kattappana. Floodgates of the Pambla, Kallarkutty , and Malankara dams were opened due to heavy inflow. I n K o t t ay a m ’ s Poonjar Thekkekara panchayat, Rejina and her 24-year-old son Josephine Johny perished when their house collapsed in a landslide. Sumathy 69, was killed at Adurma, la near Kudayathoor when her home got buried in slush. Prabhakaran Nair, 72, died in a landslide at Kolahalamedu in Vagamon. The children — threeyear-old Abdul Muhaini, four-year-old Adam Aymen, and 11-year-old Milan K Shinu — drowned in separate waterlogging incidents in Malappuram and Kottayam districts. The relentless weather system wreaked havoc in northern Kerala as well. In Kannur, search and rescue operations are underway for two missing individuals — a 40-year-old man who fell into the Kanjirapuzha river, and a swimming instructor at Pulingome. In Kozhikode, major rivers like Poonoor and Vilangad overflowed, submerging the Kozhikode-Mysuru Highway at Engapuzha. Chief Minister V D Satheesan deputed a team of ministers to camp in the worst-hit districts: C P John in Thiruvananthapuram, P C Vishnunadh in Pathanamthitta, Mons Joseph in Kottayam, and Anoop Jacob in Idukki. Boxers Sakshi Chaudhary (L) & Priya Ghanghas (R) finished on top with gold medals on Saturday | pti/ap glasgow gold mine E xpress N ews service NDRF, Fire and Rescue Services, police, the Coast Guard, the local administration, public representatives and locals are participating in the efforts Statement from CM’s office WHEN the Commonwealth Games began in Glasgow on July 23, there was an expectation that India’s medals tally could suffer because of the absence of shooting, badminton and wrestling. In these three events, they are elite at this level. But this has still been a very creditable campaign thanks to other heroes, young and old. That they still have designs on finishing fourth — currently fifth with 10 gold — in the medals tally is notable. Those designs would not have been possible if it weren’t for the exploits of the para-athletes (three gold) and boxing (four gold at the time of writing with promise of more to come). There is the obvious caveat that boxing at the Games isn’t of the greatest standards, Delimitation backers ‘traitors’ of TN: Rahul E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai A rescue operation following a landslide in Kottayam on Saturday| express Flood control Shutters of dams in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kannur districts were opened following rising water levels, to prevent floods Amid speculation regarding a possible shift in the DMK’s stance on the revised Delimitation Bill, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi condemned supporters of the bill on Saturday, branding them “21st-century Ettappans (traitors)”. He accused BJP of exploiting the delimitation exercise to dilute Tamil Nadu’s political power and jeopardise its future. Speaking to reporters in Chennai, Rahul accused BJP of conspiring against TN. “Delimitation is designed to take away power from Tamil Nadu,” he said. Drawing a historical parallel, Rahul said, “There was a historical character in Tamil Nadu called Ettappan. He is an example of betrayal. Anybody who supports delimitation is an Ettappan. They are betraying Tamil Nadu and its future by allowing BJP and RSS to attack the people of the state.” His statement came after the breakdown of the party’s relationship with the DMK. The DMK bloc has 22 LS and 10 Rajya Sabha MPs. Following the 2026 Assembly elections, Congress severed its pre-poll ties with the DMK alliance to back the TVK-led front.  GP to cancel 99-yr lease of 5 acres to realtor M o h a mme d Ya c o o b @Bengaluru The Bettahalasur Gram Panchayat, which recently passed a resolution to lease out 5 acres to a prominent real estate company for 99 years, has now decided to cancel the resolution following a severe backlash from the villagers. The GP passed a resolution on July 20, 2026 to lease out the land to the real estate group, which already owns land in the vicinity, to develop a plant nursery. But villagers, who learnt about the development, protested. The GP held a discussion on July 29, and decided to withdraw the resolution by convening a meeting on Monday (August 3). Jeerge Tontadarya, a villager, said that on villagers’ request, GP president Hemavathi Nagaraj read out the subjects of the meeting that also included the leasing of the land, which is worth over Rs 100 crore. “The permission was sought to develop a plant nursery. As villagers objected and GP’s move courted a controversy, there is talk now of scrapping the decision,” he said. Another villager Chandrashekhar said the real estate group took hold of Majiredinne Hosahalli, which is over 300 years old and had been abandoned after a plague outbreak. The village spreads across 2.5 acres. In exchange, the real estate company registered 5 acres under Survey No. 223/3 at Tarahunise village in the name of Bettahalasur GP  . P7 The 5-acre land in question at Bettahalasur Gram Panchayat on Bengaluru outskirts mysuru call Youth must turn Vivekananda’s vision into reality: PM K a r t h ik K K @ Mysuru Amid growing protests by youngsters and Gen-Z demanding greater government accountability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called upon the country’s youth to transform Swami Vivekananda’s vision of India into reality , saying that India’s future rests on the strength, aspirations and character of its young generation. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Youth Centre -- Viveka Smara- PM Narendra Modi inaugurates ‘Viveka Smaraka’ in Mysuru Saturday | Udayashankar S ka -- in Mysuru, Modi said Swami Vivekananda embodied the spirit of India and the newly inaugurated memorial would serve as a centre for inspiring generations of young Indians towards nation-building, service and patriotism. He said the historic building where Swami Vivekananda stayed during his visit to Mysuru over 130 years ago continues to inspire generations. He said the Viveka Smaraka would preserve that legacy while nurturing young minds with the ideals of service, character building and national commitment. “I am confident that the Viveka Smaraka will become a pilgrimage centre for spiritual upliftment for seekers and devotees,” he said.  P7 Onus on quality infra Stressing on educational infrastructure, PM said youth potential translates into national strength only when supported by quality education but this is a quiet win for the high-performance programme and the federation’s talent ID at the highest level. Another combat sport that deserves its two minutes in the limelight is judo. Even before the campaign had begun, it had become a bad word after another dope-related news item. However, on Friday, judokas won two gold medals in less than an hour after going without one since the sport’s inception 40 years ago. That is how you change history and create new narratives.Finish fourth and that’s basically the best of the rest outside the big three of Canada, England and Australia (New Zealand are great at the Olympics but some of their biggest athletes skip the Commonwealth Games). Tejaswin Shankar’s bronze in the decathlon is a similar narrative-creating medal. In a loaded field, the Indian pioneer in this event showed what was possible. Another pioneer, Neeraj Chopra, found some form with a season’s best of 85.83m for silver. He won’t be happy with the result but will be quietly satisfied with the performance. Both of them will eye the jump to gold at the Asian Games. For the next four years, as Ahmedabad gets ready to welcome the 70-plus nations and territories for what’s likely to be one of the biggest Games in history, the expectation will continue to rise.  P13 CM: Kabini dam full, can’t hold back 12,000 cusecs of inflows All-party meet today With Kabini reservoir receiving good inflows and the authorities already releasing water to TN, the all-party meeting convened by Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar on Sunday is likely to discuss the state’s future course of action and implementation of the Mekedatu balancing reservoir project E xpress N ews S ervice @ Mysuru As Wayanad in Kerala is receiving good rainfall and inflows into the Kabini Dam reached 12,000 cusecs, there could be temporary relief for Karnataka as it has to adhere to the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) order to release 3,500 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu over the next 15 days. Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday said the state will release water to Tamil Nadu, as directed by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), which upheld the CWRC order, only after its reservoirs reach ca- pacity levels. He, however, pointed out that excess inflows cannot be dammed indefinitely . The CM’s statement comes amid rising protests over the CWMA direction to release water. He told reporters at the Mysuru Airport that Kabini Dam is receiving inflows of over 40,000 cusecs, making it impossible to retain all the incoming water. He said, “Officials from both the Centre and state are closely monitoring the reservoir levels. No one can stop the natural flow of water.” He said the Kabini dam has reached its capacity because of abundant rainfall. P4