tirupati l sunday l august 02, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION Elite mountaineer Nirmal Purja killed in poK avalanche Famous mountaineer Nirmal Purja and nine others were on Saturday confirmed dead, days after an avalanche hit Broad Peak in PoK was leading 10-member team to broad peak 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 ■ ■ 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 Boxers Sakshi Chaudhary (L) & Priya Ghanghas (R) finished on top with gold medals on Saturday | pti/ap glasgow gold mine Express News service 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, 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 P11 continue to rise.  PM: Vizag set to be growth hub of Asia S r e e n u B a b u Pat i v a d a @ Vizianagaram Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the greenfield Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram on Saturday | Express 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 cross-border trade. WITH THIS ISSUE Take a Seat PLUS 12 P AGES Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday dedicated the greenfield Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport to the nation, launching a `17,900crore multi-sectoral package that he declared would transform the Visakhapatnam Economic Region (VER) into a premier economic hub of Asia. Describing the airport and associated projects as a definitive game-changer for Andhra Pradesh, and a key national growth engine for a Viksit Bharat, the Prime Minister outlined an integrated road- map linking aviation, port connectivity and high-tech manu, facturing across the State’s northern belt. The mega-package pairs the Bhogapuram transit hub with major renewable energy and highway corridors, alongside the foundation stone laying for Andhra Pradesh’s first semiconductor assembly facility in Visakhapatnam. Emphasising that modern infrastructure must translate directly into employment, he highlighted that integrating high-tech manufacturing with regional transport links will position North Andhra as a global investment magnet.  P4 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 i s w a n at h a n @ Kochi 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, Kottarakara-Dindigul, and KuttikkanamKattappana. Floodgates of the Pambla, K a l l a rk u t t y, a n d 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 Adurmala near Kudayathoor when her home got buried in slush. Prabhakaran Nair, 72, died in a landslide at Kolahalamedu in Vagamon. The children — three-year-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. 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 express read PM lays stone for `2,500-cr chip unit Visakhapatnam: With an investment of `2,500 crore, Tarluvada is set to host South India’s first semiconductor manufacturing facility approved under the India Semiconductor Mission. Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually laid the stone for the project on Saturday | P4 AP posts 20% growth in CT collections A rescue operation following a landslide in Kottayam on Saturday| express Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh recorded total Commercial Tax collections of `20,464.77 crore up to July 2026, up from `17,059.65 crore a year earlier a 20% increase. In July 2026, total Commercial Tax collections stood at `5,105 crore, up 14% (`611 crore, higher than in July 2025) | P4