PIC: NASA KANNUR l wednesday l august 12, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION NASA invites India to be part of its Moon Base mission The ambitious Moon base mission is a programme to build humanity’s first lunar outpost near the Moon’s South Pole invite follows u.s.-india space group meet step-by-step approach to Build base According to the US space agency, the project aims to unlock scientific discoveries, and prepare for future deep space exploration. India and US explored expanding space cooperation at a meeting of their Civil Space Joint Working Group held in Bengaluru last week. The two sides agreed to advance discussions for cooperation on open scientific data sharing ■ ■ The Moon base will be built in phases, says NASA. It will begin with robotic missions to test new tech, then build systems & infrastructure needed to establish humanity’s first long-term presence on the Moon The first phase will focus on gaining reliable access to the lunar surface and building a deeper understanding of the environment 9th meet of india-u.s. space joint working group was held last week 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 ‘Messi’ deal turns Phuket flight captain fails murky, probe likely second dope test: Sources Major findings A s w i n A s o k K u m a r @T’Puram The highly publicised but never-materialised Kerala visit by Argentine superstar Lionel Messi and team is back in focus. With the report submitted by N Prasanth, the special secretary (sports), to Chief Minister V D Satheesan suggesting the possibility of money laundering and potential violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) surrounding the visit and recommending an ED probe, the state is set to go for a high-level investigation. “The government is studying the report,” said a source in the CMO. “Action will be taken as per the set of its recommendations. A call on possibilities like the report being placed before the cabinet, or a probe by a special investigation team will be taken in the coming days.” “The report suggests the private company got clearance for foreign remittance equivalent to $15 million through a letter sent by the state government to the Centre. The possibility of money laundering cannot be ruled out,” a senior government official told TNIE. The report, which termed the entire episode a “private event” portrayed as a governmentbacked international event for the commercial advantage of Reporter Broadcasting Company (RBC), the sponsor, also found a gap of `128 crore between the total estimate of `210 crore and expected revenue of ` 82 crore. While former sports minister V Abdurahiman rejected the charges, his successor O J Janeesh said he could come on radar as all communications went through him as per the report.  ● More on P4 No final deal received from AFA, FIFA or AIFF Letter sent from state to Centre stating Argentina squad would visit Kerala Clearance from finance & law depts, cabinet nod, proper DPR and Centre’s NOC not availed Dept officials forced to act on basis of written notes or orders of then minister or his private secretary Recommendations Vigilance or SIT probe into rule violations Probe by ED or Central Financial Investigating Agencies into foreign remittance and anti-money laundering aspects Tests positive for marijuana in the confirmatory screening test S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi IN a new twist to last week’s mid-air incident involving Air India’s Phuket-Delhi flight that experienced a sudden altitude loss, the captain of the flight has reportedly tested positive for marijuana in the confirmatory screening test. “The Pilot-in-Command has tested positive in the second dope test too with marijuana found in the samples taken from h i m , ” a s o u rc e t o l d t h i s newspaper. Another source, a pilot, too confirmed the development, adding that the captain, in his late 30s, could be terminated. The civil aviation ministry, which had earlier insisted that the result of the confirmatory test must be awaited before drawing any conclusions, on Tuesday issued a detailed statement on the probe into the incident. However, there was no mention of dope test. Air India declined to comment on the drug screening. Earlier in the day Union civil , aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu said strong action would be taken if the pilot was found to File pic CEO summoned Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Tuesday summoned the outgoing CEO of Air India, Campbell Wilson. In the meeting, also attended by top officials, the minister demanded an explanation have indulged in any substance abuse. “If there needs to be any tweaking of the existing legislation, we will do that also,” he told reporters. According to the civil aviation ministry’s statement, flight AI 2379, an Airbus A320 aircraft with 145 people on board, suffered a mid-air altitude drop of 300 feet on August 4 resulting in injuries to 20 passengers and four cabin crew members. IPL star Porel arrested for blackmail, rape When Air Force One became decoy amid Iran attack threat s u b h en d u m a i t i @ Kolkata a g en c i e s @ Washington WEST Bengal and Delhi Capitals cricketer Abhishek Porel was arrested late Monday night by Hooghly police on allegations of rape and blackmail. He was produced before the Chinsurah court on Tuesday . A 24-year-old UG medical student from Karnataka lodged a complaint at Mogra police station in Hooghly on June 24, alleging a three-year relationship during which the pair travelled abroad together. Porel, a wicketkeeper-batsman who performed well for Delhi Capitals this IPL season, allegedly had sexual relations with her on the pretext of marriage. The complainant said Porel later refused to marry her, and blackmailed her using her obscene photographs. Police registered nine nonbailable cases under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act. Porel has denied all charges. PRESIDENT Donald Trump secretly flew out of last month’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on an unheralded military aircraft while the White House made it appear that he was flying on Air Force One, according to a report published by The Washington Post. The Post said Monday the operation was prompted by an Iranian assassination threat against Trump. The ruse was carried out as journalists and some White House staff members were led to believe they were on the same plane as the president as he began his journey back to Washington from the annual gathering of NATO country leaders. Trump had flown to the summit in a new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet. But ahead of departing Turkey, he said he would fly partway home on an older-model baby blue Air Force One plane instead. The president at the time said the new luxury jet was being flown out ahead of his departure from Ankara to give some US troops based in A file photograph of the legacy Air Force One | AP eastern England a chance to check out the new Air Force One. In Ankara, Trump boarded the old Air Force One in view of television cameras ahead of the plane flying to Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the United Kingdom. However, according to the Post report, after boarding the legacy Air Force One, he was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane — an Air Force C-32A — via an airport catering truck. Trump flew to Mildenhall on that smaller jet. Security experts alle ged the press pool aboard the legacy Air Force One was turned into “sitting ducks.” P i o n eer o f pe o p l e ’ s s c i e n c e m o v e m e n t The Marxist who dared to dream of a ‘fourth world’ and keep asking questions E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram In the early 2000s, CPM stalwart E Balanandan wrote for DYFI mouthpiece Yuvadhara on the “ideological phase of the Fourth World theory and anti-Communism”. Though printed, the issue was never published after the CPM state leadership cold-shouldered the Politburo member’s article. The episode exposed simmering ideological dissent and sparked a wider inner-party debate, eventually culminating in the expulsion of M P Parameswaran, a Communist theorist and nuclear scientist who died at 91 in Thrissur on Tuesday . MP as he was affectionately known , to friends and admirers, leaves a distinctive mark on Kerala’s socio-political landscape. A pioneer of the peop l e ’s s c i e n c e m ove m e n t , M P popularised science through the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad M P Parameswaran  1935-2026 (KSSP), notably with its widely popular smokeless stove, championed the state’s literacy movement and campaigned for decentralisation and the People’s Plan initiative. A key leader of the Silent Valley movement, Parameswaran championed a new vision of development rooted in environmentalism, challenging the conventional notions of progress. But his ‘Fourth World theo- ry’ and the ideological debates it triggered would remain his most consequential contribution to Kerala’s political discourse. MP had kept a low profile in recent years owing to age-related health issues. His funeral will be held at the Paramekkavu Santhighat in Thrissur at 1 pm on Wednesday He is sur. vived by wife Pullur Manaykkal Bhavani and sons Arun, who is based in the US, and Vipin, who lives in Mumbai. An accomplished writer and educationist, MP wore many hats during a life marked by intellectual and ideological evolution. Born in Thrissur in 1935, he began his career as a nuclear scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, where he spent nearly two decades. In 1975, he left nuclear science to become a people’s scientist, embarking on a remarkable journey through people’s campaigns and the science ● More on P4 movement.  Under existing DGCA norms, if a pilot tests positive for drugs, the person is referred for a rehabilitation programme. He needs to go for treatment at a de-addiction centre and can return to duty only after producing a negative confirmatory test and a fitness certificate from the airline’s medical in-charge. This could take up to eight months. If the same person tests positive again, the licence is suspended for three years. If the violation happens for the third time, the licence is cancelled. Following the August 4 incident, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau asked airport authorities in Delhi to conduct two different tests. “After the arrival of the plane in Delhi, both pilots were subjected to a breathalyser test for alcohol content, which turned out to be ne g ative. Then, blood and urine tests were done to trace psychotropic substances. This was positive for the Pilot-in-Command,” a source said. Earlier, sources said the flight might have experienced multiple technical glitches including hydraulic failures. EXPRESS READ LS gives nod to ‘Keralam’ Bill without debate New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a Bill to rename Kerala as ‘Keralam’ without a debate, with the government taking a swipe at Congress MPs from the state for not participating in a discussion on the matter. The Kerala Assembly passed a resolution in 2024 urging the Centre to bring a law to change the name of the state to Keralam. The Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, was passed by a voice vote without any debate amid sloganeering | P7 Monsoon paradox: Disasters & deficit T’Puram: Despite triggering intense spells of rain that led to floods, landslides and widespread destruction in Kerala, this year’s southwest monsoon is still 22% below normal. According to the IMD, though recent extreme rainfall events helped reduce the deficit accumulated during the first half of the monsoon, they do not indicate a revival of overall monsoon pattern | P5