NAGAPATTINAM l Monday l April 01, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Pope appeals for immediate ceasefire in Israel-hamas war Pope Francis in his Easter message said his thoughts went particularly to the people in Ukraine and Gaza, and all those facing war speech sympathetic to rohingya Muslims Pope skips good friday, attends easter He called for ‘prompt’ release of prisoners taken from Israel on October 7 so that humanitarian access can reach Palestinians. “Let us not allow the current hostilities to continue to have grave repercussions on the civil population, by now at the limit of its endurance and above all on the children,” he said. His speech was sympathetic towards Haitians, Rohingya ■ ■ Francis presided over Easter mass on Sunday in a flower-decked St. Peter’s Square. Earlier on Saturday night, he participated in the Easter Vigil service delivering a homily and baptising eight persons The Pope has no major foreign trip scheduled for the next several months, giving him time to recover from respiratory problems | P9 30,000 people attended the easter mass in vatican 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 katchatheevu BJP targets Congress over island, GOP asks why now R aje s h k u mar T H a k u r @ New Delhi Opposition leaders at the Loktantra Bachao (save democracy) joint rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday | Parveen Negi INDIA bloc leaders flex muscles, rally behind Kejriwal and Soren Cong asks Election Commission to ensure level-playing field in Lok Sabha polls P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi in the first joint rally held nearly a year after its formation in Patna, several prominent leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc came together at Delhi’s Ramlila grounds on Sunday to protest against the arrest of Opposition chief ministers and the BJP government’s targeting of political rivals using central agencies. The show of strength ahead of the Lok Sabha elections saw the presence of Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi, along with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, and Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja, among others. While the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has brought parties such as Trinamool Congress and Congress on the same platform despite seat-sharing hiccups, the leaders said the Loktantra Bachao Rally is a mark of INDIA bloc’s commitment to saving democracy . Addressing the gathering, former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray said it is time for a change. “We are not here for the election campaign; we are here to protect democracy . BJP ‘washed’ the people who they once called corrupt. How can a party full of corrupt people run government?” he said. In a searing attack on the government, Rahul Gandhi said it is a clarion call for people to help save democracy Ac. cusing the Modi government of express read One more devotee dies in Velliangiri hills Coimbatore: A 60-year-old devotee died in Velliangiri on Saturday evening. He is the sixth devotee to die here in the last 35 days, since February 25. The deceased was identified as D Raguraman, a resident of Mogappair West in Chennai | P2 After Miami win, Rohan reclaims No. 1 rankings Miami: Rohan Bopanna rewrote his own record to continue to be the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion as he and Matt Ebden clinched the men’s doubles crown at the Miami Open. With the win, Bopanna also reclaimed the top spot in the doubles ranking | P13 Sunita Kejriwal debuts Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita struck an emotional chord by reading out a letter by the CM from jail. In her maiden speech at a political rally, she asked people whether Kejriwal should resign as CM. “BJP is demanding the resignation of CM Kejriwal. Should he resign? Is his arrest justified? He is a lion so they won’t be able to keep him behind bars for long,” she said ‘fixing’ elections, he said: “This is not an ordinary election. This election is to save the country and protect our constitution. If the BJP wins this election and changes the Constitution, it will light the country on fire,” said Rahul. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said there is an “undeclared emergency” in the country . Echoing similar views, Akhilesh said Kejriwal’s arrest has been questioned even by foreign countries. TMC leaders Derek O’Brien and Sagarika Ghose reaffirmed their party’s support to INDIA bloc and asserted it’s a fight between BJP and democracy . Listing out the demands of the INDIA bloc, Priyanka Gandhi said the ECI should ensure a level-playing field in the Lok Sabha polls and Hemant Soren and Arvind Kejriwal be released with immediate effect. Not intimidated by Oppn barbs, will continue fight against corruption: Modi N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow Hours after the INDIA bloc leaders held a mega rally in Delhi pledging support to jailed Opposition leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his ‘fight against corruption’ will continue unabated. “Modi will not be stopped. Action will be taken against every corrupt person,” he said while addressing an election rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut on Sunday . Modi said ‘corrupt’ politicians have come on a single platform thinking they can intimidate him. “They thought Modi will be scared. But it only strengthened my resolve to go against the corrupt more than before,” he said. In a veiled reference to Delhi CM and AAP leader Kejriwal, currently under the custody of the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged role in the Delhi excise policy scam, Modi said the corruption charges against some are so serious that they are not even getting bail from courts. Launching a direct attack on the Congress, he said during the grand old party’s regime, thousands of crores of rupees belonging to the poor, small investors, and banks were wrongfully confiscated. In contrast, the BJP government targeted corrupt people and attached their ill-gotten properties worth `17,000 crore, he claimed. He said his government has been relentlessly waging a war on corruption and has removed as many as 10 crore illegal beneficiaries of various government welfare schemes, in the process saving `2.45 lakh crore. He alleged that non-BJP governments in the past were swindling public money using these illegal beneficiaries. Titans too good for Hyderabad After their loss against Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans came back strongly to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets. A look... Miller, Sai Sudharsan deliver Mohit makes an impact Although Titans lost three early wickets, B Sai Sudharsan (45 from 36 balls) and David Miller (44 n.o off 27) kept their cool. They took time to settle before accelerating in the last five overs, helping Titans get across the line in the final over On a pitch that was on the slower side, Mohit Sharma varied his pace and put his cutters to good use. While Noor Ahmed and Rashid Khan did their job, it was Mohit who finished with three wickets, restricting SRH to 162/8 Shaw, Pant take Delhi to 191/5 against super Kings In the second match of the day, Prithvi Shaw, playing his first game of the season, did not waste any time to get going. He (43 off 27) along with David Warner (52 off 35), set up the innings before captain Rishabh Pant provided the final push (51 off 32) as Delhi Capitals posted 191/5 against CSK Tangedco to resume security deposit collection S GU R UV A N M I K A N AT H A N @ Chennai AFTER a gap of two years, the cash-strapped Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) is planning to resume the practice of collecting security deposits from domestic consumers. A senior official confirmed that the process would be initiated after the Lok Sabha elections. “The revision of security deposits is mandated for High Tension (HT) consumers every year and once every two years for Low Tension (LT) consumers,” the official told TNIE. The official added a comprehensive review of bills was conducted in April 2023 in accordance with regulations but the state government had advised against collecting deposits from domestic consumers in order to alleviate the financial strain on consumers already hit by the 57% hike in electricity tariffs in September 2022. However, commercial and industrial establishments have proceeded with deposit submissions. According to a directive from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulation Commission, the quantum of the deposit will be based on the billing frequency for the respective consumer categories. The deposits are collected as a means to protect Tangedco from defaulters and will be returned when the connection is surrendered. P5 Deposit based on bill For those under monthly billing, the deposit will be two times the monthly average of the electricity charges for the 12 months prior to April. For those under bi-monthly billing, it would be three times the monthly average Prime Narendra Modi on Sunday blamed the Congress for “callously” giving away Katchatheevu, an island near India, to Sri Lanka. This move by the Congress has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people’s minds—“We can’t ever trust Congress!” Modi wrote on his social media account. Sharping his attack further, Modi said, “Weakening India’s unity, integrity and interest has been Congress’ way of working for 75 years and counting.” Reacting to the prime minister’s charges, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on his social media account, “You have suddenly woken up to the issues of territorial integrity and national security in your 10th year of misrule. Perhaps, elections are the trigger. Your desperation is palpable.” The island was given to Sri Lanka as part of a friendly agreement in 1974, Kharge said, reminding Modi that even his government that it too had undertaken a similar friendly gesture towards Bangladesh. About 111 enclaves from India were transferred to Bangladesh and 55 enclaves came to India, Kharge said. Kharge questioned Modi on what has his government done to take back the island. DMK spokesperson SRILANKA INDIA Katchatheevu Island Mannar Island Rameswaram Gulf of Mannar katchatheevu is spread over 1.9 square km of land It is about 20 km from India and uninhabited In 1974, Indira Gandhi government decided to relinquish India’s claim over over Katchatheevu Another agreement was signed in 1976 to define maritime boundaries, economic zones for both countries S Manuraj said after 10 years in government, the incumbent party is afraid to campaign on its achievements and is still busy with opposition blaming. The Katchatheevu issue crops up in Tamil Nadu whenever fishermen are caught or fired upon by Sri Lankan navy along the international waters. Recently BJP TN president K , Annamalai filed a RTI on ceding of Katchatheevu by the government of India which was published on Sunday . P4 Substation wall collapse kills five in Pondy B a g a l a v an P erier B @ Puducherry Five persons were killed and four injured after the compound wall of an electricity substation collapsed in Puducherry town on Sunday The inci. dent occurred when the victims were engaged in the construction of an underground drainage, alongside the substation. Police booked the contractor and overseer under Sections 304A, 337 and 338 of the IPC. The deceased were identified as Bakkiaraj (48), Kamal (55), Rajesh Kannan (50) and Anthony (65) from Ariyalur district and Balamurugan (38) from Cuddalore district. They were part of a team of 16 workers engaged by a contractor for the Public Works Department to renovate the drainage canal behind the Marapalam Substation under a Smart City project for the past year and a half. Sources said the team started work early in the morning and some members left for breakfast around 8.45am. Moments later, a section of the sevenfoot-tall wall collapsed, trapping the remaining workers. While residents, police and fire service personnel tried to rescue them, Bakkiaraj was fatally hurt when debris pushed him into water. P5
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