Monday 15 July, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard naval exercise china, russia patrol pacific The joint naval patrol in the northern and western Pacific was not ‘targeted’ at any other nation, Beijing’s defence ministry said on Sunday Page 09 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 Trump survives assassination bid Major security lapse as ex-US president shot in the ear at campaign rally; gunman killed aGENCIES FORMER US president Donald Trump survived an attempt on his life when a gunman fired multiple shots at him during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening (US time) with a bullet grazing his right ear. While the 78-year-old presumptive Republican presidential nominee was left bleeding, the shooting killed one attendee and critically injured two spectators. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said Trump was the target of the attack, which is being investigated as an attempted assassination. Trump was standing on a stage and addressing his supporters at the packed outdoor election rally in Butler town when bullets started flying. Video footage showed the former president grabbing his ear as he ducked to escape bullets. Trump was seen with blood on his ear and cheek while he was rushed off the stage by Secret Service agents. Secret Service snipers returned fire and killed the shooter, who attacked from the rooftop of a building just about 100 metres away from rally venue. While the motive of the attack is not clear yet, the FBI has identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The attack raised questions about the robustness of the security for the ex-president. That the shooter managed to WELCOME TO THE ERA OF ALCARAZ ap S w a r o o p S w a m in at h a n @ Chennai THIRTEEN minutes into the men’s Wimbledon final, the contest promised to live up to the occasion. Carlos Alcaraz may have broken Novak Djokovic but the first game of the opening stanza was taut with tension. Every point had a lot riding on it. There were 20 points, seven deuces, uncharacteristic early errors from both players, multiple second serves... a typical fare to open proceedings. That game was one of the few times this match remotely had the feel of a contest. In one of the great beatdowns of a bonafide legend in the history of men’s tennis in the Open Era, the Spaniard zoomed past Djokovic, 16 Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz beat Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) to defend his Wimbledon title on Sunday years his senior. For the majority of the match, the vibe was akin to when Daniil Medvedev razed through the Serb in the final in New York a few summers ago. The 37-year-old, vying to become the sole owner of the most number of Majors across genders, was surprisingly flat throughout the encounter. His famous siege mentality was missing and the Spaniard, who has now gone four consecutive wins in Slam finals to open his career, didn’t need a second invitation to defend his crown on grass. The Serb, who was touch and go for this tournament after a knee surgery last month, launched a fightback in the third set when he saved three three Championship points before breaking Alcaraz’s serve. In the end, it only delayed the inevitable as the near flawless third seed first held serve to push it to a tie-break before one jaw-dropping drop-shot winner (6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4)) set him on his way to paradise land. P11 reach a vantage point with a semi-automatic gun, bypassing security is intriguing. , Multiple witnesses said they saw the gunman crawling on a roof and alerted authorities. “It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country It was God alone who pre... vented the unthinkable from happening,” Trump said in a social media post. US President Joe Biden condemned the attack and spoke to Trump. Biden faces Trump in the November presidential elections. P9 l PAGES 12 In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united, and show our true character.... remaining strong and determined, and not allowing evil to win Former US president Donald Trump is rushed offstage by Secret Service agents moments after shots were fired at him in Butler, Pennsylvania | AFP AR-15: gun behind mass shootings Donald Trump, ex-US president There is no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow this to be happening. I’m grateful to hear that he’s (Trump) safe and doing well The AR-15, the gun used by the attacker, is one of the most popular guns in the US and has been used in some of the country’s worst mass shootings. It is a semi-automatic weapon, meaning a user can fire multiple shots in quick succession. The gun fires high-velocity bullets that can travel at three times the speed of a handgun round, are accurate over long distances, reports said. It is affordable and easy to use Joe Biden, US president Deeply concerned by the attack on my friend, former President Donald Trump. Strongly condemn the incident. Violence has no place in politics and democracies Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Who fired the shots and why 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks lived in Pennsylvania’s Bethel Park, an hour’s drive from the rally site He was registered to vote as a Republican, but had donated $15 to a Democratic-aligned political action committee Public Pennsylvania court records show no past criminal cases against Crooks Motive remains unknown Lured with job offer in Malaysia, Lucknow youth held captive, tortured in Myanmar Y es h i se l i @ New Delhi There have been numerous reports about Indians being lured with fake job offers abroad and forced to work for a cybercrime racket based in Myanmar and Cambodia, but survivor accounts detailing the scale of hor ror have been few. This newspaper spoke to a youngster who ended up in Myanmar after being lured by an IT job offer in Malaysia. He managed to escape from the racket’s clutches after arranging a ransom. “We got to know of IT sector jobs in Malaysia through a friend. We gave an online in- Moei River Megalahpo Myanmar (Burma) Sagar Chauhan press clusive terview and within a few days, three of us got visas and tickets and were headed to Malaysia,” 25-year-old Sagar Chauhan from Lucknow told this newspaper. Sagar and his friends Ajay and Rahul left India on March 27. They were to land in Thailand’s Bangkok, which was a transit point. However, on reaching Bangkok, they were booked into a hotel, and later that day taken for sightseeing. , The following day, they were ordered to get into a vehicle and were driven towards Myanmar. After about eight hours of driving, they reached the Myanmar border. In Megalahpo on the Myanmar side, they were handed over to men in uniform who claimed to be from the Myanmar Army . They eventually ended up at a well-appointed facility (which Sagar says was named Chuangishan), which had over 5,000 workers of different nationalities including Sri Lanka, Pakistan and China. Sagar said their boss was Chinese and spoke through an interpreter. Their job was to convince rich people around the world to invest in various fraudulent schemes. “Those refusing to work would be brutally beaten up and kept in a dark room. While Ajay and Rahul relented, I didn’t,” Sagar added. Sagar was tortured. But a few days later he was told he could go home if he transferred `8 lakh. He reached India on April 14. Ajay and Rahul are still there. Armstrong murder case Patient shot dead in hospital, docs PUC centres to be shut suspect shot dead by cops go on strike over safety concerns from today over rates G a u t h a m S e lv a r a j a n @ Chennai One of the 11 suspects in Tamil Nadu BSP president K Armstrong’s murder case, K Thiruvengadam (33) of Kundrathur was shot dead by police in ‘self-defence’ near Puzhal on Sunday after he allegedly tried to attack the police team and attempted to flee from its custody . According to a police statement, when T h i r u ve n g a d a m was being taken to his house in Manali to recover the murder weapons on Sunday morning, he asked the cops to stop the vehicle near Retteri to answer nature’s call. Immediately after getting out of the vehicle, he pushed the police personnel who were near him and fled to a thatched hut in a place called Vegetarian Village near Puzhal. When the police surrounded the hut after tracking him down, the history-sheeter opened fire at them with a country-made pistol that he had hidden there. In ‘selfdefence’, police shot him. Though the injured Thiruvengadam was rushed to a private hospital nearby, he was declared dead on arrival. The Puzhal police have registered a case regarding the incident and produced the FIR before the judicial magistrate. The encounter comes just six days after Chennai City Police Commissioner A Arun, in his first press briefing after taking charge, said that the police would ‘speak in a language that rowdies understand’. While the AIADMK, BJP and , PMK have raised suspicion over the encounter, the demand for a CBI investigation into Armstrong’s murder has also gained momentum. u j w a l j a l a l i @ New Delhi A 32-year-old man, admitted as a patient at a hospital in Shahdara area, was shot dead by a youth while the former was being treated at the hospital ward, an official said on Sunday . The deceased, identified as Riyazuddin, was admitted at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital for an abdominal infection. DCP (Shahdara) Surendra Chaudhary said a PCR call about firing in ward No.24 was received at GTB Enclave police station. “At the hospital, the police found one deceased patient, Riyazuddin, a resident of Khajuri, who was admitted to the hospital on June 23 for treatment of abdominal infection,” the DCP said. Around 4 pm on Sunday, a youth came inside the ward and fired multiple shots at Riyazuddin resulting in his death. The suspect, who is yet to be identified, fled. The police have registered a case of murder and have launched a manhunt to nab the culprit. Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj has instructed officials to carry out a security review of hospitals following the incident at GTB Hospital. “Negligence will not be tolerated. Those who are found guilty will be strictly punished,” the Minister said. Meanwhile, GTB Hospital’s Residents’ Doctors Association (RDA) declared an indefinite strike citing safety concerns. The shooting incident was condemned by other doctors’ bodies as well. According to an official statement issued by the RDA, the strike came after their pending demand for giving doctors ample security went unheeded by the city government. “Our repeated appeals for enhanced security have been ignored. Until the Delhi government ensures a secure environment for everyone within the hospital, we cannot continue our duties,” an RDA spokesperson said. “The strike will continue until fundamental security improvements are effectively implemented and communicated,” he said. However, emergency services will remain operational during the strike. The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) described the incident as a “mafia-like killing.” e x p r ess ne w s se r v ice @ New Delhi Protesting against the Delhi government’s recent proposed hike in pollution certificate rates, petrol pump owners have decided to keep the PUC centres shut from Monday onwards. Issuing a statement in this regard on Sunday the petrol pump , owners termed the operation of the pollution under control (PUC) centres “unviable”. On Thursday, the Delhi government increased PUC certificate charges as the rates have been the same since 2011. In a statement by the Delhi Petrol Dealers’ Association (DPDA), “Since the operation of PUC centres is unviable, many PUC centres have surrendered their licenses in the last few months. The managing committee of the Delhi Petrol Dealers Association has thus resolved to close PUC centres at their retail outlets across Delhi Puri temple’s Ratna Bhandar reopens after over 4 decades d i a n a s a h u @ Bhubaneswar season of fever & govt fatigue After three major dengue outbreaks in last eight years, the city has already reported over 256 cases in 2024, nearly double the number in the same period last year | P4 More than four-and-a-half decades after it was last opened for audit, the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) in the Puri Jagannath temple was reopened by a 11-member expert committee on Sunday breaking its , three locks. Among the 11 people present when the treasury was reopened were former Orissa HC judge Biswanath Rath, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration chief administra- tor Arabinda Padhee, ASI Superintendent DB Gadanayak and a representative of Puri’s titular king Gajapati Maharaja, officials said. The team was accompanied by a unit of ODRAF personnel equipped with flashlights and cutting tools, and three snake helpline members. Padhee said, “We went inside the Bhitara Bhandar and saw that the jewels, ornaments and other valuables have been stored in almirahs and chests.” CM Mohan Charan Majhi said, “Today, af- pti New special (brass) box being carried for reopening of the temple’s ‘Ratna Bhandar’ ter 46 years, as per Lord Jagannath’s will, the Ratna Bhandar has been opened with a greater purpose. I strongly believe this work will be successful.” Padhee said the jewels and ornaments of Bhitara Bhandar will be shifted to the temple’s Khata Seja Ghara, which has been designated as the temporary strongroom for keeping the valuables of the inner chamber. “Since shifting of the valuables needs time, it will be done another day. As per the procedure, shifting of all the valuables has to be done in its entirety he said. ,” All the ornaments of the Trinity were shifted to Changada Ghara and Phula Ghara, the two designated strongrooms. “The shifting of valuables was done in presence of magistrate and expert committee members,” Padhee said. from July 15 in light of arbitrary and grossly insufficient hike in PUC certification rates, which will not in any way mitigate the losses of the dealers in operating the PUC centres.” The association said PUC rates were last revised in 2011 after a gap of six years and the percentage increase then was more than 70%. “The rate hike announced by the Delhi government now after 13 years is merely 35% whereas all our expenses in the operation of a PUC centre have increased multiple times with just the wages having increased three times from 2011 to 2024,” the statement read. Oil marketing companies have also been charging heavy rents from the PUC centres — 10-15% of the total revenue — which was not the case earlier, it said, adding, “Various other operational costs of the PUC centres have drastically increased over last 13 years.” Express read Infiltration foiled, 3 militants shot dead The Army on Sunday foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Keran sector of J&K’s Kupwara by gunning down three militants. This is the second infiltration bid in 3 months. | P8 NTA to hold CUET-UG re-exam on July 19 The National Testing Agency has scheduled a retest for more than 1,000 CUET-UG candidates on July 19, after receiving some grievances. The results are likely to be declared on July 22.
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