thursdAY 02 31.25oC january, 2025 was the average maximum temperature in 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard below normal winter rainfall in the north New Orleans Apart from some areas in eastern, northwest, and west-central regions, other parts of the country will see minimum and maximum temperatures above normal, the IMD said. States in north India are most likely to receive below-normal rainfall from January to March. This may affect the growth of rabi crops, which depend on winter rainfall 10 killed as truck rams into crowd A driver rammed a vehicle into a crowd of revelers early on New Year’s Day, killing 10 people and injuring 35 others in what the FBI is probing as an act of terror. Page 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Govt outreach to put fertiliser rates on leash Cabinet’s first decision of the new year on farmers; crop insurance schemes extended MUKESH RAN J AN @ New Delhi At a time when farmers in Punjab are on the war path, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday allocated up to `3,850 crore for a one-time package to subsidise the di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser and approved a one-year extension of two crop insurance schemes. In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “(Govt’s) first decision of the New Year is dedicated to crores of farmer brothers and sisters of our country. We have approved increasing the allocation for the crop insurance scheme. This will provide more security to farmers’ crops and will also mitigate their concerns about any damage.” The decision on DAP will ensure farmers get it at affordable prices, he added. The DAP subsidy aims to keep retail prices at `1,350 per bag of 50 kg, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said during a media briefing. Last year, the Centre announced a one-time special package on DAP at `3,500 per tonne, valid from April 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024, with a financial implication of `2,625 crore. The package was over and above DAP subsidy `3,850 crore l New Delhi l J8.00 E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ T’Puram Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday unveiled the plan to build two township projects in Wayanad to rehabilitate the victims of the July 30, 2024 landslides. Estimated to cost `750 crore, the townships will come up on 58.5 hectares and 48.96 hectares of the Nedumbala Estate in Kottapadi village and Elstone Estate in Kalpetta village, respectively, in Wayanad. The cabinet decision comes five days after the Kerala High Court dismissed the pleas of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd and Elstone Tea Estates Ltd against land acquisition. According to the project plan, each family will get either five cents of land at Elstone Estate or 10 cents at Nedumbala Estate, calculated on the basis of the land value. Each house will have 1,000 sq ft built-up area. No timeline has been specified for the project but Pinarayi said the government would strive to complete it as early as Navy to commission 3 combat vessels on Jan 15 India’s maritime capability and indigenous shipbuilding prowess will get a major boost on January 15, when the Navy commissions three combat platforms: a frigate (Nilgiri), a destroyer (Surat) and a submarine (Vaghsheer). | P7 Cops rescue 2 Lankan nationals in Amritsar Punjab Police has rescued two Sri Lankan nationals, abducted by fake travel agents, from Amritsar. They, part of six Lankan nationals who were offered jobs in Albania, came to Delhi on December 2 and paid $3,000 to the fake agents. Man kills mom, 4 sisters in Lucknow hotel room A 24-year-old man killed his four sisters and mother inside a hotel room in Lucknow on Wednesday. After surrendering before the police, he cited harassment from his community over a land-related issue as reason for the crime. | P8 possible. “Activities are ongoing so that the final list of disasteraffected families is released by January 25,” he said. Families that lived in houses ‘Write off debts’ Pinarayi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convene a meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority to consider the state’s request to write off debts of landslide victims Farmers to get DAP at `1,350 per bag of 50 kg Market rate of DAP is over `3,000 per bag of 50 kg Total fertiliser subsidy burden on govt new year rush at Ram temple A huge rush of devotees to offer prayers at the Ram Lalla Temple in Ayodhya on the first day of the New Year on Wednesday. This is the first New Year celebration at the Ayodhya shrine after its consecration early last year. According to local administration estimates, more than five lakh devotees paid homage to Ram Lalla on Wednesday | PTI Reinforced container trucks transporting hazardous waste collected from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal to Pithampur Industrial Area, on Wednesday night cially designed trucks with leakproof, fire-resistant, and GPS-enabled containers are carrying the waste—toxic soil, pesticide residues, and chemicals. The process of collecting, packing, and loading of the waste, which was lying at a sealed shed within the closed factory, had started on Sunday under the supervision of experts. Over 200 trained workers were deployed, each of them operating in short 30-minute shifts following strict safety measures, including wearing PPE kits. The entire process—unlocking the waste, its secure and safe packing, and loading on to the secured containers—was videofilmed and recorded. “The incineration process could take 3-9 months, depending on the speed (feed rate),” Swatantra Kumar Singh, director of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Directorate, told this newspaper. The move comes amid stiff protests from activists who claimed the incineration process would pollute the soil and ground water in the villages around Pithampur, a charge refuted by the authorities. Indore mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava, who is a BJP leader, has also voiced concern, saying the decision to destroy the waste should be reviewed. B’luru rerun? Bakery owner dies by suicide, family says harassed by wife S h e k h a r S i n g h @ New Delhi In a chilling reminder to the Bengaluru techie suicide case, a co-owner of a city bakery died by suicide at his residence in Model Town area of northwest Delhi on Tuesday police said on , Wednesday. Divorce proceedings and business dispute with his wife might be the reasons behind the death, police said. His wife was the last person that the deceased identified by cops as Puneet Khurana (40) spoke to. Khurana’s phone has been sent for forensic exam. Khurana (40) and his wife Manika Jagdish Pahwa coowned Woodbox Cafe. The Model Town police station got a call at 4.18 pm on Tuesday. Upon reaching the spot, the police found Khurana unresponsive on a bed, with a ligature mark on his neck, indicating death by hanging. “He marked as ‘no-go’ zone will also be rehabilitated, he said. A study done after the disaster had identified certain areas surrounding the affected places as landslide-prone and classified the houses as ‘no-go’ zone. Pinarayi said the beneficiaries will keep ownership of their land in the disaster-affected areas even after relocating to the township, and also get ownership of the respective properties in the township with a rider on the cut-off date for resale. Meanwhile, training guns on e x p r ess n e ws s e r v i c e @ New Delhi `11.90 lakh crore the nutrient-based subsidy fixed by the government on non-urea nutrients. Besides, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) have been extended to align it with the 15th Finance Commission period, Vaishnaw said. The outlay for PMFBY and RWBCIS has been enhanced to `69,515.71 crore for 2021-22 to 2025-26, up from `66,550 crore for 2020-21 to 2024-25. For targeted infusion of technolog y in crop insurance schemes, the Cabinet also approved a separate fund with a corpus of `824.77 crore. last year was warmest since 1901 The meteorological department said 2024 was the warmest on record in India since 1901, with an annual mean temperature of 25.75 degrees Celsius, 0.65 degrees above the long-period average the BJP, Pinarayi said the Centre’s delay in declaring the landslide as a disaster of ‘severe nature’ deprived Kerala of the chance to avail funds from UN agencies and NGOs. “Though the Inter-Ministerial Central Team recommended the Home Ministry to declare the tragedy as a disaster of ‘severe nature’ within a month of the incident, no action was taken for two months. The inordinate delay denied us opportunity to secure additional assistance,” he charged. Kejriwal writes to Bhagwat on ‘cash-for-vote’, BJP livid One-time special package ANURAAG SINGH @ Bhopal express read PAGES 12 Minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to be above normal in most parts of India, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Kerala to spend `750 cr to rehabilitate Wayanad victims 40 yrs on, toxic Union Carbide waste exits Bhopal FOUR decades after the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy killed thousands of people, some 337 tonnes of toxic waste lying at the defunct Union Carbide factory were on Wednesday night moved to another site in Dhar district. The Madhya Pradesh government is shifting the hazardous waste out of Bhopal to comply with a MP High Court order, which on December 3 had directed it to shift the toxic waste within four weeks. The state government has to file compliance report before the next hearing on January 6. Officials said the toxic waste has been sent to Pithampur Industrial Area, 250 km from Bhopal, for disposal. A dedicated green corridor has been created to transport the hazardous material in one night. Twelve spe- l Expect warmer January than normal in most parts of India: IMD biz dispute 1 Puneet Khurana and his wife Manika Jagdish Pahwa co-owned Woodbox Cafe 2 Married in ’16, the couple was embroiled in disputes over business assets 3 A 15-minute-long audio clip of a heated argument between the couple seized 4 Khurana’s cellphone have been taken into custody was taken to hospital, where his body was preserved for postmortem,” said a police officer. The officer said the 40-yearold’s father Trilok Nath Khurana handed over a mobile phone to police, alleging harassment by Pahwa and her family . “The mobile phone and other related evidence have been taken into custody. We are awaiting the autopsy report to proceed with the investigation. Pahwa has been called for questioning,” said the officer. The police seized a 15-minute audio clip of a heated argument between Khurana and Pahwa. “You are calling me at 3 am, can’t you sleep? You disrespected me and my family,” Pahwa can be heard as saying. “All these things have no meaning right now… Tell me what you want,” was Khurana’s reply . Pahwa could also be heard saying, “I am not backing off… I agreed to the divorce, but I am still a business partner… You need to clear my dues…” The incident comes days after Atul Subhash, a 34-year-old techie, died by suicide in Bengaluru. Subhash left a 24-page note accusing his wife and her family of harassment. An AAP-BJP skir mish on Wednesday saw Arvind Kejriwal in a missive to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat asking him if he approved of BJP leaders’ “wrongdoings”, including alleged cash-for-votes, and the BJP, in turn, putting it down to his “political frustration”. The former CM wrote an open letter to the Sarsanghchalak claiming Delhi BJP leaders were indulging in “malpractices” such as distributing money and striking off the names of Dalits and Purvanchalis, living in the city for a long time, from the voter list on a large scale. The AAP supremo also asked the RSS chief to clarify if the Sangh plans to campaign for the BJP in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. “There have been media reports suggesting that the RSS will campaign for the BJP in Delhi. Is this true? People wish to know whether RSS endorses wrongful actions by BJP,” he said. The BJP quickly countered the charges. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said Kejriwal’s letter reflects his “political frustration”. He urged the AAP leader to “stop lying, end his corruption, refrain from making false promises in the name of his children, women, and senior citizens, and apologise for the state of the Yamuna”. He said the people seek answers from Kejriwal on his lies and failure to meet public expectations for development. B’desh crisis Infiltrators coming a blessing for to India to work in Ballari jeans textile mills: sarma dhaka unrest P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday dropped a bombshell claiming that a section of India’s textile industry is illegally “importing” cheap labourers from Bangladesh where the industry has taken a hard hit in the aftermath of the unrest that brought down the government of Sheikh Hasina. “The Assam Police are detecting 20 to 30 infiltrators every day and an equal number of people are seen in Tripura also. When we tried to understand why this is happening, we found the textile industry in Bangladesh has virtually collapsed after the unrest,” Sarma said. He alleged that many textile factory owners in India were making use of the situation and are incentivising textile workers there to come to India and work in facto- ries here with better pay. “We have to strike at those industrial houses that are incentivising people to come to India in the form of cheap labour,” Sarma said, adding the Centre is taking the issue seriously . He said he has discussed the matter with counterparts in the Northeast and West Bengal. “I have also discussed it with Home Minister Amit Shah in my last meeting,” Sarma said. However, industry representatives in Tamil Nadu denied Sarma’s claim. “After a similar alert in August, we verified the documents, including Aadhaar, of workers working in knitwear manufacturing units. The police are also actively investigating. However, no illegal entries were found,” K M Subramanian, president of Tiruppur Exporters’ Association, said. He added that units are not incentivising such workers either. K i r a n B a l a n n a n a v a r @ Ballari Political unrest in Bangladesh has come as a blessing in disguise for the jeans industry here. Bangladesh was one of the world’s largest jeans exporters till a few months ago when the crisis hit the industry there. Each unit in Ballari is now doing 30% more business. Industry experts said India’s top brands depended on Bangladesh for jeans till recently, but they are now in touch with the units in Ballari, which is known as the jeans capital of India. According to data, each unit here made profits between `5 and `10 lakh every month after the political unrest hit the industry in Bangladesh. There are more than 500 units in Ballari and its outskirts. Products made here are purchased by traders and dealers in Mumbai and Surat. But now, some international brands are keen on Ballari jeans. Pollux Mallikarjun, member of Ballari Jeans Industry Welfare Association, said the local jeans industry has gone global. “The demand for products manufactured in Ballari has increased since the crisis in Bangladesh broke. Top international brands started contacting the producers here. We have been getting bulk orders since September last,” he said. GST kitty Dec mop-up rises 7.3% year-on-year music connect PM Narendra Modi meets singer Diljit Dosanjh in New Delhi on Wednesday. “We connected over music, culture and more,” Modi posted on ‘X’ | pti Gross GST revenue of the Centre and states stood at `1.77 lakh crore in December 2024, up from `1.65 lakh crore recorded in the same month of 2023 | P10