THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l friday l October 04, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE city EDITION Israel steps up air strikes on Beirut, says Hezbollah Intel HQ hit Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters and other buildings linked to the group in Beirut, killing 15 fighters More lebanon residents told to evacuate A source close to Hezbollah said one of the attacks hit an “evacuated” building housing the group’s media relations office. Earlier in the day, a rare Israeli attack on central Beirut hit a residential building, killing nine. In the south, the Israeli military asked residents in 20 areas to evacuate northward, signaling that it may widen a ground operation launched earlier this week ■ 1,974 Markets tank; no attack on iran today ■ Suspense continued over Israeli response to the Iranian missiles attacks. US President Joe Biden said he is discussing with Israel about striking Iran’s oil facilities. “There is nothing going to happen today,” he added Amid the spiralling conflict in West Asia, domestic equity markets fell sharply. Sensex and Nifty tanked more than 2% each on Thursday people killed in ISraeli attacks on Lebanon since last october 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 SC outlaws caste 3-tier probe into Pooram fiasco, ADGP to stay for now discrimination in jails across India E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Quashes jail manual rules of 10 states, says caste-based work allocation in prisons illegal read down discriminatory laws and file compliance reports before it. IN a landmark verdict, the SuThe verdict came on a plea preme Court on Thursday held filed by Sukanya Shantha, a nathat there should not be any tive of Kalyan in Maharashtra, caste discrimination in prisons alleging that prison manuals of across the country and all some states encourage castepresent provisions in jail man- based discrimination. ual perpetuating such discrimiThe order dealt with certain nation must go. The apex court discriminatory provisions of also registered a suo motu case jail manuals of 10 states—Uttar to monitor the issue. Pradesh, West Bengal, No caste A three-judge bench Madhya Pradesh, Anddetails to led by the Chief Justice hra Pradesh, Odisha, D Y Chandrachud di- be entered Kerala, Karnataka, Marected all states and The CJI-led bench harashtra, and HimachUnion territories to real Pradesh—and set also ordered vise their prison manuthem aside. the deletion of als to end caste-based The court held that caste details of allotment of work. assigning cleaning and prisoners from “Distribution of manu- prison registrars. sweeping tasks to inal work among prisonmates belonging to the “Caste column ers on the basis of their marginalised sections in convict or undertrial caste hierarchy is disand allowing the higher criminatory and un- registrars shall be castes to do cooking is a constitutional,” said deleted,” it said in clear violation of Artiits order the bench, also comcle 15(1). prising Justices J B “Such indirect uses Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. of phrases which target so It also ordered the Centre to called lower castes cannot be make necessary changes ac- used within our constitutional cording to the judgment to ad- framework. Prison manuals dress caste-based discrimina- are only reaffirming such distion in the Model Prison crimination,” the CJI said. Manual, 2016 and the Model Observing that right to live Prisons and Correctional Serv- with dignity extends even to ices Act, 2023. the incarcerated, the bench The apex court gave the Cen- said: “Criminal laws of the cotre and states three months to lonial era continue to impact amend their prison manuals to the postcolonial world.” SUC H ITRA KALYA N M O H A N TY @ New Delhi Officially acknowledging for the first time that concerted efforts were made to disrupt this year’s Thrissur Pooram with an aim to sabotage the state’s social environment, and that the imprints of the Sangh Parivar were palpable behind it, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the government has ordered a three-tier investigation into the matter. Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting, Pinarayi said C r i m e B r a n c h AD G P H Venkatesh will head a special team that will probe the offences allegedly committed during the Pooram with the aim of disrupting it. He said Intelligence ADGP Manoj Abraham will probe the alleged It was during the last stage of the Thrissur Pooram that concerted efforts were made to sabotage it. It was done with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections — Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister Internship scheme rolled out on pilot basis, 111 cos on board M O N IKA YADAV @ New Delhi THE government on Thursday launched the Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme on pilot basis. The scheme is open to those in 21-24 age group who meet specific educational and employment criteria. Existing reservation norms will apply Candidates can apply via www.pmin. ternship.mca.gov.in. The portal will open on October 12 and 1,25,000 interns are expected to be enrolled in the top 500 companies this year. Sources said 111 firms are on board and more are likely to join in. As of Thursday 1,077 offers , have been made by three companies—Mahindra & Mahindra, Max Life Insurance, and Alembic Pharma. The interns will be paid `4,500 per month via direct benefit transfer, while the companies will contribute `500 from their CSR funds. There is a one-time grant of `6,000, which takes the total annual payout to `66,000 per intern. The scheme provides insurance coverage. The PM’s internship scheme is part of a broader initiative that aims to offer skill training to one crore youth over the next five years, with a total budget allocation of `2 lakh crore. By October 26, a list of shortlisted candidates will be provided to companies, which will finalise their selections by November 27. The first intership batch will commence on December 2. Actor Mohanraj, aka Keerikkadan Jose, dies Express N ews Se rvi ce @T’Puram Mohanraj Keerikkadan Jose, one of the most prominent villains that Malayalam cinema has ever come across, bids adieu. Actor Mohanraj, who won the rare distinction of being known by the name of his most celebrated character, passed away on Thursday He . was 69. Mohanraj, who portrayed the ferocious villain in Sibi Malayil’s 1989 film Kireedam starring Mohanlal, not only immortalised the character, but also played a crucial role in uplifting the hero to hitherto unknown dimensions. In a Facebook post, actor and director P Dinesh Panicker said Mohanraj died at his home at Kanjiramkulam lapses made by officials from various departments who had assembled during the Pooram. And, State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb himself will investigate the lapses by ADGP (Law & Order) M R Ajith Kumar during the conduct of the Pooram, Pinarayi said. The government and in Thiruvananthapuram at 3pm. The funeral will be held at his ancestral home, Chandra Bhavan, on Friday . His family members told TNIE that Mohanraj had Parkinson’s disease and suffered a stroke recently. The actor had been on ventilator support for four days and was shifted to his home where he breathed his last.  ● More on P4 EXPRESS READ Navaratri procession reaches capital T’Puram: The procession carrying Navaratri idols from Tamil Nadu reached Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple on Thursday. The idols are of Goddess Saraswati of Padmanabhapuram Palace, Kumaraswami of Velimala temple and Munnoottinanka of Sucheendram temple. P3 Stormy assembly session in store T’Puram: The assembly session starting Friday is expected to be stormy, as the Opposition is geared up to corner the government on various issues, including MLA P V Anvar’s allegations against the CMO and the ADGP-RSS meeting. P4 Govt job for Sruthi, G7L for Arjun’s family T’Puram: The CM announced a government job for Sruthi, who lost her family in the Wayanad landslides and her fiance in an accident later. A sum of J7 lakh will be given to the family of Arjun, who died in Shirur landslide. P4 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express the police had drawn flak over the conduct of this year’s Pooram, with the Opposition Congress and LDF ally CPI alleging that the festival, one of Kerala’s biggest cultural extravaganza, was sabotaged to aid the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections that followed. For almost a month now, Nilambur MLA P V Anvar has been accusing ADGP M R Ajith Kumar of playing a role in the fiasco. Amid all this, Kumar had recently submitted an inquiry report giving himself the clean chit in the incident and attributing the chaos to lapses by the Thrissur police. On Thursday the CM reiter, ated his support for Kumar and said the ADGP will not be removed from his post based on mere allegations. However, he acknowledged that Saheb had pointed out lapses by Kumar, including being away from the Pooram area when the unsavoury incidents unfolded, which ought to be verified.  ● More on P4 Don’t criminalise marital rape: Centre S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @New Delhi The Centre on Thursday strongly opposed the demand to criminalise marital rape, arguing in its affidavit in the Supreme Court that punitive measures are already in place to deal with it. “Parliament has provided different remedies, including criminal law provisions, to protect consent within marriage. Sections 354, 354A, 354B, 498A IPC, and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, ensure serious penal consequences for such violations,” the affidavit said. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is hearing a batch of pleas on the mat- ter. In its affidavit, the Centre said the issue is primarily “social rather than legal”. “Criminalizing marital rape would have significant implications for society The jurisdiction . to criminalize such acts (marital rape) does not lie with the SC but rather with the legislature,” the Centre said. It added that the present question is essentially a social issue on which Parliament has taken a position after weighing all shades of opinions. Parliament, it added, decided to retain Exception 2 to Section 375 of IPC in 2013 while amending the said section in 2013. Striking it down on the grounds of constitutional validity will have a far-reaching effect on the institution of marriage, it argued. “It may severely impact the conjugal relationship and may lead to serious disturbances in the institution of marriage. In the fast-growing and ever-changing social and family structure, misuse of the amended provisions can also not be ruled out,” the Centre said. “In an institution of marriage, there exists a continuing expectation, by either of the spouse, to have reasonable sexual access from the other...these obligations, expectations and considerations, which are completely absent in the case of a stranger who seeks sexual congress, or from any other intimate relationship, constitutes as a sufficient basis for the Legislature to distinguish qualitatively between an incident of non-consensual sex within marital sphere and without it,” it said.