KOttayam l saturday l October 05, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Apple says it will manufacture entire iPhone 16 lineup in India Weeks after launching its iPhone 16 series, Apple said that it will manufacture its entire iPhone 16 lineup, including premium devices, in India Premium devices to roll out this month Four more Apple stores coming up This marks the first instance of Apple producing its premium devices outside China. The company said Indian-made iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models will be rolled out this month. These will be available for local customers and will also be exported. “Apple is now manufacturing the entire iPhone 16 lineup, including iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, in India,” it said ■ ■ The iconic phone maker also said that it will open four more stores in India, to be located in Pune, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai Apple’s manufacturing partners in India include Taiwanese giants Foxconn and Pegatron, as well as the Tata-owned Wistron. The Tata Group is Apple’s only Indian manufacturing partner | P12 2017 When the u.s.-based tech giant began manufacturing the iPhone in India 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 Modi convenes urgent Cabinet meet to discuss West Asia crisis RA J E SH K U M AR THA K UR @ New Delhi aMID rising global tensions over the prospects of an IsraelIran war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has convened a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to discuss the evolving situation and its potential impact on India. According to sources, a significant portion of the discussion focused on fuel and crude oil supplies, with Finance Minister Nir mala Sitharaman putting the status on trade with other countries. The committee deliberated on whether the rising international fuel prices, influenced by the situation involving Iran, could affect India’s oil sector. A source said the Ministry of Finance ruled out any immediate adverse implications for India. The CCS meeting, held late on Thursday evening, lasted over 20 minutes, during which various aspects of the unfolding situation were discussed. Apart from ministers, officials from Home Affairs, External Affairs, Finance, and Defence were also present. The ministers deliberated on the potential for trade relations with countries affected by the conflict, noting that India’s trade interests could be hit. Prime Minister Modi urged ministers and officials to maintain heightened vigilance and to closely monitor developments. He stressed the need to ensure the safety of Indian nationals working in West Asia. According to estimates, over 30,000 Indians are currently in Israel, while there are about 10,000 Indians are in Iran. express read P V Anvar booked for leaking police info Malappuram: Manjeri police on Friday registered a case against Nilambur MLA P V Anvar on a complaint that he leaked confidential details of the police’s Special Operations Group (SOG). The complaint was filed by the superintendent of SOG in Areekode. The SOG has been operating under Kerala Police for several years, focusing on Maoist hunt and anti-terrorist operations. P4 Case against Manaf on plaint by Arjun’s family Kozhikode: A case has been registered against Abdul Manaf, the owner of the truck involved in the landslide incident in Shirur that claimed the life of Arjun. The complaint, filed by Arjun’s sister, accuses Manaf of exploiting the family’s grief for personal gain, while also alleging that his public statements led to a surge of cyber P7 attacks against the family.  Jaishankar-led team to attend SCO meet in Pak 28 Maoists killed in south Bastar E J A Z K AIS E R @ Raipur First Indian foreign minister in nine years to visit the neighbour amid frosty bilateral ties received a high-level welcome in Pakistan. It is disappointing External Affairs Minister S and condemnable, but it is not Jaishankar will lead the Indian surprising,” said Jaiswal. delegation for the upcoming Bilateral ties became frosty SCO Summit in Islamabad, after Indian Air Force jets making him the first Indian bombed a Jaish-e-Mohammed foreign minister to visit Paki- training camp in Balakot deep stan in nine years. “Jaishankar inside Pakistan in February will lead the Indian delegation 2019 in response to a terror atfor the SCO Summit for Islama- tack on a CRPF bus in J&K’s bad on October 15-16,” said Pulwama. Months later, J&K’s Ministry of External Affairs special powers under Article spokesperson Randhir 370 were read down. Jaiswal on Friday . Pakistan retaliated by Foolproof The last time an Indowngrading diplosecurity dian external affairs matic ties with India. Pakistan minister went to PakiDuring his recent s t a n w a s S u s h m a minister Mohsin UN General Assembly Naqvi said Swaraj’s visit in 2015. address, Jaishankar personnel from said, while many counThere was no clarity the Army, on whether India will tries get left behind have any bilateral Rangers, FC and due to circumstances Punjab police talks with other Shangbeyond their control, hai Cooperation Or- will be deployed some make conscious to ensure ganisation (SCO) choices with disasfoolproof members as Jaiswal trous consequences, said Jaishankar is security for the pointing to Pakistan SCO guests, travelling to Pakistan as a prime example. “A reports Dawn only to attend the sumdysfunctional nation mit. During the SCO coveting the lands of foreign ministers’ meeting in others must be exposed and Goa in 2023, Pakistan’s foreign countered,” he said. minister Bilawal Bhutto had He was rebuffing the false travelled to India along with 11 equivalence Pakistan Prime journalists from his country . Minister Shehbaz Sharif Significantly Indian fugitive sought to draw between Kash, and radical Islamist Zakir Naik mir and Palestine in his UNGA is in Pakistan since the past address the previous day Later, . few days. He also met Pakistani defence minister Rajnath Singh Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said India could have extended on Thursday . much more aid to the neigh“We are not surprised that a bour than the IMF’s $7 billion fugitive from Indian justice has had it mended its ways. Ye s h i Se l i @ New Delhi Bastar inspector general of police Sunderraj P inspecting the weapons recovered from Maoists after an encounter on September 25 in Narayanpur | Express Major encounters in Bastar this year March 27: 6 Maoists killed in Bijapur April 2: 13 Maoists killed in Bijapur April 6: 3 Maoists killed along C’garhTelangana border April 16: 29 Maoists killed in Kanker April 30: 9 Aug 29: 3 Woman May 23: 7 Sept 3: 9 Maoists killed at inter-district border Narayanpur-Kanker Maoists killed on borders of KankerNarayanpur Determined to counter the antiMalappuram narrative being thrust upon Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the CPM leadership on Friday launched a major offensive, reminding its critics that the district belongs to everyone. “None has handed over Malappuram district’s ownership rights to anyone. The CPM’s stance is against both majority and minority communalism,” said party state secretary M V Govindan, briefing the media on the state committee’s decisions on Friday . The CPM approved a document on ‘the contemporary political situation and the party position’ that observed: “The allegation of an RSS-CPM nexus has been raised against the party to destroy the acceptance the CPM has gained among the secular and minority The Kerala High Court on Friday found guilty seven accused who were acquitted by the Kozhikode Special Additional Sessions Court in a case relating to the murder of DYFI activist C K Shibin of Nadapuram in 2015. The prosecution case was that Shibin, 19, was murdered by an armed gang allegedly owing allegiance to the IUML at Vellur, near Thooneri, around 10pm on January 22, 2015. The Special Additional Sessions Court (Marad cases) had acquitted all 17 accused in the murder case in 2016 on the ground that the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. The persons convicted by the High Court are first accused Ismail, his brother and second accused Muneer, fourth accused Siddique, fifth accused Muhammed Anees, sixth accused Shuhaib, 15th accused Jasim and 16th accused Samad. The bench passed the order on an appeal filed by 65 2020 40 Maoists killed on inter-district border Dantewada-Bijapur 2021 51 June 6: 7 Sept 25: 3 Maoists 2022 30 Oct 4: 28 Maoists killed on inter-district border DantewadaNarayanpur 2023 20 2024* 185 Maoists killed on Narayanpur, Dantewada and Kondagaon June 15: 8 Maoists killed in Narayanpur killed In Narayanpur (*till Oct 04) SC forms new SIT to probe laddu row S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Friday constituted an independent special investigation team (SIT) to probe the allegations that animal fat was used to prepare laddus at Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, in Andhra Pradesh. The new SIT substitutes the Andhra Pradesh government’s probe panel constituted on September 26 to look into the row. A bench of Justices B R Ga- vai and K V Viswanathan said the fresh probe team shall have two CBI officers, two Andhra Pradesh police officers, and a senior official of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The two CBI officers would be nominated by the agency’s director while the two officers from the Andhra Pradesh Police would be named by the state government. The FSSAI chairperson would nominate a senior of- Everyone can work in the party. Anvar who is spreading lies about the party has only the support of Jamaat-eIslami, SDPI and UDF. Malappuram district belongs to everyone. None has given the ownership rights of the district to anyone M V Govindan, CPM state secretary sections of society The document .” accuses the Opposition and other forces of for ming a rainbow alliance in collusion with a section of media against the second Pinarayi Vijayan government, similar to the liberation struggle against the first Communist government in 1957. Presenting the excerpts of the document, Govindan said the CPM is not against believers or non-believers. “Everyone can work in the party Anvar (Nilambur MLA) who . is spreading lies about the party has only the support of Jamaat-eIslami, SDPI and UDF. Malappuram district belongs to everyone. None has given the ownership rights of the district to anyone. CPM’s stance is against both the majority and minority communalism. It was the EMS government which formed the Malappuram district considering its backwardness. At that time, the Congress had joined with the Jana Sangham to oppose the formation. They alleged that a little Pakistan is going to be formed. “Once, both Muslims and Communists were not recruited to the police. That situation was changed by the then EMS government. Malappuram is a centre of the Communist movement. We don’t have any misconception that it was under someone else,” the CPM ● More on P4 state secretary said.  DYFI man’s murder: HC convicts 7 acquitted by trial court E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi 2019 Maoists killed on inter-district border Narayanpur-Bijapur No one has Malappuram district’s ownership rights, asserts CPM E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram Maoists killed in last five years At least 28 Maoists were killed in a fierce gun battle with the security forces close to the forested NendurThulthuli area along the inter-district border of Dantewada and Narayanpur in south Bastar on Friday . Bastar range inspector general of police Sunderraj P said the troopers have recovered 28 bodies so far. The count could go up further. “Based on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of Maoists in the region, a joint team comprising District Reserve Guards and Special Task Force launched parallel search operations. While the encounter began around 1 pm, intermittent exchange of firing continued till late in the evening. Search operations in the region are underway,” Prabhat Kumar, Narayanpur district police chief told this newspaper. A large cache of assault weapons, including AK-47, self-loading rifles, explosives, besides other items of Maoists were recovered from the site, the police said. There was no report of any injury sustained by the forces. The recovered bodies will be identified after the safe return of the security forces engaged in the operation. Dantewada and Narayanpur are among the seven Maoist-affected districts in the Bastar zone. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed the operation and said the ‘double engine’ government (BJP government in the state and at the Centre) is determined to eliminate the menace. As many as 185 Maoist fighters have been neutralised by security forces this year alone (see table). Besides, 663 others have been arrested and 556 surrendered since January in the conflict-ridden Bastar zone. Since 2019, as many as 277 new camps of central armed police forces were set up to fill the security vacuum in the Maoist-affected areas of the state. the state government against the acquittal of the accused. The court directed the seven accused to appear before it on October 15 to hear them on the sentences to be awarded to them. As per the case, Shibin was attacked with an axe and he succumbed to the injuries at a hospital. Congress workers, who were trying to stop the as- 17 accused were acquitted by trial court in 2016 Shibin, 19, was murdered by an armed gang allegedly owing allegiance to the IUML at Vellur, near Thooneri, on January 22, 2015. All the 17 accused in the case were acquitted by the trial court in 2016 sailants, were also injured in the attack. The murder had rocked Nadapuram and adjoining areas with around 50 Muslim houses ransacked allegedly by CPM men. Peace was established in Nadapuram after the intervention of state-level leaders of the CPM and the IUML. A team led by the then CM Oommen Chandy had visited the area and constituted a committee led by Dr M K Muneer, the then minister of social justice, to oversee the relief activities. Theyyambadi Ismail, the main accused in the case, was arrested on February 3, 2015, and the chargesheet submitted on April ● More on P4 21, 2015.  ficer to be a part of the SIT, it said. The SIT shall work under the supervision of the CBI director, the bench added. The SC said it hasn’t gone into the merits of allegations and counter allegations on alleged adulteration of the laddus. “We won’t allow the Supreme Court to be used for political drama. There are sentiments of crores of people throughout the world,” the bench said. The court said its order to set up a fresh probe panel should in no way be construed as any reflection on the independence or the fairness of the officers of the SIT constituted by the state government. “We are passing order regarding entrustment of this matter to an independent agency consisting of the aforesaid members only to assuage the feelings of crores of people/ devotees having faith in the deity,” the bench said while disposing of the petitions seeking a court-monitored probe.