HYDERABAD  WEDNESDAY  NOVEMBER 13, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION 35 KILLED, 43 INJURED AFTER MAN RAMS HIS CAR INTO CROWD IN CHINA Police said the 62-year-old driver, surnamed Fan, had been “triggered by (his) dissatisfaction with the division of property following his divorce” PEOPLE AT ZHUHAI SPORTS CENTRE TARGETED ATTACKER SERIOUSLY INJURED, HOSPITALISED According to police, the disgruntled man drove his small SUV into a crowd of people exercising at a sports centre in the Chinese city of Zhuhai, which is hosting a major international military airshow this week. Terming it a “major vicious incident”, local police said the horrific incident occurred at 7:48 pm on Monday. The attacker tried to flee but the police nabbed him ■ ■ Responding officers found Fan in his vehicle attempting to self-harm with a knife. They swiftly intervened and sent him to hospital Fan is still receiving medical treatment as he was unconscious due to severe injuries to his neck and other areas and is not yet fit to be questioned by the police, state-run Xinhua news agency said | P9 Zhuhai 15TH CHINA INT’L AVIATION & AEROSPACE EXHIBITION KICKED OFF ON TUESDAY S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati A day after he accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of being selective in its searches, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said he was subjected to checks for the second straight day on Tuesday, when he arrived in Latur district to campaign for the November 20 assembly polls. He said official searched his luggage, like they did on Monday after his helicopter landed at Wani in Yavatmal district. Tuesday’s inspection was carried out by the election officials after the former Maharashtra CM’s chopper arrived at a helipad in Ausa of Latur ahead of his rally scheduled to be held in Kasar Shirshi village. According to a video posted on X, Thackeray is heard asking the election staffers why he was being singled out for such searches. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut alleged cash is being exchanged for votes at the behest of BJP-Sena-NCP leaders but the EC is not acting. “Our luggage, helicopter, private jet, cars... everything is checked. They search our homes also... We don’t have a problem if it is done impartially. But, where Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar, and Devendra Fadnavis are contesting, `25 crore has already reached...” he alleged. EC officials later confirmed that nothing objectionable was found in Thackeray’s bags. THREE Meitei women and as many children from the same community have been missing from restive Manipur’s Jiribam since Monday’s gunfight in which 10 Kuki ‘militants’ were gunned down by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the police. In Imphal, 13 organisations jointly announced a 24-hour total shutdown in the Imphal valley from 6 pm of Tuesday seeking government intervention to secure the release of the six individuals. Talking about the Jiribam gunfight, Inspector General of Police I K Muivah said armed miscreants had attacked the Borobekra police station and also at a nearby CRPF camp at Jakuradhor on Monday afternoon. “The militants were using RPGs and other sophisticated weapons such as AK, INSAS, SLRs. A CRPF jawan was injured in the attack and evacuated to Assam for treatment,” Muivah said. The CRPF retaliated and the firing stopped after about 45 minutes. “About 10 militants were found dead. Two elderly persons were found burned to death while three women and three minor children were found missing,” the IGP said, adding the police are trying to trace the six missing persons. The two elderly persons were from the Meitei community . Protesting the “inhumane actions” of CRPF in Jiribam, the Kuki Students’ Organisation issued a “notice” stating that “no CRPF personnel shall be allowed to leave their camp premises.” It demanded a thorough and courtmonitored probe into the “fake encounter”. CANADA CONSULAR EVENT CANCELLED The Brampton Triveni temple in Canada cancelled a consular event after the police warned them of an “extremely high” threat level of violent protests | P8 Given the kinds of weapons recovered and the clothes they wore, we can say that they were either armed militants or armed miscreants I K Muivah, IGP KUKI FIAT No CRPF personnel shall be allowed to leave their camp premises till they apologise, a Kuki student outfit said @ Hyderabad NEARLY eight months after the case was registered, the police have reportedly summoned four more former MLAs from the BRS for examination in the alleged phone-tapping case. On Monday the police , had summoned Nakrekal former MLA Chirumarthi Lingaiah for examination in the case. However, Lingaiah sought more time to appear citing health reasons. @ Hyderabad STATING that all evidence pointed to a conspiracy behind the attack on the Vikarabad district collector and other officials on Monday, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Multi Zone-II V Satyanarayana on Tuesday said that 16 of the identified accused have been sent to remand. Sources said that the remand period is 14 days. “It was a preplanned attack on the collector and other officials. They invited the officials into the village and attacked them,” the IGP said. The collector and his team were attacked when they went to Lagcharla village in Dudyala mandal to talk to locals who are Sources said that the summons stemmed from some crucial information that has surfaced in the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) reports. It may be mentioned here that at the time of filing the chargesheet, the police had not received the FSL reports. Recently, during the hearing of a bail petition filed by former ASP M Thirupathanna in the Telangana High Court, the Public Prosecutor told the court that Lingaiah had been in contact with the accused, adding that they got to know about this only after police received FSL reports. Lingaiah allegedly asked Thirupathanna to tap the phones of certain people at the time of elections, the PP said. The FSL reports also threw up some other names along with Lingaiah. Based on the FSL reports, police are summoning more people for examination. The FSL reports revealed that some politicians, reportedly connected to the BRS, sent the phone numbers of civilians to some of the accused in the CONTINUED ON P4 case. MEAT AND FISH SNACKS, SWEETS Retail inflation shoots up to 6.21% in October, dashes rate cut hopes M O N I K A YA D A V @ New Delhi THE spectre of inflation has come back to haunt the economy as retail inflation shot up to 6.21% in October, marking the highest level in 14 months, driven by a sharp spike in food prices. This surge was noted in the prices of fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, and cooking oils. Food inflation rose considerably to 10.87% in October, the highest in 15 months, up from 9.24% in September and 6.61% in the same month last year. In October, the rate of price increases exceeded the Reserve Bank of India’s upper limit for acceptable inflation (6%). Rural areas experienced a significant rise in inflation at 6.7%, while urban consumers faced a lower rate of 5.6%. The latest inflation numbers dash any We have taken a very serious view of the attack on Collector Prateek Jain and others at Lagcherla. A police inquiry is on to identify who is behind the conspiracy –D Sridhar Babu, IT minister against a pharma unit proposed to be established in the village. The IGP said that arrangements for a public hearing were made about 2 km from Lagcharla. However, instead of the villagers, a person identified as Suresh Raj came with some farmers and convinced the collector to come to the village to speak about the pharma unit. He told the collector that peo- 3.17 Inflation heat breaches RBI’s top tolerance level IIP TURNS POSITIVE India’s industrial production grew 3.1% with all three key sectors— mining, manufacturing, and power generation—demonstrating positive trends in September. This is a notable improvement as factory output had dipped to (-) 0.1% in August hope of an interest rate cut by the RBI during its monetary policy review in December. Food prices in rural areas increased 10.7% in the month under review, while urban food inflation was even steeper at 11.1%. Meanwhile, inflation for vegetables surged from 36% in September to a five-year high of 42.2% in October. Additionally edible oil prices rose 9.5%, , the biggest jump in two years. Fruit prices rose 8.4%, while inflation for pulses decreased to 7.4%, ending a 17-month streak of double-digit price increases. On the other hand, spice prices fell 7%. Additionally in October, households , experienced an 11% increase in the costs of personal care products and services, up from 9% in September. For experts, core inflation remaining below 4% for 11th consecutive month is a big positive. “The surge in vegetable prices was due to uneven rains. Data for November suggests some moderation in vegetable prices. This, in addition to a favourable base, can lend some downside to vegetable inflation,” said Dharmakirti Joshi, chief economist, CRISIL. 16 held for ‘preplanned’ attack on collector EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE CEREALS AND PRODUCTS 7.43 6.94 4.87 3.65 Figures are inflation rates (%) of the items for October 2024 ple were hesitant to speak in the presence of the police. Following the request, the collector went to the village. The IGP said that the police followed the collector at a distance of about 300 metres. When the collector reached the village, the people gathered there started raising slogans and began pelting stones at him. The attackers were also armed with sticks. The collec- tor had no option but to retreat. During the attack, some of the other officials, including police personnel, sustained injuries. Satyanarayana said that those who have participated along with instigators of the attack will be prosecuted. “We are collecting video and other evidence. As of now 16 persons have been remanded for 14 days. We have identified 57 suspects; most are farmers. We are not arresting innocent spectators, only conspirators and attackers,” the IGP said. He said that the government has taken the case very seriously “No accused will be left free. . Three officers are collecting evidence. We will not let whoever is involved, directly or indirectly, for this incident, evade justice,” Satyanarayana added. Tapgate: 4 more ex-MLAs summoned EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE PULSES AND PRODUCTS FRUITS 42.18 10.99 9.69 9.51 8.43 EXPRESS READ EGG WHAT’S DRIVING THE PRICE RISE OILS AND FATS TWO MEITEIS CHARRED TO DEATH, 6 MISSING FOOD AND BEVERAGES DAY AFTER PERSONAL CARE High drama as Uddhav’s bags checked again by EC officials Vegetables 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 NATURALLY ADEPT As the wedding season approaches, a lane near the Exhibition Ground in Hyderabad is bustling with activity, with weavers making garlands and other materials used for ceremonies and rituals, on Tuesday | SRI LOGANATHAN VELMURUGAN MAINTAINING PRESSURE K’taka Lokayukta cops raid officials Bengaluru: Under the spotlight for its role in the cases against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Karnataka Lokayukta police on Tuesday conducted simultaneous raids in 37 places of eight government officials across the state in relation to the disproportionate assets cases registered against them. During the searches, the Lokayutka police found assets to the tune of `22.50 crore, including immovable properties worth `17.84 crore and jewellery worth `1.66 crore. HAWKISH ON CHINA Trump taps Mike Waltz as his NSA Washington: President-elect Donald Trump has asked Michael Waltz, a war veteran, to be his national security adviser, a person familiar with the matter said Monday. Waltz is an ardent Trump advocate who backed efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a US boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of Covid-19 and its ongoing atrocities of the minority Muslim Uighurs. PTI GAME-CHANGING TOOL: COP29 “This will be a game-changing tool to direct resources to the developing world and help us save up to $250 billion a year when implementing our climate plans,” said Yalchin Rafiyev, Azerbaijan’s Dy foreign minister and COP29 lead negotiator Carbon market deal done? Experts wary S V KRISHNA CHAITANYA EXPRESS IN BAKU T HE United National Climate Conference (COP29) presidency has claimed early success with the adoption of standards for carbon credits, referred to as Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, a long-debated framework designed to help nations collaborate on reducing carbon emissions. But, critics say it was pushed without adequate scrutiny and would lead to greenwashing as there are not enough safeguards. Yalchin Rafiyev, COP29 lead negotiator, told the media, “This will be a game-changing tool to direct resources to the developing world.” However, Harjeet Singh, Global Engagement Director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, disagreed. “Fast-tracking carbon market rules at the start of COP29 sets a troubling precedent. Rushed rules open the door to weak, false ‘solutions’ that will only delay real climate action.” Article 6, offers two options for trading: countries can enter into bilateral agreements and set their own rules, or participate in a United Nations-supervised market open to all. This UN supervised carbon market, in which the credit price will be fixed by the market players but embedded with third party accreditation, has several loopholes. Critics argue that the benefits of Article 6 are far from guaranteed, as they could result in human rights abuses and ‘greenwashing’, in which polluters can claim environmental progress without reducing emissions. However, Martin Hession, Vice-Chair of the Article 6.4 of the Supervisory Body, told this newspaper, “there are enough safeguards to thwart greenwashing. Third party verification is integral. But, individual countries must also ensure the quality of credits.” On Article 6, India expects to conclude the deal. It hopes COP29 would be able to agree to a mechanism which uses market-based instruments (such as carbon credits) to incentivise low-carbon development. POINT OF ORDER Absence of sperm doesn’t automatically mean innocence in rape cases: POCSO court C H I T H A L U R I R E V A N T H @ Hyderabad MAKING it clear that absence of sperm does not automatically mean innocence in rape cases, a fast track court for Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) cases here has sentenced an accused to life in prison. The court’s observation on Monday came after the Foren- sic Science Laboratory (FSL) found no evidence of sexual assault against a 17-year-old survivor. The case pertains to a missing person complaint registered with the LB Nagar police in 2018. Four days later, the police found the girl at Secunderabad Railway station. She told the police that the accused, identified as Kanakala Rajesh, took her to Visakhapatnam under false pretences and assaulted her. The police then altered the case 366-A, 376(2)(n) of IPC, Section 5(l) read with 6 of POCSO Act and Section 3(2)(Va) of SC and ST (POA) Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2015. Following procedure, the police sent the girl for medical examination and the samples collected were sent to FSL. The FSL report said that there was no evidence of sexual intercourse. However, in its orders, the court said that forensic evidence like presence of sperm was just one type of evidence, but absence of sperm does not equate to innocence. “Sperm detection is only relevant if there was ejaculation. However, not all sexual assaults involve ejaculation, and even if ejaculation occurred, there may have been limited or no deposition of sperm into the vagina, especially if the assault was brief or involved different types of sexual activity”, the court order said. The defence counsel cited to the court the statement of the survivor that the accused came to her house four times and they had physical relations before they went to Vishakhapatnam and said that this was proof of mutual consent. However, the court pointed out that the victim was a minor on the date of the incident. “According to the principles of law, minors are legally not deemed capable of giving consent to sexual intercourse. Sexual intercourse with a minor below the age of consent is often categorised as statutory rape,” the court noted. “It is a well-settled principle of law that the evidence of the victim is more than sufficient to establish the case, as she is the sufferer, and there is no need for corroboration,” the prosecution said.