Rich nations told to honour paris pledges BASIC countries, including India, have asked developed countries to honour their commitments to provide climate finance rather than ‘diluting obligations’ and rejected attempts by the rich nations to shift their financial responsibilities during negotiations at the ongoing COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan | AP chennai l friday l november 15, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l vellore EDITION 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 Second edition of the RNG Sahithya Samman today Paramita G h o sh @ New Delhi I deally, works of literature should never have to compete, but what would literary prizes be without such competition? The second edition of the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman instituted by The New Indian Express group will on Friday unveil the names of winners across three categories from among some of India’s most exciting voices in fiction and non-fiction. At the ceremony to be held at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi, a citation, a trophy and a cash prize will be award, ed to each of the three winners. The selection process kicked off in July with a long list of prospective winners based on suggestions from senior editors from each of TNIE’s 30-plus centres across the country — in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, and The Morning Standard and Sunday Standard in Delhi — as well as from publishers. The list was finally whittled down to a shortlist by an internal jury In the non-fiction category four . , books were in the fray — The Day I Became A Runner by Sohini Chattopadhyay The Yellow , Sparrow by Santa Khurai, H-Pop: The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars by Kunal Purohit, and Neerja Chowdhury’s How Prime Ministers Decide.  Continued on: P5 AFSPA back in 6 areas of Manipur Situation continues to be volatile with intermittent firing in parts of the troubled state, says Centre Autopsy report shows thrid-degree torture M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi With the situation in Manipur continuing to be grim, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday re-imposed the tough Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in six police station areas in the Imphal valley after declaring them as disturbed areas. The announcement came on a day when there was no trace of six Meiteis — three women and three children — missing after Monday’s gunfight in Jiribam district that left 10 ‘militants’ dead. The police said search operations were continuing even as political parties joined various organisations in demanding the release of the six captives. Till now, most of Manipur was in the disturbed areas category except for 19 police stations in the A truck damaged after militants set it on fire, in Jiribam district | PTI The autopsy report of the 31-year-old tribal woman killed in Jiribam district on November 7, revealed that she was subjected to third-degree torture and suffered 99% burns. The report also said several body parts and limbs were missing and visceras for chemical analysis could not be collected as most were charred and unrecognisable. Meitei-dominated Imphal valley . The geography of the disturbed areas has now been extended to the jurisdictions of Sekmai and Lamsang police stations in Imphal West, Lamlai in Imphal East, Moirang in Bishnupur, Leimakhong in Kangpokpi, and Jiribam police station in five districts. The imposition of AFPSA is war- ranted to carry out well-coordinated operations to maintain the security situation and contain the activities of insurgent groups there, the ministry said in its notification. The ministry said Manipur continues to be volatile with intermittent firing in violence prone areas in the fringe areas of Bishnupur- Churachandpur, Imphal EastKangpokpi-Imphal West and Jiribam districts. There was active participation of insurgent groups in heinous acts of violence. AFSPA empowers officers of the armed forces to “fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death” after giving due warning against “any person who is acting in contravention of any law or order for the time being in force in the disturbed area” if they are of the opinion that it is necessary to maintain public order. The law protects officers from prosecution. “No prosecution, suit or other legal proceeding shall be instituted, except with the previous sanction of the Central Government, against any person in respect of anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act.” SIT to probe Covid scam against BSY E X P R E S S N E W S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru Dallabe extradition to sought by India India said it will seek the extradition of Arsh Dalla, the de-facto chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force, after his arrest in Canada. He was designated a terrorist by India in 2023 | P9 THE Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government on Thursday decided to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged irregularities in the Covid-19 management and misappropriation of funds by the previous BJP government. Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting here on Thursday the , state’s law minister H K Patil said that the decision to set up the SIT is based on the interim report of Justice John Michael D’Cunha Commission’s report. Patil said CM Siddaramaiah will soon take the steps to form the SIT. Moving ahead with the SIT suggests the Congress government’s plan to prosecute BJP leaders including former CM B S Yediyurappa and ex-health minister B Sriramulu for their purported role in the alleged Covid scam in 2020. The SIT will have three officers headed by an IGP. The team will peruse the charges in the D’Cunha Commission’s report, including import of 3 lakh PPE kits at inflated prices from China. Recently reports cit, ing leaked portions of the D’Cunha report said it recommended prosecution of Yediyurappa and Sriramulu. But both the BJP leaders rejected the charges claiming they only saved lives. Patil said when PPE kits were available for `330-400 per unit domestically three lakh of them were , bought for `2,117 per unit from China. The report has a mention of payment of `6.93 crore to private labs by flouting norms, `4.48 crore to eight labs that were not accredited by ICMR, he said. express read Docs call off stir after talks with health min Chennai: After holding talks with Health Minister Ma Subramanian, Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association withdrew its protest condemning the attack on a government doctor in Chennai. Medical services were partially hit in TN with at least 28,000 private clinics shut on Thursday. The government has agreed to install metal detectors and bag scanners at a few hospitals on a pilot basis to improve security | P2 ‘UG degrees can be completed in 2 yrs’ Chennai: Starting next academic year, the UGC may roll out an accelerated option in undergraduate programmes, through which fast learners can complete their degree six months or a year earlier than the scheduled time period, UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said in Chennai on Thursday. Similarly, slow-paced learners can complete a three-year degree programme in four years, he said | P2 ED searches places linked to Martin Chennai/Coimbatore: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted searches at 20 locations linked to lottery businessman Santiago Martin, his son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna (VCK deputy general secretary), and associates. The ED searched Martin’s Thudiyalur residence, medical college in Coimbatore and his offices in Chennai | P4