THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l tuesday l august 13, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Pakistan’s influential former isi chief arrested by military The Pak Army on Monday said it arrested former Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed over a housing scheme scandal court martial proceedings initiated hameed was picked by imran to head ISI The Pakistan Army said court martial proceedings have been initiated against Hameed. He is accused of extorting Rs 4 crore from the management of the Top City housing scheme. The arrest comes months after the army, on orders of the Supreme Court, set up a panel headed by a major general to investigate the allegations made against Hameed ■ ■ Hameed was appointed as the head of Pakistan intelligence in 2019 by Imran Khan who had sacked Lt Gen Asim Munir from the post The army replaced Hameed in 2021 overlooking Imran’s objections. Imran’s relations with the military soured over this and after his government fell in April 2022, Munir was made the Pak Army chief Nov 2022 when Faiz hameed took premature retirement from Pakistan army 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 Retail inflation at five-year low of 3.54% M O NI K A YA D A V @ New Delhi Junior doctors protest against the rape and murder of a PG trainee doctor, in Kolkata on Monday | PTI HC to hear PILs today success rate of CBI low, says Didi Three Public Interest Litigations have been filed before the Calcutta High Court demanding that the investigation be transferred to the CBI. A division bench will hear them on Tuesday “I want the police to arrest the culprits as soon as possible. If they can’t by Sunday, we will hand it over to the CBI... But the CBI’s success rate is low,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said base effect and subdued food and beverage prices brought down retail inflation to a fiveyear low of 3.54% in July Ac. cording to government data released on Monday, food & beverages prices fell to 5.4% from a six-month high of 9.4% in June. The dip in retail inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, was also influenced by base effects from July 2023, when the rate was at 7.4% and the food index had risen by 11.5%. Vegetable prices in July rose 6.83% year-on-year compared to 30% in June. On a month-on- BASE EFFECT Some experts point out that the decline in food inflation in July 2024 was more due to a base effect rather than falling prices. Retail inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, was 7.4% in July 2023 and the food index had risen by 11.5% month basis, however, vegetable prices shot up 14.2% in July Ce. real prices increased by 8.14%, a slight decrease from the 8.75% rise recorded in June. The prices of oils and fats saw a decline of 1.17%, an improvement from the 2.68% drop in the previous month. Inflation for pulses rose Mamata buys time for doc rape-murder probe Amid national outrage over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at a government hospital in Kolkata three days ago, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday sought to buy time after calls for a CBI probe reached a crescendo. Resident doctors of government hospitals across the country went on an indefinite strike demanding justice for the victim, paralysing elective services, including OPDs and nonemerg ency surg eries. In Kolkata, civil society members, including theatre personalities and poets, hit the streets. The body of the postgraduate trainee was found at the seminar hall in her place of work, the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Friday morming. A civic volunteer was ar- Hasina’s Delhi stay won’t hurt ties, says B’desh govt Y Es h i s e l i @ New Delhi Sheikh Hasina’s stay in New Delhi will not negatively affect the relations between India and Bangladesh, Mohamad Touhid Hossain, foreign secretary in the Bangladesh interim government, said on Monday . “There will be no impact on the bilateral relationship between the two countries because of one individual’s stay in a country he said in his first ,” briefing. “Bilateral relations are very big thing and involve mutual interests. Both sides have their interests. India has its interests, and Bangladesh has its interests,” he added. Hasina resigned as Bangladesh’s prime minister on August 5 and fled to India amid protests against her government. In his briefing, Hossain assured the international community that the interim government will adhere to all international, regional, and bilateral instruments that Bangladesh is a party to. The situation in Bangladesh continued to be volatile on Monday with the banks having run dry and the latest data showing inflation hitting a 12-year high of 11.66% in July . Meanwhile, the Hindus continued their protests over various demands including security for the community and a ministry to look after minority affairs. The police have agreed to call off their strike. 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express rested on Saturday in connection with the case. After visiting the victim’s home, Mamata assured she would send the case to the CBI if the local police failed to solve it by this Sunday. “The suspicion of the girl’s parents on the role of insiders needs to be probed. If it is not cracked by Sunday the case will be handed , over to the CBI,” she said. However, protesters criticised Mamata’s attempt to delay the CBI probe. They also demanded a judicial inquiry, better security on the campus, capital punishment for the culprits, and adequate compensation for the victim’s family . Dr Sandip Ghosh, principal of the RG Kar Medical College resigned on Monday taking moral responsibility for the horrific incident. But hours later the state government transferred him to the Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, triggering another round of uproar from the protesters and the Opposition. An orthopedic by training, Dr Ghosh was promoted and transferred as RG Kar principal in mid-2021. He was subsequently transferred out of the institution twice, but reinstated shortly thereafter, indicating his networking skills. In both instances, he was transferred to the Murshidabad Medical College. In the first case, his transfer was rolled back within 48 hours. Last year, when there was a ragging incident in the college’s boys’ hostel, fingers were pointed at postgraduate trainees close to the principal. Dr Ghosh was again transferred but was back in RG Kar a month later. IIT Madras tops NIRF rankings for th 6 straight year Top 10 institutions in India as per the National Institute Ranking Framework, 2024 1 Indian Institute of Technology Madras 2 Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru 3 Indian Institute of Technology Bombay 4 Indian Institute of Technology Delhi 5 Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur 6 Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur 7 All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi 8 Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee 9 Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati 10 Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi CPM calls for protection of Hindu community in strife-hit Bangladesh K S S R EE J ITH @T’Puram The CPM has condemned the attacks on the minority Hindu community and its places of worship in Bangladesh. The party politburo (PB) has urged the interim government in Bangladesh to address the issue immediately The . PB further demanded Indian government’s intervention to prevent fundamentalist forces targeting minorities in the neighbouring country . The Sangh parivar organisations have alleged that the Left parties remained silent on the attacks on the Hindu community, while it ‘celebrated’ the declaration of its solidarity with Palestine. According to insiders in the CPM, it is a calculated move by the party considering the prevailing political and social situation in India. “The 2024 Lok Sabha election result was an eye-opener for the Kerala CPM. In West Bengal too, the scenario remained the same,” a CPM central committee member told TNIE. “We thought our core vote bank (Hindu secular votes) was intact in Kerala. Similarly, in Bengal, we were trying to win back the lost vote bank. However, we realised there was an erosion of majority community votes, with some party members even voting for the BJP in Kerala. Both in Bengal and Kerala, the BJP-Sangh parivar campaign that the CPM is appeasing the Muslim community worked against us. prices had risen by 9.6%. Recently, RBI’s monetary policy committee had said that it was expecting a degree of relief in food prices from the pick-up in the southwest monsoon and healthy progress in sowing. “With all of the 22 essential commodities reporting an easing in their year-on-year, inflation rates in August 2024 relative to July 2024, the food and beverages inflation print should ease further in the ongoing month, thereby dampening headline CPI inflation to 3.4% in August,” said Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist with ICRA. Under fire, govt to revise and recast broadcasting bill Says she will hand it over to the CBI if police fail to solve it S u l a g n a S e n g u p ta @ Kolkata to 14.77% year-over-year, down from a 16.07% increase in June. In the non-food category, clothing and footwear prices rose 2.67%, while housing inflation stood at 2.68% compared to the year before. In July urban infla, tion fell below 3%, down from 4.4% in June. Meanwhile, rural inflation came in at 4.1%, against 5.7% in the previous month. Food inflation was also more pronounced in rural areas, reaching 5.9% compared to 4.6% in urban regions. In June, rural food inflation was lower at 9.15%, while urban food Though minority protection is a declared policy, we learnt that we need to take into account the changing political scenario too,” the CC member said. The latest editorial of the CPM’s official organ ‘People’s Democracy’ came down heavily on the Jamaat-e Islami and its student wing for attacks against Hindus in Bangladesh. It is learnt that the CPM’s sudden response was accelerated by the statement of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of Oposition in the WB assembly that one crore Hindus , from Bangladesh will come to India. “The student movement in Bangladesh was a spontaneous response against the dictatorship of Sheikh Hasina,” CPM PB member M A Baby, who is in charge of the party’s foreign affairs, told TNIE. ● More on P4 UNIVERSITIES Institution All India rank Kerala University Cusat MG University Calicut University to label influential digital media creators, such as inTHE Ministry of Informa- dependent journalists shartion and Broadcasting ing their opinion on YouTube (MI&B) on Monday said it is or Instagram, and even working on a fresh draft of ‘thought leaders’ with mass the Broadcasting Services following on LinkedIn, as ei(Regulation) Bill, saying the ther OTT broadcasters or as revised version would be digital news broadcasters. published after detailed con- These ‘digital broadcasters’ sultations. Stakeholders can were required to set up a provide additional feedback content evaluation committill October 15, it added. tee comprising eminent inIn a statement on dividuals as memthe micro-blogging bers to certify the site X, the ministry programmes before said: “The Ministry they are aired. They of Information & were also supposed Broadcasting is to nominate ‘grievworking on a Draft ance redressal ofBroadcasting Servficers’ to deal with ices (Regulation) the complaints Bill. The draft Bill about the content. was placed in pubThe original verlic domain on Nosion, which was vember 10, 2023 Ministry is holding made public in Noalong with the ex- consultations with vember 2023, had a the stakeholders planatory notes for self re gulation on the draft bill. comments of the Further additional mechanism to keep stakeholders and a check on vulgar time is being the general public. provided to solicit content. It had also In response, multi- comments till 15th proposed to reguOctober 2024 ple recommendalate the entire tions/ comments/ broadcasting sector I&B ministry suggestions were including over-thereceived including top, direct-to-home, from various Associations. and digital platforms. Ministry is holding a series DigiPub News India Founof consultations with the dation, an organisation repstakeholders on the draft resenting around 90 digital bill.” news publishers, earlier this The ministry’s statement month wrote to Union inforamid reports that the con- mation and broadcasting tentious draft was on its way minister Ashwini Vaishnaw out and a revised version requesting consultation on would be introduced. the bill. However, it reportThe draft was panned for edly did not get any response its controversial provisions from the ministry . PA R V E Z S ULTAN @ New Delhi How Kerala Institutes rank 21 34 37 89 COLLEGES Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Ekm: 20 University College, T’Puram: 22 St Teresa’s College, Ernakulam: 46 Sacred Heart College, Ernakulam: 48 Govt College for Women, T’puram: 49 report on Page 5, 7 E X PRE S S REA D Hema committee report: Judgment on plea today Kochi: The Kerala High Court will on Tuesday pronounce the judgment on a petition filed by film producer Sajimon Parayil challenging the State Information Commission’s order to disclose substantial portions of Justice Hema Committee report. The panel was set up to look into the issues faced by women in Malayalam film industry. Row over demand for nod to offer namaz in school Kochi: Yet again, the demand for permission to offer namaz in an educational institution run by the Catholic Church has kicked up a storm. According to Church authorities, the incident at Paingottoor St Joseph Higher Secondary School in Kothamangalam taluk was like a replay of the Nirmala College incident last month. P4 ‘date, time must on visuals of disasters’ The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Monday issued an advisory to private news channels to carry a date and timestamp on the visuals of natural disasters and major accidents being broadcast. The advisory noted that television channels provide continuous coverage over several days but keep showing the footage from the day the incident took place. This does not reflect the real-time ground situation and creates confusion and panic among viewers, it said pioneering initiative State includes fake news detection, fact checking in school textbooks E x p r e ss N e w s S e rv i c e @ T’Puram After training around 20 lakh school students to identify fake news and misinformation on social media, the state education department has made it a part of the revised school curriculum. It has now been included in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) textbooks for Classes V and VII. The pioneering initiative assumes significance as the UK has decided to include similar por tions in its national curriculum following recent incidents of unrest fuelled by misinfor mation on social media. “The new ICT textbook includes chapters that equip students to identify fake news and malicious content,” said K Anvar Sadath, CEO, Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), the technology arm of the state general education department. The department has also de- On guard New curriculum teaches students to identify fake news and verify its authenticity The chapter titled ‘Let’s Search the Internet’ in Class V textbook also covers how to effectively manage screen time Class VII chapter ‘Let’s Search and Find’ elaborates on importance of verifying authenticity of info and explains why spreading false info is a crime. cided to incorporate the latest developments in the field when the ICT textbooks for Classes VI, VIII, IX and X will be revised next year. The new curriculum not only teaches students to identify fake news and verify its authenticity, but the chapter titled ‘Let’s Search the Internet’ in the Class V textbook also covers how to effectively manage screen time. Similarly the Class , VII ICT textbook’s chapter titled ‘Let’s Search and Find’ elaborates on the importance of verifying the authenticity of information and explains why spreading or sharing false information is a crime. Furthermore, the ICT textbook also includes precautions to be taken before sharing information with others, the need to educate those who provide such information of the potential consequences and the concept of copyright. Meanwhile, for the first time in the country 4 lakh students , have been given the opportunity to learn about Artificial Intelligence (AI) through the Class VII ICT textbook. Textbooks are available in Malayalam, English, Kannada and Tamil media at www.samagra. kite.kerala.gov.in. ● More on P4
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