SAMBALPUR FRIDAY AUGUST 23, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 12 CITY EDITION SC TELLS HARYANA, PUNJAB TO PERSUADE FARMERS TO VACATE SHAMBHU BORDER The Supreme Court on Thursday told the states to persuade agitators to remove their tractors and trollies from the interstate border PANEL BEING SET UP TO SOLVE THEIR ISSUES: COURT STATES URGED TO ENGAGE WITH AGITATORS The court told the Haryana and Punjab governments to inform the agitating farmers that a multi-member panel was being constituted for the redressal of their grievances “for all times”. The Supreme Court said the panel may have the power and authority to make recommendations to the state and, if need be, the Union governments on steps to resolve farmers’ grievances ■ The court was hearing Haryana’s plea against a high court order asking it to remove barricades erected at the Shambhu border near Ambala ■ The bench asked the representatives of both Punjab and Haryana to continue engaging with the farmers and directed them to apprise the court about the outcome of such meetings on the next date of hearing September 2 WHEN THE COURT WILL TAKE UP THE MATTER FOR FURTHER HEARING 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 RDC to probe hooch tragedy: Minister SC says justice & EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar EXCISE minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on Thursday announced a Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) probe into the Chikiti hooch tragedy even as the Opposition BJD and Congress disrupted proceedings of the Assembly demanding his resignation. The minister told mediapersons that the RDC will submit its inquiry report within two months. “The probe will be initiated in a day or two. A formal notification in this regard will be issued by government soon. The state government will strongly crackdown on illicit liquor trade,” he said. Harichandan said raids are being conducted throughout the state. “Around 217 illicit liquor kilns have been identified and will be demolished. As many as 117 persons have already been arrested in connection with spurious liquor trade. The government is committed to ensure there is no illicit liquor production or trade in the state,” he said. Harichandan said that while the Berhampur excise superintendent Pradee p Panig rahy has been transferred, excise inspector Ramesh Chandra Mohanty and sub-inspector Prasanna Ku- mar Dhali have been placed under suspension. Harichandan on Thursday visited the MKCG hospital and met the victims. However, BJD MLAs staged a dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises demanding the resignation of the minister. “The government does not seem to be serious and there is lack of accountability. The minister should take moral responsibility for the tragedy and resign till the RDC probe is over,” Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallick said. Mallick said it has been four days since the tragedy took place and the minister visited the area only on Thursday after the Opposition raised the demand. The government is now trying to suppress the matter by suspending some officials, she said and added that the BJD will continue to raise the demand till the minister resigns. “The BJP had promised Nisha Mukt Odisha in its manifesto but on the contrary is promoting illicit liquor. During the Naveen Patnaik government, BJD ministers including Kalindi Behera and AU Singhdeo had resigned following hooch deaths,” CONTINUED ON P5 she said. The probe will be initiated in a day or two. A formal notification will be issued soon. The government is committed to ensure there is no illicit liquor production or trade in the state – Prithiviraj Harichandan, Min 5 dead, 13 injured as 3 vehicles collide with each other in Hinjili EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Berhampur/Bhubaneswar A collision of three vehicles set off a chain of mishaps which left five persons dead and 13 others injured at Samarajhola Chowk under Hinjili police limits in Ganjam district early on Thursday morning. The accident occurred around 5 am when a bus, travelling from Aska to Berhampur, collided head-on with an oil tanker. The impact caused both vehicles to crash into a roadside tea stall. Three persons who were having tea, a bus passenger and helper of a truck parked at the scene died in the resultant mishap. The collision was so severe that the tea stall was completely destroyed, and three people inside were crushed under the overturned vehicles which blocked the road leaving traffic movement impacted. Eyewitnesses said, the truck driver had parked the vehicle and gone for tea while the helper was securing ropes at the back of the vehicle. The oil tanker, coming from Berhampur, hit the truck, throwing the helper about 20 metres away. At the same time, the bus coming from the opposite side collided with the tanker, causing both vehicles to crash into the tea stall. Police and fire fighters reached the spot and began rescue operation. Despite their efforts, the truck helper and three persons at the tea stall were found dead at the spot. The injured, including the bus passengers and the tea stall owner, were shifted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital (MCH) in Berhampur. One of the injured bus passengers later succumbed, taking the toll to five. The remaining 13 injured were admitted to orthopaedic and surgery wards, with one requiring amputation in a leg. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed grief and announced an ex gratia of `2 lakh each for the families of the deceased and `1 lakh for those critically injured. Transport Minister Bibhuti Jena and transport commissioner Amitabh Thakur visited the medical college and the accident site in the afternoon. Jena said the government would probe into the accident. Collector Dibyajyoti Parida visited the MCH to take stock of medical help for the victims. The deceased were identified as Santosh Badaya, Arakhita Gouda, Panchu Gouda, and Indrajit Swain, helper of the truck. Identity of the deceased bus passenger remains unknown. Two vehicles involved in the mishap being removed from the spot | EXPRESS EXPRESS READ Shah to chair meeting on anti-Maoist ops on Aug 24 Raipur: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair a high-level meeting on August 24 during his three-day visit to the Chhattisgarh capital on the outcome of the strategy focused on anti-Maoist operations and the way forward. Shah is scheduled to arrive in Raipur on Friday night on a special Border Security Force (BSF) flight. On Saturday, the home minister will visit Mahaprabhu Vallabhacharya Ashram in Champaran town close to Raipur by chopper and return at around noon to hold a high-level meeting to review the inter-state coordination and issues centred on security | P8 11-yr-old drowns in Berhampur’s drain Berhampur: The death of an 11-year-old boy after falling into an overflowing open drain on Wednesday at Laxminrusingh Street has ignited outrage with residents alleging municipal negligence. The victim, identified as Sairam Patra, was reportedly returning from tuition on his bicycle when the accident occurred. Since the drain was open, the heavy rainfall caused it to overflow, and without realising that the drain is submerged, the child fell and subsequently drowned, the parents alleged | P4 TIES POLISHED Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk ahead of their summit meeting in Warsaw on Thursday | P7 1 2 3 STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP DEFENCE PRODUCTION ACTION PLAN ANNOUNCED India and Poland upgraded ties to the level of a “strategic partnership” and inked a social security pact to promote the mobility of skilled workers Donald Tusk expressed Poland’s eagerness to be a key partner in India’s aim to boost domestic defence production and modernise its armed forces 5-year action plan announced for strategic partnership in defence, trade, agri-tech, energy, green technology, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and mining med can’t stop, urges end to stir CBI status report says crime scene at RG Kar where doc was killed, was tampered with S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE CBI in a status report on its probe into the rape and murder of a trainee doctor on August 9 at the RG Kar Medical and College Hospital in Kolkata, told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the crime scene was altered and tampered with. Initially the Kolkata police told the parents that it was suicide, but later they said she was murdered. Taking the CBI report on record, a threejudge bench led by the Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud appealed to the protesting doctors to return to work, saying justice and medicine cannot afford to be stopped. “We earnestly appeal to all doctors. We are here to ensure their safety and protection. Please trust us, that is why we have not left the matter to the (Calcutta) High Court,” the bench said. It also directed a Sealdah court to pass its order on the CBI’s application for a lie detector test on accused Sanjoy Roy by Friday . The court directed the states not to take any coercive steps and adverse action against the protesting doctors. “How can public health infrastructure function if doctors don’t return to work?” the court wondered. It asked the health ministry to convene a meeting with the Chief Secretaries of states and Directors General of Police to ensure the safety of the doctors willing to return to work. The meeting should be completed within a week and states shall take remedial measures within two weeks, the court said. While directing states not to disrupt peaceful protests, it said, “the order should not be misconstrued to mean that the authorities are precluded from exercising their regulatory powers in accordance with law.” The bench, however, categorically said peaceful protests should not be disrupted. Justice J B Pardiwala, a member of the bench, expressed concern at the manner in which the police handled the case. The postmortem was conducted on August 9 between 6.10 pm and 7.10 pm though the case of unnatural death was registered at 11.30 pm and the FIR recorded at 11.45 pm. Autopsy means unnatural death, yet the case was recorded later. “The entire procedure followed by the police is something I have not come across in my 30 years of career,” he remarked. What is the reason the FIR is lodged almost 14 hours after the discovery of the body? The most important thing is that the principal of the college should have come straightaway to the college and directed the filing of the FIR. Who was he in touch with? What was the purpose? SC bench to WB counsel CONSIDER ALL SUGGESTIONS National Task Force formed by the SC will take note of the suggestions of all stakeholders while formulating a national protocol for the safety of healthcare professionals PORTAL TO POOL IDEAS The bench directed the govt to open a portal for stakeholders to submit their suggestions for the task force AL-QAEDA Delhi Police busts terror module, arrests 14 from 3 states U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi THE Special Cell of Delhi Police, in coordination with its counterparts in Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, busted an Al-Qaeda-inspired terror module and detained 14 people, including six who were undergoing training in handling weapons. Al-Qaeda is a banned terrorist organisation listed in the first schedule of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). It is proscribed under Section 35 of the UAPA. A senior police officer said the module, as per the current state of operations, was being led by one Dr Ishtiyaq based in Ranchi, Jharkhand. “It was aspiring to declare Khilafat and execute serious terrorist activities within the country,” the officer said, adding the members of the module had received “indoctrination” and weapons training at various locations. Police have also recovered arms, ammunition, and objectionable literature. The six individuals who were being trained in weapon handling were nabbed from Bhiwadi in Rajasthan. Eight more persons were detained from Jharkhand and UP for questioning. Multiple teams of the anti-terror unit are interrogating the suspects at various locations. “As the interrogation is going on, more arrests are anticipated,” said an official. Last year, a Delhi court had convicted four operatives of Al-Qaida in Indian Subcontinent for conspiracy to commit terror acts across the country and recruiting members for the terror group. The convicts, identified as Mohd Asif, Mohd Abdul Rehman, Zafar Masood, and Abdul Sami, were convicted under Sections 18 and 18B of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. No ‘satisfactory replies’ from Waqf bill JPC members P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi AMID fierce attack from Muslim bodies, the first meeting of the Joint Committee of Parliament (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill saw dissenting voices from various Opposition members as well as NDA allies on the proposed law. Though the Telugu Desam Party, a key ally of the NDA supported the bill in the Lok Sabha, it called for wider consultations during the JPC meeting, said sources. Early this week, TDP Parliamentary party leader and JPC member Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu told this paper that the party has begun consultations with all communities, including Muslims about their concerns. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board claimed that T D P ’s C h a n d r a b a b u Naidu and JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar have assured Muslim bodies that their par ties would oppose the Waqf Bill. It also said it will launch a nationwide movement if the bill is not withdrawn. Another BJP ally, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), said that the Muslim community’s concerns should be ad- dressed and pitched for more consultations. Speaking to this paper, some of the MPs said that the ministry failed to give ‘satisfactory replies’ to the queries raised in the meeting. Though not part of the INDIA bloc, YSR Congress’ V Vijaysai Reddy also raised objections to several clauses of the bill, according to sources. S eve r a l o p p o s i t i o n members questioned the proposed amendments such as empowering district collectors in deciding on the ownership of a disputed land, and to induct non-Muslim members on Waqf boards. Committee Chairperson Jagdambika Pal described the meeting, which went on for over six hours with a lunch break, as ‘fruitful’. He asserted that voices of different stakeholders would be heard. “We will discuss all 44 amendments and bring a comprehensive bill by the next session,” he said. He said the committee would call various Muslim bodies representing different sects to hear their views. AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi launched a scathing attack terming it as ‘unconstitutional’, said sources. ASSAM BILL TO REPEAL MUSLIM MARRIAGE ACT To end child marriage, the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led govt in Assam on Thursday tabled a bill in the Assembly to repeal a British-era law to register marriages and divorces of Muslims CONG, NC FINALISE SEAT-SHARING FOR J&K POLLS F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar THE Congress and National Conference (NC) on Thursday finalised their seat-sharing agreement for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls. The announcement came after the meeting of top Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi with NC’s Farooq and Omar Abdullah. “The Congress leadership deliberated with the Abdullahs on forging a pre-poll alliance for the Assembly polls. Both parties discussed the issue in detail and decided that forging alliance is a must to keep divisive forces away,” a Congress leader told this paper. While the exact number of seats allocated to both parties was not revealed, sources said the Congress will fight from most of the 43 seats in Jammu while NC will focus on the Valley . The three-phase elections to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will be held on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The results will be declared on October 4. Of the 90 seats, 47 are in Kashmir and 43 in Jammu. Kharge and Rahul arrived Rahul Gandhi. Mallikarjun Kharge at a press meet in Srinagar on Thursday | ZAHOOR PUNJABI in Srinagar on Wednesday On . Thursday, they visited the Gupkar residence of Farooq to meet him and his son Omar. During the meeting, Rahul stressed on the restoration of J&K’s statehood. Taking a dig at the Modi government for downgrading J&K state into a Union Territory he said it was , the first time in the country’s history that a state was converted into a UT. After the meeting, Farooq Abdullah told reporters that the Congress, NC and CPI(M) are on the same page and will fight the Assembly elections together. According to sources, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami is likely to contest from Kulgam in south Kashmir. This seat will be spared for him by the NC.
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