SATURDAY YOUTH TO THE FORE AS GRAPPLERS LEAD INDIA’S GOLD RUSH IN JORDAN 24 AUGUST, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard PREZ RACE SRI LANKA’S MAIN TAMIL PARTY SPLITS Tamil National Alliance’s chair S Sritharan’s decision to endorse P Ariyanethran as presidential candidate has cost the island nation’s main Tamil party dear. PAGE 9 Neha Sangwan | UWW NEHA HAILS FROM VINESH’S VILLAGE A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS NEW DELHI J8.00 SEC 479 OF BNSS Retrospective application of new law to ease jail population S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi IN a major relief to undertrial prisoners, the Supreme Court on Friday said Section 479 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure on July 1, would apply retrospectively . The order came on a Public Interest Litigation to address the issue of overcrowding of prisons in India. Senior advocate Gaurav Aggarwal had told the court earlier that if BNSS Section 479 is implemented in its letter and spirit, it will help resolve the problem of overcrowding in prisons. As per Section 479, undertrials can be released on bail if they have completed half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for the offence they were jailed. If the person is a first-time offender, he shall be released on bond by court if he has undergone detention up to one-third of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for such an offence. A two-judge bench comprising justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta took the Centre’s statement on record that Section 479 would apply retrospectively and directed the superintendents of jails across the country to process the applications of the accused for bail accordingly . “The said steps shall be taken as expeditiously as possible and preferably within three months,” the bench emphasised in its order. All other BNSS sections can be applied only from July 1, the date they came into force. PAGES 12 FOUR BILATERAL PACTS SIGNED India and Ukraine on Friday inked four agreements and resolved to enhance their cooperation in a range of areas like agriculture and food industry, defence, trade, pharmaceuticals, green energy and education My visit to Ukraine was historic. I had productive talks with President @ ZelenskyyUa. India firmly believes that peace must always prevail EMBRACE PART OF INDIAN CULTURE Narendra Modi, PM “In our part of the world, when people meet people, they are given to embracing each other. It may not be part of your culture but I can assure you it is part of ours,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in response to a media question Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraces Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kyiv on Friday | PTI PM’s talk time nudge in Kyiv Urges Ukraine, Russia to open dialogue, says India ready to play an active role for peace Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sought to nudge Ukraine and Russia to the talks table without wasting any time to find a solution to end their ongoing war, in his interaction with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. He added that he had come with a message of peace. This was the first visit of any Indian PM to Ukraine. “We (India) are not neutral. From the very beginning, we have taken sides. And we have chosen the side of peace. We have come from the land of Buddha where there is no place for war,” Modi said in his opening remarks during the talks with Zelenskyy . “I have come with a message of peace, from India and the Global South. We are ready to take part in peace efforts. Our approach is people centric and we support sovereignty and territorial integrity Modi said. ,’’ Modi mentioned his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month where he reaffirmed that the resolution of the conflict should be through dialogue and diplomacy. “We come from the land of Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi and have always favoured peace. Both you and President Putin should sit across and find a solution,” he added. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar later said Modi reiterated the need for “practical engagement” between all stakeholders to develop an innovative solution that will help build broad acceptability and contribute towards peace and stability The prime min. ister conveyed India’s willingness to contribute in all possible ways to facilitate an early return of peace to Ukraine, he said, adding it was a “very detailed, open and in many ways constructive discussion”. Modi arrived in Kyiv by train and the meeting between the two leaders lasted three hours. “I want to assure you and the entire global community that India is committed to respecting sovereignty and ter- ritorial integrity (of states) and it is of utmost importance to us,” Modi said. He reiterated that ‘this is not an era of war’ and resolution of conflict cannot be found in the battlefield, adding dialogue and diplomacy are the only way forward. Both leaders paid homage at the Martyrilogist Exposition in Kyiv, which honoured the memories of children who have lost their lives in a Russian missile attack the day Modi was in Moscow in July . “Conflict is particularly devastating for young children. My heart goes out to the families of children who lost their lives, and I pray that they find the strength to endure their grief,” said Modi, who placed a toy in their memory . ‘Miscommunication’, say Sebi bans Anil Ambani from securities cops on wrestlers’ security market for 5 yrs for siphoning funds S H E K H A R S I N G H @ New Delhi THE Delhi Police on Friday informed a city court that it has addressed the earlier “miscommunication” regarding the withdrawal of security cover to women wrestlers who are to testify against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a case of sexual harassment. The clarification came after Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Priyanka Rajpoot directed the police to submit a detailed report by Friday, explaining the reasons behind the sudden move. She directed the DCP concerned to provide immediate security to one of the three applicants as she is poised to testify against Singh on August 22. Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava, representing cops, stated that the removal of the security cover was a result of a “miscommunication” within the department. “It has been rectified,” Srivastava assured the court, indicating that necessary steps had been taken to reinstate the protection for three. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Thursday alleged that the police removed the security of women grapplers. “Delhi Police has withdrawn the security of the women wrestlers who are going to testify against Brij Bhushan,” Phogat said on ‘X’. B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai THE Securities and Exchange Board of India banned industrialist Anil Ambani and 24 others, including key Reliance Home Finance officials, from the securities market for five years on charges of creating a “fraudulent scheme to siphon off money from the company by structuring it as loans to credit-unworthy borrowers”. The regulator also slapped a fine of `25 crore on Ambani and restrained him from serving as a director or key managerial personnel in any listed company for five years. Apart from Anil Ambani, those debarred and fined include the former officials of Reliance Home Finance Amit Bapna, Ravindra Sudhalkar, and Pinkesh Shah. Ambani, Bapna, Sudhalkar, and Shah have been fined `25 crore, `27 crore, `26 crore, and `21 crore, respectively Sebi said in its or, der dated August 22. The entities fined and debarred include Reliance Unicorn Enterprises, Reliance Exch a n g e N e x t , Re l i a n c e Commercial Finance, Reliance Cleangen, Reliance Business Broadcast News Holdings, and Reliance Big Entertainment. Each of these six companies has been fined `25 crore for either receiving the illegally obtained loans or facilitating illegal diversion of funds. According to Sebi, its extensive investigation revealed that Anil Ambani, aided by the key managerial personnel of Reliance Home Finance, devised a fraudulent scheme to siphon off funds from the company by disguising them as loans to entities associated with him. “By preponderance of probability the mastermind behind , the fraudulent scheme is the Chairman of ADAG – Anil Ambani,” the Sebi order noted. Reliance Home Finance shares fell 5% on Friday to close at `4.46 on the BSE. SOUTH INDIA’S 1ST LIBRARY For tribal treasure, see you at ‘Kaanu’ knowledge hub K S H I V A K U M A R @ Mysuru SOUTH India’s first adivasi library, ‘Kaanu’, will be inaugurated at BR Hills in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka on Sunday (August 25). ‘Kaanu’ means evergreen forest in Soliga language. It will be the first South Indian Adivasi Knowledge Centre. Though adivasis are spread across Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, there is no institution dedicated for research on aspects related to them. Scholars from tribal communities held talks with Prashanth N Srinivas, a medical doctor and public health researcher at BR Hills, and Wraner from Germany last year and decided to set up this exclusive library to showcase works and promote research on Jenu Kuruba, Kadu Kuruba, Betta Kuruba, Soliga and other forest-based tribes. ‘Kaanu’ has been set up at the Institute of Public Health building with 1,200 books, research papers and contemporary works on South Indian forest tribes by ‘Kaanu’, meaning evergreen forest in Soliga language, will have 1,200 books, research papers and contemporary works on South Indian forest tribes | EXPRESS adivasis and non-adivasis. Students and scholars doing research on tribals living in the forests can visit ‘Kaanu’ and make use of the facilities. Dr Prashanth and scholars such as Made Gowda said that they wanted to encourage adivasis to write about their customs, traditions, languages, and art and culture. Hence, they came up with the idea. Gowda said though 250 adivasis are pursuing degree and PG courses in the district, there is no library providing details related to their communities. Stating that the adivasis are now keen on education, he said that efforts are on to document prominent personalities from tribal communities. Mansi (73 kg), Neha Sangwan (57 kg), Pulkit (65kg) and Aditi (43 kg) bagged a gold each in their respective weight categories. Neha, who hails from wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s village Balali in Haryana, defeated World No 3 So Tsutsui 10-0 via technical superiority in the final. Pulkit made a golden return after an injury lay-off of over two years following surgery HC directs CBI to take over RG Kar corruption probe S U L A G N A S E N G U P TA @ Kolkata THE Calcutta High Court on Friday transferred the probe by the West Bengal government-constituted SIT into the alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital during the tenure of former principal Sandip Ghosh, to the CBI. The ruling came on a petition by former deputy superintendent of the hospital Dr Akhtar Ali seeking an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into the irregularities at the state-run institute. A single-judge bench of Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj said that since the probe into the brutal rape-murder of a junior doctor at the RG Kar hospital on August 9 has been entrusted to the CBI, investigation into this matter, too, ought to be transferred to the same agency to ensure a comprehensive and unbiased inquiry . The HC directed the CBI to take over the investigation by Saturday 10 am by when the state administration must hand over all case-related documents, including the case diary and CCTV footages. The CBI has been directed to submit a status report by September 17, when the HC will hear the matter next. According to sourc- Why CBI and not ED The HC noted the case involves serious charges and multiple agencies handling different aspects of the case could lead to inefficiencies, delays, and misinterpretation of information. Probe should not be fragmented between various agencies; handing over the probe to CBI ensures consistency, the order said es, the hearing was held in the judge’s chamber instead of the courtroom. Claiming urgency, Ghosh’s lawyer moved a division bench against the single bench order. However, no urgent hearing was granted. Meanwhile, another city court permitted the CBI to conduct a polygraph test on Ghosh and five others in connection with the rape-murder case. Ghosh was removed from the post of the principal after the rape-murder sparked a nationwide outrage and junior doctors of the RG Kar struck work demanding his ouster. On July 14, 2023, Ali had written to the state vigilance commission. The letter highlighted squandering of government money and flouting of rules by Ghosh. P8 US TWEAKS N-PLAN TO FOCUS ON CHINA’S ARSENAL EXPANSION Joe Biden approved a classified nuclear strategic plan that reorients America’s deterrent strategy, over fears that China’s rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal will rival that of the US and Russia ‘in size and diversity’ in a decade | P9 EXPRESS READ Mayor: Initiate polls DGCA slaps `90 lakh to form key panel fine on Air India Citing the Supreme Court order on the appointment of aldermen, Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Friday directed municipal secretary Siva Prasad KV to initiate the election process for the formation of the Standing Committee, which has been delayed for more than one-and-a-half years. P4 Aviation watchdog DGCA has imposed `90 lakh penalty on Air India for operating a flight with non-qualified pilots. Besides, fines of `6 lakh and `3 lakh were slapped on its director of operations Pankul Mathur and director of training Manish Vasavada, who was also suspended for six months. CBI GETS PROSECUTION NOD, SAYS KEJRIWAL MAY TAMPER WITH EVIDENCE SUCHITRA KALYAN MOHANTY & SHEKHAR SINGH @ New Delhi What CBI told SC CBI made it clear in its affidavit in the SC the petitioner was trying to make the case politically sensational. “Such unwarranted averments are liable to be discarded,” the probe agency told the top court IN the excise policy case involving CM Arvind Kejriwal and others, the CBI moved swiftly on Friday: In the Supreme Court, it said in an affidavit that it believes that Kejriwal would tamper with evidence if he were enlarged on interim bail. In the Rouse Avenue Court, the probe agency informed Special Judge Kaveri Baweja that it has obtained the necessary approval to prosecute Kejriwal and AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak. In the top court, the CBI reply came in response to the pleas filed by Kejriwal seeking quashing of his arrest and interim bail. “Being a prominent politician and Chief Minister, the petitioner (Kejriwal) is a very influential person, and he may influence the witnesses and evidence already exposed before him during the custodial interrogation,” the CBI said in its affidavit. The SC’s two-judge bench, led by Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, adjourned the case to September 5, as it granted a week’s time to CBI to file a counter-affidavit. The Rouse Avenue Court scheduled the matter for further hearing on August 27. This date also coincides with the expiry of Kejriwal’s current judicial custody related to the same case.
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