VILLUPURAM  WEDNESDAY  OCTOBER 14, 2020  `7.00  PAGES 12  CITY EDITION ‘MILITARY TALKS POSITIVE’, INDIA-CHINA JT STATEMENT Both sides agreed not to turn differences into disputes, a joint statement by the two armies said on Tuesday BOTH SIDES AGREE TO CONTINUE TALKS CHINA OPPOSES DEVELOPMENT IN LADAKH The two sides deliberated on ways to disengage from various friction points in eastern Ladakh during the marathon talks in Chushul on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control on Monday. India and Chinese troops are locked in a stand-off in eastern Ladakh for over five months now. Both sides also agreed to continue talks through military and diplomatic channels ■ ■ Reacting to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurating 44 new bridges in border areas, China said India’s infrastructure push is the root cause of problems between the two countries “China does not recognise Ladakh UT and Arunachal Pradesh,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said | P7 12 hours DURATION OF THE SEVENTH CORPS COMMANDER-LEVEL MEETING ON MONDAY CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI HC’s stinker on denial of Centre allows 20 states to raise `68,825 crore dignity in death to victim A N U R A D H A S H U K L A @ New Delhi Asks why Hathras DM has not been transferred yet; directs UP govt to draw up a draft policy on dealing with such situations in future N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow COMING down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government over the hurried cremation of an alleged gang-rape and murder victim in Hathras in the dead of night, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court called it an infringement of human rights of the victim and her family . In its 11-page order a day after hearing the victim’s family and senior officials - after taking suo motu cognisance of the matter - a division bench comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Rajan Roy directed the state authorities to draw up a draft policy to deal with such situations is future. “The facts and circumstances, as of now, ex facie, reveal that the decision to cremate the victim in the night without handing over the body to the family members or their consent though in the name of law and order situation, is prima facie an infringement upon the human rights of the victim and her family “ it said. , “We do not at this stage find any good reason... as to why they could not hand over the body to the family members for some time, say for even half SHARP POSERS Hathras SP was transferred but not the DM. Why different yardsticks for two district officers? Why did Prashant Kumar, ADG (Law and Order), Lucknow, cite the FCL lab report to make the no-rape claim when he was not directly connected with the probe, which is still pending? Isn’t the police aware of the amendments to the definition of rape in 2013, which says mere absence of semen is not conclusive evidence in rape cases an hour, to enable them to perform their rituals at home and thereafter to cremate it either in the night or next day .” The court said that the victim was, at least, entitled to a decent cremation. “Cremation is one of the ‘Sanskars’ i.e., antim sanskar recognized as an important ritual which could not have been compromised taking shelter of law & order situation,” the court said. The question, the court said, was whether the hasty cremation — in the wee hours without showing her face to the family and not allowing them to undertake the necessary rituals — amounts to gross violation of fundamental/human rights. “If so, who is responsible for the same so as to fix their accountability and liability and how the family of the victim be compensated for it,” the order said. The bench took Prashant Kumar, ADG (Law and Order) to task over his claim that the rape was not proved, as the FSL report did not show any traces of semen on her body It . said no officer, who is not directly connected with the investigation, should make any statement in public on the offence based on evidence collected as it can lead to unnecessary speculation and confusion amongst the masses. “No one should indulge in character assassination of the victim just as the accused should not be pronounced guilty before a fair trial,” the order read, adding the probe agency and the courts should be allowed to determine them. EXPRSS READ A day after the GST Council meeting failed to arrive at a consensus on how to bridge the GST revenue shortfall, the Centre on Tuesday allowed 20 states to raise `68,825 crore through open market borrowings. These states had agreed with the first option given by the Centre to borrow money under a special RBI window. The 20 states are: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odi- sha, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. “Additional borrowing permission has been granted at the rate of 0.50% of the Gross State Domestic Product to those States that have opted for Option 1,” a statement from the finance ministry read. At the press meet on Monday after the inconclusive GST Council meeting, Finance Min- ister Nirmala Sitharaman had said, “Just because there is no consensus, it does not mean no decision can be taken.” Eight states are yet to exercise either of the two options mooted by the Centre. The finance ministry statement said, “Action on the special borrowing window is being taken separately”, which means the government is no mood to negotiate WILL MOVE SC: KERALA FM Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said on Tuesday that Kerala will move Supreme Court along with the nine other states that have opposed the Centre’s twin borrowing options HIDDEN AGENDA EWS QUOTA EATS INTO OBC, SC/ST AG goes after SHARE IN BANKING JOBS TV trial of pending court cases B A N B U S E LV A N @ Chennai WHEN the Centre introduced a separate quota for the economically weaker sections (EWS), it said the new system would not affect the reservations already in place. A recent recruitment notification issued by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), says otherwise. As per the notification, OBC, SC, ST quota has been reduced to accommodate the 10 per cent EWS quota. In effect, quota for OBC, SC and ST candidates has been reduced from 49.5 to 40 per cent, while maintaining the open category tally at 50 per cent. Express contacted the IBPS Mumbai office about the development, but officials refused to comment. Former Madras High Court judge K Chandru said there was no legal sanctity for the move. “The Centre has already issued clear directions to the UPSC. If IBPS cuts the quota of reserved castes to facilitate EWS system, it’s a blatant violation of the Constitution.” By contrast, the SBI, which implemented the EWS quota in recruitment last year, did so without cutting the existing reservations — by only reducing the open category recruitment. The IBPS had recently invited applications for filling vacancies in Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Punjab and Sind Bank and UCO Bank. The preliminary examinations were conducted on October 3, 10 and 11. The main exam and personal interview will be conducted based on the results in prelims. SOCIAL MEDIA ATTACK Trolled Tanishq chickens out, nixes interfaith advert E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi CM Edappadi K Palaniswami paying respects to the portrait of his mother Thavusayammal, who died in Salem, on Tuesday. Deputy CM O Panneerselvam and other Ministers are also seen CM Palaniswami’s mother passes away Salem: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s mother Thavusayammal (93), who died on Monday night owing to age-related ailments, was cremated on Tuesday. Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and other ministers paid tributes to her portrait | P4 PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti released Srinagar: PDP chief and former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti was released late Tuesday night after being in preventive detention for 14 months following abrogation of Article 370 last year | P7 Finally, Chennai set to have an ORR C S H I V A K U M A R @ Chennai AFTER a good two decades, Chennai is all set to get 62 km-long Outer Ring Road to ease the flow of traffic moving from Southern districts to Andhra Pradesh and beyond. The ORR from Vandalur to Minjur is on the verge of completion and is likely to be opened in the first week of November. Though the first phase of this project — Vandalur to Nemilichery — was opened to traffic as early as in 2014, the second phase — Nemilichery to Minjur — was being delayed due to issues with land acquisition. “The final bit of the project, a 210-metre stretch, that was being delayed due to land acquisition is on the verge of completion,” said an official with the road development corporation. The entire stretch will be thrown open to public in November. The development of ORR was taken up as part of the recommendations made in the first master plan for Chennai, to reduce traffic congestion by connecting the National Highways to the city. The Second Master Plan also identified areas along ORR as potential areas to absorb the future growth. The ORR will also be key for the development of Tidel Park-3 in Pattabhiram, spread across 5.57 lakh square feet and generating over 25,000 jobs. HIGH-END jewellery brand Tanishq on Tuesday withdrew an advertisement promoting interfaith marriage a day after it was severely trolled on social media. Tanishq said its decision was driven by the fact that the advert had drawn ‘divergent and severe reactions’. A section of the social media users alleged it was promoting ‘love jihad’ — a term used by hardline any further on the issue. The finance ministry had on May 17 provided additional borrowing limit of up to 2% of GSDP to the states. The final instalment of 0.5% (out of this 2% limit) was linked to carrying out three out of the four reforms stipulated by the Centre. However, to sweeten the deal, the Centre said it will waive the reform conditions in the final instalment in view of the Covid pandemic. Officials said states that haven’t opted any option mooted by the Centre will get their share from the cess. But, if there is shortfall, it will be carried over to the next year. Hindutva groups to characterise Muslim men who allegedly entice Hindu girls to fall in love with them in order to promote religious conversion. And their #BoycottTanishq hashtag was trending. Among those who trolled it was Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut, who alleged it promoted ‘love jihad’ and ‘sexism’. Released on October 9 to promote the jewellery line Ekatvam (oneness), the video documented how a Muslim family was preparing for the baby shower of their Hindu daughter-in-law. The idea was to celebrate the coming together of people from different walks of life and celebrate the beauty of oneness, said Tanishq, which is part of the Titan group. Academics and activists condemned the withdrawal. Feminist historian Uma Chakravarti said, “This is typical of the market which may think something is trendy and acceptable but not standing up to its own philosophy later.” EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi EXPRESSING concern over the unbridled commentary by the electronic media on sub-judice matters, Attorney General K K Venugopal said on Tuesday this is being done to influence judges and public perception. “Today, when I watch TV, I see comments about the bail application based on statements made to police. Channels play conversations when a bail plea is coming up, causing damage to the accused,” the AG told a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar, which had assembled to hear a contempt petition against advocate Prashant Bhushan. The charges pertain to Bhushan’s interview to Tehelka magazine in 2009 in which he said half of India’s CJIs till then were corrupt. Venugopal also cited the Rafale case, pointing out how articles appeared in some papers on the same day the court was to hear petitions against the deal. “This (media trial) issue needs to be addressed as well,” the AG said.