KALABURAGI  THURSDAY  DECEMBER 17, 2020  `7.00  PAGES 12  CITY EDITION AHEAD OF 2021 ASSEMBLY WAR, LDF WINS LOCAL BODY BATTLE The ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front in Kerala on Wednesday appeared to make a clean sweep of the local body elections CONG LOSES SHINE, BJP SET TO IMPROVE TALLY BEFITTING REPLY TO CENTRE, SAYS VIJAYAN With counting still going on, the LDF was leading in 514 of the total of 941 grama panchayats, 3 corporations and 10 district panchayats. Congressled United Democratic Front was in the 2nd spot, leading in 375 grama panchayats, 3 corporations and 4 district panchayats. BJP was ahead in 23 panchayats and 2 municipalities against 14 and 1, respectively, in 2015 P5 ■ ■ In the last local body elections, the Congress had won 365 panchayats, 41 municipalities and two corporations Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who has come under a shadow of doubt following the gold smuggling case, said the results are the people’s reply to the central agencies trying to “wreck the state” Apr-May 2021 WHEN ELECTIONS TO THE KERALA ASSEMBLY ARE EXPECTED TO BE HELD 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 Apple may halt supply to Wistron for code violations SC panel in the works to seek stir’s solution Analysts feel the tech giant may temporarily move manufacturing to another firm in TN Fears matters could snowball; impleads 8 farmer unions; extensive hearing today EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi WITH the deadlock persisting on the farmers’ protest against three contentious farm sector laws, the Supreme Court on Wednesday indicated its intention to set up a committee of all stakeholders to open talks, adding the issue could soon snowball into a national one if not quickly resolved. “This is what we propose to do tentatively. We will form a committee to resolve this dispute,” the bench told solicitor general Tushar Mehta while hearing three petitions related to the protests. “This panel will comprise members from BKU or any other farmer association that are protesting, government representatives and other farmers groups,” the CJI said while issuing notice to the Centre on the three petitions. As per the order, eight farmer organisations have been included in the case: Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rakesh Tikait), BKU (Sidhupur), BKU (Rajew- al), BKU (Lakhowal), Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, BKU (Dakaunda), BKU (Doaba) and Kul Hind Kisan Federation. Mehta told the bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde that the government is keen on engaging with the farmers, but it can happen only when the other side is open to discuss the laws, clause by clause. Instead, “they come with just one demand of taking back the law,” Mehta rued. At this, CJI Bobde observed, “Your negotiations have not worked apparently.” Mehta claimed the agitation had been taken over by vested interests. “Whenever they came to meet our ministers, they carried placards with ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Also, when the ministers spoke to them they turned around in their seats to show their back to the Central ministers,” he said. Delhi government counsel Rahul Mehra batted for the farmers saying they were compelled to protest in winter. “The Centre must do something to resolve their problems,” he P7 added. India to name ‘trusted’ telecom sources, may blacklist Chinese firms EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi AFTER taking a slew of steps against Chinese mobile apps, India will soon come out with a list of ‘trusted sources’, only from whom telecom equipment can be purchased by service providers. Senior officials said the move is aimed at building indigenous capacity in the manufacturing of the telecom equipment, and cut down on the dependency on imports. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday decided that a panel headed by the deputy national security advisor will prepare the ‘trusted sources’ list, which seeks to secure India’s communication network. The panel will also prepare a ‘negative list’ of companies, whose products will not be allowed in the country The . black list is likely to contain Chinese firms. The National Security Directive on Telecommunication Sector, cleared by the CCA, directs Next round of spectrum sale B I S M A H M A L I K @ Bengaluru Farmers shout slogans against the new farm sector laws, at the Singhu border in New Delhi on Wednesday | SHEKHAR YADAV Wary unions want to wait and watch H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh PROTESTING farm unions on Wednesday reacted cautiously to the Supreme Court’s proposal to set up a committee to resolve the deadlock over the three contentious farm laws. While some said they will decide on the court’s suggestion only after receiving it in writing and taking legal advice, others claimed the new panel was meaningless since they had already rejected the Centre’s proposal to amend the three laws. Harinder Singh Lakhowal, General Secretary of BKU (Lakhowal) and Omka General Secretary of BKU (Rajewal) said, “After discussion among farmer leaders today it was de, cided that once we get any no- tice from the court, we will take legal advice and decide as to what to do.” Forming a new committee at this stage may not work, according to Sukhdev Singh, Punjab General Secretary of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta AGITATION FIGURED IN TALKS, SAYS RABB New Delhi: Visiting British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Wednesday said he had discussed the ongoing farmers’ protests at Delhi’s borders with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during their interaction. India, he said, had a “vibrant heritage of peaceful protests”, and the United Kingdom respects it | P7 Ugrahan). “The government should have formed a committee of farmers and others before enacting the new agriculture laws,” he said. Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, who is also a member Sankyukt Kisan Morcha, said the SC can decide only the constitutionality of the farm laws but it is not for the judiciary to decide on the desirability of these laws. “SC monitored negotiation would be a wrong path,” he noted. Meanwhile, a 65-year-old religious leader Baba Ram Singh shot himself dead at the Singhu border. He reportedly left behind a suicide note in Punjabi saying he took this extreme step as he could no longer see the struggles of the farmers. EXPRESS READ Adhikari quits as TMC MLA Kolkata: Ending weeks of speculations, TMC heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari resigned as an MLA of the state assembly on Wednesday, further fuelling the theory of him switching over to the saffron camp. Adhikari was TMC MLA from Nandigram assembly constituency of the East Midnapore district. Qatar to host 2030 Asian Games Muscat: The 2030 Asian Games were awarded to Doha on Wednesday and the 2034 event went to Riyadh after a deal was struck between the rival nations. The Qatari capital of Doha beat Saudi Arabian counterpart Riyadh for the 2030 Games in the vote at the Olympic Council of Asia’s general assembly. TAIWANESE electronics contract manufacturer Wistron, which has expansion plans in India, may temporarily lose more supply from tech giant Apple over the violation of the company code of conduct after thousands of its employees resorted to violence at it manufacturing facility in Narasapura last week, according to top industry analysts. Wistron Managing Director Sudipto Gupta, in a letter to the Karnataka Government, dated December 14, stated that the company is committed to its over $250 million electronic manufacturing plan in India , which is a key to its global plans, and looks to expand its presence in this very important market. Not `437 cr, iPhone maker scales down loss to `41.25 cr B A L A C H A U H A N & V V E L AY U D H A M @ Bengaluru, Kolar IN an important development, the Taiwanese iPhone manufacturer Wistron has scaled down the extent of damage at its Narasapura facility near Kolar to `41.25 crore from the previously stated `437 crore. The company issued a fresh letter to the Vemgal police in this regard on Tuesday evening. Ironically a day before the violence, on December 11, a Taiwan, ese delegation, led by Director-General of Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre (TECC) Ben Wang, had met Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar and had expressed keenness to discuss investment plans in Karnataka. The Wistron violence has come at a time when India is being touted as an alternative destination to China in the global supply P5 chain of various products including electronic equipment. Can’t have Muslims on OBC list, says BJP Morcha RIGHTS OF DAUGHTER The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal for the auction of 2,251.25 megahertz of spectrum worth `3.92 lakh crore. The sale will be held in March 2021 | P10 all service providers to mandatorily source equipment from “trusted sources”. However, it will not affect equipment that have already been deployed. “The CCS has approved the directive in line with the needs of the national security and ac, cordingly the National Security Directive on Telecommunication Sector has been given the nod,” said Union law and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The directive has provisions to qualify telecom gears made by domestic players in the trusted category, while those that meet the criteria of the DoT’s “preferential market access scheme” will be certified as India trusted sources. HC: Can’t deny job to married girl on compassionate grounds E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru The interpretation of law has always undergone a change with changing times. This case is a classic example of how law is anachronistic in terms of the Rules Justice M Nagaprasanna EVEN a married daughter of a deceased government employee can be considered for a compassionate appointment, the Karnataka High Court has ruled. It held that excluding a married daughter on such grounds was illegal and unconstitutional. Allowing the petition filed by Bhuavaneshwari V Puranik on Tuesday , Justice M Nagaprasanna struck down the word “unmarried” in Rule 2(1)(a)(i), Rule 2(1)(b) and Rule 3(2)(i)(c) of the Rules, 1996, as it is violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution. It directed the state government to consider the petitioner’s claim and pass an appropriate order within a month. The judge noted that if the Rule was left as it was, it would create discrimination on the basis of gender. If the marital status of a son does not make any difference in law to his entitlement for seeking appointment on compassionate grounds, the marital status of a daughter too should make no difference, the judge said. Observing that marriage does not determine the continuance of a relationship between parent and child, the judge said a married daughter does not cease to be part of the family and law cannot make an assumption that a marP5 ried son alone continues to be part of the family . MARCH TO CHITTAGONG On the road to victory, they soldiered on A M I T S U PA D H Y E @ Mundgod Members of the Special Frontier Force, including soldiers from Tibet, during the 1971 India-Pakistan War, in this dated photograph | FILE IT was not their war. But they fought and laid down their lives for our country Hundreds of soldiers of Tibetan . origin, who were part of Special Frontier Force (SFF), fought along with the Indian Army in the 1971 war. They also became an important part in the Bangla Liberation War. In the last five decades, about 53 Tibetan soldiers have laid down their lives on the front lines. On the occasion of Vijay Diwas on Wednesday 36 , war veterans paid their respect to those who lost their lives in the war. They gathered at the war memorial at Doeguling Tibetan Settlement in Mundgod of Uttara Kannada district. The programme was led by Lhagpa Tsering, who is the Tibetan Settlement Officer of Mundgod. Soon after the SFF was formed, many of the young soldiers in their early 20s, set off to fight the Pakistani Army from the northern parts of present Bangladesh. “When we reached Chittagong Hill Tracts region via Guwahati, we were confronted with the Pathan Regiment of the Pakistan Army We were able to take . over the post in less than 30 minutes,” recalled Tsering Choephel, Assistant Political Leader, SFF, Mundgod. P3 “We bring the best of practices worldwide to our plant and operations and want to protect workers’ interests. We will work together with the State Government to ensure that plant operations are resumed at the earliest,” Gupta said in his letter. He added that Wistron is deeply distressed by the recent incidents that took place at the P5 Narasapura facility . K S H I V A K U M A R @ Mysuru Sweet potato for sale at Belagavi APMC | EXPRESS Belagavi’s sweet potato farmers bear brunt of Delhi stir N A U S H A D B I J A P U R @ Belagavi EVEN as the farmers’ agitation in New Delhi against the Centre’s Farm Bills is impacting the economy as a whole, Belagavi’s sweet potato growers in particular are facing the heat of the protests. A large quantity of sweet potato, which is abundantly grown in Belagavi district and neighbouring West Maharashtra, makes its way to New Delhi every year. Besides Delhi, the sweet potatoes from Belagavi are also transported to parts of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab between September and March. Usually, around 7,000 quintals of the tuber is sent from Belagavi to New Delhi and other North Indian markets, but unfortunately this time around, a mere 800 quintals have been transported. Ever since the farmers launched their agitation in New Delhi three weeks ago, the transporation of sweet potatoes from Belagavi has grinded to a halt. Several transporters are reluctant to carry sweet potatoes in their vehicles to Delhi fearing the blockades across several roads by the agitating farmers. Unable to cope with the crisis, the sweet potato farmers are now forced to sell their produce at lower prices. Sources said that since it is difficult to store huge quantities of sweet potato, farmers prefer to sell it before it gets spoilt. CONTINUED ON: P3 WHILE there is a clamour to include dominant communities and other religions in the list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), BJP’s OBC Morcha national president Laxman Rao said they are against the inclusion of Muslims in the list. Though there are demands, it will not happen as Dr Ambedkar had said that reservation will not be based on religion, but on social and economic backwardness, he reasoned. Admitting that there is pressure on the government from many communities for the OBC tag, he said that the National Backward Classes Commission will look into the merits of such demands and make its recommendation after a detailed study . On the issue of dominant communities demanding reservation, raising concern among the microscopic backward communities, Rao said the government has appointed the Rohini Committee to look into the categorisation of backward classes based on the social and economic factors and ensure justice to all backward communities. Stressing the need for a scientific study and detailed survey of backward classes and their socio-economic and educational status, he felt that it could become the basis for pushing for an increase in reservation quota. In the absence of such study the OBCs , now have only 27 per cent reservation, he pointed out. P3