kochi l tuesday l november 23, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Vir Chakra CONFERRED on Abhinandan Varthaman DOWNED PAK F-16 RAISED MORALE OF FORCES India’s third highest wartime gallantry medal was given for showing “exceptional sense of duty”, the award citation said Other awards President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday conferred the award (pic) on Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who downed a Pak F-16 a day after the Balakot surgical strike in 2019, ejected from his MiG-21 after it was hit in enemey territory and was held captive there for three days. The citation said his action raised the morale of India’s armed forces The Gallantry awards included included two Kirti Chakras (one posthumous), one Vir Chakra and 23 Shaurya Chakras (10 posthumous) 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 Andhra CM takes Slew of dissent notes in JPC report on personal data bill a step back on 3 capitals in state Express News Service @ New Delhi K a lyan T h o l e t i @ Vijayawada in a surprise move, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh on Monday withdrew the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of all Regions Act and the Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Act (the three capitals Acts), citing “suspicions, misconceptions and legal hurdles” created by some elements, indirectly pointing fingers at the opposition TDP . Nonetheless, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy made it crystal clear that his government will come up with a “better and comprehensive” legislation, indicating that he hasn’t dropped the three capitals move altogether. Buggana Rajendranath Reddy the finance minister of And, hra Pradesh, tabled the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of all Regions Repeal Act-2021 in the Assembly, which passed it by a voice vote. Making a statement on the floor of the House, Jagan said, “The three capitals — legislative in Amaravati, executive in Visakhapatnam and judiciary in Kurnool — were sought to be set up to ensure balanced development of all the regions including the backward North Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.” “Several suspicions were sowed, misconceptions and legal hurdles created.... good intentions of the government were ignored and an argument was advanced that injustice was meted out to some,” he said. Stating that the g o ve r n m e n t w a s w i t h d r aw i n g t h e three capitals Acts in larger public interest, he said it will retur n to the House with a better and comprehensive bill and incorporate in it answers to all legal questions. Significantly, Jagan said the government will “explain to all sections of people and all the regions, extensively and exhaustively, the need for decentralisation of development”. Briefly touching on the earlier TDP government’s plan to build a brand new Amaravati capital city Jagan said it would cost `1 , lakh crore and with time, the cost might escalate to `5-6 lakh crore and wondered if the State ● More on P5 could afford it.  Cholera bacteria detected in three Narikkuni wells E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @Kozhikode The investigation by the district health department into the death of a two-year-old boy due to food poisoning at Narikkuni has found the presence of cholera bacteria in water samples collected from three wells in the region. According to officials, Muhammad Yamin, son of Akbar and native of Veeriambram near Narikkuni, fell sick after having a chicken dish during a wedding function near his house. Yamin died on November 11. As part of the probe to identify the source of food poisoning that was reported in over 11 children, including Yamin, the health officials collected water samples from three wells. The report that came on Monday said the water samples had the presence of vibrio cholera. “Though the presence of vibrio cholera was found in the water samples from different wells, neither the deceased boy nor those who were hospitalised had shown any symptoms of cholera,” said District Medical Officer Dr V Ummer Farook. “Hence, we have decided to carry out further investigation,” he said. After food poisoning was reported, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India closed down the catering unit at Kuttambur which delivered food for wedding reception. A Joint Committee of Parliament (JPC) that was examining the Personal Data Protection Bill, adopted its report on Monday though its Opposition members like Congress’ Jairam Ramesh and Manish Tewari and Trinamool’s Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra submitted separate dissent notes. However, Ramesh was generous in his appreciation of the democratic manner in which the committee functioned under the chairmanship of BJP leader P P Chaudhary “Finally . , it is done. The Joint Committee of Parliament has adopted its report on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019. There are dissent notes, but that is in the best spirit of parliamentary democracy Sadly such examples . , are few and far between under the Modi regime.” In his two-page dissent note, the Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha argued that Section 35 of the bill gives almost unbridled powers to the Centre to exempt any government agency from the entire Act itself. “Under the amendment I had suggested, the Central government will have to get Parlia- Midway change of head “We started in December 2019 and finished in November 2021,” Tewari said. The report got delayed because the panel’s former head Meenakshi Lekhi got a ministrial berth. Chaudhary was then appointed as its new chairperson and that the constitutional right to privacy arises only where operations and activities of private companies are concerned. Tewari, in his very detailed dissent note, said, “I do not agree with the fundamental design and construction of the bill.” He said he is not in sync with many of the proposed clauses and suggested clause by clause amendments. He added that in its present form, the bill would not withstand legal scrutiny . RSS man’s murder: Popular Front activist arrested E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Palakkad Search for hard disk Kerala Fire and Rescue Services scuba divers search near Kanamkattu bridge in Vembanad Lake for the hard disk containing CCTV footage of No 18 Hotel in Fort Kochi on Monday. The search was done as part of the probe into the death of three persons, including Miss South India Ansi Kabeer, in a car accident in the wee hours of November 1 | Arun Angela Ex-students give school ‘Ati Vishisht’ moment C y n t h i a C h an d r an @ T’Puram THE alumni of Sainik School Kazhakoottam proudly refer to themselves as Kazaks. And their 1982 batch got the bragging rights on Monday when their batchmate Lt Gen Johnson P Mathew got the coveted Ati Vishisht Seva Medal. Their another batchmate Major General K Narayanan, who is a joint secretary at the Union defence ministry, will receive the same award on Tuesday . Currently the General Of- mentary approval for exempting any of its agencies from the purview of the law. Even then, the government must always comply with the bill’s requirement of fair and reasonable processing and implementing the necessary security safeguards,” he said. Ramesh argued that the JCP report allows a period of two years for private companies to migrate to the new data protection regime, but governments and government agencies have no such stipulation Lt Gen Johnson P Mathew Major General K Narayanan ficer Commanding of 3 (Spear) Corps — the largest in Indian Army — in Nagaland, Valiyathovala, Idukki, native Johnson had successfully commanded Victor Force (Rashtriya Rifles) in Jammu and Kashmir to eliminate a top militant leadership in its southern region. His name was announced on January 26, 2020 but the presentation got delayed due to the pandemic. Retired colonel B N Suresh told TNIE that Johnson had undertaken lots of military operations in south Kashmir under his command against militant activities. “The role played by Lt Gen Johnson as the GOC of Victor Force was the biggest chal- lenge he has faced in his tenure. He had received the Vishisht Seva Medal from the President in 2006,” said Col Suresh. Parappanangadi, Malappuram, native Maj Gen Narayanan, 56, is currently the 13th Col of the Maratha Light Infantry . He is one of the two joint secretaries (Army) under Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat. He was commissioned to the 12th Maratha Light Infantry Regiment in December, 1985. A week after RSS worker S Sanjith was hacked to death in front of his wife in broad daylight at Mambram in Palakkad, the police on Monday made the first arrest. The police said he was an office-bearer of Popular Front of India (PFI) and was directly involved in the crime. He was reportedly picked up from Mundakkayam in Kottayam district. District Superintendent of Police R Viswanath said more details regarding his identity could not be revealed as it would affect the proposed identification parade and the course of investigation. Police said it was a political murder and that they have got leads regarding the other persons who were involved in the crime. Police sources said the arrested had many criminal cases registered against him. They added the main accused left the district immediately after the crime and that he was still at large. The police said NATIONWIDE nov 21 nov 22 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 10,488 12,329 313 8,488 12,510 249 that after killing Sanjith, the five suspects escaped to Aanamalai in Tamil Nadu via Per uvembu and Meenakshipuram. One of them, along with a friend, reached Mundakkayam where another friend of him — a bakery shop worker — was staying. He stayed with the bakery worker. The police took the trio into custody from their room, said a source. The remaining four suspects went to different places from Aanamalai, they said. Since the murder, the probe team has taken nine persons including the bakery shop worker into custody for questioning. As Arshika, the wife of the slain RSS activist, had witnessed the killing, the arrested person may be subjected to an identification parade before her. Similarly, members of the public who passed that way in vehicles and saw the crime, could also become witnesses. A school bus too had passed that ● More on P4 way at that time.  statewide Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths nov 21 nov 22 5,080 7,908 40 E X P RE S S RE A D T r u e d e t e r m i n at i o n SC to hear Mullaperiyar case expeditiously 3,698 7,515 75 School dropout at age 12, a high school teacher now New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the Mullaperiyar case expeditiously for a final settlement of all disputes and posted the case for hearing on December 10. P5 Stalker stabs 18-yr-old girl in Wayanad Kalpetta: An 18-year-old girl sustained injuries on her face after being stabbed by a salker at Lakkidi in Wayanad on Monday. P4 16 pages, including 4 pages of kochi Express A m i ya M e e t h a l @Kozhikode Right through the first five years of her schooling, Ramla P K topped her class. But while in Class 6, she was forced to drop out. Reason? She was married off, aged 12. Belonging to a conservative Muslim family her chances of redeem, ing her academic career, back in 1989, would have appeared slim. After becoming a mother of four, at 25, how bright would her prospects be? If people thought it was still dim, Ramla has proved them wrong. Now 45, she has acquired a master’s degree in Arabic, passed the State Eligibility Test and is a high school teacher at the governmentaided TIM Girls HSS in Nadapuram. “I could never come to terms with the fact I coudn’t complete even Class 10. But I didn’t know how exactly to resume my education,” Ramla says. She then happened to attend a class by an engineer in government service. He had dropped out of school in Class 4 but resumed education at 17, she recalls. “That was the trigger I was waiting for. If a Class 4 dropout can become an engineer, why can’t I who had studied up to Class 6? That question struck me,” she says. Ramla, the only daughter of Khadeeja, first shared her ambition with her step-father, Pokkar Musliyar. He readily agreed and she registered for SSLC as private candidate. At 26, she passed Class 10, and registered for Afzal-ul-Ulama — a two-year foundation course in Arabic at Islamiya College in Kuttiyadi. She joined the bachelor degree If a Class 4 dropout can become an engineer, why can’t I who had studied up to Class 6? That question struck me — Ramla P K course at the same college, graduating in 2010. “A lot of people supported me. A BSNL staffer, who came for the census to my home, told me that those who have turned 18 can write SSLC exams. Mumtaz, my neighbour, lent me the text books. A few teachers found time to tutor me at home. There were also occasions when they had to go back as my little children wouldn’t let me attend the class,” reminisces Ramla, ● More on P4 with a smile.