kozhikode l Sunday l january 16, 2022 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city edition Amid surge in covid cases, ec extends ban on rallies On a day India recorded over 2.6 lakh new Covid cases, the EC put roadshows on hold in the five poll-bound states till Jan 22 allows indoor meetings with 300 people ‘ensure compliance with covid norms’ Though the Election Commission on Saturday extended the ban on physical rallies including padayatras by a week, it has granted some relaxation to political parties. It has allowed them to conduct indoor meetings as long as there was a “maximum of 300 persons or 50% of the capacity of the hall or the prescribed limit set by the State Disaster Management Authority” ■ ■ The poll watchdog, criticised for inaction during the second wave, held virtual meetings with health ministries and chief secretaries of UP, Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand It has asked parties to follow Covid norms and asked state and district administrations to ensure compliance with them JAN 22 EC WILL REVIEW PANDEMIC SITUATION AND ISSUE FRESH INSTRUCTIONS IN A WEEK 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 OBC, SC names dominate BJP’s UP list 44 OBC, 19 SC candidates in first list of 107 names for initial two phases; 20 sitting MLAs dropped M A N I S H A N A N D @ New Delhi THE Bharatiya Janata Party’s first list of 107 candidates for Uttar Pradesh, including chief minister Yogi Adityanath from his traditional Gorakhpur constituency, unveiled the BJP’s mega outreach to other backward classes (OBC) and scheduled castes (SC) with 59% of the nominees for the initial two phases of polls hailing from these two categories. The party also sent out a loud message that it is unfazed by the desertion of big OBC names, denying tickets to 20 sitting MLAs, or one-fourth of the first list. Sixty-three sitting MLAs have been fielded again. By nominating the CM from Gorakhpur, not Ayodhya as was widely speculated, the BJP brass also put its stamp on the leadership of the UP polls clear, tasking Yogi to defend the eastern front and reserving the temple pivot exclusively for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gorakhpur is a saffron bastion, the party having won from there for decades. While announcing the first list on Saturday, Union minister and the BJP’s election in-charge for UP Dharmendra Pradhan said the party would contest the elections in alliance with the Apna Dal and the Nishad Party. The BJP has withheld the name of one candidate for the first phase of polls in 58 constituencies and seven out of the 55 seats in the second phase. Sticking with the strategy to give the BJP a big OBC makeover, the party fielded 44 candidates from the caste groups in the first list, besides 19 from the SC category . Ten women candidates also found a place in the first list of candidates, which included former Uttarakhand governor Baby Rani Mourya from Agra constituency, where she had previously been a mayor. The list also included Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya from Sirathu in Prayagraj district. The BJP has affirmed its trust in Adityanath’s ministers, making it clear that the saffron outfit will be seeking a positive mandate for Team UP . Bishop case: Surprised by observations in judgment, prosecution to file appeal Reason for dismissing the rape charge against the accused, even after the fiduciary relationship between the victim and the assailant was proven beyond doubt, was not satisfactory The victim discredited for minor 2 differenceswasvarious statements, in which is not acceptable. All the prosecution witnesses 3 discredited as unbelievable onwere minor grounds The judgment seemed to give a 4 colour of consent to the act which has not even been raised by the accused 1 Judgment criticised Former High Court judge Justice Kemal Pasha lashed out at the judgment stating the court was keen on finding reasons to disbelieve the victim rather than believing her. “The findings in the judgment are perverse. Several observations were against our common sense,” he said. The detailed project report (DPR) of SilverLine — T’Puram-Kasaragod Semi high-speed rail line — is out in public domain, thanks to the breach of privilege notice moved by Congress MLA Anwar Sadath who had raised a question in the assembly, seeking DPR on October 27, last year. The DPR was uploaded on Niyamasabha website on Saturday, in reply to Sadath’s question. proven beyond doubt, was not satisfactory . Amid strong criticism from various “The court has accepted the auquarters over the acquittal of Bishop thority of the accused over the comFranco Mulakkal, former head of plainant and hence established a fithe Latin Catholic Diocese of Jaland- duciary relationship between them. har, in the nun rape case, the prose- In such a context IPC 376 (rape on a cution and the investigation team woman incapable of giving consent) have decided to file an appeal against will definitely stand. Then there is the judgment in the Kerala High no value for minor contradictions, Court. omissions or additions in the Even as condemning reacstatement of the survivor. tions against the verdict by This apart, the prosecution the Kottayam Additional could prove that the accused District and Sessions Court stayed in the convent on the -I galore on social media, a day the complainant was scrutiny of the judgment by raped,” said an advocate on the investigation team found condition of anonymity . several disagreeable obserAccording to the prosecuBishop vations made by the court, tion, the victim was discredwhich it will point out in the Franco Mulakkal ited for minor differences in High Court. various statements, which is While the prosecution is of the not acceptable. view that the rape survivor was disAs per the principle adopted by the credited through the observations in apex court, minor changes in deposithe judgment, legal experts said the tion is a sign of credibility while it is reason for dismissing the rape charge the parrot-like version that has to be against the accused, even after discarded. And the court has failed the fiduciary relationship between to appreciate this fact, the prosecu● More on P5 the victim and the assailant was tion stated.  A bhilash C handran @ Kottayam Prosecution claims SilverLine DPR out 11.528 km 529.450 12.991 km (2.17%)Tunnels km is the total length of the semi high-speed rail line 200 kmph is the maximum operating speed 11am-5pm Normal operation hours Daily ridership 79,934 in 2025-26 1,58,946 in 2052-53 Total completion cost L63,940.67 crore (as per March 2020) Train set: 9 cars extendable to 12/15 Seating: 2+2 (business), 3+2 (standard) Passenger capacity per train - 675 (9 car set) (2.44%)Bridges 11 stops - Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Chengannur, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kochi airport, Thrissur, Tirur, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod. Car requirement - 261 in 2025 increasing to 492 in 2052 5 years Completion time Train operation - 37 services in 2025 with peak headway of 20 minutes, increasing to 65 in 2052 with peak headway of 10 minutes | P4 88.412 km (16.61%)Viaducts 292.728 km (55%) Embankments 101.737 km (19.12%)Cuttings 24.789 km (4.66%) Cut and cover on his terms Now, Kohli steps down as Test captain venkata krishna B @ Chennai THE mood in the dressing room was already sombre on Friday. Even as the squad was coming to terms with the series defeat, Virat Kohli broke the news that he would no longer continue as Test captain. Twenty-four hours later came the confirmation. “Seven years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance to take the team in the right direction. I’ve done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it’s now,” Kohli, who will walk away as India’s greatest Test captain in terms of wins (40), tweeted. Only four months after relinquish- ing the T20 captaincy in order to give himself “space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket”, Kohli has had enough. Within the team, the reaction was one of shock, even if it is not something that came out of the blue. In fact, ever since a few senior players expressed reservations over his authoritative style of functioning, those in the dressing room have revealed how the 33-year-old has seldom been his usual self. The tussle with board officials, too, contributed to Kohli’s decision. Apart from the disagreement with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly over the manner in which he was sacked as ODI captain, it is learnt that board officials have stopped communicating with him. In simple terms, he no longer enjoys the backing of the BCCI. But Kohli stepped down on his terms. That he no longer had his mentor, Ravi Shastri, also made the decision a lot easier. He leaves a huge void to fill as the Test team, unlike the limited-overs side, doesn’t have a ready-made captain in waiting. Either K L Rahul or Rohit Sharma is likely to be the new captain. Bhim Army chief not to ally with SP Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad, whose Azad Samaj Party was in talks with Akhilesh Yadav’s SP, has now said he will try to form a third front. Reports said there was a rift over the number of seats. “We thought this is a new SP. We wanted unity of the bahujans and we were banking on him (Akhilesh), but yesterday we felt that our hopes had been shattered,” Aazad said on Saturday Cong first list for Punjab has Sidhu stamp, no ticket for CM’s brother H arpreet B a j wa @ Chandigarh The Punjab Congress stuck to the one-family one-ticket formula and dropped four sit, ting MLAs in the first list of 86 candidates announced on Saturday Among the promi. nent names on the list were CM Charanjit Singh Channi from Chamkaur Sahib and state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu from Amritsar (East). The list has Sidhu’s stamp as Malavika Sood, sister of actor Sonu Sood, and singer Sidhu Moosewala were fielded from Moga and Mansa, respectively Both had joined the party . recently following Sidhu’s lobbying. Sources said there was disagreement on eight seats between Sidhu and the CM as both wanted tickets for their supporters. But, Sidhu appears to have prevailed. Channi was seeking a poll ticket for his younger brother from Bassi Pathana but the sitting MLA has been retained. Channi was also pushing for Nimisha Mehta from Garhshankar but Punjab Youth Congress leader Amarpreet Lally was picked instead. The party has given tickets to several relatives of senior leaders. Among them are Sandeep Jakhar, the nephew of former state unit president Sunil Jakhar, and Mohit Mohindra, the son of Cabinet minister Brahm Mohindra. Further, two MPs managed to get seats for their sons. All Cabinet ministers have been retained in the first list that has nine women candidates (10.4%) and 15 new faces. A senior party leader said the list reflected Sidhu’s formula. As a result, a dozen leaders who wanted tickets for their relatives, including Channi and a few sitting Cabinet ministers, were denied the privilege. express read K Sudhakaran defends Dheeraj murder accused T’Puram: State Congress president K Sudhakaran on Saturday raised a strong defence for Youth Congress leader Nikhil Pylee who was arrested by the Idukki police on charges of murdering engineering student and SFI activist Dheeraj Rajendran last week. Sudhakaran said nobody has seen who had stabbed Dheeraj and Nikhil was actually trying to run away from a violent SFI mob. “ Nikhil became an accused as he was on the spot at the time of the incident,” Sudhakaran said. P4 T’Puram airport chief booked over sexual harassment plaint T’Puram: The city police have registered a rape case against the chief airport officer of Adani Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd, Giri Madhusoodana Rao, based on a sexual harassment complaint lodged by a woman contract staffer of the airport. The case was registered at Thumba police station and the arrest is likely to be recorded soon. Rao has been suspended pending inquiry by the Adani Group as the group also received a complaint from the woman. P4 NATIONWIDE jan 14 jan 15 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 2,64,202 2,68,833 1,09,345 1,22,684 315 402 stateWIDE jan 14 jan 15 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 16,338 3,848 20 WITH THIS ISSUE 17,755 3,819 17 Meet the Pawrents PLUS 12 PAGES