chennai l saturday l june 18, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE CITY EDITION China blocks Bid to add pak man to global terror list Beijing blocks proposal to list Lashkar-e-Toiba leader Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist at the United Nations Technical hold in U.N. on India-u.s. proposal India slams chinese double standards China placed a “technical hold” on the joint proposal from India and US against Makki, who is a brother-in-law of 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed. A technical hold can last six months during which another proposal can’t be moved against him. Beijing claimed it was acting in accordance with the relevant “procedures and rules”, but did not specify what they were ■ ■ Indian officials called out China’s double standards, saying its action runs counter to its claim of fighting terrorism This is not the first time China has blocked action against Pakistani terrorists. In 2019, Beijing vetoed a proposal by India to list JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist at the UN 2010 When makki was listed as specially designated global terrorist by u.s. 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 Youth killed, trains set on fire Now, CBI goes after Gehlot’s brother in Secunderabad as stir spreads E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi Widespread damage to public property as protests singe North Express News Service Fire and smoke billowing out of a Ajanta Express bogie after a mob attack against the Agnipath job scheme, at Secunderabad Railway Station on Friday | VINAY MADAPU P i n t o D e e pa k @ Hyderabad The Secunderabad railway station resembled a battlefield on Friday after a mob, protesting against the Union gover nment’s Agnipath scheme, went berserk, torching a couple of trains and vandalising kiosks and cargo, forcing security personnel to open fire that killed one protester and left at least 12 others injured. While Damera Rakesh (25) from Warangal district succumbed to bullet injuries, a number of personnel from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Telangana Special Police Battalions and the Hyderabad Police were injured. Fortunately all passen, gers were safe. By the time additional forces from the RPF and all wings of the Telangana police were rushed in, major damage had already been done. All platforms of the Secunderabad railway station were ransacked, with kiosks, furniture, a majority of the CCTV cameras and other equipment damaged. In all, eight trains were suffered damages. It all began when the mob marched to the end of the plat- chess olympiad Ex-Taj chef will prep platter for gastronomic war b a n b us e lva n @ Chennai While Chennai’s chess lovers feast on battles among 2,000 astute minds from 190 countries at the 44th Chess Olympiad — the world’s premier chess tournament — on the outskirts of Chennai from July 28, the players will be able to savour the finest of global cuisines. The All-India Chess Federation (AICF), which is organising the event, has roped in Hemant Oberoi, the retired chief chef of the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, to oversee the preparation of food from Italy, Japan, China, Mexico, West Asia, and France, aside from India. The veteran gourmet will ensure the menu meets the International Chess Federation’s (FIDE) requirements. The competition, which will take place between July 28 and August 10, will see close to 5,000 visitors, including the players, arriving at the city “Interpreters are ar. ranged for six languages — French, German, Spanish, Arabic, English, and Russian — to help the players,” KP Karthikeyan, member Secretary Sports Development Au, thority of Tamil Nadu said. As many as 37 star hotels at Mamallapuram along the East Coast Road have been shortlisted for participants’ accommodation, and the State food safety department has asked them to obtain a hygiene rating certificate, the highest quality credential for Food Business Operators. P5 form towards Kazipet while damaging trains stationed there. They went berserk, pelting stones from the tracks on the trains. After repeated attempts to calm them down failed, the police opened fire to mqanage the situation. This led to further stone pelting on the trains and security personnel. The protesters later squatted on the tracks, raising slogans demanding cancellation of the Agnipath scheme. After consultations with the Army, the police invited 10 members from the crowd for talks with Army authorities, but the protesters refused to yield. Repeated attempts to convince them to come for talks failed, so the police and paramilitary teams as also the Rapid Action Force and RPF, surrounded the railway station from all sides and rounded up the protesters. They were whisked away and shifted to various police stations across the city . Passengers already seated in the trains panicked on noticing the violence and ran for safety , leaving their luggage behind. Some claimed they were dragged out of the trains before the coaches were set on fire. The firestorm of protests against the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme continued for the third consecutive day on Friday, taking several north Indian states in its sweep and spreading further afield to West Bengal, forcing the cancellation of over 200 trains and impacting the operations of 316 other trains. The situation in Bihar, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Many trains Madhya Pradesh turned grim as protesters ran amok, damagfrom TN ing public property and torchcancelled ing trains at several places. In the wake of But the Centre appeared deprotests against termined to push it through the Agnipath with IAF chief Air Marshal V scheme turning R Chaudhari setting the timeviolent in line for its rollout in his force Secunderabad, — from next Friday June 24. , several train Coaches of seven trains have services from so far been set ablaze by proChennai and testers, officials said, adding other places to that coaches of three other runSecunderabad ning trains in the ECR and one and Patna got empty rake in Kulharia, in the disrupted on same zone, were damaged. Friday | P5 Protesters’ fury raged across at least 12 districts of Bihar where, besides setting two coaches of the Jammu Tawi Express on fire in Samastipur district, the enraged youth attacked a BJP office in Lakhisarai district. Another train — the Islampur-Hatia Express — was torched at Nalanda. The house of Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi was attacked in Bettiah. In UP besides setting trains on fire and vandal, ising them in Ballia, protesters also damaged buses, forcing the police to beat back angry crowds and firing teargas shells before taking 100 youth into custody Firozabad, Amethi, Varanasi, . Unnao and Deoria were the other districts from where incidents of violence were reported.  P9 The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday conducted raids at various locations linked to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s brother Agrasen Gehlot in connection with a fertiliser scam. Responding sharply to the raids, the CM accused the BJP-led Central government of practicing vendetta politics. He sought to attribute it to his participation in protests in Delhi against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the National Herald case. Free booster doses for 18-59 age group at pvt hosps: Min Chennai: Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Friday said steps are on to offer free booster doses to those in the 18-59 age group at private hospitals across the State. “This will be done with the help of corporate social responsibility funds and support from organisations like Rotary Club... it will be a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country,” the minister said | P2 Jab-o-meter June 16 13,21,282 doses Take June 17 13,14,094 doses Total: 1,95,98,55,566 NATIONWIDE June 16 June 17 tamil nadu June 16 June 17 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 12,213 12,847 Fresh cases 7,624 7,985 Recoveries 11 14 Deaths 552 177 0 One of the IPL’s dealers is Anupam Krishi, which is run by Agrasen. Anupam Krishi purchased MoP from IPL, but instead of supplying it to farmers at subsidised rates, it sold the chemical to other dealers who re-sold it to a few export firms — Saraf Impex Pvt Ltd, Shivam Chemicals and Kailashpati Chemicals & Minerals and Industries. To avoid being caught by Customs, the exporters repackaged MoP as feldspar powder which was sent abroad packaged in a high-density polythene bags.  P10 cites SC’s spl powers e x p r e ss r e a d your shot The CBI raids were carried out across 15 locations in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and West Bengal linked to Agrasen and 14 others. The agency said it is probing the diversion of Muriate of Potash (MoP) also known as potassium chloride meant for farmers. It alleged Agrasen and others colluded with officials of the Central Board of Excise and Customs and the Indian Potash Limited (IPL) to re-package the imported potassium chloride as feldspar (aluminium silicate) and export them, causing a loss of `52.8 crore to the exchequer. 589 208 0 HC rejects Nalini’s plea for early release in Rajiv case R SI V AK U M AR @ Chennai The Madras HC on Friday refused to order premature release of Nalini and Ravichandran, convicts in former PM Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, saying that it doesn’t have powers akin to that of the Supreme Court under Article 142 of the Constitution to release them. The SC ordered premature release of Perarivalan, another accused, last month by invoking its special powers. The first bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N Mala on Friday also pointed to the dismissal of Nalini’s habeas corpus plea by another HC bench. “The prayer for release of the petitioner by the government on its own pursuant to the recommendation of the Council of Ministers cannot be directed. The release cannot be directed even by the court in the absence of the acceptance of the resolution by the Governor. The recommendation of the council of ministers has otherwise been sent to the President. The development is during the pendency of the writ petition,” the bench said in its 53-page order. Continued on: P2