KOCHI l wednesday l july 06, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE city EDITION Boris Johnson boris admits to lying. Sunak, Javid quit. Govt on edge B ritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government was on the brink on Tuesday after a major rebellion from within with his finance and health ministers resigning following the PM’s admission that he had feigned igno- rance about a colleague’s shady past. There was speculation of more resignations later. Rishi Sunak, often seen as a future PM, quit as chancellor of the exchequer and Sajid Javid resigned as health secretary Their . resignations were announced minutes after the PM apologised for appointing Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip. Pincher had quit last week after charges of drunkenly groping two men. Downing Street initially de- nied Johnson knew of prior allegations against Pincher when appointing him in February But on . Tuesday an ex-official outed that Johnson, as foreign minister, was told in 2019 about another inciP11 dent involving Pincher.  Rishi Sunak ‘I think it was a mistake and I apologise for it. In hindsight it was the wrong thing to do. I apologise to everybody who has been badly affected by it. I want to make absolutely clear that there’s no place in this government for anybody who is predatory or who abuses their position of power Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister Sajid Javid The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously.I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning I am instinctively a team player but the British people also rightly expect integrity from their government.... I regret to say, however, that it is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership -- and you have therefore lost my confidence too Rishi Sunak, UK Chancellor of Treasury Sajid Javid, UK health secretary 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 Minister’s ‘unconstitutional’ rant puts CPM Twitter drags govt in spot, guv reminds him of responsibilities to K’taka HC over Keeping watch on situation, says KhanCM seeks clarification from Saji Cherian Oppn demands resignation E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Congress workers clash with the police while protesting near Kanayannur taluk office in Kochi demanding the resignation of Minister Saji Cherian | A Sanesh He said, they reacted Saji Cherian is not fit to continue as minister after he discredited the Constitution and its makers. He must resign or the CM should expel him from the cabinet for violating oath of office - V D Satheesan, Leader of Oppn We all say we have a beautifully written Constitution. But, I will say, the Constitution is written in such a way that it can be used to plunder the people of the country - Saji Cherian, Fisheries Minister, at a function Ignorance is clearly no bar when it comes to eligibility for ministerial office in our country! But when this comes from an elected official who has sworn an oath to uphold the very Constitution he is trashing, where does ignorance cross over into something else? @cmokerala - MP Shashi Tharoor in a tweet Malfunction Safety scare as SpiceJet plane lands in Karachi He assumed office after swearing on the Constitution. Now, Saji Cherian has rejected the same Constitution - P K Kunhalikutty, IUML national general secretary E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kochi @ New Delhi SpiceJet Boeing 737 Max aircraft at Karachi airport on Tuesday | PTI Tuesday’s row reminded many of the 1985 incident involving then power minister R Balakrishna Pillai. Pillai had courted controversy for his provocative remarks with an apparent reference to militancy in Punjab, while speaking to Kerala Congress workers. Later known as ‘Punjab model’ speech, the incident cost Pillai his ministership | P4 ing elected offices, take an oath to uphold the Constitution and the law. I hope, in all sincerity, that everyone will be conscious of one’s responsibilities,” Khan told reporters on the sidelines of an event. He hoped the CM will take notice of the speech and infor m him of future course of action. Khan said he has not sought any report from the government on the speech, but was “keeping a watch” on the situation. It all began with a speech by Cherian at a CPM event in Pathanamthitta. The speech became viral in social media after the party’s Mallappally area committee shared a video of it. Cherian said the Constitution Just 3,297 tonnes in 2021: Oil sardine catch sees record dip, sparks concern A RS H A D K H A N & Y E S H I S E L I Budget carrier SpiceJet flew into rough weather on Tuesday as its Delhi-Dubai flight had to be diverted to Karachi due to malfunctioning of the fuel indicator and another domestic flight had to request priority landing in Mumbai after cracks developed on its windshield. Following the two back-toback incidents, the total number of technical snags reported on SpiceJet aircraft in the past 17 days rose to seven. In both the incidents on Tuesday, the aircraft landed safely and passengers were safely disembarked. Sources say the Boeing 737 Max plane flying from Delhi to Dubai showed unusual loss in fuel quantity when it was midair. However, no visual leak was noticed during an inspection in Karachi. In the second incident, the windshield of a Q400 plane flying from Kandla to Mumbai cracked at 23,000 feet altitude. “During cruise, the windshield of the outer windshield pane cracked,” a spokesperson said. Officials at DGCA said it is probing Tuesday’s incidents, along with five incidents reported in the recent past. On July 2, a SpiceJet flight heading to Jabalpur returned to Delhi after the crew observed smoke in the cabin at around 5,000-feet altitude. On June 19, it experienced two incidents — of engine malfunction and cabin pressurisation. Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian has forced the CPM to go on the backfoot saying that the Indian Constitution “condones exploitation” and is being used to “plunder” people. The Opposition UDF on Tuesday demanded his resignation and Governor Arif Mohammed Khan sent a strong message remarking that those who have assumed constitutional offices should be conscious of their responsibilities. Khan indicated that he expects the chief minister to take appropriate action. CM Pinarayi Vijayan, who sought a clarification from Cherian about his speech at Mallappally last Sunday, was initially of the view that there was no need for him to resign. CPM too chose to downplay the controversy and give the benefit of doubt to the minister. Cherian clarified his statement in the assembly following the CM’s directive. However, the governor’s remarks seem to have changed the scenario, prompting a rethink by CPM leadership, it is reliably learnt. “Those charged with special responsibilities and are hold- Will Saji Cherian take a cue from Pillai? Down, up, down again 2012: 3.9L tonnes 2013: 2.1L tonnes 2014: 1.6L tonnes 2015: 68,431 tonnes 2016: 45,958 tonnes 2017: 1.27L tonnes 2018: 77,093 tonnes 2019: 44,320 tonnes 2020: 13,154 tonnes 2021: 3,297 tonnes 98% decrease in 2021 compared to average annual catch from 1995 to 2020 Kerala fish landing in 2021: 5.55 lakh tonnes Increase in fish landing: 1.94 lakh tonnes Oil sardine catch in the state dropped to a record low of 3,297 tonnes in 2021, confirming fears of migration of species and highlighting the need for complete ban on fishing during breeding season. This is also 98 per cent less than the annual catch during the 1995-2020 period, as per the figures revealed by scientists at a workshop organised by Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) in Kochi on Tuesday , Experts said climate change, warming of the Arabian Sea as well as change in water current and the ecosystem has contributed to the migration of Kerala’s staple fish from the state’s Khaki vs khaki drama outside journo’s home Chhattisgarh police team outside his residence. He reportedly went to the bathroom and IN what could be called a case tweeted, “Chhattisgarh police of one-upmanship in khaki, a are standing outside my house Chhattisgarh police team that to arrest me without informing had arrived with an arrest war- the local police, is it legal?” He rant at the doorstep of a TV also tagged Uttar Pradesh journalist at Indirapuram in Chief Minister Yogi AdityGhaziabad had to hang anath, Ghaziabad SSP around empty-handed a n d AD G z o n e as its UP counterparts Luckow. took the jour nalist Soon, a Ghaziabad away . police team arrived at The attempt to arrest the spot and did not let was based on an FIR the visiting police arregistered against him rest him. Later, the Nofor airing a doctored ida police came in and Rohit Ranjan video clip of Congress took Ranjan away sayleader Rahul Gandhi’s ing he is wanted in a comments. Rahul’s statement case in Noida. on the attack on his Wayanad In response to Ranjan’s tweet, office was mixed up, intention- Chhattisgarh police said: ally or otherwise, with the “There is no such rule to inUdaipur killing in the telecast. form. Police team has shown The TV channel has since apol- you the court’s warrant of arogized and attributed it to “hu- rest. You should cooperate, join man error”. in the investigation and put The day’s drama be gan your defence in court.” around 5.30am when Zee TV anThe Chhattisgarh Police are chor Rohit Ranjan spotted the now exploring legal avenues. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Lucknow/Raipur coast. However, Kerala, which was fourth in India in fish landing in 2020, advanced to the third position in 2021, accounting for 18 per cent of the national marine catch. Fishing harbours here recorded 5,54,976 tonnes of fish landing in 2021, 1.94 lakh tonnes more than the 3,60,742 tonnes in 2020. Lesser sardines (65,326 tonnes) topped the list of mostlanded resources in the state in 2021, followed by Indian mackerel (56,029 tonnes) and scad (53,525 tonnes). While the catch of oil sardine, silver bellies and black pomfret declined, that of penaeid shrimps, squid and threadfin breams saw a rise, CMFRI principal scientist T M Najmudeen said while present● More on P4 ing the findings. was written by Indians, but prepared by the British, and is being executed in the country for 75 years. Acknowledging that there were some merits in the Constitution such as secularism and democracy, he said it has always favoured exploitation of the working class. Cherian also complained that the media and judiciary were not supportive of working class. Shortly after his remarks kicked off a storm, the video was removed from the Facebook page. The UDF raised the issue in the assembly and boycotted Cherian’s speech in protest. He said his speech was misreported by the media. “I and my party respect the Constitution and uphold the supreme values in it. What I intended to say was that the directive principles need to be strengthened. Else, the Constitution can’t put up any resistance against growing inequalities in the state. I hadn’t intended to discredit the Constitution,” he said. Later, Cherian said he was speaking about how the ruling dispensation misinterprets the Constitution and butchers democracy ● More on P4 and secularism.  take-down order IT Act empowers the government to block public access to content in the interest of naSocial media platform Twit- tional security, besides other ter on Tuesday moved the reasons. Karnataka High Court T h e c o n f ro n t at i o n against the Centre’s came to a head last year order last week to take when the government down content under wanted several Twitter Section 69A of the Inhandles, including information Technoloternational advocacy gy Act, alleging abuse group Freedom House, ‘No advance of power by the politicians, journalnotice’ officials. ists and many individTwitter’s response In its plea before uals who were supcomes in the wake of the court, Twitter portive of the farmers’ argued that a government warnprotest, blocked. On some of the ing that it had failed June 26, acting on the government to comply with two government’s request, orders did not take down orders Twitter blocked over give advance from the Ministry of 80 accounts. Electronics and In- notice to authors Twitter has been of the content formation Technolosubjected to police said to be gy (MeitY), issued on investigation. objectionable. June 6 and 9. While news agency Twitter has an In its warning of Reuters reported that last week, the govern- estimated 24 mn MeitY did not comusers in India ment pointed out that ment on Twitter’s deTwitter could lose its cision to move court, protection as an intermediary officials told PTI that the sounder the new IT regulations cial media platform has comif it continued to be in viola- plied with the June 27 notice tion of the rules. It had set a as it did not want to lose liabildeadline of July 4 for Twitter ity exemptions available as a to comply with its order. The content host. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi ‘Teak’ing measure Kannimara tree, one of the world’s biggest teak trees, is 41.83m tall and has a girth of 7.24m at a height of 1.37m from the ground It was 39.98m tall and had a girth of 7.15m when measured in 2019 The team that took the measurements of the giant 600-year-old teak tree recently also conducted tests to check its health A team of forest officers and scientists measure the Kannimara teak tree at Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Palakkad | Express express read Gandhian P Gopinathan Nair passes away Rain gains strength, 3 die in Idukki Actor assault: State lab to analyse memory card Eng ride on twin tons, retain Pataudi series 2-2 Freedom fighter and Gandhian philosopher P Gopinathan Nair passed away at Neyyattinkara in the capital on Tuesday, two days before his 100th birthday on July 7. He had taken part in the Quit India Movement of 1942 and had worked alongside Vinoba Bhave to promote Bhoodan and Gramdan movements. P4 Heavy rain lashed the state on Tuesday leading to widespread damage, as the monsoon gave signals of strengthening. At least three persons died in rainrelated incidents in Idukki on Tuesday. Five fishermen had a narrow escape as the boat carrying them capsized at Kumarakom in Kottayam. P5 The Kerala HC has directed the trial court of the 2017 actor assault case to forward the memory card containing visuals of the attack to the state forensic lab in the capital to check if it was accessed illegally. It also quashed the sessions court order rejecting the state’s plea to forward the card. P5 England chased down 378 runs, thanks to centuries from Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, to draw the five-match series with India that began almost 11 months ago. It’s their highest successful run chase ever in Test cricket. P11 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express IAF record Dad, daughter fly fighter planes in formation M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi The Indian Air Force has just broken new ground with a father and his daughter flying in formation on a combat proficiency mission. Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma and Flying Officer Ananya Sharma created the record on May 30, when they flew in the same formation of Hawk-132s at the Air Force Station in Bidar, where Ananya is undergoing training. Flying Officer Ananya Sharma (L) and Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma | IAF IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Ashish Moghe said, “There has not been any previous instance in the IAF where a father and his daughter were part of the same fighter formation for a mission.” Since a very early age, Ananya wanted to be a fighter pilot. But, the stream was not open for women then. Whenever she would bug her dad about it, he would reassure, “Don’t worry you will be one.” “After getting commissioned as fighter pilot, Ananya came and saluted me. It made me really proud,” said Air Commodore Sharma, who was commissioned in fighter stream in 1989. When the first women fighter pilots of the IAF entered service in 2016, Ananya saw her lifelong dream was now achievable. Having completed her B Tech in Electronics and Communication, she was selected for training. She was commissioned as a fighter pilot in December 2021.