kottayam l monday l march 13, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Xi picks general sanctioned by U.S. as China’s defence minister General Li Shangfu, sanctioned by the US government for buying Russian weapons, will succeed General Wei Fenghe Specialist in space, cyber warfare beijing’s pushback against sanctions Gen Li, an advocate of defence modernisation, played a key role in advancing China’s space and cyber warfare capabilities as deputy commander of the Strategic Support Force. He was sanctioned by the US in 2018 over purchase of Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets by China’s Equipment Development Department, which was then headed by him ■ Analysts say Li’s appointment shows Beijing’s his scant regard for US sanctions. “It is a deliberate pushback against US sanctions,” Manoj Kewalramani, a China expert at Takshashila Institution, said ■ His appointment comes amid worsening tensions with the US shooting down an alleged Chinese spy balloon over its airspace 65-yr-old Li is among the select few with direct access to president Xi Jinping 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 Back BJP to make Kerala developed & safe: Shah Man o j V i s w anathan @ Thrissur Taking a dig at the LDF government in Kerala, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday wondered what the state can expect from those who failed to douse the fire at the Brahmapuram waste plant even after 10 days. “A fire has been raging in Kochi since March 2. The government has failed to douse it. What can those who cannot douse a fire do for Kerala,” he asked while launching BJP’s preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at the Jana Shakti rally in Thrissur. Presenting a long list of development projects implemented in Kerala by the Narendra Modi government, Shah refuted allegations of step-motherly treatment towards the state, and urged Keralites to sent BJP Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressing the Jana Shakti rally at Thekkinkad Maidan in Thrissur on Sunday | T P Sooraj representatives to the Lok Sabha in 2024. Targeting the Left government, Shah said the Communists did not have an reply to rahul No force can harm India’s democracy: Modi P ra m o d ku m a r Va i dya @ Dharwad Tearing into Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent comments on India’s democracy at Cambridge University, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “No force in the world can harm the democratic tradition of India. India is not only the largest democracy but also the mother of democracy .” Speaking in poll-bound Kar nataka, Modi said, “Those who are putting the country’s democracy in the dock and denigrating it on foreign soil are insulting the Jagajyothi Basaveshwara, the people of Karnataka, the great tradition of land and 130 crore vigilant people of India.” Without naming Rahul, the PM cautioned the people to be aware of such people. Addressing a group of students at Cambridge University, Rahul said India’s democracy is under at- PM Narendra Modi greets supporters at an event to dedicate MysuruBengaluru Expressway to the nation in Mandya | Udayashankar S tack and several opposition leaders, including himself, are being snooped on using spyware. He said institutional frameworks that are required for democracy are getting constrained and the basic structure of democracy is under attack. Modi said he is fortunate to have inaugurated the statue of Basaveshwara in London. “Bhagwan Basaveshwara’s Anubhava Mantapa was a unique experience of democracy. But it is unfortunate that in the same London, questions were raised about India’s democracy,” he said. Budget session 2nd leg from today While the govt asserts that its priority is to pass the Finance Bill, the Opposition is planning to raise issues like the action of central agencies against the BJP’s political rivals and price rise. answer to the allegations levelled against their leaders in the gold smuggling case. “The former principal secretary of the chief minister has been arrested in the LIFE mission case. I urge the chief minister to respond to the allegations. The people of Kerala will make you speak in 2024,” he told the huge crowd that had gathered at Thekkinkad maidan braving the summer heat. Shah said Kerala has a public debt of `3.40 lakh crore. “The state finance minister says Kerala is facing a grave financial crisis. I urge the people to give BJP a chance. We will make Kerala developed, strong and safe. The world has rejected Communism and India has rejected Congress. Neither of them can develop Kerala,” he said. Shah said the Modi government has done in nine years what Congress couldn’t in 70. To make country self reliant, defence production was increased by ● More on P5 272%, he said.  The Communists did not have an answer to the allegations levelled against their leaders in the gold smuggling case. I urge the chief minister to respond to the allegations. The people of Kerala will make you speak in 2024 Amit Shah, Union Home Minister Suresh Gopi steals the show at BJP rally | P4 Govt swings into action; Isaac to head Kochi waste mgmt mission stop dumping waste in Brhmapuram and treat organic waste at source. In a major policy shift in the aftermath Isaac said Kochi is the only place of the fire at Brahmapuram dumpyard, where decentralised waste management the state government has decidmodel is not followed. ed to switch to the time-tested “Although there are 29 dumpdecentralised waste manageyards in the state, Brahment in Kochi. It has also been mapuram is the only place decided to assign former miniswhere dumping is still continuter Thomas Isaac, who was the ing, and nowhere else fire has pioneer in implementing the been reported,” he told TNIE. succesful model in Thiruvanan“What needs to be done urthapuram and Alappuzha, to gently in Kochi is to commishead the mission. sion decentralised waste manEfforts have already started What needs to be agement. That is decentralised done urgently in to bring in accomplished volunsegregation of organic waste Kochi is to teers, who were part of the imand treatment at source or comcommission plementation of decentralised munity composting. Temporary decentralised waste management in other windrow composting units waste places, as well as experts in the should be established across Komanagement field to Kochi. Experienced chi for at least three months. health officers will also be Thomas Isaac, former Plastic and other non-biodefinance minister brought to the city . gradable waste have to be segreAn action plan has been gated. Recyclable waste should charted out with the help of Suchitwa be sent to recycling and the rest should Mission, and in consultation with Isaac. be used in making asphalt,” the former ● More on P4 As part of this, It has been decided to finance minister said.  K S SR E E J I T H @ T’Puram Did Brahmapuram blaze break out at plastic segregation area? A IS H W A R YA PR A B H A K A R A N @ Kochi At a time when answers as to what triggered the fire at the Brahmapuram dumpyard are shrouded in smoke, the blaze reportedly first broke out in the area where Bharat Traders, the private company that was handling plastic waste, had been functioning. According to sources, based on CCTV visuals from the waste yard, the fire was first noticed in the area where Bharat Traders was operating. “The smoke began to rise from the area where the firm was working on segregating plastic waste,” a source said.  For the last 12 years, Bharat Traders was allegedly awarded the contract for plastic waste management without any tender process. “For over a decade, the corporation has not invited tenders for plastic waste management, and the contract was awarded to Bharat Traders on some vested interests. A councillor from the ruling front at Kochi corporation has close relations with the firm,” the source alleged. “The corporation was selling the plastic waste it collects for `1.5 per kg. The same company sells it for `20-25/kg out● More on P4 side,” the source added.  ‘No recognition for same-sex marriage’ It can’t be claimed as a fundamental right under the country’s laws, Centre tells Supreme Court JA ISO N WILSO N @ New Delhi GIVING legal sanctity to same-sex marriage could cause social disharmony and disturb the delicate balance of personal laws, the Centre told the Supreme Court as it opposed a batch of pleas seeking legal status for the same. Living together as partners and having sexual relationships by same-sex persons cannot compare with the Indian family unit concept of a biological man as husband and a biological woman as wife and the children born out of the union, the Centre said. Responding to a batch of pleas challenging provisions of Hindu Marriage Act, Foreign Marriage Act, and Special Marriage Act, the government stressed that same-sex marriage can’t be claimed as a fundamental right under the country’s laws. The government, however, clarified that while the State does not recognise A file photo of female Sangh workers taking the oath Sangh pays tributes to Mulayam The RSS paid tributes to late Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, socialist leader Sharad Yadav, senior advocate Shanti Bhushan and PM Narendra Modi’s mother Hiraben Modi at its general body meeting. Tributes were also paid to actor-filmmaker Satish Kaushik, actor Javed Khan Amrohi and singer Vani Jairam at the meet. Activists and members of the LGBTQ+ community have criticised the Centre’s position that marriage rights can only be given to heterosexuals in the country Kohli breaks Test drought From falling out of love with the game to loving it again, Virat Kohli has gone through the entire gamut of emotions over the last year. On Sunday, he continued this second wind of his with a first Test 100, 28th overall, in over four years. The way he went about it — singles, twos & eschewing the off-side — told a lot about his determination 364 8 1205 Kohli’s 364-ball innings on Sunday is his secondlongest in Tests in terms of number of balls he faced No. of days after which Kohli scored a Test hundred With this ton, Kohli takes his international hundreds tally to 75 T’Puram: After two senior Congress MPs, K Muraleedharan and M K Raghavan, received warning notices from party state president K Sudhakaran, resentment has been brewing among the rest of the MPs. A majority of them have now rallied behind the duo. P4 Stormy assembly session on cards T’Puram: A stormy Legislative Assembly session is expected as the Opposition plans to protest the Brahmapuram issue and Swapna Suresh’s revelations in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case. P4 No. of Test tons Kohli has against Australia Intriguing last day in prospect 75 Centenary-bound RSS eyes larger role for women Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is looking to expand women’s participation in its activities and will use its three-day annual general body meeting, which began in Samalkha, near Panipat in Haryana on Sunday to explore ways , to do it. “There will be discussions in this meeting on increasing women’s participation in social awareness, awakening and social change works of the Sangh,” its joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya said, adding that there is a dedicated arm of Sangh for women— Rashtriya Sevika Samiti— which works for their overall Activists flay govt stand Axar Patel has looked the most in form of all the India batters this series and he scored a 79 when the hosts needed him the most. His reliability adds to their possibilities going forward, especially at home In what was another great batting day, Kohli & Co. took full advantage to score 571. A look at what transpired on the fourth day of the last Test at Ahmedabad... Resentment in Cong over notices to MPs es, saptahik milan (weekly gatherings) at 26,877 places, and maasik mandali (monthly meetings) at 10,412 places, Vaidya pointed out. Apart from regular pracharaks (publicists) and vistaraks (expansionists), a team of 1,300 shatabdi vistaraks has been formed to expand the outfit’s activities and reach ahead of the centenary year. “The nation has 911 zilas (districts), and the RSS is active in 901 of them. Similarly, the RSS holds shakhas in 88% of the 6,663 khands, and 26,498 of the 59,326 mandals,” he told journalists. Vaidya also said there has been an increase in the number of people wanting to join the organisation. According to the government, the country’s legal framework does not recognise samesex marriage. Any change in the framework will come in the domain of the elected government and not the court, it says Axar continues to thrive with bat express read development. The meeting will also see discussions on RSS’ course of action for the next year. The outfit, which will celebrate its centenary year in 2025, plans to increase the number of its shakhas (branches) in the country to one lakh over the next year. “The work of Sangh has increased in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Vaidya said. Currently 68,651 shakhas are , being organised at 42,613 plac- ‘Changing law govt’s domain’ One for the ages inclusivity H a r p r eet baj wa @ Chandigarh other forms of marriages or relationships, they are not unlawful. It said the union between persons of opposite sex is “socially, culturally and legally ingrained into the very idea and concept of marriage and ought not to be disturbed or diluted by judicial interpretation”. “Amongst Hindus, it is a sacrament, a holy union for performance of reciprocal duties between a man and a woman. In Muslims, it is a contract but again is envisaged only between a biological man and a biological woman. It will, therefore, not permissible...” the affidavit stated. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the matter on Monday . The Centre also said that a special status which is granted to heterosexual marriage cannot be construed as a discrimination against same-sex couples under Article 15(1) of the Constitution or as a privileging of heterosexuality . The pitch isn’t inducing many errors. However, teams have collapsed on the final day in the past on docile enough surfaces. Australia shouldn’t but a wellrested Indian bowling unit will give it their all on Monday morning Muslim women’s meets: CPM absence leaves many puzzled E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kozhikode The absence of CPM leaders from the campaigns on revisiting Muslim laws on inheritance, to make them more gender sensitive, has raised many eyebrows. CPM central committee member P K Sreemathy and Kanathil Jameela, MLA, were invited for the Muslim Women’s Conference held in Kozhikode on March 4, but both didn’t turn up. Jameela was also supposed to speak at the inaugural session of a conference organised by the Forum for Muslim Women’s Gender Justice in Kozhikode, on Sunday, but she gave that function a miss as well. Jameela told TNIE that she was busy with four other programmes. Chairperson V P Suhara said Jameela had agreed to attend the conference and had even expressed her desire to be a part of the forum. “It was only a few days ago that she informed us of her inability to attend. We have some doubts over CPM’s non-representation,” she said. CPM fellow travellers K E N Kunjahammed and P T Kunju Muhammad attended the function. Author Kalpetta Narayanan, who addressed the gathering, told TNIE that CPM did not send its representatives because of its proximity to the Sunni g roup led by Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Mu● More on P4 saliyar.