TIRUCHY l tuesday l september 26, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION ASIAN GAMEs: Shooting stars and golden girls World record for shooting team The men’s 10m air rifle team kept the hosts at bay with a world record score to win the team gold. Their combined 1893.7 eclipsed the record held by China (1893.3). In fact, all three finished in the top eight in the qualifying but Divyansh didn’t advance as only the top two from each NOC could feature in the final. In the final, Aishwary won bronze The men’s 10m air rifle team and the women’s cricket side won India the first gold medals in Hangzhou. A look at Monday’s haul Gold for women’s cricket side ■ Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, back after serving a two match suspension, marshalled the bowling troops well to beat Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final. Opting to bat first on a tricky surface, they made 116 before restricting the Islanders to 97. For India, Titas Sadhu excelled with the ball, picking 3/6 in her four overs | P13 FIVE Rowers finish on a high with five medals 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 Law panel’s ‘one poll’ report to suggest 2029 rollout P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Laying the groundwork for the Centre’s ‘One Nation, One Poll’ proposal, the 22nd Law Commission will submit its final report on the feasibility of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, according to top sources in the law ministry. The commission headed by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi has been working on the final re- port since February this year. The first meeting of a highlevel committee on simultaneous polls headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind was held last Saturday . The Justice Awasthiled panel held extensive consultations with political parties, bureaucrats, academicians and experts. “I won’t say that there was consensus among parties on the idea,” an official said, adding that the government may send the Law Commission’s report to the Kovind-led committee for their perusal. Speaking to this newspaper, the official said the law panel would recommend synchronised elections in the next five years so that the simultaneous poll rollout will start in 2029. To synchronise press clusive the elections, the process has to begin from this year, the official said. He also dismissed the possibility of holding simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies in 2024. The commission has drawn most of its recommendations from the draft report of the pre- vious Law Commission led by Justice B S Chauhan, submitted in 2018, said the source. “We have taken many recommendations of the Justice Chauhan committee report into consideration. On the same lines as the previous law commission’s report, we have recommended synchronisation of elections in the next five years,” he said. The suggestions of the previous Law Commission included advancing or postponing elec- tion timings in certain states, such that polls to all state assemblies and the Lok Sabha may be held together. If assembly elections are due before Lok Sabha elections, it said that the term of these assemblies may be extended to synchronise it with the Lok Sabha elections, by amending the Constitution. “We have also made proposals on similar lines. It is up to the government to take the final call,” the official said. Canada’s 2nd India travel advisory out Y e s h i S e l i @ New Delhi AIADMK general secretary EPS at party headquarters on Monday | p jawahar AIADMK makes break-up official, exits BJP-led NDA Dravidian major cites constant criticism of TN BJP, says will form own alliance for LS polls nusamy told reporters after the meeting chaired by general secTHE uneasy relationship be- retary Edappadi K Palaniswatween the AIADMK and BJP, mi in Chennai. which had endured for four Munusamy said the resoluyears due to various political tion adopted by the meeting compulsion, came to an end on said that for the past year the Monday with the Dravidian BJP’s state leadership, with ulmajor unambiguously calling terior motives, has been critiit quits. The AIADMK also an- cising the AIADMK’s ideals nounced that it had exand leaders, including ited the BJP-led NationCN Annadurai, and J al Democratic Alliance Jayalalithaa. Besides, (NDA) and would form the BJP’s state leaderits own alliance to face ship belittled the AIADThe decision was taken in the 2024 Lok Sabha MK’s historic state-level deference to elections. conference held on Authe views of The AIADMK’s decigust 20 and has been sion, just seven months more than two criticising the party’s crore AIADMK before the parliamentageneral secretary . cadre who were ry polls, is seen as a set- outraged by the In Coimbatore, BJP back for the BJP at the state president K Ancriticisms of national level as it was namalai said his party’s BJP’s state one of the few key allies national leadership leadership of the saffron party . would respond to the deKP Munusamy, “The decision to leave velopment. “I will talk AIADMK leader the NDA was taken about this later,” he unanimously and in said. BJP state general deference to the views and feel- secretary Raama Sreenivasan ings of more than two crore AI- described the AIADMK’s move ADMK cadre who were out- as unfortunate. “But the BJP r a g e d by t h e c o n t i n u e d will form its own alliance and criticisms of the BJP’s state face the Lok Sabha elections as leadership. The AIADMK will we did in 2014,” he added. face the Lok Sabha elections by An AIADMK veteran told forming an alliance with like- TNIE, “The general secretary minded parties” the party’s has made a shrewd move deputy coordinator KP Mu- though it is a belated one.”  P7 T M u r u g a n a n d h a m @ Chennai CANADA has updated the travel advisory for its citizens in India asking them to “stay vigilant and exercise caution” in the context of recent developments and the “negative sentiment” towards Canada. This is the second advisory by Canada within a span of a week. Canada has asked its citizens in India to exercise a great degree of caution due to threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country . “Avoid non-essential travel to Assam and Manipur due to risk of terrorism and insurgency and avoid all travel to Jammu and Kashmir due to unpredictability, civil unrest, Women’s safety The advisory has a special word of caution for women. “Crimes committed against women frequently occur in India. Foreign women are often the target of unwanted attention,” it adds kidnapping,” it said. The advisory added that Canadian citizens currently in India should avoid all travel to areas within 10 km of the border with Pakistan—which includes the states of Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan—due to the presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance. “The level of tension be- tween India and Pakistan may change suddenly You could ex. perience difficulties when travelling between the two countries. You may be subject to scrutiny if officials from either country become aware that you have recently travelled to the other,” it said. The advisory noted that the security situation along the S HRUTI K A K K A r @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to appoint a senior IPS officer to monitor the probe into the Muzaffarnagar incident where a Muslim student was slapped by his classmates, on the instruction of the class teacher, as a punishment for poor performance. Terming the incident as se- rious, a bench of Justices A S Oka and Pankaj Mithal remarked that the UP government prima facie failed to comply with the provisions of the Right to Education Act and the Uttar Pradesh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules. “If allegations made by the victims parents are correct, this is the worst kind of physical punishment imparted by the teacher… There can’t be any quality education if a student is sought to be penalised only on the ground that he belongs to a particular community There is a prima facie fail. ure on part of the state to comply with RTE Act & rules framed there under,” the court said in its order. The bench also directed the UP government to provide counselling to the victim as well as the other students involved in the incident. Auspicious beginning Union defence minister Rajnath Singh draws an Om as part of the puja ceremony to induct the first C-295 MW transport aircraft into the Indian Air Force at Hindon Air Force station on Monday | Parveen negi SC hears arguments from deaf lawyer for the first time FOR the first time, a deaf lawyer argued her case before the Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud paving the way for more physically-challenged lawyers to defend their cases. Sarah Sunny on Friday argued her case with the help of an Indian sign language interpreter. Senior advocate Sanchita Ain made a plea to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandra- chud to let Sarah argue her case with an interpreter. He immediately gave his assent. This historic moment would not have taken place as the control room responsible for managing virtual hearings hesitated to accommodate Sarah and her interpreter. With the CJI’s approval, the control room accommodated Sarah, who is based in Banga- Cong reluctantly backed women’s bill, says Modi Jaipur: PM Narendra Modi on Monday said the Congress and other INDIA bloc allies are against women’s reservation and that they “reluctantly” supported the women’s reservation bill | P10 Will do caste census if Cong wins, says Rahul Raipur: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said PM Modi is denying SCs, STs & OBCs their fair share by refusing to do the caste census. He said Cong will do it if voted to power | P10 lore, and her interpreter, Saurav Roychowdhury too appear, ing virtually . As Sarah’s turn came, her interpreter stepped forward and acted as a bridge between the her and the world. In the process, he received praise from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who said the speed at which the interpreter is interpreting in sign language is amazing. Sarah’s determination has broken down more barriers. The CJI, when he took his oath of office in November last year, had said, “My work, not words, will speak.” In line with his commitment, he established the “SC Committee on Accessibility,” chaired by Justice S R Bhat. This committee’s mission is to conduct comprehensive accessibility audits of Supreme Court premises and its opera- E X P RE S S N EW S S ERVI C E @ Chennai TAMIL Nadu, India’s production hub for electric vehicles, is steadily expanding its base. As per the latest data, 40% of electric vehicles sold in India this year (January to September) were manufactured in TN. Quoting the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ Vahan Dashboard data, sources in the state industries department said 10.44 million electric vehicles were registered with road transport offices till September 20, and of these, 4.1 lakh were manufactured in the state. Ola Electric accounted for 1.75 lakh vehicles of the 4.1 lakh electric vehicles manufactured in TN, followed by TVS Motor (1.12 lakh) and Ather Energy (77,764). All plants are located in Krishnagiri district. Industries Minister TRB Rajaa told TNIE that this is the result of the state’s inherent strengths as an auto manufacturing hub and the targeted efforts in the past couple of years to boost EV manufacturing. “We have expedited projects Advantage TN Some of the natural advantages that aid the sector in TN are vast availability of a highly competent and trained workforce, and wide network & supply chain at a fast pace and ensured that EV companies start and scale up production quickly With the . foundational advantages of our auto sector and the progress we are making in electronics manufacturing and EV R&D, TN will soon be an unparalleled global EV hub. We will be hosting an international EV Conclave on November 21 to prom o t e T N ’s b o o m i n g E V industry,” said Rajaa. According to the industries department, `50,000 crore is expected to be invested in EV manufacturing by 2025, resulting in the creation of 1.5 lakh jobs.  P7 after medal, roshibina recalls manipur days Fi roz Mi rza @ Chennai another glass ceiling broken Shruti Kakkar @ New Delhi express read SC asks UP govt to appoint senior IPS With 40% EVs sold in officer to probe student slapping case India, TN wants to be world’s production hub unfortunate, we will form own pacts: TN BJP Senior BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu reacted to the AIADMK’s decision with caution, although certain younger functionaries made sharp comments on social media. BJP state general secretary Raama Sreenivasan told TNIE that though the AIADMK’s decision was unfortunate, the BJP would form its own alliance by joining hands with like-minded parties and face the 2024 Lok Sabha elections like it did in 2014.  P4 border with Pakistan, especially along the Line of Control, which separates the Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, remains volatile. “Cross-border gunfire and shelling are occurring sporadically along the LoC. The presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance also constitute a risk. Although international travellers regularly use the Wagah border crossing linking Amritsar, India, to Lahore, Pakistan, it remains vulnerable to attack. Security measures are in place. You may experience long delays,” it added, explaining the situation in border areas. If simultaneous elections cannot be conducted, all elections falling due in a calendar year should be conducted together, the panel had suggested. It would require at least five Constitutional amendments. The official further said, “The previous commission gave suggestions for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. We have considered its suggestions on hung House and no-confidence motion, etc,” he said. tions. It involves reaching out to persons with disabilities who visit the Supreme Court, soliciting their feedback, and assessing the nature and extent of the challenges they face. The ultimate goal of this initiative is to ensure that justice is accessible to all and to gain a deep understanding of the hardships faced by differentlyabled individuals in their interactions with the Supreme Court of India. After selection trials in June, she tried to go home but couldn’t. All she managed was Imphal, Manipur’s capital. Kwasiphai Mayai Leikai, a nondescript village in Bishnupur seemed a distant place, almost inaccessible due to the tension that had been afflicting the state since May this year. Hours after Naorem Roshibina Devi assured India of a medal in Wushu at the Asian Games, she recollected how her father had to come to Imphal to meet her. Later, she learnt that he had to sell his land to fund her travel. Though Roshibina was physically in the camp in Srinagar, her mind was in Manipur. The athlete said she used to cry a lot thinking about her family members and their safety when her state was in turmoil. After the camp and trials, the 23-year-old wanted to travel back to Manipur to see her family But neither did she have the money nor her parents were . in a condition to afford air travel. Sensing his daughter’s anxiousness due to the prevailing situation in Manipur, father Naorem Damu Singh sold a piece of land he owned in his village to arrange for her travel.  More P13