Truth and Reconciliation panel for Tamils to be set up by Lanka Sri Lanka has taken the first step to set up the much-delayed Truth Commission, a major demand for reconciliation after the 2009 war. The Commission shall investigate, inquire, and make recommendations in respect of complaints or allegations or reports relating to damage or harm caused to persons or property, loss of life or alleged violation of human rights anywhere in Sri Lanka, which were caused in the course of the conflict which took place from 1983 to 2009, or its aftermath, the govt said bengaluru l wednesday l january 03, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION 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 caa rules to be notified before Lok Sabha polls Truckers’ stir off after govt buys peace Rajesh kumar thakur @ New Delhi The Modi government is said to have begun work on notifying the Rules of Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 on top priority and targets to do it before the Lok Sabha polls. “We are working on it and will soon issue the rules for the CAA. Once the rules are issued, the law can be implemented and those eligible can be granted citizenship,” a senior official from the home ministry said in an informal chat with this newspaper. CAA aims to give Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities from neighbouring Muslim countries. While it was passed in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in 2019, the law set off a firestorm of protest across the country So, the . government chose against notifying CAA’s rules subsequently It periodically sought parlia. mentary permission for the dealy in framing the rules. Arrangement is now being made to facilitate online application process, too, for citizenship, the official said. “There would be no need of passport if the applicants apply a year online when they entered India without travel documents. No document will be sought from the applicants,” he said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on December 27 had said that no one can stop the implementation of the CAA as it is the law of the land. He had said this while accusing the West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee of misleading people on the issue. Chakka jam affected movement of essentials Rajesh Kumar Thakur @ New Delhi Planes collide, catch fire at haneda airport A Japan Airlines (JAL) A350 plane is on fire on the runway of Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Tuesday. All 379 people aboard the JAL flight, which had arrived from Shin Chitose airport near Sapporo, had a miraculous escape as the plane collided with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft, while landing at Haneda, and turned into a fireball. However, five crew members of the smaller plane were killed. The Coast Guard flight was headed to Niigata on Japan’s west coast to deliver aid to the victims of Monday’s quake | AP| P12 Indian team in Arctic studies polar warming B a l a C h a u h a n @ Bengaluru They ushered in the New Year with researchers from 10 other countries who have come to Svalbard, a global science village in Norway, in the world’s northernmost inhabited place for research on the Arctic. India is among 11 countries doing research in the polar region, and in a first, has sent a team of four researchers for the winter expedition, which will last till March this year. The Indian research team comprising Girish BS, research scientist, Raman Research Institute (RRI), Beng aluru; Athulya R, research scholar, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa; Himadri, the Indian research station on Svalbard in Norway Surendra Singh, senior project associate, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune; and Prashant Rawat, research scholar, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, has set, tled down well and commenced research amid the unique experience of polar nights and temperatures ranging between -20 de g rees and -10 de g ree s CONTINUED ON: P10 Celsius.  express read SC to pronounce verdict on Adani plea today BRICS doubles in size as five new members join New Delhi: The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict on Wednesday on a batch of pleas on the Adani-Hindenburg row over allegations of stock price manipulation. A bench headed by CJI D Y Chandrachud had reserved its verdict on the pleas. New Delhi: The BRICS bloc of top emerging economies, including India, Russia and China, has inducted five full members. The grouping has become a 10-nation body now with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE joining it as new members. Siddu defends karsevak’s arrest A m i t S U pa d h y e @ Koppal/Hubballi Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Tuesday that there is no hate politics in the arrest of a karsevak in connection with the violence in Hubballi in December 1992. Addressing reporters at Koppal airport before leaving for Vijayapura, he sought to know what should be done to the wrongdoers? Should they be left alone? The High Court of Karnataka has issued a directive to dispose of all pending cases and the police have acted accordingly If there is a court order, action has to be . CONTINUED ON: P4 taken, he said.  The two-day-old truckers strike in parts of the country ended late on Tuesday night after the Centre assured the protesters that the enhanced punishment in hit-and-run cases under the revamped law will be placed on hold for now. Amrit Lal Madan, president of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) late on Tuesday night appealed to the truck drivers to resume their services, saying the Centre has assured to look into the demands. The appeal came after his meeting with Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla. The chakka jam by truck drivers in various parts of the country had crippled transportation of essential commodities and led to panic buying. Under the recently enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which is set to replace the Indian Penal Code, drivers who cause serious road accidents due to negligent driving and run away without informing authorities face up to 10 years in prison or a fine of `7 lakh. Home secretary Ajay Bhalla, in his appeal, said: “Before implementing the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita clause on hitand-run, we will discuss it with Heavy rush at a petrol pump amid the truckers’ protest in Hyderabad | PTI AIMTC representatives and them take the final call.” Following the strike, there was a 10-15% jump in the prices of vegetables in the Delhi wholesale market as supplies were disrupted. Rajasthan witnessed stray violence with a mob burning a police vehicle and pelting stones at security personnel, leaving three injured in Kekri district on Monday night. The Congress supported the protest, saying the misuse of the legislation could lead to an extortionist network and organised corruption.