103 GATHERED TO HONOUR SLAIN GENERAL MASSACRED IN IRAN BENGALURU  THURSDAY  JANUARY 04, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 20  LATE CITY EDITION Iran’s emergency services at the site of the blasts in Kerman on Wednesday | AFP Two explosions minutes apart on Wednesday in Iran targeted a commemoration for a slain general killed 103 persons, wounding 141 others. No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts in Kerman, about 820 km from Tehran. People had gathered in Kerman to mark the fourth death anniversary of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force. Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020 | P12 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 ADANI GETS SC’S VOTE OF CONFIDENCE SIRAJ’S 6, SA’S 55 It was a bizarre start to the second Test match between India and South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town on Wednesday. First, the hosts were bowled out for just 55 runs, their lowest since readmission into international cricket; then India, after comfortably reaching 153 for four, lost six wickets for 0 run. A look... ‘No need to transfer Sebi probe to SIT’ S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi IN a major relief to Adani Group, the Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a batch of pleas seeking a court-monitored probe into allegations of stockprice manipulation and other irregularities levelled by USbased short-seller Hindenburg. In its 46-page verdict, the SC said there were no grounds to transfer the probe from Sebi to a special investigation team. It also directed the market regulator to complete its probe within three months. Hindenburg had in its report in January 2023 alleged that the Group had been manipulating stock prices of its firms. Following this, the share value of various Adani firms plunged. In September, another report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project claimed that the Group used offshore shell companies to invest in its own stocks. The three-judge bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud observed that the petitioners relied solely on unverified third-party claims and newspaper reports, which did not inspire confidence in the court’s mind to interfere in the probe. “A report by a third-party organization without any attempt to verify the authenticity of its allegations cannot be regarded as conclusive proof,” it said. The bench, also comprising judges JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said: “The petitioners cannot assert that an unsubstantiated report in the newspapers should have credence over an investigation by a statutory regulator whose investigation has not been cast into doubt on the basis of cogent material or evidence.” It said while it can transfer an investigation to an SIT or the CBI, it is done only in extraordinary circumstances when there is a glaring, deliberate inaction by the competent authority. It noted that the court has already exercised its extraordinary powers by setting up an Expert Committee to probe whether there has been a regulatory failure. “To expect the Court to monitor the investigation indefinitely even after the com, mittee has submitted its report and Sebi has completed its investigation in 22 out of 24 enquiries is not warranted,” it added. It sought a probe into whether the Hindenburg report leading to losses of Indian investors violated law. “Sebi and the Central agencies shall probe into whether the loss suffered by Indian investors due to the conduct of Hindenburg Research and any other entities in taking short positions involved any infraction of the law and if so, suitable action shall be taken,” the P13 verdict said. 23 WICKETS IN A DAY 6/0 Known for the extra bounce and assistance for pacers, Newlands, yet again, provided an entertaining day of Test. As many as 23 wickets fell on a pitch that has some lateral movement, and at times, the ball lifted chest high. Only Virat Kohli looked at ease with 46 IT IS THE FIRST TIME A TEAM LOST SIX WICKETS WITHOUT ADDING ANY RUN ON THE BOARD SIRAJ SHINES BRIGHT Mohammed Siraj broke into the Test team ready to take charge, but had blown hot and cold in recent overseas tours. Centurion was one such example. On Wednesday though, all he touched turned gold. The scramble seam, outswinger, inswinger, leg-cutter, bouncer, whatever he bowled resulted in a wicket as Siraj took six for just 15 runs, his best figures in Test cricket | P15 COLLAPSE Both India and South Africa went in with one less batting option and that meant the lower-order spent little time in the middle. If SA lost their last 4 wickets for 10 runs, the visitors went from 153/4 to 153 all out in 11 balls ANOTHER WOMAN STRIPPED, ASSAULTED NEAR BELAGAVI EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Belagavi JUST over two weeks after a woman was shockingly stripped, tied to a pole and assaulted at Vantamuri, near Belagavi, another woman allegedly suffered a similar order at Tigadi village, near Belagavi. In the fresh incident that occurred on November 22, the woman was allegedly stripped semi-naked and assaulted by a group of people in public over a property dispute. The woman and the accused had agreed at the Bailhongal police station against filing a complaint on November 22. The victim, however, went ahead and filed a complaint with the Belagavi woman’s police station on December 30 against 20 people, including the president and vice-president of the local Gram Panchayat. She claimed in the complaint that her EXPRESS READ Arvind Kejriwal skips ED summons again New Delhi: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday skipped the third summons by the ED in connection with the Delhi excise policy case and cited RS polls and Republic Day preparations, among other reasons, for doing so | P10 Cheetah delivers three cubs in MP’s Kuno Park Bhopal: A Namibian cheetah has given birth to three cubs at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav said on Wednesday | P9 Won’t quit, says Soren; ED heat on those close to him M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi AMID speculation on Hemant Soren rolling the dice for Plan B if the Enforcement Directorate were to arrest him in a land scam case, the Jharkhand chief minister told his legislative party meeting on Wednesday that he had no intention to resign. The speculation on Plan B was that Soren was grooming his wife Kalpana to step into his shoes if the ED arrests him and he had to resign. When sen- ior party legislator Sarfaraz Ahmed vacated his safe Gandey constituency just a few days ago, it was seen as an attempt to let her enter the assembly by winning the seat. However, Soren described it as a f i g m e n t o f t h e B J P ’s imagination. Be that as it may, state BJP president Babulal Marandi wrote to Governor C P Radhakrishnan requesting him to stop a non-MLA (Kalpana) from taking oath as chief minister if Soren resigns. Citing several court judgments, Marandi said there can be no by-election at Gandey since less than one year of the fifth Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha’s tenure is left. As for the MLAs, they said they were all united and would not let any conspiracy succeed in the state. The brave talk notwithstanding, the ED seemed to be running rings around Soren as it raided 12 locations belonging to those close to the CM — in- cluding his press advisor Abhishek Prasad ‘Pintu’ — in Ranchi and Rajasthan in a money laundering case related to illegal mining. Besides, multiple premises of IAS officer and Sahibganj Deputy Commissioner Ramnivas Yadav, architect Vinod Kumar, Khudaniya Brothers (Sahibg anj), former Bihar MLA Pappu Yadav (Deoghar), DSP Rajendra Dubey (Hazaribagh), constable Awdhesh Kumar, and Abhay Saraogi (Kolkata). clothes were torn in public and she was beaten up by the group on November 22. The woman also stated that the group took away Rs 1.5 lakh kept in her bag. Many villagers from Tigadi, however, denied her allegations and said she filed the complaint only to get money from the people to whom her family members had sold a piece of land in Tigadi. CONTINUED ON: P5 Villager breaks Anganwadi asst’s nose with sickle EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Belagavi A villager brutally attacked a senior Anganwadi assistant and broke her nose with a sickle at Basurte village near Belagavi after a few Anganwadi children urinated near his house located near the school. The Anganwadi assistant, Sugandha Morey, who was attacked, was not aware that children were urinating near Gajanan Morey’s house. During the lunch break on Monday, when children again went near Gajanan house, he got angry and confronted Sugandha, asking her why she was not stopping the children from urinating near his house. In a fit of anger, he brought a sickle from his house and took a swipe at Sugandha’s P5 face, injuring her nose.