MANGALURU l wednesday l january 31, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION Mayank drinks liquid from pouch, falls sick on plane What happened on board indigo flight Karnataka captain Mayank, along with the team, was travelling from Agartala to New Delhi after the Ranji match against Tripura. According to the police: “...he was sitting in the plane, there was a water bottle in the pouch in front of him. He drank a little but suddenly there was irritation in his mouth and he couldn’t talk also and was brought to ILS hospital.” Mayank Agarwal rushed to a Agartala hospital after falling ill on plane. The opener has filed a police complaint through his manager What the airlines have to say? ■ ■ “IndiGo flight 6E 5177 operating from Agartala to Delhi returned to origin due to a medical emergency onboard. The passenger was offloaded and was rushed to the hospital for further medical assistance. The aircraft took off again for its destination at 1620h” Mayank had ulcers and swelling in his mouth and was admitted to ICU Hospital statement “After being assessed by the consultants in emergency, he was admitted. For now, he is clinically stable and is being constantly clinically monitored” 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 Missing register sparks tension at Keragodu GP K s H i v a k u m a r @ Mysuru Tension prevailed for some time at the Keragodu gram panchayat office on Tuesday when panchayat members pulled up the officials there for not showing the proceedings book (register). They took panchayat secretary Rathnamma to task when she stated that the executive officer might have taken the register. The members said that a petition to hoist the Hanuman flag at Keragodu village was submitted on November 27. The panchayat approved it as 18 of the 20 mem- bers gave their nod to hoist the flag to mark the inauguration of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Meanwhile, Bengaluru Bar Association president Vivek Subba Reddy, who arrived at the panchayat office, was apprised of the matter. However, he cleared the confusion by speaking to executive officer Veena, who told him that the register is in her possession. She stated that she could keep the register as per the provisions of the Panchayat Raj Act. Reddy advised the panchayat members and villagers to get the flag issue settled amicably through dialogues. In a social media war, the BJP accused CM Siddaramaiah of being a “fake news creator”. In his post on Monday, Siddaramaiah claimed that the people of Keragodu had only sought permission to hoist the tricolour. This led to the controversy and widespread protests. The BJP responded to the post alleging that Siddaramaiah has a history of spreading falsehood with the misguided belief that constant lying would eventually be accepted as truth. Siddaramaiah’s post, according to the BJP, is false and mis- leading. They stated that the panchayat development officer of Keragodu gave approval for hoisting the Hanuman flag and not the tricolour. The BJP questioned the reason for the PDO’s suspension following the incident, insinuating that it might be linked to the permission granted to hoist the flag. The BJP compared the Congress rule to Tughlaq’s. It alleged that the Congress government is attempting to conceal the facts related to the incident and accused it of conspiring against the Hindus in Mandya. “The Congress government gets agitated at the very sight of saffron flags,” the BJP said. Meanwhile, prohibitory orders continue to be in force at Keragodu. Security has been beefed up in the village. Cops have barricaded the flag pole to prevent any untoward incident. DC Kumar and Mandya SP Yathish visited the village. The Congress government is attempting to conceal the facts related to the Keragodu incident. The government gets agitated at the very sight of saffron flags — BJP leaders Budget session of Parliament begins today, suspensions off Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana (second from left) at a meeting with ministers and MLAs in Ranchi on Tuesday | PTI RAJESH KUM AR TH A KUR @ New Delhi Soren’s wife-as-CM plan back on the front burner A day before Parliament convenes for its budget session, the suspension of 14 MPs, including 11 of the Rajya Sabha, were revoked following requests by the government. They had been suspended during the last winter session and their cases were referred to their respective privileges committees. The Rajya Sabha Privileges Committee held the suspended MPs guilty of breach of privilege and contempt of the Council of States. It, however, recommended that the period of suspension already suffered by the members be treated as sufficient punishment for the transgression. For their part, the lawmakers are learnt to have expressed regret for their conduct during the last session. They were de- Hemant resurfaces, holds meet in Ranchi; ED to question him today M U K ES H RA N JA N @ Ranchi MORE than 30 hours after he had reportedly gone ‘missing’ in Delhi, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren dramatically resurfaced at his residence in Ranchi around 1 pm on Tuesday chairing a meeting , with the legislators of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and alliance partners Congress and the RJD. The JMM leader had slipped out of his Delhi residence in the wee hours on Monday before Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths reached the house to question him in connection with a money laundering probe. Soren had been served a notice by the ED to be available for questioning on January 29 or 31, to which he responded saying he would be available at his Ranchi residence on Wednesday at 1 pm to answer the agency’s questions. The JMM leader had flown to Delhi in a chartered plane on Saturday night. However, party lead- ‘Not a setback’ Guv has rejected ordinance on Kannada signboards: DKS State On high alert Jharkhand is on high alert and prohibitory orders have been clamped near the CM’s house, Raj Bhavan, and ED’s office. On Tuesday, the ED wrote to the state govt to ensure law and order during Soren’s questioning on Wednesday ers are tight-lipped about how Soren reached Ranchi from the national capital. The JMM’s official version is that the beleaguered leader went to Delhi for some personal work, sources said the trip was to seek legal advice about the case. The meeting of legislators at Soren’s residence on Tuesday was significant as it was attended by his wife Kalpana . Sources said Kalpana’s presence was to see how the MLAs would respond if a change of guard becomes inevitable after the ED’s questioning of Hemant Soren on Wednesday Par. ty insiders told this paper they are ready with a Plan B if the ED arrests Soren. Late in the meeting, the signatures of all MLAs were taken to endorse the next legislature party leader. It is learnt that the name of the leader was left blank in the letter of support. “I am confident that the name I will propose will definitely have your support,” sources quoted Soren as saying. “The Congress party stands firmly with CM Hemant Soren. We were together, we are together, and will remain together in all situations,” said Congress leader and minister Banna Gupta. A senior JMM legislator said Kalpana has a clean record and is acceptable to everyone across party lines. “She is the best choice for the coalition as other members of the Soren family are trapped in one case or another,” the leader said. Bengaluru: France is ready to share its knowledge from ‘Paris Olympics 2024’ with India. Paris has already expressed its support for India’s bid to host the Olympics in 2036, said Thierry Berthelot, Consul General of France in Bengaluru.  An injured CRPF jawan in hospital after a gunfight with the outlawed Maoists in Sukma district on Tuesday | special arrangement Express News Service @ Bengaluru Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday said Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has rejected the recommendation for promulgation of an ordinance on the use of Kannada on signboards and asked the government to get it passed in the Assembly . “The governor has rejected the recommendation and asked us to get it passed during the Assembly session,” he said. The governor could have approved it, Shivakumar said. The state cabinet had decided to promulgate the ordinance directing all commercial establishments to use signboards with at least 60% Kannada as the Assembly was not in session. | P4 @ Alappuzha ion minister Pralhad Joshi said on Tuesday that the no-placard rule within the chambers was re-emphasised. The session will begin with President Droupadi Murmu’s address to a joint sitting of both Houses on Wednesday On February 1, Fi. nance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the interim budget. The session will conclude on February 9. Opposition leaders said they would raise issues of unemployment, high inflation, agrarian distress and Manipur. were identified as constable Dewan C (201 CoBRA battalion), constable Pawan Kumar (201 CoBRA battalion) and constable Lambhadhar Sinha (150th CRPF battalion). The injured were shifted to a local hospital and the critically injured have been airlifted to Raipur and admitted in private nursing homes, according to an official release. The new camp was being set up to provide the locals access to basic amenities. Maoists used the Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL), which is a country-made improvised ammo they developed in 2021. BGLs are loaded with explosives inside their iron casing and have fins on their tail that help them take flight. E j a z k a i s e r @ Raipur BDA invites e-tenders for PRR project Bengaluru: The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) on Tuesday invited e-tenders for the 74-km Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project proposed in 2007 to decongest the city. Estimated at Rs 27,000 crore, the project will be renamed as Bengaluru Business Corridor. manding a statement from the government on the Lok Sabha’s security breach and other amjor issues. A total of 146 opposition MPs — 100 in the Lok Sabha and 46 in the Rajya Sabha — had been suspended for bringing placards into the chambers and frequently disrupting the proceedings. Of them, 132 were suspended for the rest of the winter session that ended on December 21. At what he describe was a cordial all-party meeting, Un- AT least three jawans were killed and 15 others injured on Tuesday after the outlawed CPI (Maoist) attacked security forces guarding the perimeter of a new base camp being inaugurated in Tekalgudem in Sukma district. Following the attack, there was an exchange of fire between the security forces and the left-wing extremist group. The gunfight continued for over an hour after which the Maoists escaped into the nearby dense forest, Bastar Police said. The dead jawans were from Central Reserve Police Force, with two of them from CoBRA, an elite jungle warfare unit. The personnel killed Death for 15 PFI men for 2021 murder of BJP leader Express News Service Maoist attack leaves 3 jawans dead, 15 injured express read ‘France ready to share Olympics knowledge’ President’s address Pralhad Joshi said the main agenda of the session is the President’s address, interim budget and debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address with a reply by Prime Minister Narendra Modi NOOSE FOR ALL IN perhaps the first such instance where all accused in a single case being given the noose, a Kerala court on Tuesday awarded death penalty to 15 accused in the murder of BJP leader Ranjith Sreenivas in December 2021. The accused are activists of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and its political arm SDPI. Mavelikkara Additional District Sessions Judge Sreedevi V G said a lesser sentence could not be considered as the murder was committed “most cruelly, heinously and dastardly”. Terming the case rarest of rare, the judge awarded death penalty to Naisam, Ajmal, Anoop, Muhammad Aslam, Abdul Kalam alias Salam, Abdul Kalam, Sarafudheen, Manshad, Jaseeb Raj, Sameer, Nazeer, Zakir Hussain, Shaji and Shernaz Ashraf. While the court sentenced to death these 14 convicts who were present at the court, the order did not mention 10th accused Navas, who has been admitted to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital and was not present in the court. The judge said that he, too, committed the same crime and hence came under the same punishment. On January 20, the court had found all the 15 accused guilty under various IPC sections. BJP OBC Morcha state secretary Ranjith Sreenivas was hacked to death in front of his family in Alappuzha in the wee hours of December 19, 2021, a day after SDPI state secretary K S Shan was murdered, allegedly by RSS activists. The trigger for Shan’s murder was the killing of RSS worker Nandu Krishna by SDPI men on February 24, 2021. Temporary ban on trekking without State gets 1st riverfront project on Tunga online permission, says Khandre smart city initiative M a r x T e j a s w i @ Shivamogga Express News Service @ Bengaluru Forest, Environment and Ecology Minister Eshwar Khandre on Tuesday directed the forest and eco-tourism departments not to allow people to trek if no online permission is obtained. Citing the incident of January 26 at Kumara Parvatha in the Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, where hundreds of trekkers gathered and littered the area, Khandre said, “For adventure, eco-tourism or spiritual treks, prior online permission is required.” He said the state government has imposed a temporary ban on popular trekking paths. Those who do not have prior online permission will not be allowed. This is being done to ensure that trekking spots are not overcrowded. He said the forest department has been given strict instructions and they must follow them to protect the Western Ghats. Many trekking spots, including forests and mountains, are now overcrowded during weekends. It has come to light that some trekkers stay overnight atop mountains, he added. He directed the officials to ensure that all this is stopped until some rules and regulations are put in place. Khandre said not more than 150 people are allowed on trekking routes managed by the Karnataka Eco-Tourism Development Board. The first riverfront project in the state has come to fruition along the 2.7-km stretch of the Tunga river in Shivamogga, also known as the Gateway of Malnad. This stretch has been transformed into a promising tourist attraction on the lines of the S a b a r m a t i r ive r f r o n t i n Ahmedabad. The stretch extends from the bypass bridge to Bekkina Kalamata. People will be allowed to explore the area soon. This is one of the flagship projects of the Shivamogga Smart City Ltd. (SSCL), which has developed the riverfront at a cost of Rs 103 crore. An aerial view of the Tunga riverfront project in Shivamogga | Express Sources in SSCL told TNIE that the project was taken up in 2019 by KMV Project Ltd., to develop infrastructure along with a pedestrian bridge and promenade on the northern banks of the Tunga. Key attractions of the riverfront area are: a 2.63-km foot- path and 2.60-km bicycle path, saplings of various species, gardens, children’s play areas, an interactive fountain, outdoor gym equipment, climbing walls for adventurers, a multipurpose sports complex, sculptures of animals, murals and Lata mantaps. The stretch also has an open air theatre, a canteen on the ground floor, a parking area with food stalls, an information centre, a lawn on the upper floor, observation towers, pedestrian bridges at two locations, 12 drinking water units, toilets, and two boat jetties. District in-charge minister Madhu Bangarappa inaugurated the project on Monday .