chennai l wednesday l february 07, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION Eleven persons killed in MP explosion; 174 others injured The explosion at a crackers factory in Harda district in Madhya Pradesh triggered a massive blaze. Reasons for the fire are not known yet Hospitals on high alert for burn victims Factory in rubble; body parts scattered Fire brigade from Harda, adjoining districts and Indore were pressed into service to put out the blaze. Hospitals in Bhopal and Indore were put on heightened alert to deal with the sudden flow of critically injured persons from Harda. Besides fire brigades, ambulances, doctors, NDRF and SDRF teams were rushed from neighbouring districts to speed up rescue efforts ■ ■ A video shot from a helicopter, carrying cabinet minister Uday Pratap Singh showed the factory reduced to a rubble Videos on social media showed the intensity of the explosions was so high that the body parts of the victims were flung far off and people can be seen collecting what appeared like human remains | P8 11 am fire broke out and the entire area felt tremors because of explosion 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 Hockey player Varun Kumar booked under POCSO Act E x p r e s s New s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru Bengaluru Police has booked feted hockey player Varun Kumar under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act following a complaint by a 21-year-old woman, who accused the Arjuna awardee of sexually abusing her when she was a minor. The woman, who hails from Hyderabad and is currently working with an airline, said she met Kumar in 2018 when he was training at the Sports Authority of India in Bengaluru, where she was also training for volleyball. She said Kumar later contacted her through Instagram and insisted on meeting her. He then allegedly proposed to her and started physical relationship with her with the promise of marriage. In her complaint to police, the woman said that in July 2019, Kumar took her to a hotel room at Jayanagar in Bengaluru on the pretext of having a discussion about their Accused marriage and got physicurrently in cally intimate with her Odisha despite her resistance. Varun is She said she continued currently their physical relationtraining with ship for over five years the national based on his promise to squad in marry her. She finally Bhubaneswar filed a complaint when for the he allegedly stopped reupcoming FIH sponding to her calls and Pro League. messages and also reIndia are fused to marry her. scheduled to S Girish, Deputy Comface Spain in missioner of Police their opening (West), said: “A case has encounter on been registered against February 10 the hockey player. At present, he is not in Karnataka. Two teams will be sent to trace him.” Besides the POCSO Act, Kumar has also been booked under sections 376 (rape) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. Kumar, 28, is a native of Himachal Pradesh, who made his debut for India in 2017. The Himachal Pradesh government awarded him `1 crore after the Indian men’s Hockey team won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He was also part of the Indian team that won silver in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. He was conferred the Arjuna Award in 2021. He later moved to Punjab and was recently promoted to the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police. immunity arguments rejected Donald Trump may face trial on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of 2020 election, rejecting his claims that he is immune from prosecution | P9 Uttarakhand’s UCC bill tabled, live-in registration mandatory Opposition seeks more time to study legislation; wants it sent to House panel for vetting Key features NAR E NDRA S E THI @ Dehradun Among the major talking points of the Uniform Civil Code bill that was tabled in Uttarakhand’s special assembly session on Tuesday was the stipulation that live, in partners must register themselves within a month with district officials or face imprisonment. Anyone in a live-in relationship for more than a month without getting it registered could face up to three months in jail or a fine of up to `10,000 or both. Those providing false information could be asked to cough up `25,000. On the flip side, children born of such relationships will be considered legitimate and deserted women will be entitled to maintenance from their partners. Live-in partners cannot be under 18. If any one of them is under 21, the registrar would be mandated to inform their parents or guardians, bill states. During the debate on the bill, the opposition Congress pressed for it to be sent to a House panel for review. The bill was originally stated for debate and passage on Tuesday But since the op. position demanded more time to study it, Speaker Ritu Khanduri said the discussion will continue on Wednesday . The bill proposes a uniform process for the registration of marriage and divorce. Couples and officials have also been assigned responsibilities and accountability. Failing to register a marriage or not complying with the rules would attract a maximum fine of `25,000. Uniform divorce law across all religions Provision for compulsory registration for live-in relationships Across-the-board bar on polygamy Consistent regulations for post-divorce financial support Uniform adoption law irrespective of religious beliefs Equal property rights for girls across the board Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami holds a copy of the Constitution at Vidhan Sabha Bhawan Among the other significant recommendations made by the UCC panel were the prohibition of practices such as polygamy halala, iddat, and child marriage, , the establishment of a uniform age for marriage for girls regardless of religion, equal inheritance rights for all genders. Members of the ruling BJP referred to the Shah Bano case several times during the discussion, accusing the Congress of changing the law instead of respecting the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Shah Bano case. The BJP 47 MLAs in the 70member assembly . Education minister Dr Dhan Singh Rawat said, “The UCC committee visited various regions of the state and sought suggestions from people in open meetings before framing the bill. It received a total Fiscal federalism Centre stifling states’ powers, we support Kerala’s fight: CM part Mamata Banerjee and Vijayan have been raising their voices for the Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday Constitution and federalism. “Our extended full support to his Kerala voice will not rest until we win state counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan on pre- autonomy. The fascist BJP cannot serving fiscal federalism and thwart our lifeline demand of accused the Union government state autonomy. The rights of of restricting states’ borrowstates on finance, administraing capacity by misusing its tion, and other sectors will be powers under Article 293 of the established. The time for this is Constitution. Prior consent ripening,” Stalin said. from the Union government, Within a few hours of Stalin mandated under this statute, sharing the details on a post in has been converted into a reMalayalam on ‘X’ (formerly strictive tool to limit deficit fiTwitter), Vijayan thanked the nancing beyond the limits preCM. He said, “Salutes to Thiru scribed by the State Fiscal MK Stalin and the DMK for exResponsibility and Budget tending solidarity and support Management Act, Stalin said. for Kerala’s protest on FebruFundamental “The fundamental principle of principle of fiscal ary 8 in Delhi. This gesture federalism fiscal federalism envisioned boosts our efforts to stand up envisioned by by the Constitution-makers is and resist the vicious efforts to Constitutionunder grave threat,” the CM undermine the federal princimakers is under said in his letter to Vijayan. ples enshrined in our Constigrave threat The CM also extended his tution. Together, let’s march full support to the Kerala govforward to protect our democM K Stalin, ernment’s suit before the Suracy and constitutional valChief Minister preme Court in the matter. Reues.” Stalin had said in his sponding to Pinarayi Vijayan’s response to Vijayan’s letter, “I letter given to him by Kerala Industries support Kerala’s commitment to preMinister P Rajeev, Stalin said the DMK serving fiscal federalism. Tamil Nadu would take part in the agitation to be is ready to extend its cooperation and staged by Kerala ministers and legisla- we look forward to collaborating and tors in New Delhi on February 8. synchronising our efforts to address Stalin said his West Bengal counter- this crucial challenge.”  P5 E XPR E SS N E W S S E RVIC E @ Chennai Legal marriage age for girls to be set at 18 years universally Tribal communities exempt from UCC of 2,32,961 suggestions.” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal said, “Nothing contained in this Code shall apply to members and group of persons belonging to Scheduled Tribes whose customary rights are protected.” During the 2022 assembly elections, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had set up a committee chaired by Justice Ranjana Desai to oversee the implementation of the UCC. Initially set up for a sixmonths, the panel got four extensions before submitting its final report. Coming as it does ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the bill fulfils one of the key promises of the BJP in its manifesto. It is the first of its kind legislation the country since independence. jal board scam ED raids premises linked to AAP MP, Kejriwal’s secretary u j w a l j a l a l i @ New Delhi THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday carried out searches here at over a dozen locations, including premises of AAP MP and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal secretary in connection , with the alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) tendering process. The residences of CM’s aide Bibhav Kumar, former DJB member Shalabh Kumar, AAP Rajya Sabha MP N D Gupta, chartered accountant Pankaj Mangal and others associated with the ruling party in Delhi were raided at 7 am, sources said. Kejriwal said 23 ED officers carried out raids at the house of his personal assistant. They also searched the premises of Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Sanjay Singh for 16 hours but nothing was recovered, he claimed. These raids are being carried out to trample AAP he added. , The DJB case stems from a FIR of the CBI and the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government. On January 31, the ED arrested retired DJB chief engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora and contractor Anil Kumar Aggarwal. As per the CBI’s first information report, Arora awarded contracts to NKG Infrastructure for `38 crore despite its failure to meet the criteria. ED analysis showed that only `17 crore was spent and the rest was allegedly passed on as kickbacks to the AAP . In jolt to Pawar Sr, ECI holds Ajit-led group as real NCP Pa r v e z S u lta n & S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ New Delhi/Mumbai IN a major setback to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday recognised the faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar as the real NCP and allowed it to use the party’s symbol Wall Clock. Sharad Pawar will have to apply for a new party and symbol by Wednesday 4.00 pm; otherwise, his MLAs will be recognised as independents. While adjudicating the matter in favour of the Ajit camp, the ECI said Sharad Pawar failed to prove he enjoys the support of a majority of NCP legislators. The ECI followed three tests — test of aims and objectives of party constitution, test of party constitution, and test of majority — to adjudicate the case. Both factions failed to pass the first two tests, while the Ajit-led group passed the third test of majority . The ECI found that Ajit enjoys the support of 41 MLAs and 5 MLCs in Maharashtra, 7 MLAs in Nagaland, one MLA in Jharkhand, and two Lok Sabha MPs and one Rajya sabha MP. Sharad Pawar has got the support of 15 MLAs and 4 MLCs in Maharashtra, two MLAs in Kerala, and 4 Lok Sabha MPs and 3 Rajya Sabha MPs. One Lok sabha MP has given affidavits for both sides. Reacting to the decision, NCP MP and Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule said they will move the Supreme Court within two days. “We are clearly doing two things. First, we are going to the Supreme Court in the next 48 hours. Second, the Election Commission has given us an option to give them three names and three symbols by tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, so we will of course do that…What was done with Shiv Sena earlier is happening with us now. It is not a new order. Only the name has changed but the content is the same,” she said. Ajit Pawar had split the NCP in July last year after he walked away with a majority of MLAs and joined the Eknath Shinde government as deputy CM along with eight other NCP legislators as cabinet ministers. express read Woman falls through hole in bus floor, injured Chennai: A 42-year-old woman sustained injuries after she slipped through a hole in the floor of a moving MTC bus on Tuesday. Incidentally, the bus was certified fit by the RTO last month. The manager of a bus depot and technical assistant responsible for bus maintenance have been suspended | P2 Bedlam in LS over Baalu’s remark on Murugan New Delhi: Lok Sabha witnessed ruckus over a remark made by T R Baalu against Union Minister L Murugan during a discussion on flood relief to TN. While BJP MPs demanded apology for “insulting a Dalit”, Speaker Om Birla expunged the remark | P5 68 tonnes of ammonia leaked in 15 Stay off troubled Rakhine State, India tells nationals minutes in Ennore plant accident M o h a n @ Chennai About 67.63 tonnes of ammonia got leaked in 15 minutes during the gas leak accident at the Coromandel Fertilizer Plant in Ennore on December 26 and none of the 19 ammonia sensors installed at the plant detected the leak. The shocking details were revealed in a report filed by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) before the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Chennai on Tuesday . Experts said if such huge quantity of ammonia got discharged directly into the atmosphere, it could have had fatal conse- quences. “The fact that the leaked ammonia got dissolved in the sea is a blessing in disguise. If it had been released into the air directly there would have been devas, tating consequences,” said a former official of the environment department. The NGT had initiated suo motu hearing in the case based on a TNIE report dated December 27. The bench had earlier directed the TNPCB and Coromandel International Limited (CIL) to file a detailed report on the incident. The state government had already accepted the recommendations of a technical committee constituted to ascertain the cause of the leak.  P5 NEP AL Ye s h i Se l i @ New Delhi Bhutan China MYanmar IndiA Bangladesh Sittwe Port Rakhine State Indian stake in RaKhine province C lashes between rebels and junta near Sittwe Port developed by India in Rakhine state L ast leg of the Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project hasn’t been completed due to the ongoing battle in the area With the rebel Arakan Army capturing a major part of Rakhine State in Myanmar amid intense battles with the military India on Tuesday urged its nationals , to stay away from that province. “In view of the deteriorating security situation, disruption of means of telecommunications, including landlines and severe scarcity of essential commodities, all Indian citizens are advised not to travel to the Rakhine State of Myanmar. Those citizens who are already there are advised to leave the state immediately,’’ said the advisory issued by India. India has a stake in the province as it developed the Sittwe Port in Rakhine state, which is part of the ambitious $484 million Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Project. The clashes are worrying because they are happening close to the Sittwe Port. The last leg of the project Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project hasn’t been completed due to the battle between the ethnic groups and the junta. Similarly, major Chinese investment projects in Ramree (Yanbye) Island are under threat due to the fighting. A humanitarian crisis emerged after the Arakan Army seized two junta battalion headquarters in Mrauk U and Kyauktaw townships in Rakhine State. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was in Dhaka this past weekend, leading to speculation about the challenges in the region due to fighting between the Arakan Army and the Myanmar junta. Border fencing India has decided to fence the entire 1,643 km border with Myanmar, home minister Amit Shah said. The border passes through Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal | P7