KOZHIKODE l friday l may 17, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION An INDIAN legend bids farewell: Chhetri set for final match Sunil Chhetri, one of India’s finest footballers, announced that he would be retiring after the World Cup qualifier against Kuwait on June 6 Only behind Ronaldo and Messi In terms of the most goals scored by active international footballers in the men’s game, the forward is only behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. While the Indian forward has scored 94 goals, Ronaldo has 128 and Messi 106 A totemic figure MAN FOR THE BIG MOMENTS Within a couple of years of making his debut against Pakistan, the forward very quickly became the heartbeat of the side before becoming skipper ■ ■ Chhetri has had big moments but the first one that sort of announced his presence on the national stage was the AFC Challenge Cup final in 2008 when he scored a hat-trick in the final against Tajikistan That win helped India qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup, the first time India had reached the continental event since the 1980s 150 Appearences so far. He is India’s most capped player 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 FIR filed against Kejri aide Bibhav Maliwal says she was slapped and punched, adding the CM knew about it and was at home U J W A L J A L A LI @ New Delhi Motorists wade through the waterlogged Pipinmoodu-Kowdiar road in Thiruvananthapuram following heavy rain on Thursday. Several low-lying areas in the city were inundated following the downpour | Vincent Pulickal Rain set to intensify, orange alert in several dists from May 18 to 20 E x p re s s N e w s Ser v i c e @T’Puram The pre-monsoon showers, which brought a much-needed relief to the people grappling with the scorching summer, are likely to intensify over the next few days. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rain — ranging from 7cm to more than 20 cm in a span of 24 hours — across Kerala from May 18 to 20. It has issued orange alert for Palakkad and Malappuram on May 18; for Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki on May 19, and for seven districts — Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam — on May 20. Pathanamthitta and Idukki districts are likely to receive ‘extremely heavy’ rain (over 20 cm in 24 hours) on May 20, while in the other five districts — which will also be under orange alert — the rainfall will be below 20cm. Meanwhile, the IMD has issued yellow alert for Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Idukki, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad on Friday, with rainfall in the range of 7-11cm likely in these districts. Yellow alert has also been sounded for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathan- amthitta, Alappuzha, Idukki and Kozhikode districts on May 18, and for T hir uvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Malappuram and Lakshadweep Island on May 19. The Met department has also forecast thunderstorm with lightning accompanied by gusty winds at one or two places in the state till May 20. Meanwhile, Kerala received widespread rain on Thursday with the Urumi auto, mated weather station (Kozhikode district) recording a maximum rainfall of 10cm. Ranni recorded a rainfall of 6cm on the day . Can Omar ‘Engineer’ Baramulla? F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar HEADS turned when former Jammu and Kashmir CM chief and National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah chose Baramulla over his comfort zone Srinagar. Omar, 53, is pitted against Peoples Conference (PC) chairman Sajad Gani Lone, who has the backing of the BJP . Baramulla is a stronghold of the National Conference but Omar or his father Farooq Abdullah has never contested from here. The Abdullahs have always preferred Srinagar, given their party’s hold in central Kashmir. Since 1971, NC has won Baramulla nine times, the Congress twice, and the PDP once. In 2019, NC’s Mohammad Akbar Lone won by over 30,000 votes, beating PC’s Raja Aijaz Ali, who polled over 1 lakh votes. The stakes are high this time as the LS poll outcome will set the tone for the Assembly polls later this year. Also, the political scenario has changed considerably since Article 370 was read down in 2019. Both Omar and Sajad are pitching for restoration of 370. Baramulla covers four districts—Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora (north Kashmir), and Budgam (central Kashmir)—covering 18 Assembly segments. Omar enjoys support in all four districts as NC has cadre everywhere, while Sajad’s support base is primarily in Kupwara. Sajad, 57, is a militancy victim as his father Abdul Gani Lone was assassinated. He was a minister in Mehbooba Mufti’s PDPBJP coalition government on the BJP quota. After that government’s fall in June 2018 and the abrogation of Article 370 a year later, Sajad’s Peoples Conference emerged as a strong po- Sajad Lone (left) and Omar Abdullah litical force in north Kashmir with former legislators, mostly from PDP joining the party Be. sides, Sajad has got the backing of Apni Party which has clout , in north Kashmir. Sajad also has got the support of some former legislators including ex-PDP patron Muzaffar Baig and the Pahari community leaders. Paharis are a linguistic minority who were granted Scheduled Tribe status in February this year. Apart from Paharis, Sajad will be banking on the support of Shias, whose leader Imran Ansari is in his good books. “My victory is not as important as the defeat of Omar. It will mark a new dawn for Kashmir if he loses,” he says. As for Omar, he is pitching the party’s Shia leader and Srinagar candidate Aga Ruhullah to counter Imran Ansari’s influence on Shia voters. However, what could tilt the scales is the entry of former MLA Engineer Rashid, who is currently in Tihar Jail following his arrest by the NIA in an alleged terror funding case. Rashid is a former member of PC and could end up cutting Sajad’s votes. And that could benefit Omar. AAP parliamentarian Swati Maliwal on Thursday gave her statement to the Delhi Police over her physical assault by Bibhav Kumar, close aide of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, at the latter’s residence a few days ago. Top official sources told this newspaper that Maliwal said Bibhav Kumar slapped her multiple times and also punched her belly She also al. leged that Kejriwal was present inside the house at the time of the assault and was in complete knowledge of what happened. The police subsequently registered an FIR against Bibhav Kumar, based on Maliwal’s complaint. The FIR was registered under sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (Criminal intimidation) and The police team at Maliwal’s house and (inset) Bibhav | PTI 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code at the Civil Lines police station. On May 13, Maliwal had alerted the Delhi Police after her assault but did not file a formal com- plaint. However on Thursday a , two-member police team, which included a senior officer from the Special Cell and an Additional DCP-rank woman officer, went to her residence and took around four-and-a-half hours to record her statement. Later in the day Maliwal was , taken to the AIIMS for medical examination. Parallely Bibhav , Kumar has been summoned by the National Commission for Women to appear in person before it on Friday at 11 am. Maliwal, who remained silent after the assault, finally posted on X that the last few days were very “difficult for her”. She was sarcastic about those who tried to assassinate her character and accused her of doing it on the behest of some other party . “ important election An is going on in the country Swati , Maliwal is not important, the issues of the country are important. There is a special request to BJP people to not do politics on this incident,” she said. As for Kejriwal, he kept mum on the assault at the joint press conference he addressed with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow and abruptly ended it. And his party colleague Sanjay Singh indulged in whatabouteary . Earlier in the day, the BJP stepped up its attack on Kejriwal after a purported video of Bibhav Kumar with him at the Lucknow Airport on Wednesday went viral. “Bibhav, who is accused of assaulting Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, was last evening spotted with Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh at the Lucknow Airport.’’ What happened to me was very bad. I have given my statement to the police. I hope that appropriate action will be taken. The last few days have been very difficult for me — Swati Maliwal KC(M) may get cabinet rank post MCH mixes up of admin reforms panel chairman child’s surgery, doc suspended tongue for a finger! A R U N M @ Kochi E x p re s s N e w s Ser v i c e @ Kozhikode Another case of medical negligence has emerged from Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, where a surgery was performed on the tongue of a four-yearold girl, who was brought to the hospital for a procedure to remove her sixth finger. Following the incident, the director of medical education suspended associate professor Dr Bijon Johnson, of the paediatric department of the Institute of Maternal and Child Health, pending an inquiry. The family of the child also lodged a complaint with Medical College police. The family from Cheruvannur, arrived , at the hospital on Thursday morning for the finger surgery. After the hour-long procedure, the child was brought to the ward, when the parents noticed cotton stuffed in her mouth. And her sixth f i n g e r h a d n’ t b e e n removed. According to family members, the nurse mocked them when they pointed out the error. Hospital authorities, on their part, tried to settle the issue during a series of discussions with the family. The doctor who led the surgery even apologised. A subsequent surgery was even conducted to remove the child’s sixth finger. Meanwhile, the hospital superintendent came forward to defend the surgeon. “After the surgery of the four-year-old girl, there was a procedure scheduled for a child with a tongue-tie. When the first child cried in the operation theatre, the surgeon noticed the tongue-tie in her mouth. So, he proceeded to operate on it. But we failed to communicate the incident to the child’s relatives. However, we will investigate the complaint,” the superintendent said. However, the family clarified that the child didn’t suffer from any kind of speech impediment. The controversy kicked up by the revelation forced Health Minister Veena George to order a probe by the director ● More on P4 of medical education. Illustration: Mandar Pardikar express read Total turnout 66.95% so far, says Election Commission Police take action against 243 criminals during spl drive SC adds a layer of safety in arrests under PMLA New Delhi: The Election Commission of India on Thursday put the cumulative turnout in the four phases of Lok Sabha elections at 66.95%. The poll panel in a statement said the updated voter turnout in the fourth phase of polling on May 13 was 69.16%, which was 3.65% higher than the corresponding phase in the 2019 general elections. This is the only phase where the turnout graph went up. T’Puram: Two days into its statewide special drive against criminal gangs and drug peddlers, the state police have so far initiated legal action against 243 people. As per the statement issued by the police, action was taken against 90 people, who were involved in a slew of criminal cases, and 153 others, against whom arrest warrants have been pending. About 53 men have been taken into preventive detention, while five were booked under KAAPA. The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Enforcement Directorate cannot arrest an accused under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after a special court takes cognisance of the complaint of money laundering. The ED will have to apply to the concerned court to get his custody, the bench said, adding another layer of safety to the draconian law 3 RS seats to fall vacant The term of three RS members from Kerala, one each from CPM, CPI and KC(M), comes to an end on July 1. Switching to firefighting mode after finding itself in an unenviable situation over the Rajya Sabha seat allocation within the LDF, the CPM is learnt to have decided to offer its key ally the Kerala Congress , (M), chairmanship of the Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission, a post with cabinet rank once held by V S Achuthanandan. In addition, the CPM is also planning to promise the KC(M) an RS seat that will fall vacant in 2027, top party sources said. The term of three RS members from Kerala, one each from CPM, CPI and KC(M), comes to an end on July 1. As per the current numbers in the state assembly, the LDF can win two seats and the Opposition UDF one. Since both Communist parties are eager to maintain their strength, though meagre, in the Upper House of Parliament, the KC(M) is the natural choice to don the role ● More on P4 of the scapegoat.
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