BELAGAVI SATURDAY JUNE 15, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 14 LATE CITY EDITION HURRIYAT CHIEF MIRWAIZ APPEALS TO KASHMIRI PANDITS TO RETURN TO J&K It is time to reconcile and rebuild the broken bonds of the past, Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said on Friday CALL AMID MELA KHEER BHAWANI FESTIVAL He made the appeal in his address at the Friday congregation at the historic Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area in Srinagar, where he also felicitated the Kashmiri Pandit community on the occasion of Mela Kheer Bhawani. Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits paid obeisance at the Mata Kheer Bhawani temple at Tulmulla in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on Friday 1990 ‘HOMELAND AWAITS RETURN OF PANDITS’ ■ Mela Kheer Bhawani is an annual event at the Kheer Bhawani temple dedicated to Rangya Devi. It is also celebrated in other shrines and temples ■ “I would ask them (Kashmiri Pandits) to return to their homeland which awaits them and live here as they did in the past in our common and shared heritage. We owe it to our next generation,” Mirwaiz said WHEN A LARGE NUMBER OF KASHMIRI PANDITS FLED J&K DUE TO MILITANCY 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 Delimitation hurdle for women quota AZADI SPEECH Delhi L-G nod to prosecute Arundhati Roy under UAPA P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi A S H I S H S R I V A S TA V A @ New Delhi DELHI Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Friday gave his nod to prosecute author-activist Arundhati Roy and Sheikh Showkat Hussain, former professor of the Central University of Kashmir, under the stringent UAPA in connection with a 2010 FIR, which accused the duo of “delivering provocative speeches in public”. Roy and Hussain had allegedly called for an independent Kashmir at a conference organised under the banner of ‘ zadi A — The Only Way’ on October 21, 2010 at LTG Auditorium in Delhi. The major topic of discussion was “separation of Kashmir from India”, Raj Niwas officials said on Friday . Arundhati Roy Last October, Saxena had granted prosecution of the duo in the same case under Section 196 of CrPC for commission of Sheikh Showkat offences punHussain ishable under different sections of IPC. The case against the two was registered after a police complaint lodged by a Kashmiri social activist Sushil Pandit. He also filed a complaint before the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate, Delhi. An FIR was registered on November 29, 2010 in which Roy, Hussain, Kashmiri separatist leader Sayed Ali Shah Geelani, and former Delhi University professor Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani were booked for the offences of sedition, promoting enmity between dif ferent groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc with imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration. They were also charged with the act aimed at public mischief. However, Sayed Ali Shah Geelani and Abdul Rahman Geelani passed away during the pendency of the case. Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraces Pope Francis at Italy’s Apulia on Friday | X Talks, diplomacy path for Ukraine peace, says Modi Holds talks with Zelenskyy; also meets Pope Francis at G7 Summit, invites him to India AGENCIES PRIME Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with world leaders at Italy’s Apulia on the sidelines of the G7 summit, but what caught the eye were his interactions with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Pope Francis. In his talks with Zelenskyy, Modi assured that India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution to the Ukraine war, adding the way to peace is through “dialogue and diplomacy”. He said India believes in a human-centric approach to the conflict. The upcoming Swiss peace conference for Ukraine also figured in the talks. Modi described the meeting as very productive and said India is eager to further cement bilateral relations. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra were part of Modi’s delegation at the talks. The Ukranian readout said, “The president spoke about the functioning of the Black Sea transport corridor, which makes it possible to increase exports of sunflower oil to India and turnover of other categories of goods.” Later in the day, Modi met Pope Francis with a warm embrace at the Outreach session of the G7 Summit and invited him to visit India. “Met Pope Francis on the sidelines of the @G7 Summit. I admire his commitment to serve people and make our planet better. Also invited him to visit India,” Modi said in a post on X. Modi and the BJP have made several overtures to the Christian community before the general elections. Modi was seen in a light-hearted exchange with the 87-year-old head of the worldwide Catholic Church. “It is up to each of us to make good use of AI,” the Pope said in his address at the Outreach session on the topic of Artificial Intelligence, Energy Africa , and the Mediterranean. Modi also held talks with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron. WITH its Southern allies in play, the BJP-led NDA government may face roadblocks in implementing the Women’s Reservation Bill, which hinges on Census and delimitation. With the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the main ally of the NDA, calling for consensus on delimitation, the BJP may face huge challenges in implementing the bill passed during Modi 2.0. The 33% quota for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will come into force after delimitation of Lok Sabha seats, scheduled for 2026. Several Opposition parties WOULD IT POLITICALLY HELP THE GOVT AT ALL? The question is whether the govt would go for delimitation after the BJP faced setbacks in states like UP. “In 2019, the BJP swept the Hindi heartland. Now the landscape has changed. Even if UP or Bihar get more seats after delimitation, it may not benefit the BJP,” Pronab Sen said from the South have raised concerns that the delimitation on the basis of population would lead to the states losing out in representation as they were successful in controlling population. To undertake the delimitation, the government must conduct the decadal Census, which has been indefinitely postponed since 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking to this newspaper, senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore said the linkage with delimitation could delay the implementation of women’s reservation, adding the BJP is planning it for 2034. “The entire Opposition voted for the passage of the bill and we want it to be immediately implemented. But the government’s real intention is to delay it,” he said. A TDP leader, on the condi- POCSO CASE ‘Heavens won’t fall in 4-5 days’: HC directs CID not to arrest, detain BSY EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru THE High Court of Karnataka on Friday directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) not to arrest or detain former chief minister and senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa in the POCSO case. The court, however, directed Yediyurappa to appear before the CID officers on June 17. Orally observing that the manner in which CID is conducting the probe raises doubts, the court said if the accused is an unscrupulous person, he would not have appeared before the investigating officers in response to the first notice. What heavens are going to fall down in 4 to 5 days? The former CM himself has stated in his reply to the second notice that he will appear before the CID on June 17, the court said and questioned the Advocate General (AG) what will happen to a layman if a former CM is treated in such a manner. Keeping on hold the coer- cive proceedings of arrest or detention in the case, Justice Krishna S Dixit passed the interim order, directing Yediyurappa to appear before the CID on June 17 as stated in his reply to the second notice. The CID is probing the case registered by Sadashivanagar police under Section 8 of the POCSO Act and Section 354A of the IPC based on a complaint filed on March 14, 2024, by the mother of a 17-year-old girl alleging that Yediyurappa sexually assaulted her daughter on February 2, 2024, at his Dollars Colony resiP4 dence in Bengaluru. Floating wetlands to filter Bengaluru lake In a bid to balance the ecosystem and filter dirty water, over 150 volunteers made about 25 floating wetlands from recyclable material at Ulsoor Lake in Bengaluru. These floating wetlands, which serve as a tiny ecosystem for the lake, contain around nine saplings each that absorb nutrients and convert them into oxygen as they drift around the lake, enhancing its ecological health. These small floating ecosystems are easy to manage, allowing for the trimming of dead plant matter. This prevents the accumulation of additional biomass too. Volunteers release floating wetlands, to enhance biodiversity and improve the ecosystem, at Ulsoor lake in Bengaluru on Friday | ALLEN EGENUSE J tion of anonymity told this pa, per that the party will not support delimitation as the state will lose Lok Sabha seats. Echoing the view, noted economist and former chief statistician Pronab Sen told this paper that the women’s quota will get stuck because delimitation and census have been written into the bill. “Why should the implementation of the Women’s bill be connected to delimitation? The government will face opposition from Souther n states as well as from Maharashtra and Gujarat,” said Sen adding it can delink quota from the delimitation provision by amending the bill. Nod for 10% fee hike in pvt unaided tech colleges EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru THE Karnataka government on Friday approved a fee hike of 10% for professional courses in private unaided technical educational institutions. This will be applicable to engineering and architecture colleges for the academic year 2024-25. This decision was announced after Higher Education Minister Dr MC Sudhakar and Medical Education Minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil had a meeting with the representatives of the Union of Private Educational Institutions. The union had sought a fee hike of 15% after the Cong ress gover nment slashed it by 3% in 2023. Earlier, the Bommai government promised a 10% fee hike year on year for private institutions. For the academic year 20232024, the fees for general merit seats in engineering and architecture colleges were capped at Rs 96,574 in Type-1 category based on the available infrastructure, and Rs 1,04,265 for Type-2 category institutes. With the 10% increase for this academic year, students seeking admission through the CET will have to pay Rs 1,06,231 for Type-1 category and Rs 1,14,691 for Type-2 category colleges. SC notice to NTA, Centre on plea for CBI probe Cops building strong case SRINIVAS against Darshan, others HEGDE, DIRECTOR OF CHANDRAYAAN-1, S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi PASSES AWAY The former Isro scientist was the mission head of India’s first lunar mission that discovered water molecules on Moon. The 71-year-old was admitted in hospital after a heart attack |P5 THE Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Centre on a plea seeking CBI investigation into allegations of question paper leak and other irregularities in the NEET-UG exam held across the country on May 5 this year. A two-judge vacation bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta sought the responses within two weeks and tagged the cases with other petitions raising similar issues. The batch of pleas will now be heard on July 8, when the top court will start functioning after the summer vacation. T he development comes a day after the NTA and the Centre told the SC that the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates in the NEET-UG exam will be cancelled. They will have the option to either take a re-test on June 23 or forgo the compensatory marks awarded for the loss of time, the court was told. The petitioners alleged cheating happened in the medical entrance exam. “Cheating in entrance exams undermines the principles of meritocracy and equal opportunities which are essential for fostering so- cial mobility and ensuring fairness in society the plea said. ,” Responding to the submission for ordering a CBI probe, the bench said the reply of the NTA was necessary before an order could be passed. As many as 67 students had scored a perfect 720 in the test in which 24 lakh students participated, with six from a centre in Haryana’s Faridabad, raising suspicions about irregularities. Woman files cheating case against MoS Somanna’s son EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru A 40-year-old woman filed a cheating and assault case against Dr BS Arun Somanna, son of Union Minister of State for Railways and Jal Shakti V Somanna and two others at Sanjay Nagar police station on Wednesday . The police have registered an FIR on a direction from the 37th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court, where the woman filed a private complaint. The complainant, Trupthi, a resident of Sanjay Nagar, stated that she and her husband Madhwaraj own an event management company. Arun met her husband at a government function in 2013 and asked him to organise a function to celebrate his daughter’s birthday in 2017. Arun allegedly proposed to start a venture in partnership with Madhwaraj and in 2019, they started a company Neighbourhood. , When the company started incurring losses, Arun blamed Madhwaraj for the losses. He later forced Madhwaraj to resign and reduced his share in the company. When the complainant and her husband questioned Arun, the latter allegedly threatened them. Arun even threatened to kidnap Madhwaraj’s children and abused him in a filthy language. He also allegedly assaulted Madhwaraj with a stick at his office, Trupthi stated in her complaint. The complainant alleged that Arun started insisting Madhwaraj to pay him money . Unable to bear the harassment, Madhwaraj paid Rs 86 lakh. Arun also allegedly forced him to sign a Rs 65-lakh loan agree- Arun (Somanna’s son) started insisting Madhwaraj to pay him money. Unable to bear the harassment, Madhwaraj paid Rs 86 lakh. Arun also allegedly forced him to sign a Rs 65-lakh loan agreement Trupthi, complainant ment. As the harassment continued, Madhwaraj tried to end his life. When he started avoiding Arun and his associates, the accused allegedly went to the complainant’s house and assaulted her and children. Based on the complaint, the police have booked Arun, Jeevan Kumar of Dasarahalli and Pramod Rao of Hebbal for criminal intimidation, intentional insult to provoke breach of peace, cheating, assault, falsification of accounts and other charges. P R A V E E N K U M A R @ Bengaluru UNDER the supervision of DCP (West) S Girish and guidance of Additional Commissioner of Police Satheesh Kum a r, t h e V i j a y n a g a r sub-division police are building a watertight case against actor Darshan and other accused in the Renukaswamy abduction and murder case. City Police Commissioner B Dayananda is regularly monitoring the investigations on the instructions from Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara. On Friday, Dayananda visited the Annapoorneshwari Nagar police station where the accused are being interrogated. He has instructed the investigating officers to build a strong case, giving no scope for the accused to defend themselves during the trial. With only three days of police custody of the accused left, the officers are grilling the accused round-the-clock, giving them little time to rest. Darshan is said to have been a hard nut to crack. He claims that he knows nothing about the mur- A constable keeps watch in front of Annapoorneshwari Nagar police station, where actor Darshan and his associates are held, on Friday | VINOD KUMAR T der, according to sources. The officers are now behind the Rs 20-lakh deal offered to the four accused by Deepak, who has also been arrested in the case. Deepak is a close associate of Darshan and is alleged to have given the money, asking the four accused to surrender claiming responsibility for the murder. Of the Rs 20-lakh deal, police have recovered Rs 10 lakh from two of the four accused. No visitors are allowed to meet Darshan and other accused in police custody .
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