COIMBATORE l saturday l june 22, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE city EDITION Jail terms for Four memebers of UK’s hinduja family in Switzerland A Swiss court on Friday sentenced four members of the wealthy family to between four and 4 1/2 years in prison for exploiting their domestic workers guilty of exploiting workers at swiss villa Accused of ‘profiting from misery’ The court said the four were guilty of exploiting workers and providing unauthorised employment. Indian-born tycoon Prakash Hinduja, his wife, son and daughter-in-law brought people from India to be employed at their luxurious lakeside villa in Geneva. They paid their staff a pittance and gave them little freedom to leave the house, the prosecution argued ■ ■ Prakash and wife Kamal Hinduja each got four years and six months, while their son Ajay and his wife Namrata received four-year terms Household staff were paid between 220 and 400 francs a month, far below what they could earn in Switzerland. “They’re profiting from the misery of the world,” Geneva prosecutor Yves Bertossa argued $20 billion the current net worth of the hinduja family as per forbes 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 HC stays trial court’s order on Kejri’s bail wORLD SEES yOGA AS AGENT OF GOOD: PM F aya z W a n i @ Srinagar tHE world is looking at yoga as a powerful agent of global good, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday on the occasion of the 10th International Yoga Day Choosing the Sher-i-Kash. mir International Conference Centre on the picturesque banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar to lead the nation in celebrating, Modi said the ‘yoga economy’ has immense potential for employment generation as there is a growing global demand to learn authentic yoga from India. “Yoga helps us live in the present moment without the baggage of the past,” he noted, while observing that Jammu paltry wage Urban local bodies in TN axe job scheme N i r u pa m a V i s w a n at h a n @ Chennai Two years after the Tamil Nadu Urban Employment Scheme was introduced in corporations and municipalities in the state, the project has been silently shelved in Chennai. While the Chennai Corporation has returned the unspent amount of `10 crore allotted to it under the scheme last year to the Directorate of Municipal Administration, other corporations and municipalities have utilised their allocated funds but will not receive new allocations from this year, sources said. The scheme, however, will continue in town panchayats. Starting out with nearly 500 beneficiaries, the Chennai Corporation had engaged them for desilting storm water drains in two zones where the scheme was introduced on a pilot basis in 2022 and 2023. This year, the city corporation has gone back to its usual system of awarding the work to contractors after floating tenders in February for desilting these zones. Work has already started. According to officials, the primary reason for the failure of the scheme is the wage paid under the scheme which was lower than the market rate, especially in cities. Corporation sources said they were not able to get more people to enrol for the scheme as the maximum daily wage of `382 is too meager a sum in Chennai. The maximum wage of `382 is paid for removing one cubic metre of silt from the drains in one day . If the beneficiaries fail to achieve the target, the wages would be reduced proportionately. Beneficiaries said they would prefer working in nurseries or plantation as desilting drains is tedious. P7 and Kashmir can benefit by attracting more yoga tourists. The PM took part in a yoga session, which was delayed by over an hour due to rains. The event was scheduled to be held in the open but had to be shifted indoors due to incessant showers. Unmindful of the rain, scores of students joined the PM in performing various asanas on the occasion. He expressed gratitude for being present in Jammu and Kashmir, the land of Yog and Sadhna, on International Yoga Day. “The atmosphere, energy and experience from yoga can be felt in Jammu & Kashmir today,” he said. After the event, PM Modi interacted with the yoga practitioners. Reserves verdict; asks all parties to file submissions by Monday S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi performs yoga during celebration of Int’l Day of Yoga, in Srinagar | PTI AIADMK MLAs evicted en masse from House; CM slams ‘drama’ TN hooch toll touches 50; blame-game refuses to die aid for kids who lost their parents 3 patients reached hosp on Tuesday The government will bear the educational expenses, including hostel fees, of children who had lost both or one of their parents, till graduation. The government will pay `5,000 per month as maintenance allowance till the age of 18 to those children who had lost both their parents. A fixed deposit of `5 lakh will also be done for such children and the amount will be given to them with interest when they turn 18, the CM said | P4 In a startling revealation, health officials told TNIE that three very ill patients from Karunapuram were admitted to Kallakurichi GH by as early as 9am on Tuesday though the then Kallakurichi collector and SP were stoutly denying the unfolding hooch tragedy till Wednesday afternoon. A member of the medical team that set up a health camp in Karunapuram by Tuesday afternoon told TNIE that the team went to the households and alerted the villagers that the hooch they might have consumed was toxic | P2 Family members stand next to patients admitted to Kallakurichi GH on Friday | PTI E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kallakurichi/Chennai As the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy toll continues to rise with 50 deaths reported till Friday evening, there was full-blown war of words between the AIADMK and DMK. While all AIADMK members, including Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami, were evicted from the Assembly for staging a protest, Chief Minister M K Stalin dismissed it as ‘drama’ and appealed to the opposition parties not to seek political mileage from the tragedy . Earlier in the day replying to call atten, tion motion, the CM told the Assembly on Friday that of the 164 people affected, 117 are receiving treatment as in-patients in various hospitals. “I have the list of deaths that occurred due to illicit liquor under AIADMK regime. But I don’t want to do politics,” Stalin said. As soon as the House convened, AIADMK legislators were on their feet seeking the chair’s nod to raise the Kallakurichi issue. Palaniswami and other MLAs sat on the floor in front of the Speaker. Eventually , following Speaker Appavu’s direction, marshals evicted them. Some MLAs, including deputy leader of the opposition, RB Udhayakumar, were carried outside by them. Meanwhile, hearing a PIL petition filed by AIADMK seeking a CBI probe, the Madras HC questioned the state government on the action taken to prevent such tragedies after the last such incident in 2023. A bench of Justices D Krishnakumar and K Kumaresh Babu also sought details about government officials who were responsible for the Kallakurichi incident, action taken in last one year, and the number of cases registered across the state. More ON: p2, 4, 5 & 7 express read Defer new criminal laws: Mamata Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defer the implementation of the three “hurriedly passed” criminal laws that are set to be rolled out on July 1. Banerjee stressed having a fresh review of the laws by Parliament India flays Canada for honouring Nijjar New Delhi: India on Friday strongly objected to Canadian parliament observing ‘one minute silence’ in memory of Canada-based Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed last year. Canada must act against antiIndia elements, said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal Most centres for NEET-UG retest on Sunday changed Ex press N ews Service @ New Delhi With the embattled National Testing Agency (NTA) preparing to conduct the NEET-UG retest for 1,563 students on Sunday it became known that it has , changed six of the total seven centres and issued admit cards to the candidates. These students were beneficiaries of grace marks because of loss of time. After it created a national uproar, the compensatory marks were scrapped and a retest window opened with the proviso that the score in the fresh test alone will be considered for those who take it. The only exam centre that was not changed is in Chandi- garh, where only two students will sit for the retest. Officers of the NTA and the education ministry will be present at the new centres to ensure fairness amidst concerns of paper leak. When asked about the expected turnout for Sunday’s retest, an official responded, “Admit cards have been issued Joint CSIR-UGC-NET exam postponed The NTA on Friday announced the postponement of the Joint CSIRUGC-NET, scheduled to be held between June 25 and June 27, citing unavoidable circumstances and logistic issues to all. We will only know the turnout only on Sunday .” Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court refused to defer the NEET-UG counselling, scheduled to begin on July 6, saying it is not an “open and shut” exercise. The Opposition continued to put the government on the mat with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying he will personally raise the NEETUG issue in Parliament demand justice for students. Meanwhile, Sanjeev Mukhiya alias Lutan, the kingpin of the NEET-UG paper leak in Bihar, is still on the run. The Economic Offences Unit of the Bihar Police has intensified raids to arrest him. Police detain Congress workers who were staging a protest against the NEET-UG, in Mumbai on Friday | PTI With the Delhi High Court on Friday staying a trial court’s order to release AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal on bail, the chief minister will have to stay in Tihar jail till the judge pronounces his order. Staying the trial court’s order, a vacation bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain, reserved his judgment on the Enforcement Directorate’s appeal, adding he would pass the order in twothree days, possibly Tuesday. “Till the pronouncement of this order, the operation of the impugned order shall remain stayed,” Justice Jain said and asked the parties to file written submissions by June 24. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju, for the ED, argued that the trial court’s bail order was perverse as it was contrary to the mandate of Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. “We are not given an opportunity to represent our case in the trial court. When I tried to submit, the trial court said I have to deliver judgment. Be brief,” he said. Senior advocate Vikram Chaudhari, appearing for Kejriwal, raised a preliminary objection to the listing of the matter during vacation because the trial judge had granted bail through a resend order. “What is the justification of approaching the HC,” he asked. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singvhi described the ED’s approach as deplorable. “The accused cannot be kept indefinitely in jail... It is very unfortunate that the ASG is maligning the judge merely because an adverse order was passed,” he said. Opposing the ASG’s argument that he was not given an opportunity to argue, Singhvi said the hearing in the trial court lasted five hours out of which ED took 3.45 hours. “Where is the question of the ED being denied the opportunity to present its case,” Singhvi argued. Poll season EC to update voter list in J-K, 3 other states MU K ESH RAN J AN @ New Delhi A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated that preparations for Jammu and Kashmir elections were underway, the Election Commission on Friday set the ball rolling for holding the electoral exercise by ordering a special summary revision (SSR) of the electoral rolls in the Union Territory . The poll panel has also ordered updation of electoral rolls in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Jharkhand, where Assembly elections are due this year. SSR involves reviewing the voter list and unveiling a draft electoral roll. It is usually held prior to polls to ensure the list is as updated as possible. The process involves adding newly eligible voters and removing duplicate and deceased voters, and those who have moved out of the constituency . In identical official communications to the chief electoral officers of the three states and Jammu and Kashmir, the poll panel said the revision exercise would start from July 25 and culminate on August 20. July 1 will be the qualifying date for roll updation. Before the revision exercise, the poll panel would carry out pre-revision activities in the poll-bound states from June 25 to July 24. The draft rolls would be published on July 25, after which electors can file claims and objections till August 9. The publication of the final electoral roll will be done by August 20. The Supreme Court had in December last year directed the Election Commission of India to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30.
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