thrissur l tuesday l june 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Atishi’s fast enters day four, doctors say her health failing The Delhi water minister is on indefinite fast protesting the decline in water supply to Delhi from the neighbouring BJP-ruled Haryana Weight, blood pressure decreasing rapidly Atishi’s weight and blood pressure are decreasing rapidly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said in a statement. “Doctors have described the speed at which her blood sugar level, blood pressure and weight have decreased as dangerous,” the party said. Atishi, however, has refused to be admitted to a hospital, saying she will continue with her fast until Haryana releases water ■ 2.2 kg Delhi cabinet ministers write to Modi ■ Delhi cabinet ministers on Monday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to resolve the water crisis on priority Delhi’s water requirement is 1,005 million gallons per day (MGD). About 613 MGD comes from Haryana. The ministers, in their letter, said there has been a 100 MGD drop in water coming from Haryana drop in Atishi’s weight in four days, claims aam aadmi party 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 Centre imposes stockholding limits on wheat J i t e n d ra C h o u b e y @ New Delhi Videograb of Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking oath as a member of the House during the first day of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha in Delhi on Monday | PTI Drama, fireworks on Day I PM, 279 others sworn in as members of 18th Lok Sabha; Modi, Kharge spar on Emergency The opening day of the special session of the 18th Lok Sabha witnessed dramatic scenes on Monday as opposition leaders, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, waved copies of the Constitution when Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked up to take oath as a member of the House. Apart from Modi, several Cabinet ministers, including Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, celebrities like Kangana Ranaut and 16 from NDA ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP) took their oaths. While 280 members were sworn in on Monday, the rest, including Rahul, will be take their oath on Tuesday . The country’s linguistic diversity was on display as MPs took their oaths in languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, Dogri, Bengali, Malayalam, Gujarati and Odia, apart from English. In his pre-session remarks, Modi took a swipe at the Congress over the Emergency call, ing it a black spot on democracy when the Constitution was discarded. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was equally pungent in his response, accusing Modi of imposing an undeclared Emergency in the country in the last 10 years. The session began on a com- EXPRESS READ Captured tiger’s health a concern Kalpetta: The forest department, which successfully trapped the tiger terrorising Kenichira in Wayanad late on Sunday, is facing a new dilemma. An examination has revealed that the tiger – identified as Tholpetty 7 – is facing significant health challenges. Notably, two of its teeth are broken, which severely impedes the tiger’s ability to hunt and survive in the wild. P2 Plus-I row: Student outfits stage protest Malappuram: Various student outfits continue their agitation over the shortage of Plus I seats in the Malabar region. On Monday, the SFI protested against the CPM-led state government over the issue in Malappuram. Meanwhile, the KSU has called a statewide ‘education bandh’ in all educational institutions on Tuesday against “government’s refusal” to address the issue. P4 Airline turns down request for damages T’Puram: Air India Express has reportedly said it would not be able to pay compensation to the family of Malayali IT manager Nambi Rajesh, who died in Oman and whose wife could not join him there because of AI Express strike on May 8. Rajesh’s wife Amrita said she was informed of the airline’s position through e-mail. According to her, the airline said it could not be held responsible for expat’s death. P5 bative note with the boycott by three Opposition MPs from a panel to assist pro-tem speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab. The Opposition was up in arms against the government for ignoring eight-term Lok Sabha member Kodikunnil Suresh for that post. President Droupadi Murmu had appointed a panel comprising K Suresh, TMC’s Sudip Bandopadhyay and DMK’s T R Baalu along with two other BJP MPs to assist Mahtab. However, the three Opposition MPs refused to be a part of the panel on Monday morning. Most of the Congress MPs held a copy of the Constitution while taking their oath. Rahul sat along with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Ayodhya MP Awadhesh Prasad in the front row on the Opposition side. The BJP poked the Congress with party chief J P Nadda writing to Kharge, questioning the “stoic silence” of his party on the recent hooch tragedy in Tamil Nadu. The coming days of the session are likely to see a belligerent Opposition taking on the NDA government on several issues, including the NEET-NET exam paper leak row, three criminal laws, Manipur violence and the recent train accident. Oppn against Birla, NDA call on Speaker today R A J E S H K U M A R TH A K U R @ New Delhi THE Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to announce its candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post on Tuesday hours before the nom, ination of candidates for the key post starts. According to highly placed sources, the NDA suggested the name of Om Birla, who was the Speaker in the previous Lok Sabha, as a consensus candidate for the Speaker’s position but did not get support from the Opposition parties. Sources said Birla being the first choice is in line with the Narendra Modi-led government’s theme of continuity in its third term. While there is no official word yet from the NDA side on the consensus bid, BJP sources said three more names are being considered. “If everything goes as per plan and the Opposition doesn’t oppose the continuation of Om Birla, the possibility of Birla’s continuation is high. In case of disagreement, the BJP’s East Champaran (Bihar) MP Radha Mohan Singh or the MP from Pali constituency (Rajasthan) P P Chaudhary might be announced as the NDA’s candidate for LS Speaker,” said a senior BJP source. The name of Andhra BJP chief Daggubati Purandeswari is also doing the rounds. Chaudhary is a senior lawyer also and chairperson of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Jan Vishwas Bill 2022. He had earlier served as MoS in the Ministry of Law and Justice in 2019 and MoS in the Ministry of Electronics and IT in 2017. He was also honoured with the Sansad Ratna award twice in 2015 and 2016. Both Choudhary and Singh are experienced in Parliamentary affairs and enjoy rapport with the Opposition parties. Purandeswari is the sisterin-law of TDP chief and Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. The Lok Sabha Speaker’s election will take place on June 26. NSUI activists stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Monday | Shekhar Yadav E x p r e ss N e w s s e r v i c e Revert to old system, Mamata tells Modi @ New Delhi /Patna/Ranchi even as the CBI took over five new cases of alleged malpractices in NEET-UG in Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan, Bihar police on Monday said the question paper could have been leaked during its transportation in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh. According to a senior official with Bihar police’s economic offfences wing, the question paper could have been leaked either during its transportation from the courier company to the main branch of the State Bank of India or from the bank to Hazaribagh’s Oasis School, where the test was held on May 5. The question papers were stored in the SBI locker. Meanwhile, the CBI on Monday took over five new cases that were being investigated by police in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar. On Sunday it regis, tered its own FIR in connection with the alleged irregularities in the exam. In a separate development, the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra police arrested a West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee urged PM Narendra Modi to consider abolishing NEET, the national-level medical entrance exam introduced in 2013, and reverting to the system of states conducting the exam Zilla Parishad school teacher from Latur and registered a case against four persons for running a racket to help NEET students willing to pay money to crack the exam. Officials said the CBI has reregistered one case each from Gujarat and Bihar and three cases from Rajasthan as its own FIR, while it is also likely to take up the case from Latur. After taking over these new cases, the CBI is now probing six cases pertaining to alleged irregularities in NEET-UG, the officials said. Barring the case from Bihar, the other four appear to be isolated incidents of impersonation and cheating by local officials, and candidates, officials added. Kidney transplant recipients Indians, finds probe into organ trade racket S h an A S @ T’Puram Contrary to the perception that foreigners were the recipients of the kidney transplantations done at Iranian hospitals at the behest of the international organ trade racket involving Keralites, the police probe found that all beneficiaries were Indians. The racket facilitated 20 kidney transplantations over the past five years, with all the recipients hailing from the northern states, the police have found. Sources in the police said the recipients, all of whom have been identified, belong to Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu 20 transplants Police investigation found that the international organ harvesting racket facilitated 20 kidney transplantations over the past five years at Iranian hospitals Kidney transplant recipients belong to Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi, say sources & Kashmir and Delhi. They said the probe will verify whether the recipients played any role in enticing the donors, who were lured by the racket to sell one of their kidneys for money . “We will proceed after checking whether the recipients in any way persuaded people to sell their kidneys. We will then seek legal opinion on whether to book them or not,” said a source. It is learnt the racket operated with the assistance of two Iranian hospitals and India-based middlemen, some of whom sold one of their kidneys and then turned agents on the lookout for potential donors. The police team has also identified all the donors — they hail from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi — and found some of them were cheated by the agents, who did not pay them the full amount offered initially said , ● More on P4 sources. high & mighty India captain Rohit Sharma hits a six against Australia during the T20 World Cup match at Gros Islet, Saint Lucia, on Monday. Rohit’s 92 off 41 balls helped India amass 205 for five. India won the match by 24 runs | AP/PTI p o l i c e i n itiati v e D-DAD centres free 232 children from digital addiction A R U N M @ Kochi Asha (name changed), a teenager from Kochi, used to spend countless hours on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Her parents trusted her completely and never monitored her internet usage. It wasn’t until her academic performance and social interactions began to suffer that they realised the severity of the situation. Upon consulting a psychiatrist, they discovered that Asha was struggling with digital addiction as well Helping hand Pr e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi The Centre on Monday imposed a stock limit on wheat to reduce hoarding of the grain and stablise its prices. The stock limit will apply to all wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers and processors in all states and Union Territories until March 31, 2025. The stock limit for traders or wholesalers is 3,000 metric tonnes (MT). For retailers, it is 10 MT for each of the outlets while for big chain retailers, it is 10 MT at each of their outlets and 3,000 MT at all their depots. For millers and processors, the stock limit is 70% of the monthly installed capacity multiplied by the remaining months of FY 2024-25. “The government is open to all options if the stock limit would not cool down the price such as by reducing import duty and would soon think to dump wheat in the open market through open market sales scheme,” said Sanjeev Chopra, secretary Department of Food , and Public Distribution in the consumer affairs ministry . The minimum support price of wheat is `2,275, but the grain’s price in the open market is hovering around `2,500. Chopra dispelled worries about supplies. The stock limit comes amid claims of bumper production of the grain in the cur rent Rabi Marketing Season. “I want to dispel the shortage of wheat in the country ... we want prices of wheat to be stable,” Chopra said. He added that the decision was taken to prevent market speculations and hoarding of the grain. Police hint at security lapse in NEET paper delivery in Jharkhand 232 children rehabilitated after providing counselling over the past one-and-ahalf years as physical discomfort like eye strain due to excessive screen time. A few months after, Asha has now recovered from digital ad- 86 currently undergoing counselling Six D-DAD centres currently operational — one each in T’Puram, Kollam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, and Kannur. diction, thanks to the Digital De-Addiction Centre (D-DAD) in Kochi operated by the state police, which changed her life for good through counselling and other interventions. Arunima’s case, though concerning, is not as serious as that of many of her peers, who got involved in crimes and even ended their life due to excess internet usage. The Kerala Police established D-DAD centres one-anda-half years ago, in response to the rising concerns over digital addiction among children. They have successfully counselled and rehabilitated 232 children, helping them return to a balanced life. The centres employ psychologists, counsel- lors, and are equipped with child-friendly tools. Their approach includes interactive education, device-free retreats, and scientifically supported diversion techniques. Six D-DAD centres are operational, one each in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, and Kannur. Currently 86 children , are receiving counselling from experts at these centres. According to officials, parents of children from the age of 10 have approached D-DAD centres seeking help. ● More on P4 HC’s stay on kejri’s bail unusual, says SC The Delhi High Court’s decision to grant interim stay on Arvind Kejriwal’s bail, while reserving its verdict, is unusual, says the Supreme Court. The high court will give its verdict on Enforcement Directorate’s plea against the bail today
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