HYDERABAD WEDNESDAY JUNE 26, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 16 LATE CITY EDITION ASSANGE OUT OF LONDON PRISON AFTER PLEA BARGAIN WITH THE U.S. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was on Monday freed from a London prison where he spent five years fighting extradition to the US U.S. COURT TO TAKE UP THE PLEA DEAL TODAY SENTENCE TO MATCH TERM ALREADY SERVED Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to one criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents, according to filings in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, where the hearing will be held on Wednesday. Under the plea, he won’t face further prison time and can return home to Australia | P9 ■ The court in Northern Mariana Islands — a US commonwealth in the Pacific midway between Australia and Japan — was chosen because of Assange’s unwillingness to go to mainland US and also because of the territory’s proximity to his native country Australia, a court filing said on Tuesday ■ Assange is due to be sentenced to 62 months of time already served in prison April 2019 WHEN ASSANGE WAS LODGED IN THE HIGH SECURITY BELMARSH PRISON IN LONDON 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 First election of Speaker in over 5 decades today Rahul named Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Trinamool yet to take call on supporting INDIA candidate K Suresh P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi ON the eve of the election to the post of Lok Sabha Speaker, the Congress on Tuesday named Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha. The announcement came after a late evening meeting of floor leaders of the Opposition parties. Congress general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal told the media, “CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab, informing the decision of appointment of Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha”. Other office bearers will be decided later, he added. Rahul was sworn in as a member of the Lok Sabha on Tuesday He has . been an MP for five terms and now represents Rae Bareli. Early this month, the Congress Working Committee had unanimously passed a resolution requesting Rahul to take up the post of the LoP in the 18th Lok Sabha. The party did not have the requisite seats to claim the post in 2014 and 2019. To claim the post, a party needs at least 10% of the membership of the Lok Sabha. While the Congress had 52 seats in 2019, in 2014, it had 44. The LoP post requires the MP to regularly interact with the prime minister. He/she will be a member of crucial committees, including JPCs. The LoP will also be a member of the committees that choose the CVC, the CIC, the CBI, the NHRC heads, etc. SEEKING NEAT SOLUTION Samajwadi Party workers stage a protest over the alleged irregularities in NEET results, near party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s residence in Lucknow on Tuesday | PTI CBI’s TURN TO GO AFTER KEJRI TO KEEP HIM IN JAIL EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi COMPOUNDING troubles for jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is all set to produce him before a trial court on Wednesday which could , result in his arrest by the agency, sources said on Tuesday . The fresh development comes hours before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Kejriwal’s plea challenging the Delhi High Court decision to stay the bail granted to him by a lower court. Sources said the CBI had questioned Kejriwal on Monday in Tihar Jail and recorded his statement on the alleged irregularities in the Delhi liquor policy On Tues. day, the central agency moved an application before a special court seeking a production warrant for Ke- jriwal, which was granted. The CBI will produce Kejriwal before the trial court at 10 am on Wednesday, ahead of the Supreme Court hearing. Sources said that since Kejriwal is already in judicial custody in connection with a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate, his arrest by CBI can take place before a court. If the CBI arrests Kejriwal and gets his custody it is unlikely , that the Delhi CM will be able to walk out of Tihar Jail on Wednesday even if the SC overturns the Delhi HC’s stay on his bail. Reacting to the development, the Aam Aadmi Party accused the CBI of “conspiring to register a fake case” against their leader. AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the Centre is conspiring to foist false cases against Kejriwal in a bid to keep him in jail. Asaduddin Owaisi takes oath as member of the Lok Sabha on Tuesday Asad raises BJP hackles with slogan hailing Palestine WITH Parliament set to see an unprecedented election for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker on Wednesday, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), an ally of the INDIA bloc, is keeping the Opposition on the edge as the party is yet to reach a final decision on the matter. While the BJP-led NDA nominated third time MP Om Birla for the Speaker’s post for the second consecutive term, the Opposition forced an election by nominating the eight-time MP from Kerala, Kodikunnil Suresh, as its candidate after the talks between both sides failed to reach a consensus. At a late evening INDIA bloc meeting, TMC leaders said they will co-operate with the Opposition on the Speaker’s election. However, the final call will be taken on Wednesday . The meeting was attended by several top leaders of the INDIA bloc, including Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, TMC’s Derek O’Brien, Kalyan Banerjee, RSP’s N K Premachandran and CPM’s K Candidates for Speaker’s post Om Birla (BJP) and Kodikunnil Suresh (INDIA) OPPN DEMANDED DY SPEAKER POST The last election for Speaker was in 1976. The INDIA bloc’s made a last minute decision to go for the contest after senior BJP leaders refused to accept its precondition that the Opposition must be offered the post of Deputy Speaker in lieu of supporting Birla Radhakrishnan. A senior Opposition leader who attended the meeting told this paper, “Though other parties, including the Congress, have issued a whip to their MPs for the election, the TMC said that they will convey their decision tomorrow after more consultations. But they have assured that they will cooperate with the Opposition in the Speaker election,” he said. Earlier, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee complained that the Congress unilaterally decided to put up K Suresh as the INDIA bloc’s candidate for the post without consultation. A brief interaction involving Congress leader K C Venugopal and DMK’s T R Baalu and Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and J P Nadda, at Singh’s office in Parliament to evolve a consensus ended in acrimony as both sides stuck to their positions. Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “Union minister Rajnath last evening said that he will call back our president Mallikarjun Kharge on our demand on the Deputy Speaker post. However, Rajnath ji has not returned the call. PM Modi says that there should be constructive cooperation and then our leader is being insulted. So their intention is clear,” he said. Later, Venugopal accused the government of not following the “convention” of an opposition candidate for the Deputy Speaker’s position. PPA probe: KCR seeks stay on summons HC stays ‘rail roko’ case T G N A I D U @ Hyderabad BRS president and for mer ch i e f m i n i s t e r K C h a n drasekhar Rao on Tuesday filed a petition before the Telangana High Court seeking a stay on all proceedings before the Justice L Narasimha Reddy Commission probing the alleged irregularities in the power purchase agreement (PPA) with Chhattisgarh and also in the construction of Yadadri and Bhadradri thermal plants. KCR moved court days after the Narasimha Reddy Commission summoned him to appear before it. Mentioning this, the former chief minister’s petition said that the summons was “arbitrary, illegal, ultra-vires and contrary to the provisions of Commissioners of Inquiry Act, 1952”, and requested the court to set aside the same. Justice B Vijaysen Reddy of the High Court on Tuesday stayed the investigation into a case registered against BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao in connection with the 2011 “rail roko” protest. The police had booked cases against KCR, K Kavitha, Prof M Kodandaram and others for the rail blockade at the height of the statehood movement | P4 He named the state government, the Commission of Inquiry and Justice L Narasimha Reddy as respondents. The petition challenged GO 9 issued by the state government constituting the one-man commission. In his petition, Rao argued that the appropriate State Electricity Regulatory Commission holds the jurisdiction to adjudicate disputes related to elec- tricity purchase and procurement processes of distribution licences, including pricing and PPAs. He asserted that the impugned order issued by the Energy department principal secretary lacked jurisdiction and constituted an usurpation of the judicial powers vested in the appropriate commissions constituted by an Act of ParliaCONTINUED ON P4 ment. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy with CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday. Revanth also witnessed the Lok Sabha MPs from Telangana taking oath and waved to them from the visitors’ gallery, which was appreciated by BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind on X (formerly Twitter) EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad CHIEF Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday urged Union Health Minister JP Nadda to immediately release to Telangana `693.13 crore pending dues under the National Health Mission (NHM). Revanth brought to notice of Nadda that `323.73 crore was due to the state for the third and fourth quarters of 2023-24 under the NHM. Similarly dues , to the tune of `138 crore per- taining to first quarter of 202425 remained unreleased. Revanth also asked Nadda to order reimbursement of `231.4 crore which the state government had spent on the infrastructure and maintenance component under NHM for the year 2023-2024. The chief minister called on Nadda in New Delhi on Tuesday. During the meeting, he briefed Nadda about the initiatives taken by the state government to im- prove health facilities and the focus given to strengthening the health sector in Telangana. He also brought to the notice of Nadda that since October 2023, Telangana is releasing the anticipated central share of funds due to delay from the Government of India, along with the state’s share to ensure no disruption in extending emergency medical services and to avoid difficulties to the staff. Revanth also informed Nadda Wardens scratch their head as jail beards trend in Kerala ILLUSTRATION: SOURAV ROY JAILORS in Kerala have a hairy situation on their hands —literally. The number of inmates choosing to grow beards is rising and their robust facial hairs are reaching epic lengths. Bemused wardens are at their wits’ end but there is hardly anything they can do about it. According to Rule 292(1) of the Kerala Prisons and Correc- tional Services (Management) Rules, prisoners have the right to grow beard. Officials say the problem is that if one grows a beard, it is very likely that other inmates will follow suit. “If disallowed, they protest saying their fundamental rights have been violated. They then approach the court and obtain favourable orders,” says a DIGranked official. Pointing out the trend of lengthening beards, another senior jailor notes that the AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday stoked controversy by hailing Palestine after taking oath as a member of the Lok Sabha leading to uproar from the treasury benches. While the Chair ordered Owaisi’s remarks be expunged, the MP said that there was nothing wrong in him saying “Jai Bheem, Jai Meem, Jai Telangana, Jai Palestine”. “Other members are also saying different things... How is it wrong? Tell me the provision of the Constitution? You should also listen to what others said. I said what I had to. Read what Mahatma Gandhi had said about Palestine”. Asked why he mentioned Palestine, Owaisi said, “They are oppressed people.” The five-time MP began his oath in Urdu by invoking the name of God and ended it with the slogans that were deemed controversial. The remarks led to uproar in the Lower House. Radha Mohan Singh, who was in the Chair at the time, assured the members that anything apart from the oath will not go on record. The uproar continued for a few minutes, after which the oath-taking resumed. Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab returned to the Chair soon, and said that only oath or affirmation is being recorded. “I have said earlier please avoid invoking anything other than oath or affirmation. That is only to be recorded... That should be adhered to,” Mahtab said. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said he will check the rules regarding reCONTINUED ON P4 marks. CM urges Nadda to release `693 cr NHM dues HAIRY TALE P R A M D A S @ Kochi E N S @ Hyderabad / New Delhi length of facial hair can often transform a man’s appearance. “There are no laws that apply to the length of the beard, and that puts us in a fix. Some inmates are now growing beards that are long and often scruffy ,” he adds. Senior officials say they allow exceptions for religious reasons such as Sabarimala pilgrimage or Ramadan. However, a growing number of prisoners, especially those involved in NIA cases, are de- liberately growing beards on the pretext of religious beliefs. “This is problematic in maintaining jail discipline and hygiene,” says a senior official. Other officials complain that instead of keeping normal beards, inmates are intentionally maintaining long ones, causing problems for others. “The hair may fall into other inmates’ food, triggering clashes and security issues inside the prison,” says an officer. Recently the superintendent , of Viyyur prison opposed the plea of UAPA-accused Sahad M to grow a beard. The superintendent argued in court that to maintain hygiene and discipline, cutting hair and shaving beard is necessary, as per the rules. Sahad argued that he is a practising Muslim with the right to follow the customs and rites of his religion. He obtained an order to grow a beard from the NIA special court in Ernakulam, which said the ‘right’ can’t be denied. that the state government has been implementing all norms of Ayushman Bharat scheme since January 2024. He apprised Nadda of the establishment of 5,159 Basti Dawakhanas (Ayushman Arogya Mandirs) for providing better healthcare in rural and urban areas. Since the state government was giving top priority to medical and health services, Revanth urged Nadda to extend cooperation to Telangana and release the dues pending under the National Health Mission. T20 WC AFGHANS REACH SEMI FINAL Afghanistan beat B’desh to make it to the T20 WC semis for the first time, knocking Oz out. They will face South Africa in semi final 1 on Thursday. India will play England in semi final 2 the same day | P11 KCR ASKS MLAs NOT TO TAKE HASTY STEPS | P4
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