chennai l Thursday l July 11, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION Modi in Austria in first bilateral visit by an Indian PM in 41 years Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation Strategic direction for India-austria ties Modi invites businesses to make in India India and Austria have decided to give a strategic direction to our relationship, Modi said after his “fruitful” talks with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. A blueprint for cooperation has been prepared for the coming decade, Modi said. The two leaders also discussed the Ukraine war, and Modi reaffirmed India’s view that this is not the time for war ■ ■ Modi invited the business community in Vienna to invest in India, highlighting his government’s production-linked incentive scheme and the “fast-unfolding opportunities” in the country Infrastructure, renewable energy, and artificial intelligence are among the areas in which the two countries agreed to “combine strengths” 1983 When Indira gandhi visited Austria. Modi’s visit is the 1st by an Indian PM since then 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 Sec 125 on maintenance applies to Muslim women too, rules SC Supreme Court’s two-judge bench, in concurring verdict, says CrPC section is religion neutral S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi According to the pre-feasibility report, a total of 1,005 families will be affected by the project, which is expected to be operational by 2029 | file pic First phase of Parandur airport to cost `13.8K cr c s h i v a k u m a r @ Chennai The first phase of the proposed greenfield airport at Parandur near Chennai will cost the exchequer `13,854 crore while the entire project, which will be implemented over four phases, will cost `29,143 crore, according to the pre-feasibility report prepared by Louis Berger International for Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO). A total of 1,005 families will be affected by the project, the report said. The report envisages the first phase of the airport to become operational by 2029 and cater to 20 million passengers per year. TIDCO has planned to resume work by end of next year after acquiring land for the project. A total of 5,369 acres (2172.73 hectares) is required for the project. Sources said that as per the revenue records of the land required for the airport, onefourth consists of waterbodies (576.74 hectares). Of the remaining land parcels required, 47.6% is irrigated agriculture land (1031 hectares); 16.35 % is dry farm land (355 hectares); 1.36% is road; 7.96% is government or poramboke land (173 hectares), and 0.32% is built-up area (6.96 hectares). The land price will be calculated as per the circle or guidance value of the respective villages fixed by the registration department, the report said. The estimated budget for resettlement action plan for the project will include land acquisition cost and cost of the structures that may have to be demolished, and a contingency plan. The cost estimate for the project will be prepared as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013.  p7 In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that all divorced women, irrespective of religion, were entitled to seek maintenance from their spouse under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Section 125 deals with maintenance for the wife, children and parents. A bench of justices B V Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih pronounced the verdict after rejecting an appeal filed by Mohd Abdul Samad. He had been ordered by a family court in Telangana to pay a monthly maintenance of `20,000 to his ex-wife. The Telangana HC later decreased the quantum of maintenance to `10,000. Samad had divorced her @ T’Puram THE 1994 ISRO espionage case, in which former space scientist Nambi Narayanan was falsely implicated, was the result of a conspiracy hatched by certain police and IB officials, the CBI told a court here. The case was initiated by then special branch inspector S Vijayan after Maldivian national Mariyam Rasheeda spurned his advances, the agency said in its chargesheet filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Thiruvananthapuram. It said Vijayan had seized the travel documents of Mariyam, rendering her unable to return before her visa expired. When she could not return, she was booked by the police for overstaying, it added. The chargesheet said police officials S Vijayan (first accused), Sibi Mathews (second accused), K K Joshua (third ac- Nambi Narayanan R B Sreekumar cused) then IB deputy director R B Sreekumar (fourth accused), and IB officer P S Jayaprakash (fifth accused) played an active role in the conspiracy to fabricate documents that led to illegal arrests and subsequent torture. On the direction of the then Crimes DIG Sibi Mathews, four persons — D Sashikumaran, K Chandersekhar, Nambi Naryanan, and S K Sharma — were arrested without any evidence. They were interrogated and allegedly tortured at the behest of Sibi, the chargesheet said. It said the espionage angle through triple talaq, which was outlawed by the Supreme Court in 2017 and criminalised by the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019. The court rejected Samad’s contention that the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 overrides the secular Section 125 CrPC. The 1986 law was introduced under the watch of the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to sof- ten the impact of the landmark Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case in 1985, which said Muslim women were entitled to maintenance. Both justices Nagarathna and Masih wrote separate but concurring verdicts. Justice Nagarathna said the 1986 Act is not a substitute for Section 125, nor has it supplanted it. Both can operate simultaneously at the option of a divorced Muslim woman. Excluding the ap- plication of Section 125 for a divorced Muslim woman would be in violation of Article 15(1) of the Constitution, which states that the state shall not discriminate on the ground of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, etc., she said. “There cannot be disparity in receiving maintenance on the basis of the law under which a woman is married or divorced. The same cannot be a basis for discriminating a divorced woman entitled to maintenance as per the conditions stipulated under Section 125 of the CrPC or any personal or other law such as the 1986 Act,” Justice Nagarathna said. Justice Masih said rights of maintenance under Section 125 and the 1986 Act “parallelly exist in their distinct domains and jurisprudence”. Open up Vikravandi turnout a tad higher at Shambhu border within 7 days, says hc The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday ordered the Haryana government to open up the barricade at the Shambhu border near Ambala, where farmers have been camping, within a week on “experimental basis”. The court also directed Punjab to control the protesters in their territory ISRO case fabricated by police, IB officials: CBI chargesheet EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Financial empowerment of women Both ‘financial security’ and ‘security of residence’ of women have to be protected and enhanced, Justice Nagarathna said. That would truly empower the homemakers who are the backbone of the family. It is within the family that values of life are learnt. It is these moral and ethical values that are inherited by generations. But, for that to happen, women in the family have to be respected and empowered, she said was fabricated to sustain the wrongs committed by the officials of the state police and IB. Sreekumar has been accused of facilitating unauthorised questioning of Mariyam and torturing the accused. “He was responsible for physical and mental torture of arrested victims during unauthorised interrogation in custody of Kerala police by the IB team,” said the chargesheet. Sreekumar was ADGP in Gujarat during the Godhra riots and testified against the state government before the Nanavati Commission that looked into the 2002 riots. Responding to the development, Nambi Narayanan said: “I wanted to bring out the culprits, who had fabricated the case. It took about 24 years for that to happen. I’ve lost interest in the case. If required, I can be a witness... Now I am old and even if the accused are punished, I am not interested.” 82.48%, vote counting on Saturday k r i t h i k a s r i n i va s a n @ Villupuram Barring minor hiccups, the by-election to the Vikravandi Assembly seat concluded peacefully on Wednesday with a turnout of 82.48%. Counting will take place on Saturday . The bypoll was necessitated by the death of DMK MLA N Pugazhendi on April 6. The decision of the principal opposition party the AIADMK, to boy, cott the race did not affect the turnout, which was comparable to the 82.45% votes polled in 2021, indicating the party’s cadre had not stayed away . Voting began at 7 am across the assembly segment, except at two booths where it was delayed due to ballot unit error. Residents in Kaanai protested the shutting of stores selling essential goods till shops were allowed to operate under police protection. Around 11 am, a 47year-old woman, Kanimozhi, was assaulted by her ex-husband Elumalai (52) while wait- People in a queue waiting to cast their votes at a booth in Vikravandi | sriram r ing in queue at the booth in T Kosapalayam village. Villupuram SP Deepak Siwach said she was admitted to a private hospital. Elumalai was taken into custody . PMK cadre and police got into an argument around 4 pm when the party’s candidate C Anbumani was stopped from entering the Kakkanur polling booth. Once polls closed, ballot units were sealed and sent to strong rooms at the Panaiyapuram Government Higher Secondary School. While DMK was expected to win the seat, the ruling party faced a major setback in the form of the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy. The PMK and NTK centred their campaign on alleged law and order failures of the state. The DMK, meanwhile, went all out, fielding over 10 ministers to campaign. Counselling for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) will start on July 22 and conclude on September 11, announced the Directorate of Technical Education (DoTE) on Wednesday, after releasing the rank list of 1.99 lakh students. Thosithaa Lakshmi N of Sri Sankara Vidyalaya, Chengalpattu, topped the list, while Nilanjana K of Tirunelveli and Gokul of Namakkal bagged the second and third positions. Of the top 10 rank holders — all of whom scored a perfect 200 cutoff — six are girls. However, the overall number of perfect cutoffs has dropped this year (65) compared to last year (102). Of the 36,532 students who had applied under the 7.5% reservation for government school students, 32,223 were found eligible to attend the counselling process. This includes 16,793 girls, 15,428 boys, and two trans persons. S Ravani of Model School, Veerapandi, Salem, stood first in this category with , a cutoff of 199.5. DoTE commissioner K Veera Raghava Rao released the rank list for TNEA 2024 on Wednesday | Ashwin prasath Terrorists took instructions from handlers in Pak: NIA M UKESH RAN J AN @ New Delhi Terrorists who attacked a bus carrying pilgrims in Jammu’s Reasi on June 9 received instructions from their handlers based in Pakistan, a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) found. Sources said as per the evidence collected so far, before executing the attack, the remote handlers were contacted and permission taken. The investigators found that a Rajouri-based overground worker (OGW) Hakam Khan alias Hakin Din, who has been arrested in connection with the case, had sheltered the Pakistani terrorists for nearly a week before the day the bus was attacked. Khan also helped them in reaching the attack spot, sources added. “The arrested OGW played the role of a guide to take the terrorists to the spot where the incident took place and helped them identify the curve on the road, where vehicles used to slow down. Even the exit plan was finalised,” a source aware of the probe details said. The terrorists navigated the thick forests of Rajouri, Poonch, and Kathua using a mobile application, Alpine West, which gave them realtime information about culverts, dense forests and other obstructions, sources said. The probe agency suspects the role of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba’s Sajjid Jutt in executing the attack. There is a reward of `10 lakh for providing information leading to his arrest in connection with another case. Two other Pakistani terrorists Sajid Ali and Abu Qatal are also suspected to have been involved in the attack, sources said. Terrorists opened fire at a bus carrying pilgrims from Shiv Khori to Katra on the evening of June 9 in the Pouni area of Reasi. The driver of the bus lost control, causing it to fall into a gorge. Nine people, including a minor, were killed in the attack. Govt affidavit cites IIT-M clean chit to NEET-UG S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi A day ahead of the hearing in the NEET-UG case in the Supreme Court, the Centre and the National Testing Agency, which conducted the test, filed their affidavits on Wednesday opposing demand for a retest. Citing an exhaustive data analysis of the results by IIT Madras, it said no local set of candidates benefitted, leading to abnormal scores in the exam. “The marks follow a bell-shaped curve that is witnessed in any large-scale examination indicating no abnormality the IIT, ,” Madras report signed by its director V Kamakoti read. As for the increase in marks, they were in the range of 550 to 720. This increase is seen across cities and centres, and is attributed to 25% reduction in syllabus. In addition, candidates obtaining such high marks are spread across multiple cities and multiple centres, indicating very less likelihood of malpractice, the IIT report said. The NTA’s affidavit described as fake a video on Telegram on the NEET-UG paper leak. Going forward, the Centre assured that candidates would be chucked — during counselling or thereafter — if they are found to be beneficiaries of m a l p r a c t i c e. S t e p s would also be taken to restore the sanctity of the NEET, it said. “The Government is committed to ensure the sanctity of examinations and protect the interest of students. To ensure TN engg rank list out; counselling for 1.99 lakh students to begin on July 22 e x p r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai Reasi attack While releasing the rank list, DoTE commissioner K Veera Raghava Rao announced that online counselling for the 7.5% quota seats will be conducted on July 22 and 23. Counselling for other reservation categories such as differently abled, kin of ex-servicemen, and sports quota will take place between July 25 and 27. The counselling process for general category students will begin on July 29 and will go on till September 3. Supplementary counselling will be conducted between September 6 and 8, with the entire process expected to be completed by September 11. Counselling for general category students will take place in three rounds. Students with cutoffs between 179 and 200 will attend the first round, those falling in the 142-178.9 range will take part in the second round, and candidates who have scored between 77.5 and 141.9 will attend the third and final round. This year, 2.53 lakh students had registered for TNEA, of which 2.09 lakh had paid the registration fee. After certifi- cate verification, 1,99,868 were found eligible to participate in the counselling process. In 2023, DoTE released a rank list for 1.78 lakh eligible students. There are 440 engineering colleges in the state and DoTE officials said the entire matrix of colleges with the number of seats available in each branch will be updated on their official website by July 15. Candidates with grievances regarding the rank list can approach DoTE and their grievances will be addressed between July 11 and 20. transparency, fairness, and credibility in public examination, Parliament has enacted Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 on February 12, and an Act was brought into effect on June 21,” the Centre said. “If an exercise is to be conducted by NTA and by the Union Government so as to identify any further beneficiaries of the question paper leakage, a considered decision at the policy level would have to be taken by the government on the status of the counselling,” it added. e x p r e ss r e a d Min’s bomb comment must be probed: HC Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday refused to stay the probe into an FIR filed against senior BJP leader and Union Minister of State for MSME, Labour and Employment, Shobha Karandlage, for her comment that people trained in Tamil Nadu planted the bomb at Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe. Stating that the issue has to be probed given such a comment was made, the court refused to grant interim relief to the union minister and posted the matter to Friday for further hearing | P2