chennai l Saturday l July 13, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 22 l LATE CITY EDITION Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda loses trust vote Oli, Deuba to share power for next 3 yrs The trust vote came after K P Sharma Oli-led the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist withdrew support to Prachanda’s coalition government last week after inking a pact with Sher Bahadur Deuba-led Nepali Congress to share power for the remaining term of the government (3 years). Oli will be PM for next 1.5 years, after which Deuba will take over Prachanda, 69, received 63 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives. There were 194 votes against the motion 138 China rail deal cleared a day before vote ■ A day before he lost vote of confidence, Prachanda cleared a deal to connect Nepal with China by rail under Belt and Road Initiative, according to reports ■ The Cabinet meeting on Thursday decided to approve the ‘Strengthening the Development Cooperation in Building the Trans-Himalayan Multidimensional Connectivity Network’ agreement, MyRepublica news portal reported The number of votes required to win the confidence motion in Parliament 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 SC grants interim bail, but Kejri to stay in Tihar jail Delhi trial court extends judicial custody in case lodged by the CBI S U C H I T R A K ALYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi excise policy scam, but the Aam Aadmi Party leader will remain in jail in connection with a corruption case lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI had arrested Kejriwal on June 26 in connection with a case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy He was remanded in judicial . custody On Friday the trial court extended the ju. , dicial custody till July 25. Kejriwal was produced before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja through video conferencing from Tihar jail. While granting interim bail to Kejriwal, the SC bench comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta made some sharp remarks about the manner in which the ED makes its arrests. The bench said if there is wrong application of law, courts can strike down the agency’s decision and such an action will be deemed review of errors of law. “This would not amount to judicial overreach or interference with the investigation,” it clarified. The bench further observed that “undue indulgence and latitude to the ED will be deleterious to the constitutional values of rule of law and life and liberty of people”, adding that the power to arrest must be exercised in a fair manner. “An officer cannot selectively pick and choose material implicating the person to be arrested,” it said, adding the sleuths can’t refuse to consider any material that exonerates the arrestee. The bench referred Kejriwal’s petition challenging his arrest and remand by the ED in the excise policy case to a larger bench, saying the legal questions regarding the “necessity to arrest” under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act raised in the plea need in-depth perusal. What sc said  Courts can’t ask Kejriwal to step down as Delhi CM because of his arrest; it’s up to him to decide  The need for interrogation can’t be sole reason for arrest  Kejriwal has spent 90 days in jail; larger bench can decide on his plea on illegal arrest  Arrest can’t be made arbitrarily and on the whims and fancies of the authorities  Arrests should be made on the basis of valid “reasons to believe”, meeting the parameters prescribed by the law  “Reason to believe” for arresting a person under PMLA must be furnished to the arrestee RETAIL INFLATION AT 4-MONTH HIGH, INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT UP M O N I K A YA D A V @ New Delhi WITH high food prices refusing to ebb, the country’s retail inflation in June increased to a fourmonth high of 5.08% from 4.75% in the previous month. According to government data released on Friday food inflation surged , to 9.4% for June, while the Consumer Price Index-based retail inflation crossed the 5% mark after three months. Meanwhile, another set of data released on Friday showed that India’s industrial output growth reached a seven-month high of 5.9% in May up from 5% , in April, on the back of a significant increase in electricity generation and production of consumer durables. However, manufacturing growth stood at a lower-than-expected 4.6%. A quick analysis of the retail inflation data showed that the spike in June was largely due to The government on Friday notified its decision to observe June 25, the day Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency in the country in 1975, as Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas (Day of murder of the Constitution) to commemorate the massive contributions of those who endured inhuman pains during that period. Union home minister Amit Shah said, the Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas will help keep the eternal flame of individual freedom and the defence of democracy alive in every Indian, thus preventing dictatorial forces like the Congress from “repeating those horrors”. In a post on X, Prime Minister Modi said the commemoration of Emergency will serve as a reminder of what happened when the Constitution was trampled over. “It is also a day to pay homage to each and every person who suffered due to Headline grabbing, hypocrisy: Cong In its reposte, the Congress said the BJP govt has been celebrating ‘Constitution Murder Day every day’ in the last 10 years, adding the Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas is “headline grabbing exercise in hypocrisy” | P7 Retail inflation (%) 7 2023 2024 6 5 4 Jul’23 Aug’23 Sep’23 Oct’23 Nov’23 Dec’23 a 14% month-on-month surge in vegetable prices, which clocked a 29.3% year-on-year growth. The prices of pulses surged 16.1% in June from a year ago. “Inflation for sub-groups — eggs, spices, meat & fish and pulses & products — decreased as compared to May 2024,” said a government release. The Reserve Bank of India, which has the legal mandate to control inflation, has time and Jan’24 Feb’24 Mar’24 Apr’24 May’24 Jun’24 again expressed its discomfort with high food prices. In the previous month, food inflation was 8.7%, even as overall inflation had dropped to a 12-month low. The data released by the National Statistical Office showed that rural inflation is higher at 5.66% urban inflation which came in at 4.39%. On the other hand, food inflation is higher in urban areas than in rural areas, the data showed. Smriti irani gets unusual support from Rahul Gandhi TN bristles as K’taka refuses Cauvery water EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru/Chennai A fresh round of dispute broke out between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu after the upper riparian state on Friday refused to enforce the direction of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) to release 20 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu from July 12 to 31 and announced its decision to file an appeal with the Cauvery Water M a n a g e m e n t Au t h o r i t y (CWMA) against the order. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru after holding a meeting June 25 notified as Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas to observe Emergency anniv M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi 8 the excesses of Emergency, a Congress unleashed dark phase of Indian history he said. ,” The gazette notification issued on Friday, noted that Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975, following which there was “gross abuse of power by the government of the day and people of India were subjected to excesses and atrocities”. Shah said on June 25, 1975, Indira Gandhi, in a “brazen display of a dictatorial mindset, strangled the soul of democracy by imposing Emergency”. Lakhs of people were thrown behind bars for no fault of theirs, and the voice of the media was silenced, he recalled. with ministers and senior officials, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said the state will go for an appeal. “Although normal rainfall has been forecast for Karnataka, there is a 28% shortfall in inflow to all the four dams in the Cauvery river basin. There is only 60 tmcft of water in all the four reservoirs,” Siddaramaiah said. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who also holds the water resources portfolio, said the decision on releasing water for farmers in Mandya will be taken after an all-party meeting to be held in Bengaluru on July 14 at 4 pm. “Discussions were also held with the state’s legal team which has made some suggestions on the way forward,” Shivakumar said. Outraged over the Kar nataka gover n ment’s decision, opposition parties in Tamil Nadu slammed the Siddaramaiah government and also alleged that the DMK government has been ‘lethargic’ in getting Cauvery water from Karnataka. The Tamil Nadu government, however, said it is working on steps to ensure that Karnataka releases water to the state. A senior TN official told TNIE, “The government is closely following developments and will take firm steps to ensure the release of Cauvery water.” The official, however, declined to elaborate further. The government is likely to argue its case before the CWMA first, putting forth the huge due of water from Karnataka, the situation in the delta districts and the current storage position in Karnataka dams.  P7 express read Political motive behind Armstrong murder: VCK Chennai: VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan on Friday said his party suspected a ‘political agenda’ behind the Armstrong murder. Stating that BJP’s agenda is to create animosity against the DMK government and disturb law and order, he urged Chief Minister Stalin to arrest everyone involved in the murder | P4 Mixed monsoon message Though Southwest monsoon has already covered India, its spread from June 1 to July 12 is uneven J & K and Ladakh Punjab Uttarakhand 78.7 (-29) West East Rajasthan Rajasthan 70.9 (2) 158.9 (18) 196.5 (25) Saurashtra & Kutch Diu Gujarat region DNH & Daman 194.6 (-25) Konkan and Goa Assam & Meghalaya East UP 238.6 (13) Gangetic WB Vidarbha 272.4 (-6) Madya Marathwada Maha 227.3 (14) 271.4 (11) 198.1 (-47) 227.9 (-29) Excess +20% or more Telangana Normal +19% to -19% 224.2 (-31) Pa rve z S u lta n @ New Delhi The government appears to be pulling out all the stops to draw the biggest global leaders in the media and entertainment sector like James Cameron and Steven Spielberg, and the heads of popular social media intermediaries, to a major industry event in Goa in November. Called the World Audio-Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES), the aim is to make its inaugural event as stunning and grand as the World Economic Forum’s annual summit at Davos, Switzerland. Piloted by the ministry of information and broadcasting, WAVES will coincide with the annual India International Film Festival this year. The primary aim is to promote India as a hub of content Figures that matter Global Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry revenue $2.32 trillion in 2022; India’s present market size is $26.2 billion Advertising poised to surpass $1 trillion globally Gaming revenues projected to rise from $227 billion in 2023 to $312 billion in 2027. India's gaming sector revenue at present is D122 billion Animation, visual effects, and post-production segment of India grew by 6% in 2023 to D114 billion Music segment in India grew by 10% to `24 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15% to `37 billion by 2026 Filmed entertainment in India grew by 15% to `197 billion in 2023, with theatrical revenues reaching a record of `120 billion. Globally, 339 Indian films across 38 countries grossed `19 billion Content production market of US, the world’s largest, is valued at $250 billion. India should target 10% of its post-production work, equivalent to $7.5 billion over the next decade. In 2023, India produced nearly 2 lakh hours of content across various platforms creation; attract filmmakers to the Indian market, which offers state-of-the-art technological interventions and innovations in film production and post production. Prime Minister Naren- Coastal AP Rayalseema 189 (84) Kerala & Mahe Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry & Karaikal dra Modi is expected to inaugurate the four-day event starting November 21. The curtain raiser event will take place in the national capital on Saturday Union I&B min. ister Ashwini Vaishnaw will chair the meeting. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, ambassadors of various countries and at least 70 industry leaders will participate. “Discussions with top industry leaders will be held to work out modalities and get their inputs for the summit,” said officials. Various conferences, business events, exhibitions, media market place, skill or talent showcase and cultural extravaganza celebrating the vibrant diversity and technology proficiency of the media and entertainment industry are planned as part of the event. 635.4 (-31) 374.1 (-23) Odisha SI Karnataka Govt hopes to make WAVES with Davos-like do Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura Chhattisgarh 1244.2 (13) 217.3 (1) 664.5 (-1) 1164.7 (65) East MP West MP 220.5 (2) 232.2 (-14) 166.7 (14) -3 Sikkim 280.3 (-7) NI Karnataka Goa dateline Arunachal Pradesh 853.5 (18) 161.2 (-47) Bihar West UP 207.4 (28) % Departure Jharkhand 346.2 (7) Haryana, CHD & Delhi ‘Assault’ charge against Odisha governor’s son Bhubaneswar: An Odisha govt employee has accused Governor Raghubar Das’ son Lalit Kumar of assaulting him after he sent an ordinary car to fetch him from the railway station on July 7. Kumar and a few others thrashed him for not sending a luxury vehicle, according to the police complaint 132.9 (-29) Normal 259.4 266.9 Himachal Pradesh 95.8 (-28) 79.1 (-27) Total rainfall in India (mm) Actual 189 (23) 128.9 (74) 221.8 (6) Deficient -20% to -59% Scanty -60% to -99% No Rain -100% Rahul Gandhi on Friday took objection to the online trolling of the ex-minister after she vacated her official bungalow | P11 Brothel case: ‘Advocate’ seeks relief, HC slams Bar Council EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Madurai The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court expressed shock over an advocate allegedly running a brothel in Nagercoil, and dismissed his petition seeking to quash the FIR filed against him. Outraged by the temerity of the petitioner, who claimed to be a practising advocate, in defending his action on the basis of the rights of adults to have consensual sex, Justice B Pugalendhi asked the Bar Council to ensure that only graduates from “reputable” law colleges get enrolled as advocates. The Bar Council must restrict the enrollment of graduates from dubious institutions in other states, the judge said. In February this year, the Nesamani Nagar police in Nagercoil registered a case under various sections of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and Pocso Act against Raja Murugan who ran a brothel named Friends For Ever Trust in Nagercoil. Raja, who claimed to be a practising advocate of the Madurai Bench, filed two petitions in the court: one seeking to quash the FIR, and another that sought action against police personnel who allegedly assaulted him during arrest. He further stated that the case against him is a foisted one as consensual sex is not illegal. During hearing, the police submitted that they had rescued a minor girl from the brothel, who mentioned in her statement that she was sexually abused.  P7 Tiruppur garment manufacturers in knots as domestic demand slumps 60% P S R I N I V A S A N @ Tiruppur For the Tiruppur knitwear industry that’s already facing headwinds in the export market due to competition from Bangladesh and China, trouble is brewing in the domestic front too as knitwear production in the city for the Indian market, valued at `30,000 crore, has dropped by nearly 60% this year. Garment manufacturers, who fear a significant job loss due to the slump in demand, say that cost of production in states like Punjab and Gujarat is cheaper by at least `80 per garment than Tamil Nadu due to those states’ proximity to manufacturers of man-made fabric (MMF or synthetic). Tamil Nadu government must set up a special committee to protect the domestic industry and promote production of synthetic fabric in the state, they said. M P Muthurathnam, president, Tiruppur Exporters and Manufacturers Association, said, “For Tiruppur, along with exports, domestic production plays an important role. Around `30,000 crore worth of knitwear is produced every year for domestic markets across the country. But this year, our domestic orders have dropped by 60%. Usually, most of our orders come from cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. But this year, our orders have gone to Gujarat, Punjab, Bihar and Odisha. The main reason is the difference in the cost of production.” “Domestic production is now dominated by garments made from MMF rather than cotton,” Muthurathnam said.  P7