Alleged 9/11 mastermind reaches plea deal, avoids death penalty The alleged mastermind of the deadliest attacks ever on US soil Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other accused reached a plea deal with the US prosecutors, the Pentagon said on Thursday tirupati l friday l august 02, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION The three were tortured extensively by the CIA. Their case has been delayed over concerns that the evidence extracted through torture was admissible in court. A plea deal avoids this problem Bridge rises but hope fades Seven more bodies recovered, toll touches 256; Army opens Bailey bridge to restore connectivity with affected areas; Rahul, Priyanka visit Wayanad Bill to strengthen management of disasters creates Lok Sabha heat P r ee t h a n a i r @ New Delhi Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra crossing a make-shift bridge during their visit to Chooralmala in Wayanad on Thursday | EXPRESS T o b y A n t o n y @ Chooralmala (Wayanad) THE Army on Thursday evening opened the 190-ft-long Bailey bridge at Chooralmala that could help speed up the search operations at upstream Mundakkai and Punjirimattom villages but hopes of finding more survivors at the landslide-hit areas in Wayanad faded on Day 3 of rescue efforts. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who visited the affected areas on Thursday said all survi, vors in Mundakkai have been rescued, indicating there is little hope of finding more people alive. During the day, search teams sifted through the rubble braving heavy rains and recovered seven more bodies, taking toll in the devastating tragedy to 256. Over 200 persons are still missing. The government tally as given by Revenue , Minister K Rajan, however, is 189. “The debris at Punjirimattom and Mundakkai has piled up like a mountain. Most houses have been completed destroyed. The express read AU withdraws honorary professorship to NTR wife Visakhapatnam: Andhra University has withdrawn the honorary professorship conferred upon Nandamuri Lakshmi Parvathi, the wife of former CM NT Rama Rao. In press statement, Registrar N Kishore Babu said no remuneration has been paid to her so far. She had served as Telugu Akademi chief and was assigned to guide research scholars at the University. However, she has now been relieved of this responsibility as well search and restoration efforts will be daunting and time-consuming, which would take more than a week,” an official at the Control Room said. As per preliminary assessment, 348 houses were damaged in the landslides. The pace of search operations at Mundakkai and Punjirimattom, which were cut off following the collapse of the bridge at Chooralmala, was slow till now because excavators could not cross the river. With the construction of the Bailey bridge, now heavy trucks carrying excavators and other equipment can reach the affected Above-normal rainfall TILL September: IMD The IMD has forecast normal to above-normal rainfall in August and September over most parts of the country except the northeast and adjoining areas of east India, Ladakh, Kutch and Saurashtra regions. This means there’s a high possibility of landslides and floods | P7 areas. On Thursday, four excavators were deployed in Chooralmala, three at Mundakkai and three at Punjirimattom, which remained inaccessible till Wednesday . “Different batches of Army, Navy, NDRF and Fire Force officials are deployed at the affected areas. Besides, several volunteer groups are also active. Over 5,000 people are engaged in the search operation alone,” said an official. Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited the landslide-affected areas at Chooralmala on Thursday. They also visited a hospital and community health centre in Meppadi. Calling the landslide a “national disaster”, Rahul said: “It is very difficult to speak to people in these circumstances because you really don’t know what to say to them. It’s been quite a difficult day for me, but we are going to try and help make sure that the survivors get what is due.” Days after deadly landslides hit Wayanad, the Centre on Thursday introduced Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in Lok Sabha to strengthen the national and state disaster management authorities. The Opposition parties including the Congress and Trinamool Congress questioned the constitutionality of the proposed legislation and said it will undermine the federal structure of the country . The government said it has become necessary to amend certain provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 to bring more clarity and convergence regarding the roles of authorities and committees working in the field of disaster management. The 2005 Act has been reviewed in consultation with all stakeholders, including state governments, it said. The bill, which was introduced in Lok Sabha by the minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai, confers statutory status to certain organisations like the National Crisis Management Committee that existed before Act came into force. It will provide for the creation of a disaster database at the national and state levels, make provision for the constitution of an “Urban Disaster Management Authority” for the state capital and large cities having municipal corporations, and make provision for the constitution of “State Disaster Response Force” by the state government. Congress MP Manish Tewari said none of the entries in List 1 or List 2 of the Constitution dealing with the Central and state subjects deal with the issue of disaster management. He suggested the government should amend the concurrent list to have a proper entry to cover the issue of disaster management. They have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy in exchange for a life sentence A major chunk of allocations in the vote-on-account budget for four months (August to November) promulgated in the form of an ordinance on July 31, were made to irrigation, social welfare, municipal administration, education, Roads & Buldings and other key sectors. Though the full budget was to be tabled in the State Legislative Assembly before July 31, so that the government could incur expendi- ture from the Consolidated Fund of the State from August 1, 2024, the TDP-led NDA government opted for the vote-on-account as the State finances are being sorted out. In the Andhra Pradesh Appropriation (Vote-on-Account No. 2) Ordinance, 2024 with an outlay of `1.29 lakh crore for four months (August 1 to November 30), grants for 40 government departments were earmarked. Compared to `3,765.83 crore advance grants sought for the major and medium irrigation projects in the vote-on-account for the first four months (April to July) of the current fiscal by the previous YSRC regime, the present NDA government earmarked `12,658.18 crore for capital expenditure, and another `799.77 crore for revenue expenditure. In case of minor irrigation projects , the amount earmarked in the latest vote-on-account was `650.32 crore for capital expenditure, and `34.36 crore for revenue P4 expenditure.  When Khalid Sheikh was captured in Pak. He spent three years in secret CIA prisons before arriving in Guantanamo in 2006. A trusted lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, it was Sheikh’s idea to use planes as weapons in the 9/11 attacks | P9 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 ■ ■ Sub-classification of SCs by states valid, rules top court Majority ruling S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y By majority of 6:1, Supreme Court okays subclassification of SCs by states A seven-judge Supreme Court bench in a landmark ruling on Thursday empowered states to sub-classify groups within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs) to uplift the more socially and economically backward among them for reservation benefits. The majority 6:1 verdict set aside a 2004 judgment by a five-judge bench in the E V C h i n n a i a h c a s e, which had held that sub-classification was not permissible because SC/STs form homogenous classes. But the 6:1 ruling said the SCs are heterogeneous. However, sub-classification can be done only on the basis of quantifiable and demonstrable data of backwardness and representation in government jobs and not on whims or political expediency the bench said. , The verdict came on a batch of petitions against sub-classification laws in Punjab, Tamil Nadu and elsewhere, arguing Overrules 2004 judgment of five-judge bench in EV Chinnaiah case Points out historical and empirical evidence to establish that that SCs are socially heterogenous Says Article 14 permits subclassification of class which is not similarly situated To sub-classify, states must collect data on inadequacy of representation Wants exclusion of creamy layer from SCs too Dissenting judge says states cannot change Presidential List and tinker with Article 341 to provide reservation @ New Delhi they were not in sync with the Chinnaiah order. “Article 14 permits the subclassification,” the verdict authored by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud for himself and Justice Manoj Misra said. Justices B R Gavai, Vikram Nath, Pankaj Mithal and Satish Chandra Sharma wrote separate verdicts that concurred with the CJI. Justice Bela Trivedi was the lone dissenter. She said Parliament alone has the right to include or exclude castes in the SC list, adding states cannot tinker with it. The CJI said the state in exercise of its power under Articles 15 (non-discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth) and 16 (equality in public employment) of the Constitution is free to identify the different degrees of social backwardness and provide special provisions, such as quota. States can sub-classify SCs if (a) there is a rational principle for differentiation; and (b) the rational principle has a nexus with the purpose of sub-classification. Halt recruitments till sub-categorisation process is completed: Krishna Madiga Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) chief Manda Krishna Maddiga on Thursday called on State governments to delay recruitment processes until the subcategorisation process, as allowed by the Supreme Court, is finalised. He also urged the governments to issue job notifications only after implementation of the sub-categorisation. Krishna said any existing job notifications be revised according to the sub-categorisation. If necessary, State governments should withdraw notifications already issued and issue fresh ones, he added TDP committed to ensuring social justice to all, says Naidu E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada Vote on account: Lion’s share for irrigation S G u r u S r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada 2003 Categorisation of SCs will be beneficial to the poorest of the poor. Dalits must stay united and achieve economic development. Radical changes in the lives of Dalits, both financially and socially, is possible now N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister Welcoming the verdict of the Supreme Court on the categorisation of SC and STs, TDP supremo and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said it was the TDP which took the initia, tive first in the country by constituting Justice Ramachandra Raju Commission on the categorisation of SCs. Taking to social media platform X on Thursday, Naidu said the TDP is committed to ensuring social justice to all the communities. “The categorisation of SCs will be beneficial to the poorest of the poor,” he felt. Exhorting Dalits to stay united and achieve economic development, he said he is hopeful of radical changes in the lives of Dalits, both financially and socially in the coming days. Reacting to the apex court’s verdict, TDP general secretary and Minister for Human Resource Development, IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh highlighted that it was Naidu, who provided employment opportunities to several people by implementing SC categorisation three decades ago by bringing a Presidential Ordinance. Asserting that the TDP is committed to the categorisation of SCs as promised during the elections, Lokesh said the economic and political development of all communities is the agenda of the TDP . Former minister KS Jawahar felt that the long battle of Madigas has finally yielded results. “The TDP supremo has always responded positively to the issue of SC categorisation. It is once again proved that the TDP has a patent right on social justice,” he observed.  P4 Ex-director of Mines Dept suspended, ACB probe ordered into irregularities Big-hitters gone, but Swapnil shoots for stars Summer Games E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada Former Director of Mines and Geology (DMG) VG Venkata Reddy, who was deputed to the State from Central service, was placed under suspension on charges of alleged irregularities in sand mining during his tenure. The State government has also ordered an inquiry by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) against the suspended official. Chief Secre- tary Neerabh Kumar Prasad issued the orders to this effect on Thursday . Venkata Reddy a senior civil, ian staff officer of the Indian Coast Guard, came to Andhra Pradesh on deputation during the YSRC regime and was posted as the Director of Mines and Geology Department. He was accused of resorting to gross violations in the Mining Department. After the TDP-led NDA government came to power, an inquiry was ordered into the irregularities. In its report, the Industries and Commerce (Mines) Department said Venkata Reddy committed various acts of commissions, omissions, violations in operations of sand mining and in the related provisions of tenders/agreements, APMMC rules and illegal mining of sand. It was alleged that orders of NGT/Supreme Court were violated, resulting in heavy loss to State exchequer and gains to P4 private parties.  A T the shooting ranges, second and third in the 50 m riSwapnil Kusale recedes fle 3-position final. There is no into a cocoon place for emotion in and blocks himshooting. The hear t self off from the needs to keep still and TNIE @ olympics that’s what Swapnil did noise. On Thursday, when the shooting while securing India one final was on at the Chamore bronze at the Olteauroux shooting cenympics. He was hearing tre, Swapnil shut himthe PA system but did Indraneel Das self from the outside not pay heed to where he Paris world. was positioned. The fifThe competition was ty-odd Indian supporters intense and Swapnil was see- were cheering him on. “I did sawing; sixth, fourth, third, not pay attention to what the MC was saying. But I could hear the Indian fans shouting. I didn’t want to disappoint them. I will have to win for them,” he said after the bronze. This is India’s first 3-position medal in the Olympics. A ticket collector in Indian Railways, Swapnil hails from a village 30 km from the district of Kol- Swapnil Kusale hapur (Maharashtra). His journey took him from a nondescript village to global glory . Soon after Swapnil’s medal, heart-breaks followed. Sift Kumar Samra (women’s 50 m rifle 3-position), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (men’s doubles badminton), P V Sindhu (singles badminton) and Nikhat Zareen (women’s 50 kg boxing), failed to progress.  P11