RUSSIA Kursk Rylsk Sudzha Ukra ine chennai l THURSday l AUGUST 08, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION Ukrainian forces make their first large-scale incursion into Russia Russia was on Wednesday trying to repel a major incursion by Ukrainian forces in its Kursk region with thousands of residents evacuated 1,000 Ukrainian troops involved: Kremlin Russian army chief Valery Gerasimov said up to 1,000 Ukrainian troops are involved in the cross-border attack, the largest by Ukraine since Russia’s fullscale invasion two years ago. Ukraine-backed armed groups had made several brief incursions into Russia before. But this operation is unprecedented for its deployment of Ukrainian military units. Ukraine is yet to confirm the operation ■ 6,000 At least five civilians killed in kursk ■ At least five civilians were killed as per a Russian official. President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was carrying out a “large-scale provocation” Reports said Ukrainian troops reached Sudzha, some eight kilometres inside Russia. Analysts say Kyiv’s aim could be to draw Russian reserves to the area, and weaken Moscow’s operations in others parts of Ukraine People are being evacuated from kursk, Russian officials said 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 Lok Sabha Waqf bill may go to House panel after it is tabled today P r e e t h a n a i r @ New Delhi A day before it is expected to table the Waqf (Amendment) Bill that is expected to become another flashpoint in the Lok Sabha, the Centre appeared amenable to the Opposition’s demand for sending it to a Parliament standing committee for detailed scrutiny . The government told Parliament’s Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting on Wednesday that it will take a call on sending the bill to a House panel after it is tabled in the Lower House. It said it would not press for a discussion on the bill and its passage after its introduction. The bill was circulated among Lok Sabha members on Tuesday night ahead of its introduction, as reported by this paper. Gourav Gogoi of the Congress and Sudip Bandyopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress were among the Opposition MPs who raised the demand for the bill to be sent to a Parliament panel. Sources said there is a strong possibility that the government will agree to the Opposition’s demand. They said certain parties that have been supportive of the government’s agenda have expressed their reservations over the proposed legislation. As the department-related standing committees of Lok Sabha are yet to be constituted, the House may form a separate panel to scrutinise the bill, sources added. The bill proposes far-reaching changes to the present Act, including ensuring that Muslim women and non-Muslims get representation in Waqf boards. The bill is being opp o s e d by s o m e M u s l i m organisations. e x p r e ss r e a d Dog owner fined `50K as pet found roaming Chennai: The Tambaram corporation has fined a man `50,000 after his pet German shepherd was found roaming on the street without a muzzle or a leash. Corporation officials said the huge fine was slapped on the pet owner as he does not have a licence for the dog and the animal caused inconvenience to passers by | P2 Pramod Kumar IPS promoted to DGP rank Chennai: The state government on Tuesday promoted 1989batch IPS officer Pramod Kumar, who was holding the position of IG, to the rank of Director General of Police. The senior officer, whose promotion was delayed for years, was recently acquitted in the multi-crore Ponzee forex scam case | P4 100 gms bury Vinesh’s medal dream 29-year-old wrestler from Haryana disqualified from the 50 kg Paris Olympics wrestling final M Vinesh was found to be 100 gms over her 50 kg weight category. All possible measures, including cutting off her hair, were used — Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala straight wins First, she stunned Yui Susaki of Japan, the world No 1 before sailing through the last-8 & last-4 bouts with minimum fuss IOA DIALS UWW Indian Olympic Association tried speaking with the United World Wrestling but the world body maintained rules are rules IOA president PT Usha meets distraught wrestler Vinesh Phogat at the Games Village polyclinic on Wednesday | ioa acq u i t ta l b i n n e d HC revives corruption case against ministers KKSSR & Thennarasu R SIVAK U MAR @ Chennai In a significant order that is likely to have legal and political ramifications, the Madras High Court on Wednesday set aside the orders of a trial court that had discharged ministers KKSSR Ramachandran and Thangam Thennarasu from two separate disproportionate assets (DA) cases filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). The high court revived the cases and ordered the trial court to conduct the trial expeditiously to take the cases to their logical conclusion. Justice N Anand Venkatesh, who had initiated the suo motu revision cases after finding issues in the manner in which the ministers were discharged by the trial court, delivered the verdict. Restoring the cases on the file of the Principal District and Sessions Court of Virudhunagar district, which is the special court for PCA cases, the Court dismisses min’s plea to quash ED case Chennai: The Madras HC dismissed the petitions filed by Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister Anitha R Radhakrishnan, praying for quashing of the money laundering case registered by the ED by following the trails of a DA case filed by the DVAC | P2 judge ordered, “As prima facie materials are available to frame charges, the special court shall proceed with it and, thereafter, proceed in accordance with the law.” The trial court was directed to “conduct the trial on a day-to-day basis” and dispose of the cases as expeditiously as possible. However, he added that the HC has not commented on the merits of the case, and therefore, the cases can be decided by the special court “without being i n f l u e n c e d ” by any of the comments.  P5 OROSE and broken lage, she was roughly 500 grams would be kinder words over. A session in the treadmill and to describe the mood in another one in a sauna had come the India camp. After and gone. Vinesh Phogat’s exBy the time the weigh-in window traordinary high on came — between 7.15 and 7.30 AM Tuesday, her disqualifi- — she remained just over. 100 cation came as the biggest shock grams (the weigh-ins are recorded on Wednesday. Yet she should be and they are attended by two refecelebrated as the one who did the rees and a doctor). After it became unthinkable. There was nothing il- clear what was unfolding, the Inlegal about any of her three bouts dian Olympic Association officials on Tuesday . tried speaking with the United First, she stunned Yui World Wrestling but the Susaki of Japan, the world world body maintained No 1 and undisputed queen that rules are rules of the mat in 50kg. After TNIE @ olympics “Since weight loss causthat 3-2 win, a victory noes weakness and energy body had envisaged, she depletion, something sailed through the last which is counter-produceight and last four bouts tive to participation, for with minimum jeopardy. energy restoration, limitAfter more than a year of ed water and high-energy Indraneel Das hell, the 29-year-old was foods are given after weighParis living her wildest dream. in,” Dinshaw Pardiwala, Call it a freak of destiny or the contingent’s Chief fate, her medal was snatched away Medical Officer, said. when she was 100gms overweight Dehydration on Wednesday morning during the weigh-in. After the unsavoury morning, the Virender Dahiya, the national 29-year-old grappler went back to coach of the women’s team in Par- the Games Village and was adminis, said they had realised that she istered drips for dehydration. It is was a shade overweight after her understood that her blood pressure bouts on Tuesday She had to drink fell to 101/60. Post that, there was . fluid to remain hydrated and eat some blood work done to check all light to keep her energy levels her health parameters because she high. They spent an extra two had gone through extreme dehyhours on the mat, trying to lose dration. Four of the blood test reabout 2kg. She then woke up and sults have come and they are all had to shed some more. When normal. They have run urea and dawn broke over the Athletes Vil- creatinine tests as well. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman making a point in the Lok Sabha | PTI THE Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Finance Bill 2024 with 45 amendments, including easing of the long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax burden on real estate transactions. With the amendment, individuals can calculate their LTCG tax under both the new regime (without indexation benefit) and the old regime (with indexation) and pay the lower tax. It means, people can choose to pay either 12.5% longterm capital gains tax without indexation or 20% with indexation benefit. The House witnessed heated exchanges with the Opposition accusing the government of indulging in “tax terrorism”, alleging that the Finance Bill should be renamed as “tax trap bill”. Members from the Congress, TMC, and DMK said the Budget was so focussed on col- E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Villupuram Three schoolchildren, including two sisters, all aged below 11, allegedly drowned in a river while attempting to pluck jamun fruit from a tree near Tindivanam in Villupuram district on Wednesday evening. The deceased were identified as V Sanjay (10), M Priyadarshini (11), and M Subbulakshmi (8) of Konerikuppam village. They were studying in class five, six, and three, respectively in the , Konerikuppam panchayat union primary school. Priyadarshini and Subbulakshmi were sisters. As per Olakkur police, the students were returning home from school when they stopped by to pluck jamun from a tree near the river flowing between Nalathur and Ongur. The water level in the river was high due to heavy rain in the past few days. It’s usual for local children to pluck jamun from trees that are found on the banks of the river during this time of the year, police said.  P5 Yunus-led govt to take oath today Y e s h i S e l i @ New Delhi Bangladesh army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said on Wednesday that the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will be sworn in at 8.00 pm on Thursday Bangla. desh President Mohammed Shahabuddin had on Tuesday appointed Yunus as chief advisor to the caretaker government. The advisory council may have 15 members, the army chief said. Yunus boarded a flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on Wednesday Talking to report. ers in Paris, he said he was hopeful of helping Bangladesh overcome its current turbulence. He also made an appeal to students, political parties, and non-political people to shun violence. “If we take the path of violence every- Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus | PTI thing will be destroyed. Please stay calm. Help those around you to stay calm,” he said. Former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khalida Zia also called for peace. “Not destruction, not revenge, not vengeance. Let’s build a society based on love, peace and knowledge,” she said in a video from a hospital where she is undergoing treatment. Zia, who was jailed in 2018 on corruption charg- es, was freed on Wednesday on Shahabuddin’s order. On Wednesday, the Indian government arranged a special flight to fly out non-essential staffers at the Indian High Commission in Dhaka and four other missions across Bangladesh, and their family members. “Return of non-essential staff and families from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka has taken place on a voluntary basis through a commercial flight,” a source told his paper. The ground situation in Bangladesh continued to be volatile with the properties of Awami League members being destroyed. The Indira Gandhi Centre in Dhaka and the residence of popular folk singer Rahul Ananda were among those vandalised. There were also reports of targeted attacks on Hindus. Police on strike, students step in With police personnel going on strike and Army troops going back to barracks, students carried out traffic management for the second consecutive day on Wednesday Hasina’s travel plans unclear Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina continues to be in India. She was to travel to a third country but there is no clarity on when she would do so. She is currently in a safe house in Delhi Child panel sends Hindi Pocso video to TN, HMs & students lost for words N D h a m o t h a r a n @ Coimbatore capital deluge Heavy rain that lashed parts of New Delhi on Wednesday evening led to waterlogging and traffic snarls across the city. The IMD has issued yellow alert for Thursday | Shekhar Yadav Finance Bill passed with 45 changes, including indexation tweaks MONIKA YADAV @ New Delhi Three children drown in bid to pluck jamun in TN lecting more tax from the middle class that there was no measures to address the unemployment problem. Opposition MPs staged a walkout after an amendment moved by RSP’s N K Premchandran for removal of 18% GST on medical and life insurance premiums was not taken up. In her response, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said states were levying taxes on premiums in pre-GST era. Cut-off date is Jul 23, 2024 For properties purchased after the cut-off date of July 23, 2024, only the new regime will apply. This means that buyers will face the LTCG tax at a rate of 12.5% without the benefit of indexation rAISE it in Gst Council: FM FM Sitharaman said the GST Council is the right forum to take up any matter related to the GST and such an amendment could not be moved in Parliament as demanded by Opposition When the headmaster of a government high school in Coimbatore district gathered around 50 Class 10 students in the hi-tech lab on Tuesday to show them awareness videos on the Pocso Act, he expected it to be an informative session. But the session turned out to be a damp squib and the students left the room laughing as all 16 YouTube videos he played were in Hindi instead of Tamil or English. Headmasters have now requested the school education department to resend the links by translating the audio files from Hindi to Tamil with the help of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT). According to sources, the school education department forwarded a circular on July 29 from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to all district Chief Educational Officers (CEOs), instructing headmasters to screen videos that spread awareness on the Pocso Act, 2012, before August 10. Links of 16 YouTube videos were also attached in the circular. The department had just forwarded the NCPCR circular without checking the links and translating the videos, sources said. The NCPCR, too, instead of sending videos in regional languages or notifying the department to translate its audio before forwarding, simply sent out the circular.  P5