BHUBANESWAR  FRIDAY  AUGUST 30, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION UK UNIV TO OPEN FIRST FOREIGN CAMPUS IN INDIA UNDER NEP 2020 The University of Southampton was on Thursday granted approval by the University Grants Commission to set up a branch campus in India CAMPUS EXPECTED TO COME UP IN GURUGRAM ONE OF UK’S TOP RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan handed over the Letter of Intent to the UK university at an event in Delhi. The new campus is likely to be located in Gurugram, within the Delhi NCR. It will offer a wide range of undergraduate and post-graduate degree courses starting July 2025 ■ ■ The University of Southampton is one of the UK’s top research institutions with one-third of its research rated as ‘world-leading’ The National Education Policy 2020 calls for internationalisation of education in India by inviting leading foreign universities to set up branch campuses here and collaborate with local institutions 80th RANK FOR UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON IN THE LATEST QS WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKING 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 We are not interfering with the marriages solemnised by Islamic rituals under the Muslim Personal Law at all. Our only condition is that Islam prohibited marriages will not be registered In the pre-Independence Act, There was scope of misuse by both authorised licensee as well as by citizens for underage/ minor marriages and forcefully arranged marriages without the consent of the parties Himanta Biswa Sarma, chief minister Jogen Mohan, revenue minister Registration of Muslim marriages mandatory New bill passed in Assam House to deter teenage pregnancy: CM P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati CROC SCARE IN FLOOD-HIT VADODARA A huge crocodile being rescued from a residential locality after floodwater recedes, in Vadodara on Thursday. “We have rescued 10 crocodiles in the last five days. Two have been released and eight are still with us. We will release them when the water level of the Vishwamitri river decreases,” an official said | PTI 23 mine owners yet to SC slams T’gana CM’s pay `2,723 cr penalty remarks on for excess mining: Min Kavitha bail EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Thursday slammed Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for his inappropriate comments over the granting of bail to BRS leader K Kavitha and AAP leader Manish Sisodia in cases linked to the Delhi excise policy scam. During a media interaction, Reddy had wondered how Kavitha got bail in just five months, when Delhi deputy CM Sisodia got it only after spending 15 months in jail, while Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is yet to get relief. He hinted at a ‘deal’ between the BJP and BRS for securing bail for Kavitha. The allegation shocked the court, which expressed its strong displeasure. “Is this a kind of statement which should be made by a CM? A constitutional functionary is speaking in this manner! Why should they drag the court in political rivalry? Do we pass orders after consulting political parties? We are not bothered by politicians or if anybody criticises our orders,” a three-judge bench headed by Justice B R Gavai said. The bench, also comprising justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and K V Viswanathan, asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Reddy, how can a constitutional functionary speak like this. It said it is the duty of political parties to show respect to institutions. RELIEF TO DKS, HC JUNKS CBI PLEA IN DA CASE Bengaluru: In a major relief for Karnataka deputy CM D K Shivakumar, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday dismissed the pleas by CBI and BJP MLA Basanagouda R Patil Yatnal, questioning the Siddaramaiah government’s decision to withdraw the previous BJP regime’s consent to the agency to prosecute Shivakumar in a disproportionate assets case. The HC also dismissed the plea challenging the state govt’s order referring the `74.93 crore DA case to the Lokayukta for probe to have done excess mining beyond the the approved mining plan in violation of THE state government on environmental and forest Thursday informed the As- clearance as per the recomsembly that 23 mine owners mendation of Justice MB are yet to pay a penalty of Shah commission report `2,723 crore imposed on and on the basis of a report them by the Supreme Court of the Central Empowered for excess mining in viola- Committee (CEC) appointed tion of the mining plan and by the court. statutory clearances. Sources in the departReplying to a question ment said the Keonjhar disfrom BJD MLA Sarada Pras- trict administration had ad Nayak, Steel and made an attempt in Mines Minister Bib2021 to confiscate huti Bhusan Jena movable and imsaid the gover nmovable property ment imposed a of six mine owners penalty of `17,576.39 under Odisha Pubcrore on 133 mine lic Demands Recovowners for excess ery Act, 1962 after mining pursuant to they failed to pay the apex court’s orthe penalty within a der on August 2, reasonable time. Of The govt 2017. Of the total the six defaulters, imposed a amount, `2,723 five mine owners penalty of crore has not been owed `2,215 crore to paid by 23 lease `17,576.39 crore the state gover non 133 mine holders. ment towards owners for The minister said penalty . excess mining certificate cases However, the dispursuant to the h ave b e e n f i l e d trict administration apex court’s order. Of the against the defaultfailed to make any amount, `2,723 ing mining comparecovery or seize crore has not nies under Odisha any property as the been paid by 23 Public Demands Redefaulters were in lease holders covery Act, 1962 afno position to pay ter they failed to the penalty after BB Jena, minister pay the penalty losing their mines within a reasonable which were auctime. The Steel and Mines tioned after expiry of the department has written to lease period before March, the district collectors con- 2020. After auction of the cerned for taking necessary mines and transfer of all aslegal action to recover the sets to the new leaseholders, pending amount. the defaulting firms had no The Supreme Court had tangible assets that could be set December 31, 2017 as the attached by the state govdeadline to pay the fine for e r n m e n t , t h e s o u r c e s all miners who were found added. @ Bhubaneswar THE Assam assembly on Thursday passed the Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Bill, 2024, which makes it mandatory to register marriages with the government. Since the legal age of marriage of 18 years for girls and 21 years for boys cannot be contravened, it will act as a strict deterrent against teenage pregnancy and improve overall growth of girls, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The bill replaces the Britishera law, The Assam Moslem Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935. “Today is a historic day in our effort to fight the social evil of child marriage. The #AssamLegislativeAssembly has passed the Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Bill, 2024,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma posted on X. “I thank all the legislators who pledged their support to this Bill and Govt’s vision of preventing child marriage. This Bill is above party politics and is a means to give our girls KAZI CUT OUT NEW LAW TO HELP CHECK POLYGAMY, ENFORCE MAINTENANCE RIGHTS All earlier registrations of marriages conducted by Kazis will remain valid, said Himanta Biswa Sarma 1 Only new marriages will come under the purview of the legislation where registration has to be done with govt 2 a life of dignity Sarma said. ,” Earlier in the day he told the , Assembly that the government’s aim was not only to abolish child marriages but also to replace the Kazi (religious official) system. He said all marriages would be registered as per an order of the Supreme Court. It emerged during the discussions in the Assembly that Assam has 90 Kazis, most of them government teachers. On August 22, revenue and disaster management minister Jogen Mohan had stated in the statement of Object and Reasons that The Assam Moslem Marriages and Divorces Registration Act was adopted by the British India government for the then Province of Assam for AMID growing chorus for the resignation of CPM MLA M Mukesh, the Kerala police on Thursday booked the actorpolitician following a complaint by an actress from Kochi. However, Mukesh secured interim protection from arrest from a local court. Besides Mukesh, actor-producer Maniyanpilla Raju and actor Edavela Babu were charged with rape by the police in Kochi, while a case was filed against actor Jayasurya in Thiruvananthapuram for outraging the modesty of a woman. In all, the police filed six cases in Kochi and one in Thiruvananthapuram in the day based on the complaint of an actress who worked in Malayalam and Tamil films. The case against Mukesh was registered under IPC Sections 376 (rape), 354 (assault or criminal force to women with intent to outrage her modesty), 452 (house trespass with the intent to hurt or assault someone), and 09 (insult the modesty of a woman by word, gestures or acts). The complainant Muslim religious and social arrangements. He said under it, the registration of marriages and divorces is not mandatory and the machinery of registration is informal. “There remains a scope of registering marriages of intended person below 21 years (in case of male) and 18 years (in case of female) and hardly any monitoring (is) made for (the) implementation of this Act throughout the state, which attracts and invites huge amount of litigation in the criminal/ civil court,” Mohan said. “There is a scope of misuse by both authorised licensee as well as by citizens for underage/minor marriages and forcefully arranged marriages without consent,” he stated. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar IN a shocking incident, a minor boy slit the throat of a 30-year-old man, who had reprimanded him for harassing his niece, at Raghunath Nagar under Khandagiri police limits here on Wednesday night. The victim Jagat Mallik, an autorickshaw driver, succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. Two minors including the prime accused have been held in the connection while Khandagiri police is continuing its investigation to ascertain if others are involved. Police said, the accused, a 17-year-old Plus II student, attacked Jagat alias Jaga when he was returning home after attending a cultural event in the night. The boy and his accomplice reportedly stopped his scooter. Jagat had a heated exchange with the duo after which they assaulted him with a sharp weapon and fled the spot. The incident happened when Jagat was a mere 100 mtrs away from his residence. Bleeding profusely, he was rushed to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him dead. DCP Prateek Singh, who visited the crime spot, said initial investigation indicated that the accused harboured animosity against Jagat as he opposed the former’s one-sided love for his niece. Jagat and his family members had also warned him for allegedly harassing the CONTINUED ON P5 girl. PURPORTED AUDIO OF RG KAR CALLS TO FAMILY ADD TO IRE S U L A G N A S E N G U P TA @ Kolkata THREE purported audio recordings of phone calls allegedly made by RG Kar Medical College on August 9 to the parents of the rape-murder victim surfaced on Thursday indicat, ing the institution’s muddled approach and insensitivity while breaking the horrific news to the relatives. In the first call, the hospital authorities simply said their daughter was ‘a little ill’ and asked them to come immediately Two minutes later, anoth. er call came saying she was very sick. In the third call, again after two minutes, the caller claimed their daughter had committed suicide. The victim’s family members said the hospital authorities deliberately misled them, though they knew their daughter had been raped and murdered. The victim’s father said Women participate in a rally in Kolkata on Thursday | PTI when they went into the hospital, they saw their daughter’s body wrapped in a green bedsheet. But media images later showed the body in a blue bed- FIR against CPM MLA Mukesh in rape case E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kochi The Kazi system for registering Muslim marriages will end. Assam has 90 Kazis, most of them govt teachers 3 Scolded for harassing girl, minor slits throat of 30-yr-old man alleged Mukesh sexually harassed her at a villa at Maradu when she approached him for membership of Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). Mukesh was an office bearer of AMMA then. The complaint against Edavela Babu says that he called the actress to his apartment twice in 2009 in connection with AMMA membership; in the first instance, he made sexual advances towards the actor and the second time, he raped her. The charges against Maniyanpilla Raju include making sexual advances towards the actress while she was staying at a hotel in Kochi as part of a film shooting in 2009. Jayasurya allegedly sexually harassed an actress during a shooting in Thiruvananthapuram in 2008. Meanwhile, the CPM has decided to brazen it out by openly supporting Mukesh for now, with senior party leaders E P Jayarajan, K K Shailaja, P K Sreemathi, and minister Veena George saying there is no need for him to quit until and unless the charges against him are proven. sheet. What prompted the hospital to change the bedsheet, he wondered. “There has been a deliberate attempt to suppress facts. We want the CBI to investigate why the Kolkata Police misled us.” he said and demanded a thorough investigation into the events leading to her murder. On August 10, authorities arrested Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer frequently seen at RG Kar, whose presence was captured on CCTV near the seminar hall where the body was first seen. A Bluetooth device found at the scene further implicated Roy According to CBI . sources, Roy confessed to the crime during interrogation. Meanwhile, the Kolkata Police arrested a woman, Renuka Singh (38), whose alleged stoning left police sergeant Debasish Chakraborty badly injured in an eye during the Nabanna Abhijan rally a couple of days ago. The city police are also looking for other miscreants who indulged in largescale violence during the rally that day . 22 scrub typhus cases detected in 3 blocks of Kendrapara dist EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Kendrapara DETECTION of around 22 scrub typhus cases in Kendrapara has sent the health administration on its toes. Of 440 blood samples tested at the district headquarters hospital, as many as 22 were found positive. Most cases are from villages in Mahakalapada, Pattamundai and Aul blocks of the district. Chief district medical officer (CDMO) Dr Anita Patnaik said the administration is taking necessary steps to contain spread of the disease. Initially, it was suspected that villagers were suffering from cold and fever but test results show scrub typhus is spreading its tentacles, she said. “We have formed a team of doctors to treat the affected people,” Dr Patnaik said. Health officials have also launched awareness campaigns to educate the vulnerable population. Sufficient medicine stock has been kept at all community health centres (CHCs) in the district to treat the patients.