kochi l tuesday l September 03, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Govt summons netflix content head amid row over IC-814 series The Netflix series on the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight triggered an uproar over Hindu names of two of the hijackers Explanation to be sought on alleged distortion ‘Can’t play with sentiments of people’ Several social media users claimed the makers of IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack changed the names of the hijackers to ‘Shankar’ and ‘Bhola’ to play down their Muslim identity. Many also criticised the series for its “humane projection” of the terrorists. Sources said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will seek an explanation on these aspects from the content head of Netflix India ■ ■ Reacting sharply, a senior I&B ministry official said, “Nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the people of this nation.” The official added that the OTT platform might be asked to make changes Makers of the series said the terrorists who hijacked the Indian Airlines flight had used code names, with Bhola and Shankar being two of them IC-814 was hijacked by Pak-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen 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 1st Nitesh wins maiden gold at Paralympics I still don’t feel it. Maybe when I go to the podium and the national anthem is played, it will sink in —Nitesh after match Nitesh Kumar wins gold at the Paralympics when kargil soldiers help nitesh play F i r o z M i r z a @ Chennai O N that fateful Sunday in 2009, Vij e n d e r S i n g h ’s world came crashing down when he received a call from 108 (emergency number). His only son, Nitesh Kumar, had lost his left leg in a train accident in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. A junior commissioned officer with the Indian Navy, Vijender saw his son bedridden for the next six months and life lost meaning. Motivation came from unexpected quarters — amputee soldiers of the Kargil War — during a visit to the Artificial Limb Centre in Pune, where the soldiers were playing. “I kept him motivated during that period but the Kargil War amputee soldiers helped me out,” Vijender told this daily “Nitesh . saw them playing and he joined in after some time.” Nitesh was 15 then. Those six months left an indelible mark on Nitesh, who not only went on to clear the IIT entrance test and completed electrical engineering from IIT Mandi, Himachal Pradesh but also became a para-shuttler. On Monday, at the Paris Paralympics, Nitesh won gold in para-badminton. He defeated Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell in a gripping men’s singles SL3 final. With the win, India retained the SL3 gold, which Pramod Bhagat had won three years ago when badminton made its Paralympic debut in Tokyo. It was also Nitesh’s first win over Bethell in the previous 10 attempts. “I still don’t feel it. Maybe when I go to the podium and the national anthem is played, it will sink in,” Nitesh said after the match which lasted an hour and 20 minutes, with the final scoreline reading 21-14, 1821, 23-21. The SL3 category is reserved for players with severe lower limb disabilities and the matches are played on a half-width court.  P11 CBI arrestsGhosh former RG Kar principal Sandip The CBI on Monday arrested the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh in connection with the alleged financial misconduct there | P8 Police chief to probe Anvar’s allegations Asked to file report within a month; Ajith Kumar to continue as ADGP (law & order) during probe against him E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram/Kottayam Switching to damage-control mode, the government has announced an investigation by a team headed by the state police chief into the allegations raised by ruling front MLA P V Anvar against ADGP M R Ajith Kumar. In an unusual move, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the investigation while addressing the Kerala Police Association state conference in Kottayam on Monday . Nearly 10 hours after the CM’s announcement, the government constituted a fivemember high-level team led by State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb to probe the allegations against the Law and P V Anvar ADGP M R Ajith Kumar Order ADGP and other senior police officials, including Pathanamthitta SP Sujith Das. The other members of the team are IG G Sparjan Kumar, Thrissur Range DIG Thomson Jose, Thiruvananthapuram Crime Branch SP S Madhusoodanan and State Intelligence S P A Shanawaz. The team has been directed to conduct an inquiry and file a report within a month. Notably no decision has been taken , links to syndicates engaged in illicit activities, including gold smuggling. To buttress his claim, Anvar produced the audio tape of his telephonic conversation with Sujith Das. Anvar continued the tirade on Monday raising serious allegations about the palatial building being constructed by the ADGP in Thiruvananthapuram. He questioned the role of Ajith Kumar in the investigation into the solar case. He charged Ajith Kumar with running a spy racket in Dubai to collect information about rivals involved in gold smuggling and later get them arrested to protect the monopoly of his racket. He also pointed fingers at the local police headed by the ADGP for the murder of a ● More on P4 youth.  MLA continues attack on ADGP Malappuram: LDF MLA P V Anvar continued his tirade against ADGP M R Ajith Kumar on Monday. Anvar made serious allegations against Kumar, focussing on the construction of Kumar’s new ‘luxury’ residence near Kowdiar Palace in Thiruvananthapuram and accusing him of involvement in gold smuggling. P4 Oppn demands CBI probe into charges T’Puram/Thrissur: Stepping up its attack on the CM and his office in light of the allegations by P V Anvar, the Congress on Monday demanded the resignation of Pinarayi Vijayan and a CBI probe into the MLA’s charges. P4 RSS in support of caste Ahead of elections, Cabinet approves seven farm schemes census, but with a rider S h yam P V @ Palakkad E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Ahead of the crucial Haryana and J&K elections, the Centre on Monday approved seven new schemes to improve farmers’ lives and increase their incomes with a total outlay of `14,235.30 crore. As for Maharashtra, which will go to polls in the next few months, the Union Cabinet approved a new Railway line between Mumbai’s Malad and Indore covering 309 km at a cost of `18,036 crore. The Centre also approved a proposal of Kaynes Semicon Pvt Ltd to set up a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat. The seven schemes for the farmers are Digital Agriculture Mission, Crop Science for Food and Nutritional Security, Strengthening Agricultural Education, Management and Social Sciences, Sustainable livestock health and production, Sustainable development of Horticulture, Strengthening of Krishi Vigyan Kendra and The semiconductor plant by Kaynes will come up in 46 acres in Sanand. It is a big plant and a large portion of the production will go for Kaynes Industries —Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister Kaynes plant can churn out 63L chips a day The Kaynes semiconductor plant with an investment of I3,307 crore can produce as many as 63 lakh chips per day. It is the fourth semiconductor plant in Gujarat. Its chips will cater to a wide variety of applications, including industrial, automotive, electric vehicles, consumer electronics, telecom and mobile phones, Vaishnaw said Natural Resource Management. Briefing the media, Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, the objective of the Digital Agriculture Mission is to create a digital Guidelines soon on ‘bulldozer justice’, says SC database related to soil profile, digital crop estimation, and yield modelling. “It also facilitates crop loans with use of modern technologies like AI and big data and helps connect farmers with buyers and bring new knowledge on mobile phones.” The scheme on Crop Science for Food and Nutritional Security, with a total outlay of `3,979 crore, would prepare farmers for climate resilience and provide for food security by 2047. As for the railway line between Manmad and Indore, the project will require more than a crore human days and will be completed in the next eight years. IN a clear message to the BJP which is yet to declare its stance on the contentious caste census issue, the RSS said on Monday that it has no objection to collecting data on specific communities or castes to ensure effective delivery of social welfare schemes. However, the Sangh Parivar fountainhead added a rider: “Don’t use the census data as a political tool.” The RSS statement comes amid extensive campaigning by the opposition parties led by the Congress seeking a nationwide caste census. Addressing the media after Samanway Baithak, a threeday national coordination conclave, in Kerala’s Palakkad, RSS publicity in-charge Sunil Ambekar said: “The RSS thinks that for all welfare activities, particularly those targeting such communities or castes which are lagging behind... if the government needs the num- bers, it is a well-established practice. But it should be done only for the welfare of those communities and castes. It should not be used as a political tool for elections. So we put this forth with a line of caution for everyone.” As a Hindu society, caste and caste relations are sensitive issues in India, he said. “It is an important issue for our national unity and integrity. The RSS and our affiliated organisations have always kept the national interest first. So, the caste census should be dealt with very sensitively and not on the basis of elections or electoral practices and politics,” he said.Ambekar said the Sangh Parivar organisations have noticed a large number of religious conversions in Tamil Nadu by missionaries. “It’s very worrisome. We will conduct a ground study and formulate a strategy,” he added. The conclave condemned the rape and murder of a female doctor in a Kolkata hospital. Mullaperiyar panel orders safety review in 12 months E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi S u c h i t r a K a lyan M o h ant y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the practice of ‘bulldozer justice’ in some states, wherein properties of the accused or those convicted in criminal cases are demolished, saying even if a person is convicted, his or her property cannot be demolished without following the procedure prescribed by the law. The top court said it will soon lay down guidelines on the issue. “How can anybody’s house be demolished just because he is an accused? Even if he is a convict, it (house) can’t be demolished. Even after telling SC Bar, we don’t find any change in attitude,” a two-judge bench comprising justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said. The bench was hearing a joint petition filed by Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind and others seeking directions to various state governments to ensure no further demolition of properties of those accused in cases of rioting and violence takes place. Senior advocate Chander Uday Singh, appearing for one of the petitioners, said even properties rented out have been demolished. He highlighted that some houses were destroyed because the tenant was involved in a criminal case. to remove the CM’s political secretary and the law and order ADGP from their respective positions. Contrary to speculations, Ajith Kumar will continue in the same post during the SIT investigation against him. Similarly the gov, ernment decided not to suspend Sujith Das from service. Instead, he has been removed as Pathanamthitta SP No post. ing has been given and he has been asked to report to the state police chief. The state government was forced to announce investigation after Anvar raised serious charges against the ADGP in addition to CM’s political secretary P Sasi and Sujith Das. Dropping a bomb shell, he alleged that Ajith Kumar was a notorious criminal having New dawn Brand ambassador Mohanlal greets the team captains of the inaugural Kerala Cricket League at Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. Alleppey Ripples beat Thrissur Titans in the opening match | Express | P11 In a major victory for Kerala, the Mullaperiyar Supervisory Committee constituted by the Supreme Court accepted the state’s demand and ordered a safety review of the 129-year-old masonry gravity dam within 12 months. The committee will meet after two months to finalise the panel of experts to carry out the review. Kerala has demanded inclusion of independent experts of international stature in the panel. After constituting the panel, the committee has to frame the terms of reference to initialise the process for safety review. In Monday’s meeting, Kerala insisted on conducting the safety review immediately, while Tamil Nadu argued that it should be allowed to complete the interim strengthening of the dam first. According to TN, the Dam Safety Act of 2021 mandated the conduct of safety review of major dams once in five years, and the next review is due only in 2026. However, Kerala argued that the last safety review was conducted in 2011, and next review was due ● More on P4 in 2021. Mollywood ‘MeToo’ cases: Police start identifying witnesses T o b y A nt o n y @Kochi After re gistering FIRs against those accused of sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry, the police have now moved on to the next stage of tracing and identifying witnesses who would be crucial in the investigation. The special investigation team (SIT) constituted to probe the sexual harassment cases has approached some of the witnesses identified so far to verify the allegations raised against film personalities. Currently, 18 cases have been registered in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Idukki and Kozhikode based on the complaints. Eight cases are registered in Kochi, against directors Ranjith and Sreekumar Menon, actors Mukesh, Edavala Babu, Maniyanpilla Raju, production executives Noble and Vichu, and law- yer Chandrasekhar. Of these, six cases, including the one against Mukesh, were filed on the complaints filed by an actress who has worked in Malayalam and Tamil films. According to sources, police have identified some of those who attended the events in which Mukesh and the complainant had taken part in 2009. Apart from this, police are also collecting information about Mukesh’s neighbours and the security persons at his villa in Maradu, where the woman alleged that she was sexually harassed. On Saturday, police along with the complainant had visited Mukesh’s villa as part of evidence collection. Police will also record the statements of people in the film industry after which , a decision on making them wit- nesses will be taken. “Based on the statement given by survivor, we have identified a couple of persons who can be turned witnesses in Mukesh’s case. We have asked them to give statements as witnesses in the case. Identifying witnesses is crucial in these cases. As these incidents had occurred several years back, identifying witnesses and collecting evidence are a daunting task,” said a source. ● More on P5 lost & found A bronze statue ‘Diana of Versaille’ found in the wreckage of Titanic that sank in the Atlantic in 1912 | AP | P9 E X P R E SS R E A D PM Modi launches BJP membership drive New Delhi: Launching the BJP’s nationwide membership drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the youth have to be connected to achieve the goal of a developed India by 2047. The party intends to enrol over 10 crore new members. P7 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express