hyderabad l Wednesday l September 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Harini Amarasuriya sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister The 54-year-old sociology lecturer was sworn in by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who appointed his cabinet of four, including himself Dissanayake keeps key finance portfolio Parliament dissolved, snap polls ahead Amarasuriya, who was first elected to parliament four years ago, is known for her activism on gender equality and minority rights issues. She is the third female PM in the country’s history and has been assigned the portfolios of education, labour, health, industries, investment, science & technology, and justice. Dissanayake has kept the key finance portfolio to himself | P9 ■ ■ Vijitha Herath and Laxman Nipunarachchi were also sworn in as cabinet ministers. Later in the day, Dissanayake signed the special gazette notification ordering the dissolution of parliament Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund said it is ready to discuss its ongoing bailout programme with the Dissanayake-led government $2.9 billion IMF’s bailout package for Sri Lanka, of which $770 million has been released 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 @ Hyderabad Yat h i r a j u @ Bengaluru In a body blow to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday upheld the approval given by Governor Thawarchand Gehlot to conduct an investigation against him in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case. The court upheld the Governor’s approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act on August 16 to investig ate the alle g ations against the CM. Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed the petition filed by the CM saying it lacked merit. The case pertains to allotment of 14 sites worth `56 crore to the CM’s wife Parvathy BM in the upscale Viajayanagar 3rd stage in Mysuru in exchange for the land relinquished at Kesare village, which was outside Mysuru city limits. The court noted that Siddaramaiah’s son and MLA Dr S Yathindra had participated in a meeting where a resolution was passed in 2020 to allot 14 sites to his mother on compensatory basis; but the resolution was withdrawn citing its illegality And yet the 14 sites had . remained with her. “What happens to the 14 sites which were granted to CM’s wife on the basis of illegal resolution is a matter of investigation to unearth how and why the rule was bent in favour of CM’s wife? If this does not re- Siddaramaiah | Vinod Kumar T quire investigation, the court fails to understand what other case can merit investigation, as the beneficiary is the wife of the CM and the benefit is by leaps and bounds, a windfall,” the court said. The bench said Siddaramaiah was “behind the smoke screen” for every benefit that has flown to his wife” in terms of the sites allotted to her. “The Gubernatorial order nowhere suffers from want of application of mind. It is not a case of not even a semblance of application of mind, by the governor, but abundance of application of mind,” the court said. In the opinion of the court, “The CM, a leader of the proletariat, the bourgeois and of any citizen, should not fight shy of any investigation.” The court observed that prima facie the CM’s family had obtained undue advantage because the compensatory sites were allotted in an upscale area for the land acquired in a downmarket area. “This is enough circumstance for undue influence,” that judge said. Actor-MLA Mukesh held, freed in rape case; Siddique on the run EX P RESS NEWS SERVICE @ Kochi KERALa police on Tuesday swung into action on complaints against film personalities in the wake of revelations in the Hema Committee report as it arrested actor and CPI(M) MLA M Mukesh in a rape case and issued a lookout notice against another actor, Siddique, after the Kerala High Court denied the latter anticipatory bail in a similar case. However, actor-politician Mukesh was released shortly after his arrest was recorded by the Special Investigation Team as he had obtained anticipatory bail from the Ernakulam district court on September 5. He was questioned for about three hours in connection with a complaint filed by an actress, who accused him of sexually assaulting her under the pretext of offering film roles and membership in the film artists’ association AMMA in 2016. Mukesh was grilled by a team INSIDE M Mukesh Siddique led by AIG G Poonkuzhali in Kochi. He was also subjected to a potency test. Meanwhile, actor Siddique is absconding and is reportedly set to move the Supreme Court to evade arrest. He is accused of raping an actress in 2016. The SIT searched his residence in Kochi and other places, including hotels. His mobile phones were found switched off. “We have begun monitoring domestic terminals at the Kochi Airport. As per our information, his mobile tower location was found near the airport premises,” said a source close to the SIT. Earlier in the day, while dismissing Siddique’s anticipatory bail petition, Justice C S Dias of the Kerala High Court observed that overall scrutiny of the facts, and the nature, gravity and seriousness of the , accusations show prima facie his involvement in the crime. Hence, the petitioner’s custodial interrogation is inevitable for properly investigating the crime, especially since his defence is a total denial of the incident, and his potency test is to be done, the judge said. Dismissing the petitioner’s contention that the complaint lacks credibility as the survivor had earlier made allegations against 14 men, the court observed that the submission is “unwarranted and reflects an uncharitable view of the survivor’s circumstances”. The court noted: “The attempt to blame a woman for speaking out may be a strategy to silence her, which is hostile to the supremacy of the law.” Eateries in Hyd can be open till 1 am: Police memo I P3 S bachan jeet singh @ Hyderabad public-centric Eligible poor living in Musi catchment areas to be given 2BHK houses CCTV cams at all water bodies within ORR limits, to be linked to Command and Control Centre Report on construction of Metro line from RGIA to Future City sought Work on expansion of the Metro in Old City to be expedited water bodies in the city and linked with the Integrated Command and Control Centre. “There is an imperative need to protect water bodies from encroachments keeping in mind the future needs of the citizens and to prevent natural calamities,” he said. Continued on P4 J&K Phase II polls today The state government has earmarked as many as 16,000 twobedroom (2BHK) houses for the families who stand to be displaced by the Musi Riverfront Development Project. An order allocating 2BHKs to the oustees is expected to be issued soon. Various government departments that have carried out surveys on the encroachments along the Musi banks and buffer zone have identified around 10,200 encroachments. The collectors of Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts will deploy teams from Wednesday which will visit each of the identified structures and counsel the occupants on the project and the need for them to move. People owning lands in the buffer zone of the river will be compensated as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisi- 26 seats to witness polls, 15 in Kashmir region and 11 in Jammu region bandipora Three Jammu districts that faced a string of terror attacks in the past three years, are ready of the battle of the ballot. A look J&K kupwara 25.78 lakh 239 Voters eligible to cast their ballot; 13,12,730 of them male and 12,65,316 female ganderbal baramulla srinagar budgam pulwa poonch ma anantnag Court says CM was behind the smoke screen for every benefit to his wife in MUDA scam Asserting that no homeless poor should be left on the streets, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday directed officials to ensure that all eligible are given a 2BHK house or some alternative is made for them. The CM also directed officials to collect details of the eligible poor living in catchment areas of the Musi and water bodies in Greater Hyderabad. He also instructed officials to identify all lakes and other water bodies within ORR limits and determine their FTL and buffer zones, gather details of encroachments and prepare a comprehensive report. The CM chaired a review meeting at his residence with officials on the Musi Riverfront Development Project, expansion of Metro Rail and other issues pertaining to Hyderabad. He instructed the officials to take responsibility for the conservation of lakes and to strictly monitor lakes and nalas to prevent encroachments. The CM said that CCTV cameras should be installed at all Ka s h m i r ( P O K ) The government is yet to make public the 22nd Law Commission’s report on ‘One Nation, One Election’, which was submitted to the Union law ministry in March this year. According to law ministry sources, the 22nd Law Commission of India headed by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi submitted the final report on simultaneous elections before he demitted office in March. Justice Awasthi quit the panel after he was appointed as a judicial member of anti-corruption body Lokpal. It assumes significance as the Union Cabinet recently approved the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal of a highlevel committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind. Though the Law Commission began its work in November 2022 — much earlier than the Kovind panel — its final report has not yet been published or made available in public domain. It was in September last year that the government set up the Kovind committee. According to sources, the law panel recommended synchronising the terms of state assemblies in “two phases” in the next five years so that the first simultaneous elections could be held in May-June 2029. The report suggested that in the two election cycles, the tenure of some of the states may have to be extended while some may have to be curtailed through Constitutional amendments. It also suggested adding a chapter to the Constitution on ‘one poll’, with “power of nonextant” to override other provisions in the Constitution dealing with terms of assemblies. Express New Service n O cc u p i e d P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Siddu loses bout 2BHKs for homeless poor, orders CM 16,000 2BHKs earmarked against Guv nod for Musi riverfront oustees in Karnataka HC ta Pakis Law panel’s report on ‘one poll’ yet to be made public shopian kulgam kishtwar reasi rajouri ramban udhampur Three Jammu jammu districts — Rajouri and Poonch and Reasi — and samba three central Kashmir districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal and Budgam go to polls on Wednesday | Report: P9 3,502 Total polling stations 31 Polling stations on the border Main contestants doda kathua Candidates in the fray legend 1st phase 2nd phase 3rd phase Omar Abdullah (National Conference vice president), Tariq Hamid Karra (J&K Congress chief), Ravindra Raina (J&K BJP president), Altaf Bukhar (Apni Party president) Modi meets Zelenskyy in New York, offers India’s support for peace bid Y e s h i S e l i @ New Delhi BEFORE wrapping up his three-day visit to the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the third , such meeting between the two leaders in about three months. The meeting, held on the sidelines of the UN’s Summit of the Future, was requested by the Ukrainian side. Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said the back-to-back interaction between the two leaders shows India’s commitment to finding a way forward and contributing in any way possible to a resolution of the conflict. In the meeting, Modi conveyed India’s readiness to provide all support to facilitate a lasting and peaceful resolution of the Ukraine-Russia conflict. The PM also reiterated India’s Narendra Modi Volodymyr Zelenskyy “clear, consistent and constructive approach in favour of a peaceful resolution of the conflict through diplomacy and dialogue as well as engagement between all stakeholders”. Recalling his recent trip to Kyiv, Modi said: “We are committed to implementing the outcomes of my visit to Ukraine to strengthen bilateral relations. Reiterated India’s support for early resolution of the conflict in Ukraine and restoration of peace and stability .” Modi had travelled to Kyiv in August to meet the Ukrainian leader, just weeks after he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. In June, Modi had held a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy . Zelenskyy thanked Modi for the peace efforts. “We are actively developing our relations and working to g ether to strengthen cooperation across various fields. The main focus of our conversation was on enhancing our interaction on international platforms, particularly at the UN and G20, as well as implementing the Peace Formula and preparing for the second Peace Summit. We had a substantive discussion on the available opportunities,” he wrote on X. Misri said the two leaders agreed to be in touch through visits and at other levels. (With inputs from agencies) tion, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act. Accordingly they would be offered , structural compensation as per RFCTLARR Act, which includes structural value, cost of land if they hold pattas and a 2BHK house. People who have encroached the riverbed and built houses on it will only get a 2BHK house as they are not entitled for compensation. It may be recalled that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had categorically stated that all those affected by the project would be rehabilitated as per law and no injustice will be done to them. Recently, in-charge minister for Hyderabad Ponnam Prabhakar inspected 2BHK colonies at Chanchalguda and Vanasthalipuram and said that the government will ensure justice for the families of those affected by the project. He too stated that those displaced by the project would be provided with 2BHK houses. cash for vote Court orders Revanth’s presence at hearing TG N a i d u @ Hyderabad Expressing its displeasure over the absence of several key accused, the Nampally Metropolitan Criminal Court on Tuesday issued an order to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy directing him and other ac, cused in the 2015 cash-for-vote case to be present in court on October 16. During the hearing on Tuesday only one accused — Math, aiah Jerusalem — was present in court while Revanth Reddy, his close associate R Uday Simha, Vem Krishna Keerthan, the son of Vem Narender Reddy who is presently the adviser to the chief minister, former MLA Sandra Venkata Veeraiah and Harry Sebastian, a bishop who was accused of mediating between Stephenson and Revanth, did not attend, prompting the court’s stern remarks. In view of their absence, the court agreed to adjourn the day’s proceedings but made it clear that all accused must be present at the next hearing scheduled for October 16. The sensational vote-for-note case, which initially involved the ACB, has gained additional momentum following its referral to the ED. continued on P4 Arjun erigaisi talks to TNIE about his rise to World No. 3 ranking with his gold medal-winning performance at the Budapest Chess Olympiad | P11
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