BHUBANESWAR WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 14 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, ELECTION ON NOV 14 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 | P11 ■ ■ Vijitha Herath and Laxman Nipunarachchi will also serve as caretaker ministers. Later, Dissanayake signed a gazette notification ordering dissolution of parliament and holding snap polls on November 14 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 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where a resolution was passed in 2020 to allot 14 sites to his mother on compensatory basis; but the resolution was withdrawn citing its illegality And yet the 14 sites had .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- BANDIPORA J&K 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. Voters eligible to cast their ballot; 13,12,730 of them male and 12,65,316 female GANDERBAL BARAMULLA SRINAGAR BUDGAM PULWA POONCH MA 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 Siddaramaiah | VINOD KUMAR T 25.78 lakh 239 ANANTNAG Ka s h m i r ( P O K ) 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 KUPWARA n O cc u p i e d Court says CM was behind the smoke screen for every benefit to his wife in MUDA scam 26 SEATS to witness polls, 15 in Kashmir region and 11 in Jammu region ta Pakis Siddu loses bout against Guv nod in Karnataka HC J&K PHASE II POLLS TODAY 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) EV PROJECT Not pulling out of Odisha, says JSW amid Maha plans HEMANT KUMAR ROUT In February, JSW had signed an MoU with the Odisha government for an inteAMID speculations over JSW grated EV and components Group shifting its proposed manufacturing project in the electric vehicle (EV) project state at an investment of from Odisha to Maharashtra, `40,000 crore. JSW proposed the Sajjan Jindal-led compa- to invest `25,000 crore for an ny on Tuesday said it was not EV, battery and EV compowithdrawing from the state. nents manufacturing unit at Executive vice-president Naraj in Cuttack and `15,000 (corporate strategy) of JSW crore for copper smelter and Steel Ranjan Nayak said lithium refinery complex the speculations and at Paradip in reports in a section Jagatsinghpur. of media are not corThe government rect. “The proposed had also announced `40,000 crore EV and a special package of battery manufacturincentives for the ing project is not project including shifting out of Odiland at special consha,” he told The cessional rate and New Indian external infrastrucThe speculations Express. ture from 20 per and reports are Minister for Incent extra capital not correct. dustries Sampad investment subsidy . The proposed Chandra Swain also `40,000 crore EV The cloud of unclarified that the certainty over the and battery company has not inproject, however, manufacturing for med the state arose after the Maproject is not shifting out gover nment anyharashtra governof Odisha thing about its reloment cleared the cation plan. “We proposals of JSW Ranjan Nayak, have no information Green Mobility Ltd Executive V-P t h a t J S W ’s E V and JSW Energy PS project is moving out of the Eleven Ltd for electric and state. The MoU for the project hybrid cars manufacturing was signed by the previous and lithium battery units government in February,” he with a proposed investment said. of `27,200 crore and `25,000 A c k n o w l e d g i n g t h a t crore, respectively in July . It led to confusion in the grounding of some investments take time due to delay industry and political cirin getting statutory clearanc- cles in the state as there was es, the minister said, the gov- no engagement by officials ernment is in discussion with f r o m t h e g o ve r n m e n t the company authorities for with JSW to provide any CONTINUED ON P7 clarity . taking the project forward. @ Bhubaneswar Law panel’s report on ‘one poll’ yet to be made public P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi EXPRESS READ Class IX student molested by teacher Rourkela: Hundreds of angry parents on Tuesday laid siege to Guru Nanak Khalsa School here in protest against alleged molestation of a Class IX girl student by a teacher. The teacher Jasbir Singh allegedly called the victim to the sports room and kissed her before she escaped to safety, police said | P4 EAM meets Bangla counterpart in NY New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has met Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain in New York and discussed bilateral ties. The meeting between Jaishankar and his Bangladeshi counterpart came on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly | P9 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 Novem- ber 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. NURSES STRIKE Govt asks hospitals to take action under ESMA EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar THE EXODUS BEGINS Residents in panic flee with their belongings in Beirut on Tuesday amid intense Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon | AP | P11 Actor-MLA Mukesh held, freed in rape case; Siddique on the run E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ 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 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 M Mukesh Siddique 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 monitor- ing 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.” AHEAD of the proposed strike by Odisha Nursing Employees’ Association (ONEA), the state government on Tuesday asked the health care facilities to take action against the staff as per the provisions in Odisha Emergency Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), if they stop work or disrupt any services. Last month, the government had invoked ESMA prohibiting strikes by class-III and class-IV employees in the health sector to ensure medical services are not disrupted. The act was invoked after ONEA threatened to go for cease work agitation from August 27. Director of nursing Dr Artabandhu Nayak has asked the directors of Capital Hospital, Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer (AHPGIC) and Rourkela Government Hospital, superintendents of medical college and hospitals and all CDMOs to act as ESMA is still in force. The association, in a letter addressed to the chief minister informed that the nursing service in all non-emergency departments, including general wards and OPDs, routine operation theatres will be withdrawn in all government-run hospitals from Wednesday All nursing officers . will also resort to indefinite cease work across the state from September 27. CONTINUED ON P7
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