MADURAI l friday l september 27, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE city EDITION U.S., France call for ceasefire as Israel, Hezbollah clash intensifies US, France and other allies jointly called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire on Thursday to give room for negotiations to de-escalate tensions No truce till hezbollah is weakened: Israel A joint statement by the US, France and others warned that the situation in Lebanon is becoming “intolerable”. But a truce may not materialise anytime soon. Israel has rejected it and vowed to continue fighting till it crushes Hezbollah’s ability to harm Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his troops to “continue the fighting with full force” ■ 4,000 Indians told to avoid visiting lebanon ■ The Israeli military said it struck 75 targets in Lebanon on Thursday. It said an attack on Beirut killed the head of Hezbollah’s drone unit Amid escalating violence, the Indian Embassy in Beirut urged Indians to avoid travelling to Lebanon and advised those present there to exercise caution and leave the country as soon as possible | p9, p11 Indian nationals in Lebanon, as per the Indian embassy in beirut 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 37 kids among 46 drowned after holy dip across Bihar Jivitputrika is celebrated by moms for well-being of children R amas h an k ar @ Patna Senthil Balaji amidst his supporters outside the Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai | p ravikumar 15 months on, Balaji gets bail in money laundering case S uc h itra Kalyan M o h anty @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail with stringent conditions to former Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji in a money laundering case after 15 months, noting that there is no possibility of the completion of trial in the near future. The former electricity minister may get back his portfolios in the impending Cabinet reshuffle hinted at by Chief Minister M K Stalin to take place soon. A three-judge bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, and Augustine George Masih, which had reserved the verdict on August 12 in a bail petition filed by the DMK strongman, pronounced the judgment on Thursday . The top court said the continued detention of Balaji, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate last year, will amount to infringement of his fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution. Noting that there are more than 2,000 accused and over 600 witnesses in the case, the bench said that inordinate delay in the conclusion of the trial and the higher threshold for the grant of bail cannot go together. “Therefore, even in ideal conditions, the possibility of the trial of scheduled offences concluding even within a reasonable time of three to four years appears to be completely ruled out,” it said. The judges said stringent provisions regarding the grant of bail in Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot become a tool which can be used to incarcerate the accused without trial for an unreasonably long time. The apex court, however, noted that there is also prima facie material to show a deposit of cash amount of `1.34 crore in Balaji’s bank account. “At this stage, the contention of the appellant regarding the deposit of remuneration received as MLA and agriculture income cannot be accepted in the absence of any prima facie evidence to show the existence of the appellant’s cash income as MLA and the appellant’s agriculture income. Therefore, at this stage, it will be very difficult to hold that there is no prima facie case against the appellant in the complaint under Section 44 (1)(b) of the PMLA and material relied upon therein,” the bench said. Taking into note the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, that Balaji may influence the witnesses in the case, the bench imposed stringent bail conditions for his release. It directed Balaji to furnish bonds for the sum of `25 lakh with two sureties in the like amount. P7 My brother got the relief after 471 days. The prison life did not extend for so long even during the Emergency CM MK Stalin may be back as minister CM has been hinting at ‘changes’ in the State Cabinet and there have been speculations that he was waiting for the release of Balaji to effect the reshuffle. The former power minister may get back his portfolios | Page 6 prima facie proof There is prima facie material to show a deposit of cash of `1.34 crore in Balaji’s bank account, says SC bench As many as 46 people, including 37 children, drowned in the last 24 hours while taking a holy bath in rivers and ponds across Bihar as part of the three-day Jivitputrika festival’s celebrations, which began on Wednesday. Four women were among the 46 who lost their lives. Women observe fast for the well-being of their children to mark the occasion. The three-day festival began with nahay khay (fasting) when devotees take a holy dip in rivers and ponds. Wednesday’s deaths were reported from 15 districts of the state. “A total of 43 bodies have been recovered so far. Further search operations are underway the Bihar disas,” ter management department said. People blamed the casualties on the lack of crowd management near water bodies. “There was no deployment of the state disaster response team at any of the water bodies in the district,” said Upendra Yadav, father of eight-year-old Ankaj Kumar, a resident of Kusaha in Aurangabad district. Jaglal Rai, who lost his 14-year-old daughter Rikki Kumari, said his daughter had gone for taking bath in the village pond when tragedy struck. Rai, a resident of Olhanpur village in Saran district, said his daughter was part of a group of women and girls who had gone to the pond for a holy dip. Incidents of drowning were reported in express read CM: Save fishers held in Bahrain Chennai: CM MK Stalin on Thursday urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to ensure consular access and legal assistance to secure the early release of 28 TN fishers arrested by the Bahrain Coast Guard on September 11 for inadvertently crossing the Iran borders. Union govt doubles wheat given to TN Centre has raised monthly wheat allocation for TN under PDS from 8,500 MT to 17,100 MT as part of the National Food Security Act. This updated allocation will take effect from October 24 and continue until March next year | P6 SC junks Guj govt’s plea to expunge critical remarks in Bilkis verdict S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi exit shakib retires Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan announced retirement from T20Is and said that 2nd Test against India will be his last if not given a farewell tie vs SA THE Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a review plea filed by the Gujarat government seeking to expunge certain adverse remarks against it while quashing the premature release of the 11 men convicted of gangraping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven of her family members in the 2002 riots. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan also rejected the application for listing review petition in open court as well as the review plea filed by the convicts. “Having carefully gone through the review petitions... we are satisfied that there is no error apparent on the face of the record,” it said. The Supreme Court had on January 8 quashed the Gujarat government’s August 15, 2022, decision to grant remission to 11 convicts, who were sentenced to life term. SC remark SC had said Guj govt ‘usurped’ Maha govt’s powers to grant remission to the accused Sena, TMC spat at Waqf bill JPC’s meeting P r e e t h a N air @ New Delhi A meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, in Mumbai on Thursday witnessed tumultuous scenes after a verbal spat between TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee and Shiv Sena (Shinde)’s Naresh Maske. According to sources, the Opposition boycotted the meeting for half an hour after the ruckus. The meeting was attended by representatives from the Maharashtra government, Minis- try of Minority Affairs, state Waqf Board, state Minority Commission, and various NGOs. Sources said Maske and Banerjee locked horns after the latter intervened during an NGO’s submission before the panel, in support of the Waqf Bill. Speaking to this newspaper, an MP said the witness from the NGO spoke to the TMC leader in a disrespectful manner, which irked the Opposition. “Banerjee asked the Chairman to take action against the witness. But the Sena MP support- ed the person. Later, the Chairman asked the witness to apologise, which he didn’t. The Opposition then walked out,” he said. Maske alleged that Banerjee asked the representatives of the NGO to get out of the meeting as they supported the bill. “Witnesses from the Gulshan Foundation were present to discuss the Waqf Amendment Bill. However, Kalyan Banerjee shouted at them and called for their removal, which is disrespectful. I will not allow such behaviour in Maharashtra.” 5 meets lined up The meeting was the first stop of the JPC’s consultations with various stakeholders from Sept 26 to October 1. Such meetings will be held in five states to refine the proposed Waqf Act People mourn on Thursday after their family members drowned in Aurangabad district of Bihar | PTI East Champaran, West Champaran, Aurangabad, Nalanda, Kaimur, Buxar, Siwan, Rohtas, Saran, Patna, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Gopalganj and Arwal districts. While eight persons died in Aurangabad, seven in Kaimur, five each in Patna, Saran, East Champaran, three in West Champaran, three in Rohtas, two each in Vaishali, Samastipur and Muzaffarpur, one each in Gopalganj and Arwal districts, respectively . Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex-gratia of `4 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased. “The process of providing the ex-gratia has begin,” the statement said. Noose for ex-warden who sexually assaulted 21 kids P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati A special POCSO court at Yupia in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday awarded death sentence to the former hostel warden of a residential school for sexually assaulting 21 children, including 15 minor girls. Two other accused persons were sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment. The crime was committed at a government residential school at Karo village in Monigong of Shi Yomi district between 2019 and 2022. The prime accused, Yumken Bagra, was the warden of the hostel at Karo Government Residential School in Shi-Yomi district, where he sexually assaulted 21 children, including 15 girls aged between 6 and 15 years, between 2019 and 2022. Co-accused Marbom Ngomdir was a Hindi teacher while Singtun Yorpen was former headmaster of the school.