KOCHI l friday l September 27, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 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 Indians told to avoid visiting lebanon 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” ■ ■ 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 | p7, p9 4,000 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 War on Pinarayi P V Anvar alleges illegal gold seizures have the chief minister's blessings Coterie including Sasi and Ajith Kumar controlling CM, says Nilambur MLA E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Malappuram Nilambur MLA P V Anvar during a press conference in Malappuram on Thursday | Express all guns blazing Anvar’s charges Pinarayi Vijayan is unfit to hold the position of Home Minister and should resign immediately The chief minister is under the influence of ADGP M R Ajith Kumar and political secretary P Sasi. The ADGP calls the CM ‘uncle’ Only Pinarayi in the world will consider P Sasi as a blemishless person. Many leaders in the party know his real character. If things continue like this, Pinarayi will be the last CPM chief minister in the state. No one is helping him understand the real issues facing Kerala LDF won last assembly polls riding on the popularity of Pinarayi. But the image has suffered a huge decline in the past three years. The captain has become handicapped Pinarayi is even exerting control over CPM state secretary M V Govindan. The party secretary is not free to make his statements. Voices CPM will take appropriate action after considering all aspects. Anvar has raised allegations against both the govt and the party which not even the opposition has dared to raise Pinarayi has given a Lok Sabha seat to the BJP on a platter. The CPM leadership should oust him and reveal its stand on Anvar’s revelations M V Govindan, CPM state secy Ramesh Chennithala, Congress leader Seeking to take the wind out of the ‘captain’s’ sail, CPMbacked independent MLA P V Anvar subjected Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to the worst personal attack in recent times, linking him to gold smuggling and BJP’s election victory in Thrissur. Alleging that Pinarayi is in the clutches of a coterie, he quipped, “The captain is already handicapped.” Holding the CPM workers close to his chest and singling out Pinarayi, Anvar said the issues faced by the ordinary party workers in Kerala have never been the concern of the party bosses. Throughout the twohour-long press conference at Nilambur, Anvar was careful to pose himself as the champion of the party cadre and ordinary people in the state, who according to him, were mercilessly abandoned by Pinarayi to protect a group of people personally close to him. Anvar reiterated that he has been airing the sentiments of the party workers and hundreds of the relatives of the martyrs. Insinuating that Pinarayi might have asked ADGP Ajithkumar to disrupt Thrissur Pooram to benefit the BJP Anvar asked the , media to find out the truth behind the incident. He alleged that the vested interests in the party “totally surrendered before the RSS and the BJP .” It was the image of the chief minister that helped the LDF return to power in the last assembly elections, but the image has suffered a huge fall since, Anvar said and even alleged that the illegal gold seizures made by the Malappuram police had the blessings of Pinarayi. He alleged no one, including senior CPM leaders, have access to the CM. “Does the chief minister think that only Riyas (minister for public works and Pinarayi’s son-in-law) is needed for the party?” He said even state secretary M V Govindan has no say in the party which is , completely controlled by Pinarayi. Taking a dig at the CM and his political secretary P Sasi, Anvar said Pinarayi is the only person who thinks that Sasi is a blemishless character. A coterie including Sasi and Ajith Kumar is controlling the chief minister, he alleged. Anvar said many party workers have conveyed to him their ire over the state of affairs in the CPM. A CPM worker from Kannur messaged him to express his anger over the way the body of former state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was treated. The body was brought directly to Kannur without giving a chance to party workers in other districts to pay homage because Pinarayi had to go on a foreign trip. Anvar said the party workers didn’t get justice from the police that are controlled by the RSS. There was an attempt to sabotage the investigation into the burning of the ashram of Swami Sandeepananda Giri and there were attempts to frame the CPM workers in the case related to the attack on AKG Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, he alleged. Anvar challenged the CM to institute a probe into the cases related to seizure of gold in Malappuram district. He said Pinarayi was only parroting what the ADGP has handed over to him. “There was an attempt to cast the shadow of suspicion on me in those cases,” he said, adding that Pinarayi cheated him on the issue by creating an impression that a genuine probe was going on in the case. Anvar clarified that he is not going to resign as MLA and said he will not attend the LDF parliamentary meetings. “The IUML and the Congress may not accept me and I cannot join the BJP he said. Anvar said he will ,” hold a public meeting in Nilambur on September 29 to announce his future plans. Anvar softened the attitude towards the Congress saying that he hails from a family that always kept good relationship with the Nehru family . Death to ex-warden for raping 21 children PRASA N TA MA Z UM D AR @ 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. “The accused warden forced the children to watch pornographic movies and repeatedly subjected them to sexual assault. The medical reports of most of the victims corroborate the fact that they were sexually assaulted as marks of violence were noticed on their private parts,” the court said. The gruesome incident came to light after two sisters complained to their parents about it. Bagra was arrested but he obtained bail. Following this, the Gauhati HC took suo motu action in case and cancelled the bail. filmy style In highway heist, 2.5kg gold looted E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Thrissur In a highway heist like in movies, a gang that arrived in three vehicles blocked a car on the NH and made away with 2.5kg of gold ornaments in broad daylight at Kallidukku near Kuthiran. Even 24 hours after the incident that took place on Wednesday, the police have not been able to make any headway in the probe. The incident occurred around 11.30am when Arun Sunny, a Thrissur-based gold jewellery dealer, along with his assistant, was transporting finished jewellery from Coimbatore to Thrissur in his car. When they reached Kallidukku, where the construction of a subway is going on, three vehicles intercepted Arun's car. As per Arun’s statement to the police, three persons approached his car and threatened him, asking him to hand over the gold. When he hesitated, they dragged him out of his car and took him to one of their vehicles, while Arun’s assistant was taken to another car. They also took away his car. Inside their vehicle, the robbers allegedly beat Arun using weapons like hammer to get information about gold that had been kept in a secret chamber in his car. Amid the assault, they also issued death threats following which Arun revealed where the gold was kept, the ● More on P4 complaint said. 'Don't overtake superclass buses', reads the latest directive of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to its drivers. While the trigger for the memorandum issued on September 25 was the receipt of several complaints from passengers, what has prompted the management to issue the “unusual” order is to prevent “competitive riding and check leakage of revenue”. “The public opts to travel in superclass buses by paying higher ticket rates to reach their destina- tions safely and on time. The running time of these buses to cover a specified distance is comparatively low, mainly due to limited stops it has come to the notice that, in some instances at least, lower-class buses refuse to give side and even overtake higher-class buses, including Minnal, by indulging in competitive driving — A senior official New Delhi: A meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, in Mumbai 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. P7 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express R a m a s h a n k a r @ Patna People mourn on Thursday after their family members drowned in Aurangabad district of Bihar | PTI No arrangement to manage crowd, complain parents “Had the administration made arrangements for proper crowd management at the river ghats and village ponds, such tragedies could have been averted,” said Radheshyam, another parent whose 12-year-old daughter Shobha Kumari drowned. Last year, 22 had died in the state during the Jivitputrika festival exit Shakib announces retirement 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 Don’t overtake superclass buses: KSRTC to its drivers and sticking to the allowed passenger capacity However, it has come . to the notice that, in some instances at least, lower-class buses refuse to give side and even overtake higher-class buses, including Minnal, by indulging in competitive driving,” a senior official said, adding the corporation has received many complaints in this regard of late. The superclass buses mainly include the Super Express, Super Sena, Trinamool Congress spar at Waqf Bill JPC’s meeting in Mumbai 37 children among 46 drowned during holy dip across Bihar c l ass m a t t ers K r i s h n a K u m a r K E @Kochi EXPRESS READ Deluxe, Minnal and Volvo buses. “...The superclass buses should be given the priority ...under no circumstances should a bus overtake another belonging to a higher c l a s s c a t e g o r y. A l s o , t h e lower class buses should give side to superclass ones to facilitate overtaking upon demand (by honking). Unnecessary competition on roads should be avoided. All the staff belonging to driver and conductor posts should take special care to follow the direction in letter and spirit. They should drive safely and carefully the di,” ● More on P4 rective read. 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 threeday 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 disaster 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-yearold 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 East Champaran, West Champaran, Aurangabad, Nalanda, Kaimur, Buxar, Siwan, Rohtas, Saran, Patna, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Gopalganj and Arwal districts. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex-gratia of `4 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased.
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