tirupati l saturday l october 19, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Hamas confirms Sinwar’s death, says hostages won’t be released No 2 Al-Hayya in line to take the reins “Those prisoners will not return before the end of the aggression on Gaza and the withdrawal from Gaza,” said Khalil al-Hayya, who was Sinwar’s Qatarbased deputy. With Sinwar’s death, Al-Hayya is the seniormost Hamas leader and is among the probables who could head the outfit. In a video message broadcast by Al Jazeera, Al-Hayya said Hamas would continue its activities Hamas on Friday confirmed that Israeli forces killed its leader Yahya Sinwar. It added the Israeli hostages won’t be freed until there is a ceasefire ■ 101 Israel to continue Gaza offensive ■ Sinwar, the mastermind of the brutal October 7 attack that claimed over 1,200 lives, was killed in a targeted ground operation by Israeli forces in Rafah in southern Gaza. His identity was confirmed through a DNA test Announcing the Hamas leader’s killing on Thursday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel’s war is not over yet | P9 Number of hostages still held by Hamas, of whom 30 are feared dead 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 Personal laws can’t stunt child marriage Act: SC Naidu cautions TDP S UCHITRA K ALYAN M OHANTY @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Friday held that the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) cannot be stunted by personal laws and marriages involving children violate the free will to have a partner of choice. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra issued a slew of directions to strengthen the legal framework to eradicate child marriages in the country These include set. ting up special courts to hear plain speak Purported sack-CM call by 19 Manipur BJP MLAs P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati Nineteen BJP MLAs of Manipur have reportedly written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the removal of Chief Minister N Biren Singh. Two leaked pages of their purported six-page letter are circulating on social media. However, it was not clear if the letter was at all submitted to the PM. One of the pages bears the purported signatures of Assembly Speaker Th Satyabrata Singh and senior ministers Th Biswajit Singh and Y Khemchand Singh. Neither they nor the CM has commented on this so far. The BJP has 37 MLAs in the sensitive state. Interestingly, the CM had around 5 pm on Friday uploaded a clip of a local news channel on his WhatsApp status, which reported the demand of the 19 MLAs urging the PM to sack Biren. He deleted it about half an hour later. The MLAs exp re s s e d d e e p concerns over the situation in Manipur. They said the state’s revenue and tax collection has been greatly hampered, thus badly affecting the economy . “We, as fervent supporters of the BJP and having won the mandate of the people, feel that we have the responsibility of saving Manipur along with saving BJP from downfall in Manipur. At the present juncture, taking a cue from the trend and dynamics of the conflict and strife between the two communities, we strongly feel that removal of the present incumbent Chief Minister is the only solution,” the letter read. It cautioned that the longer the conflict continued, the more irreparable the damages would be. Reconciliation and peace could be ensured only through dialogue and meaningful, multi-pronged engagement. express read Govt releases `100 crore for govt schools Vijayawada: The State government released over `100 crore for the management of government schools on Friday, providing relief to principals who had been bearing operational expenses. Composite grants and funds for mandal resource centres were not released since the pandemic, leaving principals with the burden of running schools. Recognising the financial difficulties faced by schools across the State, HRD Minister N Lokesh spearheaded efforts to release the funds | P4 child marriage cases, empowering magistrates to pass injunction orders against reported violations, and formation of dedicated police units to prevent such crimes. Writing the judgement for the bench, CJI Chandrachud said child marriage violates the right to life and liberty ensured under Article 21 of the Constitution. “All children married as minors are denied their right to choice and autonomy right to educa, tion, right to sexuality and the right to development of the child. Slew of steps to prevent child marriages on a community-driven approach for the success of the efforts to eradicate child marriage in the country “The law . will only succeed when there is a multi-sectoral coordination. Training and capacity building of the law enforcement officers needs to be there,” Chandrachud said. The order came in a public interest litigation filed by the NGO, Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action (SEVA), and activist Nirmal Gorana, saying PCMA was not being implemented in letter and spirit. States, Union Territories to appoint Child Marriage Prohibition Officers at district level; quarterly reports should be released Magistrates to focus on ‘auspicious days’ known for mass weddings, to take proactive measures to prevent child marriages Create a designated portal for online reporting of child marriages Girls who are married as children are denied their right to health,” it said, adding that the children who are thrown into forced marriages are deprived of their right to development. While noting that the issue of whether the PCMA would prevail over personal laws was pending with Parliament for consideration, the bench suggested that the House may also consider outlawing child betrothals, which rob children of their free will to choose a partner. Keeping in mind the delicate socio-economic interplay in the matter, the bench emphasized Warrant against ex-RAW agent US court issues arrest warrant; second unsealed indictment identifies him as Vikash Yadav Yeshi Seli and Harpreet B a j w a @ New Delhi/Chandigarh A day after the US said India had ‘removed’ a Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) agent Vikash Yadav for a murder-forhire plot to eliminate Khalistani radical Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil, the Department of Justice has identified him as Vikash Yadav. On October 10, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Yadav by a New York court. The second indictment unsealed on Friday revealed the murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against Vikash Yadav, 39, also known as Vikas and Amanat. Yadav described himself as a field officer previously serving with CRPF and directed the plot from India. The indictment claims Yadav was the co-conspirator of Nikhil Gupta, 53, who was earlier charged and extradited to the US. “ alleged last year (first inAs dictment) we foiled an attempt leaders from resorting to vindictive politics E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada You have much to learn from PM Modi. His hardwork and discipline are the reason for his success. He always ensures that no leader in his party makes any mistakes Chandrababu Naidu Provided key info Vikash Yadav allegedly provided information, such as the victim’s residential addresses, phone numbers, and other identifying information, to Nikhil Gupta for furtherance of the plot to murder Pannun, says FBI government used his position of authority and access to confidential information to direct the attempted assassination of an outspoken critic of the Indian government _ here on the US soil,’’ it said. The indictment claims that on June 19, 2023, a day after the Nijjar murder, Gupta had told an undercover DEA agent — who he thought was the assassin-on-hire — that Nijjar was also their target and that they had many such hit jobs in the pipeline. Gupta added that there was no further need to wait to bump off Pannun. The charges, if proved, can carry a penalty of 10 years in prison for conspiracy and 20 years for money laundering. In July 2020, Pannun was designated a terrorist by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. He is the founder of a US-based separatist group, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which was declared a banned organisation five years ago under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. VIKASH YADAV faces charges of murderfor-hire; plot to commit murder The cash component Yadav and Gupta arranged for an associate to deliver $15K in New York as advance fee for the murder to the undercover agent, which is how they got into trouble US Govt has reassured its commitment to constitutional duty to protect the life, liberty and freedom of expression of the US Citizen at home and abroad — Gurpatwant Singh Pannun by Vikas Yadav, an Indian government employee and his coconspirator Nikhil Gupta to assassinate an American citizen on US soil. Today’s charges demonstrate that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts to target and endanger Americans and to undermine the rights to which every US citizen is entitled,’’ Attorney General Merrick B Garland said. For its part, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a wanted poster of Vikash Yadav and added him to their most-wanted list. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) alleged that Yadav was the mastermind of the plot. “We charge that Yadav, an employee of the Indian Cabinet meeting on oct 23 Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad on Friday issued orders stating that a Cabinet meeting will he held at the State Secretariat on October 23 Cautioning his legislators from repeating the mistakes of the YSRC leaders, TDP supremo and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said he acknowledges the suffering his partymen were put through for the last five years, but asked them not to engage in vindictive acts against the former ruling party . During a six-hour-long meeting with TDP legislators and ministers on Friday to commemorate 125 days of the NDA government in the State, the Chief Minister observed, “If you (party leaders) resort to vindictive politics, people will start thinking there is no difference between the previous and present regimes. Don’t bring disrepute to the government and tarnish its image.” Instructing the leaders not to interfere in liquor trade unless they own businesses, Naidu directed his partymen to stay away from the free sand policy as well. “All of us need to maintain some discipline,” he noted. Pointing out that it takes a lot of time and effort for a political party or leader to gain credibility the TDP chief remarked, “It takes , just a little time to lose credibility .” Lashing out at the previous adminstration, Naidu said the NDA government inherited a debt of `10.5 lakh crore due to the financial mismanagement of the YSRC regime, led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy “Thanks to the help. ing hand extended by the Centre, the State was able to cope with the situation,” he added. Stating that the TDP has a crucial role in the national politics, he asserted that his party has never vied for power and always strived for the well-being of the nation and P4 the State. heavy rains predicted in rayalaseema today Heavy rain is likely to occur in isolated places in Rayalaseema in early hours of Saturday, due to a fresh upper-air cyclonic circulation, which is very likely to form over the North Andaman Sea around October 20 | P3 Vedanta to invest `1 lakh cr in Odisha Govt allows tractors to transport sand H e m a n t K u m a r R o u t @ Bhubaneswar E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e Big move @ Vijayawada METAL and mining major Vedanta Limited on Friday announced a fresh investment of `1 lakh crore in Odisha to set up a 6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) alumina refinery and a 3 mtpa ‘green’ aluminium plant, which will be powered by renewable energy . The announcement was made by Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal during his one-to-one interaction with Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi at the G2B meet organised by the state government in Mumbai on Friday for inviting industry leaders to the Make-in-Odisha Conclave in January next year. The fresh investment is in addition to Vedanta’s earlier investment of `1 lakh crore in the state, which has already created over one lakh jobs over the past two decades, the company said. It will also mark the largest investment ever made by the conglomerate anywhere in the world, generating two lakh jobs along with opportunities for hundreds of MSMEs in the state. “The refinery and plant will create a massive industrial complex for the downstream industries as demand for aluminium is likely to double by 2030,” the company said. parade practice Ahead of Police Commemoration Day, rehearsals were held at Beach road in Vizag on Friday. National Police Commemoration Day is marked every year on October 21 to commemorate police officers who sacrificed their lives on duty I G Satyanarayana water contamination Toll in V’nagaram diarrhoea outbreak climbs to seven S r e e n u B a b u Pat i v a d a @ Vizianagaram Fear has gripped the residents of Kella, Gudem, Punapureddy Peta and Goshada villages of Gurla mandal as at least 160 cases of diarrhoea have been reported in the past five days. Subsequently, a medical camp has been set up at the local Zilla Parishad high school to treat people. Six fresh cases of diarrhoea were reported on Friday While . villagers have claimed that seven people died in the outbreak, district officials have confirmed only one death due to diarrhoea. Of the 160 affected people, 55 are undergoing treatment in various hospitals, including 24 at the medical camp in Gurla, 14 at Vizianagaram Government General Hospital (GGH), 11 at Gosha and six at Cheepurupalli Community Health Centre (CHC). District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) Dr Bhaskara District Collector BR Ambedkar inspects infiltration well at River Champavathi Rao stressed that as many as 100 people have recovered. He explained that as per primary reports, Vibrio Cholerae (V Cholerae) is the prime reason for the outbreak of diarrhoea in Gurla. District Collector BR Ambedkar held a review meeting on Friday took stock of the , situation and attributed only one death to diarrhoea. Elaborating on the situation, he said, “Initial reports revealed that water contamination in the infiltration well at River Champavathi was the main reason for the diarrhoea outbreak. We have stopped the supply of water and conducted super chlorination in the infiltration well. We are supplying drinking water through water tanks in the affected villages. Samples from bore wells have also been collected and sent to labs for tests.” Urging the people not to panic, the Collector maintained that only person died due to diarrhoea. The other six people died due to chronic diseases and age-related issues, he said and asserted that the government is taking all steps to tackle the situation. The State government on Friday issued an order allowing sand to be transported by tractors, besides bullock carts, for local needs. Principal Secretary (Mines) Mukesh Kumar Meena issued GO 64, revising the free sand policy guidelines, following the directives of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to ensure uninterrupted construction activities in rural areas. The Commissioner and Director of Mines and Geology had requested permits for both bullock car ts and tractors for the transportation of sand. P r e v i o u s l y, only bullock carts were permitted to transport sand for local use. However, the new orders enable people to use tractors, making it ferry sand for small-scale construction. The government has ordered that construction of houses should not be delayed due to the unavailability of sand. The revised policy ensures that sand is transported in sufficient quantities to meet local demand. Meena further clarified that sand can be collected free of charge from nearby streams for construction needs in villages with no restrictions on using tractors or carts for transport.
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