MADURAI l saturday l october 19, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 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 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 | P11 101 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 SUCHITRA K ALYAN M O HANT Y @ 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 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. Arrest warrant issued against ex-RAW agent Federal warrant on Oct 10; second unsealed indictment identifies him as Vikash Yadav torney General Merrick B Garland said. For its part, the Federal BuA day after the US said India reau of Investigation (FBI) ishad ‘removed’ a Research and sued a wanted poster of Vikash Analysis Wing (R&AW) agent Yadav and added him to their Vikash Yadav for a murder-for- most-wanted list. hire plot to eliminate KhalistaThe US Drug Enforcement ni radical Gurpatwant Singh Administration (DEA) alleged Pannun on American soil, the that Yadav was the mastermind Department of Justice has of the plot. “We charge that Yaidentified him as Vikash Yadav. dav, an employee of the Indian On October 10, a federal arrest government used his position warrant was issued of authority and acfor Yadav by a New cess to confidential York court. information to direct The second indictthe attempted assasment unsealed on Frisination of an outspoday revealed the murken critic of the Indider-for-hire and an government _ here money laundering on the US soil,’’ it charges against Visaid. Provided kash Yadav, 39, also T he indictment key info known as Vikas and claims that on June Vikash Yadav Amanat. 19, 2023, a day after Yadav described allegedly provided the Nijjar murder, himself as a field of- information, such Gupta had told an unficer previously serv- as the victim’s dercover DEA agent ing with CRPF and residential — who he thought directed the plot from addresses, phone was the assassin-onIndia. The indictment numbers, and other hire — that Nijjar was claims Yadav was the identifying also their target and co-conspirator of information, to that they had many Nikhil Gupta, 53, who Nikhil Gupta for such hit jobs in the was charged and ex- furtherance of the pipeline. Gupta added plot to murder tradited to the US. that there was no fur“ alleged last year Pannun, says FBI As ther need to wait to (first indictment) we bump off Pannun. foiled an attempt by Vikas YaThe charges, if proved, can dav, an Indian government em- carry a penalty of 10 years in ployee and his co-conspirator prison for conspiracy and 20 Nikhil Gupta to assassinate an years for money laundering. American citizen on US soil. ToIn July 2020, Pannun was desday’s charges demonstrate that ignated a terrorist by the Union the Justice Department will not Ministry of Home Affairs. He is tolerate attempts to target and the founder of a US-based sepaendanger Americans and to un- ratist group, Sikhs for Justice, dermine the rights to which which was declared a banned every US citizen is entitled,’’ At- outfit by India five years ago. Yeshi Seli and Harpreet B a j w a @ New Delhi/Chandigarh Slew of steps to prevent child marriages 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 Sack-CM call by 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 state. 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 expressed deep concerns over the situation in Ma- Vedanta to pump in `1 lakh cr to Odisha HE M ANT K U M AR R O UT @ Bhubaneswar 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. This is in addition to Vedanta’s earlier investment of `1 lakh crore in the state, which has created over one lakh jobs over the past two decades, Vedanta said. The announcement was made by Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal during a 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. This marks the largest investment ever made by the conglomerate anywhere in the world, generating a total of two lakh jobs along with opportunities for hundreds of MSMEs in the state, Vedanta said. “The refinery and plant will create a massive industrial complex for the downstream industries as demand for aluminium is likely to double by 2030,” it added. apex court closes case against ISHA CJI bench says two women, whose father filed a habeas corpus plea, are residing at ashram voluntarily without coercion | P5 online campaign ‘Morning-after pills must be available OTC’ E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai The Contraception Action Network in collaboration with Jhatkaa.org has launched an online campaign demanding the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) make clear regulations on emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) and ensure their continued over-the-counter (OTC) access. The network consists of around 70 members from across India, including NGOs, activists and researchers. The campaign follows TNIE’s exclusive report stating CDSCO’s Drugs Consultative Committee is planning to propose a regulation declaring ECPs as prescription-only drugs. TNIE’s report published in these columns on October 3, 2024 | Express The statement said, Levonorgestrel (1.5mg), an ECP available OTC, has been a lifeline for women, transmen, adolescent girls and sexual assault survivors across the country prevent, ing unintended pregnancies and cutting down on unsafe abor- 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. tions. “Any shift towards making ECPs prescription-only threatens the health and autonomy of women and trans, nonbinary and gender-queer individuals,” it said. The network said that sexual assault survivors from rural, under-resourced areas are already reeling from the massive deficit of registered medical practitioners. “In fact, HLL Lifecare Ltd, the public sector undertaking driving India’s family planning mission in rural India, has flagged challenges in rural populations’ access to reproductive healthcare and repeatedly stressed that oral contraceptives should be available without prescription or a sale licence requirement,” it added. P5 ‘Exempt pill from rules’ Petitioners demanded Levonorgestrel ECPs remain an OTC drug and urged the government to clearly mention in Schedule K of The Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, that the pill is exempted from the sales licence requirement nipur. 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 CM is the only solution,” the letter read. Spat over Tamil anthem: Stalin seeks guv’s ouster, Ravi decries ‘racist’ jibe E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai A huge spat broke out between Governor R N Ravi and Chief Minister M K Stalin late on Friday after singers missed sing ing the ‘Thekkanamum Adhir Sirantha Dravida Nal Thirunaadum’ line from the ‘Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu’ rendered at Doordarshan Kendra Chennai’s Hindi month valedictory function presided by the governor. Meanwhile, Doordarshan Kendra Chennai apologised for the ‘inadvertent mistake,’ and said singers had no intention to disrespect Tamil or the state song. Reacting to the incident, Stalin accused the governor of insulting TN and its people and demanded he be recalled immediately by the centre. The CM said that a person who doesn’t abide by the law and acts as per his wishes was not fit to hold that office and wondered if Ravi was a governor or an ‘ rA yan’. “Will the governor, suffering from the Dravidian allergy , ask the people to sing the national anthem leaving out ‘Dravida’,” he asked. Reacting to the CM’s charge, Governor Ravi accused Stalin of making a racist remark and levelling a false allegation of showing disrespect to the Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu. Ravi said the allegation was “cheap and lowers the dignity of the constitutional office of the CM.” “The CM knows well that I recite the full Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu with reverence, pride and precision,” the governor said in a post on X. Earlier in the day, objecting to the Hindi month celebrations, the CM wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that according special place to Hindi and celebrating the language in non-Hindi speaking states is seen as an attempt to belittle other languages. “I suggest that holding such Hindi-oriented events in nonHindi speaking states could be avoided, and instead, the celebration of the local language month in the respective states should be encouraged,” the CM said in his letter. P4
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