Hamas confirms Sinwar’s death Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the brutal October 7 attack on Israel, was killed by Israeli forces, the militant outfit’s senior leader Khalil al-Hayya confirmed on Friday. He, however, said the hostages in Gaza won’t be freed until there is a ceasefire. With Sinwar’s death, Al-Hayya is the seniormost Hamas leader and is among the probables who could be named Sinwar’s successor TIRUNELVELI l saturday l october 19, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION 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 Arrest warrant issued against ex-RAW agent Federal warrant on Oct 10; second unsealed indictment identifies him as Vikash Yadav by Vikas Yadav, an Indian government employee and his coconspirator Nikhil Gupta to asA day after the US said India sassinate an American citizen had ‘removed’ a Research and on US soil. Today’s charges demAnalysis Wing (R&AW) agent onstrate that the Justice DepartVikash Yadav for a murder-for- ment will not tolerate attempts hire plot to eliminate Khalista- to target and endanger Amerini radical Gurpatcans and to underwant Singh Pannun mine the rights to on American soil, the which every US citiDepartment of Juszen is entitled,’’ Attortice has identified ney General Merrick him as Vikash Yadav. B Garland said. On October 10, a fedFor its part, the eral arrest warrant Federal Bureau of InProvided was issued for Yadav vestigation (FBI) iskey info by a New York court. sued a wanted poster The second indict- Vikash Yadav allegedly of Vikash Yadav and ment unsealed on Fri- provided information, added him to their day revealed the murmost-wanted list. such as the victim’s d e r - f o r - h i r e a n d residential addresses, The US Drug Enmoney laundering phone numbers, and forcement Adminischarges against Vitration (DEA) alleged other identifying kash Yadav, 39, also information, to Nikhil that Yadav was the known as Vikas and Gupta for furtherance mastermind of the of the plot to murder plot. Amanat. Pannun, says FBI Yadav described T he indictment himself as a field ofclaims that on June ficer previously serving with 19, 2023, a day after the Nijjar CRPF and directed the plot murder, Gupta had told an unfrom India. The indictment dercover DEA agent — who he claims Yadav was the co-con- thought was the assassin-onspirator of Nikhil Gupta, 53, hire — that Nijjar was also their who was charged and extradit- target. The charges, if proved, ed to the US. can carry a penalty of 10 years “ alleged last year (first in- in prison for conspiracy and 20 As dictment) we foiled an attempt years for money laundering. Y eshi S eli an d H ar p reet B a j w a @ New Delhi/Chandigarh Personal laws can’t stunt child marriage Act: SC S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T 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 injunc- 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 tion 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 education, right to sexuality and the right to development of the child. 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. Spat over Tamil anthem: Stalin seeks guv’s ouster, Ravi decries ‘racist’ jibe E x p ress N e w s S er v ice @ 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 im- mediately 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 ‘ ryan’. “Will the governor, A 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. P4 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 on a community-driven approach for the success of the efforts to eradicate child marriage in the country . The order came in a PIL filed by a NGO, and activist Nirmal Gorana. express read Sack-CM call by Manipur BJP MLAs? Guwahati: Nineteen BJP MLAs of Manipur have reportedly written to PM 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. ENS Supreme court closes case against Isha New Delhi: Supreme Court on Friday closed the proceedings in a habeas corpus petition filed by a man who had alleged that his two daughters were held captive inside the premises of spiritual guru Jaggi Vasudev’s Isha Foundation in Coimbatore | P5 Vedanta to invest `1 lakh crore in Odisha H emant K umar R out @ 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 . The announcement was made by Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal during his oneto-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-inOdisha 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. Scan Here For An AR Experience
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