BHUBANESWAR SATURDAY OCTOBER 19, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 14 LATE CITY EDITION HAMAS CONFIRMS SINWAR’S DEATH, SAYS HOSTAGES WON’T BE RELEASED 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 NO 2 KHALIL AL-HAYYA IN LINE TO TAKE REINS ISRAEL TO CONTINUE GAZA OFFENSIVE “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 ■ ■ 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 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 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. 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 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 on a community-driven approach for the success of the efforts to eradicate child marriages 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. 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 for the alleged murder-for-hire 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 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 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 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. VEDANTA PLEDGES `1L CR FOR REFINERY AND PLANT IN ODISHA Vedanta Ltd chairman Anil Agarwal with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Industries minister Sampad Chandra Swain in Mumbai, on Friday | EXPRESS HEMANT KUMAR ROUT @ Bhubaneswar IN a major boost to Odisha’s industrialisation push, Vedanta Limited on Friday announced a new investment of `1 lakh crore in the state. The investment will be directed at establishing a 6 million tonne per annum (MTPA) alumina refinery and a 3 million tonne plant for producing green aluminium powered by renewable energy . The announcement was made by Vedanta Ltd chairman Anil Agarwal during his one-to-one interaction with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi at the G2B meet organised by the state government in Mumbai on Friday for inviting industry leaders to the Utkarsh Odisha: Make-inOdisha Conclave in January next year. This will be the largest investment ever made by the conglomerate anywhere in the world and generate 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 LAWRENCE BISHNOI THREAT EXPRESS READ Complaint against actor for post targeting Owaisi, Rahul No clarity on cyclone, rains to lash from Oct 23 Bhubaneswar: As speculation rises over possibility of a strong weather system over Bay of Bengal, the IMD said the low pressure expected to form next week will bring in heavy rains to Odisha October 23 onwards. The weather system is likely to move in northwest direction and develop into a depression around October 24 | P2 E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar THE state unit of the National Student Union of India (NSUI) on Friday lodged a complaint against Ollywood actor Buddhaditya at the Capital Police station here for his social media post stating that the next target of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi should be AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The NSUI has demanded action against the actor for supporting a ‘terrorist’ and inciting violence through his post. In a post in Facebook which he later deleted, the actor wrote, “Germany had the Gestapo… Israel has the Mossad.. US .. has the CIA… Now India Has Lawrence Bishnoi.. Next in the list shld be Owaisi and Rahul Gandhi.” Buddhaditya, however, said that the Congressmen have misunderstood him. “I had only posted about the rumours doing the rounds on various social media platforms on Owaisi and Rahul Gandhi as his next possible targets. I only mentioned that Bishnoi is being compared to ‘Gestapo‘, a secret police in Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany, and Mossad of Israel,” he said. Stating that he had no intention to incite violence or set any target for the gangster, the actor said he is ready to apologise. He has also deleted the post. President of the state unit NSUI Udit Pradhan said that the complaint will not be withdrawn. to double by 2030. This investment is in addition to the earlier investment of `1 lakh core which has already created more than one lakh jobs in the state in the last two decades,” the company said. The chief minister thanked Agarwal for the new investment plans. “The interaction with Vedanta chairman was fruitful, as impressed by our robust policy framework, he has assured to double their investment in Odisha to establish a new alumina refinery and create more jobs. The state government will provide full suppor t for the projects,” he said. Agarwal said, Odisha has always played an important role in Vedanta’s growth. “Our investments reflect our commitment to the state’s inclusive growth driving large-scale industrialisation. We will continue to contribute to the state’s economic progress, empower communities, and enhance the quality of life for millions,” he said. As Odisha aspires to be a half-trillion-dollar economy, the aluminium major said it has envisioned Rayagada as a developed region, akin to Jharsuguda. CONTINUED ON P5 Modi to attend BRICS Summit in Russia A MAGICAL SETTING Children enjoy the beautiful reflection of a blue sky and cotton clouds at Bindusagar lake in Bhubaneswar, on Friday | DEBADATTA MALLICK New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi will visit Russia from October 22-23 at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin to attend the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, the MEA said. The summit, themed ‘Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security’, will provide a platform for leaders to discuss key global issues, the MEA said | P9 POCKET PINCH Vegetable prices skyrocket as Kartik month begins, blame it on polls D I A N A S A H U @ Bhubaneswar Vendors selling vegetables at Chhatra Bazaar in Cuttack | RASHMIRANJAN MOHAPATRA As the holy month of Kartik when most households in Odisha shun non-vegetarian food - sets in, the sky high prices of vegetables are bringing unbearable pain to the people. With almost all vegetables going far beyond the reach of the common man, there is an unlikely culprit behind the scheme of things - the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Along with the extreme weather from intense summer heat to a very active monsoon, rise in farming costs and other allied factors, the market is heaping equal blame on the elections for the dire situation. According to market and farm experts, the timing of the elections this year and the intensity with which it was held have taken a toll on the farming activities. A sizeable section of the vegetable farmers delayed cropping due to their active involvement in the elections. And when they ventured to start their crop exercise, the continuous rains throughout the monsoon season did their share of damage. Secretary of the Vegetable Traders’ Association in Bhubaneswar’s Unit-1 market, Kabiraj Swain said the elections during the cropping season kept many vegetable farmers away from their fields. “The production of vegetables this year is significantly low. As many farmers were otherwise busy in election campaign or other poll-related work in their villages during the elected season, vegetable farming was deferred. Whatever little they planted later on after the elections was hit by the extreme heat and rains subsequently,” Swain said. Locally, a large variety of vegetables are grown in Angul, Athagarh, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Balangir, Koraput, Gajapati and Puri. At present ironically, potato which gave pain pangs just a month or so back is the only affordable vegetable in the market. While in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, prices of almost all other vegetables have crossed the `80 per kg mark, in Ganjam and Sambalpur, the price is hovering between `50 and `80. Similarly in Mayurbhanj and Balasore markets, every vegetable is selling above CONTINUED ON P5 `80.
Express Network Private Limited publishes thirty three E-paper editions of The New Indian Express newspaper , thirty two E-paper editions of Dinamani, one E-paper edition of The Morning Standard, one E-paper edition of Malayalam Vaarika magazine and one E-paper edition of the Indulge - The Morning Standard, Kolkatta.