kozhikode l Sunday l October 20, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l city edition Hezbollah drone explodes near Netanyahu’s house in Caesarea 1 dead, 4 hurt as 180 rockets fired at Israel In addition to the drone launched at Netanyahu’s private residence in the coastal town, Israel’s military said around 180 projectiles were fired in two separate barrages at northern Israel from Lebanon on Saturday. A 50-yearold man was killed after being hit by shrapnel while sitting in his car in northern Israel and four others were injured, Israel’s medical services said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the drone targeted the PM’s private residence; Netanyahu was not home at that time ■ 1,418 IDF POUNDS GAZA, At least 50 PEOPLE killed ■ ■ Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the drone attack but said it has launched several rockets at northern and central Israel Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday continued to press ahead with its armed offensive against Hamas militants still operating from Gaza 50 people, including kids, were reportedly killed in Gaza in past 24 hours Number of People killed in Lebanon since late September, according to AFP 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 so as to act as a deterrent 2 Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) suggests five-year imprisonment for the culprits 3 Home ministry consults the law and civil aviation ministries to suitably amend the Aircraft Act Bomb threats to 30 more flights, regulator shifted DGCA appointed coal secy in fresh shuffle Ye s h i Sel i a n d S H E K H AR SING H @ New Delhi GST relief for health insurance premium mooted D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi THE Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted by the GST Council to look into the demand for lower rates on health and life insurance premium recommended a complete GST waiver on health insurance premium for senior citizens. Sources said the GoM, headed by Bihar deputy CM Samrat Choudhary also recommended , that no GST be levied on health insurance premium where the sum insured is up to `5 lakh. For all other health insurance policies, the GoM has proposed 18% GST. As far as life insurance policies are concerned, most panel members favoured complete waiver of GST on term insurance premium. Amid waves after waves of hoax bomb threats shaking up the aviation industry, the government on Saturday shifted the regulator out of the civil aviation ministry . Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) director Vikram Dev Dutt was appointed coal secretary as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle. A joint secretary level official is likely to take his place at the earlier, according to sources. The transfers happened on a day when fresh bomb threats forced over 30 flights, including those on international routes, to make emergency landings. The affected carriers included Air India, Vistara, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Alliance Air, and Akasa Air. “The Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from the threats today and the ones earlier this week have been traced to London, Germany, Canada and the US. However, it is possible the Virtual Private Networks (VPN) were used by some to hide their real locations,’’ a source said. In less than a week, hoax bomb threats have impacted close to 70 flights. On Saturday, officials from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) had a meeting with the CEOs of different airline operators in the civil aviation ministry . They were briefed about the SOP for tackling threats, which cause fear and inconvenience to passengers and losses for the airlines. The DGCA and the BCAS are expected to issue fresh guidelines to manage the situation. Sources said a note was found in the rest room of one of the airlines warning of a bomb in a flight. However, all the threats were fake. Sources said IndiGo, Akasa, Vistara, Air India, SpiceJet and Alliance Air received five threats each. The civil aviation ministry is reviewing regulations to introduce harsher penalties. The authorities are contemplating a five-year prison sentence and placing offenders on a no-fly list. At present, hoax bomb threats are dealt with under existing criminal laws. The Centre is exploring legal options to P4 introduce a deterrent.  J&K statehood step closer with lieutenant guv’s nod Faya z W a n i @ Srinagar PAVING the way for the restoration of statehood for Jammu & Kashmir, the Union territory’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has cleared the resolution passed by the Omar Abdullah-led Cabinet in this regard. “The restoration of statehood will be the beginning of a healing process, reclaiming the constitutional rights and protecting the identity of people of Jammu and Kashmir,” a statement issued on Saturday read. It noted that the J&K Cabinet has passed a resolution urging the Union government to restore the statehood. The Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of CM Omar Abdullah in Srinagar on Thursday, had passed a unanimous resolution for restoration of statehood in its original form. The Centre had on August 5, Resolution silent on restoration of A370 The Omar Abdullah-led Cabinet’s resolution only mentions full statehood for J&K and does not talk about restoring Article 370, triggering protests from other J&K parties which accused NC of reneging on poll promise 2019 scrapped J&K’s special status and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union territories—Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature). “The Cabinet has authorised the CM to take up the matter with the Prime Minister and Government of India for restoration of statehood,” an official spokesman said. He said protection of Jammu and Kashmir’s unique identity and the constitutional rights of people remains the cornerstone of the newly elected government’s policy . E x p r e s s  New s  Se r v i c e  @ Kannur C Krishna Kumar K Balakrishnan The death of Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu and the alleged role of former Kannur district panchayat president P P Divya have created differences within the CPM. The DYFI state leadership stated that the organisation does not have reasons to disbelieve the complaint raised by Divya, who had levelled allegations against the ADM. However, the CPM Pathanamthitta district committee is standing solidly with the family of the deceased, rejecting the position of the DYFI. “What we have with us is a copy of a complaint. We don’t have to disbelieve Divya, who was with us in the organisa- Kannur: Collector Arun K Vijayan on Saturday said he was not the organiser of the farewell function organised at the collectorate on October 14, in which P P Divya reprimanded ADM Naveen Babu. The collector, however, refused to answer the question whether he had invited Divya to the function. P7 tion,” DYFI state president V Vaseef and secretary V K Sanoj told a press conference. They said an investigation is going on into the incident. “The CPM has taken a decision. The party has asked Divya to stay away during the investigation,” Vaseef said. However, CPM Pathanamthitta district secretary K P Udayabhanu said the party cannot accept such a stand coming from any organisation. m u r d e r - f o r - hi r e U.S. charges bogus, claims Vikash Yadav’s counsel U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi ton of emotions on display sarfaraz on song India’s Sarfaraz Khan scored 150, his maiden Test ton, on Day 4 vs New Zealand in the first Test in Bengaluru on Saturday advantage nz Despite Sarfaraz’s heroics, the Kiwis still have the upper hand as they need just 107 runs on Day 5 to go 1-0 up in the series pant support Rishabh Pant also delighted the home crowd but just missed out on a hundred. Pant & Sarfaraz put on a 177-run partnership Legal rarity: Court takes trial to residence of ailing witness In a rare occurrence, a witness in the Pantheerankavu Maoist case trial was examined by court at his home in Dharmadom, Kannur. Govindan, 85, the 56th witness, was questioned on October 10. Govindan, a key witness of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), had conveyed his inability to travel to Kochi for the trial due to age-related ailments. Consequently senior , public prosecutor Arjun Ambalapatta requested the NIA court to invoke a provision under section 284 of the CrPC to examine the witness outside court. The court consented and appointed a commission under a judicial first class magistrate in Kannur to examine Govindan as a witness at his residence. “As part of the examination, the prosecution team, including NIA officers, staff of the NIA court, defence counsels and two prime accused, Alan Suhaib and Thwaha Fazal, who are on bail, Udayabhanu told reporters that he is unaware of the DYFI’s stand. “The CPM has a single stand on the issue. We stand with the family Divya has been . removed from the post and a case has been re gistered against her for abetment of suicide. The responsibility of the investigation has been taken away from the district collector. The government and the party will go ahead with action against Divya,” he said. It was inappropriate on Divya’s part to bring media to a private function, he said, adding that the party’s state leadership and Kannur committee will decide on the future course of action. Asked whether anyone in the CPM has any role in the conspiracy he said it is up , to the party to examine those things. Right from the beginning, the Pathanamthitta committee has taken a strong stand that action should be taken against Divya for abetting the suicide of Naveen Babu. Party area committee member and CITU leader Malayalapuzha Mohan had alleged there was a conspiracy in holding the farewell function though Naveen Babu was not keen on it. ● More on P7 vinod kumar t P a n th e e r a n k a v u M a o i s t C a s e To b y A n t o n y @ Kochi PLUS 12 PAGES Not the organiser of farewell function: Collector E x p r e s s New s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Navya Haridas The Sound of Music ADM’s death: Differences crop up in CPM Navya Haridas is BJP’s pick for Wayanad bypoll The BJP on Saturday announced its candidates for the by-elections to Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency and Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly seats. The party fielded Navya Haridas, Mahila Morcha state general secretary in Wayanad , against Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The party national leadership also announced the candidature of state general secretary C Krishna Kumar in the Palakkad assembly constituency and K Balakrishnan in the Chelakkara reserved constituency The elections will be held . on November 13 and counting is slated for November 23. Navya, the youth face of the BJP in Malabar, is a two-time representative of the party in Kozhikode corporation. She also serves as the BJP parliamentary party leader in the corporation. The party fielded her from Kozhikode South in the 2021 assembly election, where she finished third. The Wayanad seat fell vacant after Leader of Opposition in the LS Rahul Gandhi vacated the seat. The CPI has fielded senior leader Sath● More on P7 yan Mokeri in the constituency  . WITH THIS ISSUE Adding 1 Centre considers teeth framing a punitive to law to deal with law hoax bomb callers reached the residence of Govindan. Moreover, arrangement was made for co-accused Melethil Usman and Vijith Vijayan, who are currently in jail, to attend the proceeding by videoconference,” a defence lawyer said. Under CrPC 284, trial witnesses are usually taken to a magistrate court near their residence where they are examined. It’s uncommon to see a trial being conducted at the residence of the witness. The session started with the chief examination at 2pm, before the defence lawyers wound up their cross-examination around 5 pm. “It was a small house. The magistrate, witness, lawyers, other officials and accused persons took up the living room. Apart from Govindan, his daughter and a few close relatives were present at the house,” the lawyer said. The crucial NIA witness was slated to testify that first accused Alan knew Usman and Vijith. According to the central agency, as an LLB student in Kannur, Alan rented Govindan’s residence, and that Usman and Vijith visited him there. The defence counsels maintain that Alan never knew Usman and Vijith. The examination of other witnesses is continuing at the NIA court in Kochi. Thwaha and Alan were arrested from Pantheerankavu in November 2019 for allegedly holding a clandestine Maoist meeting outside a shop in Kozhikode. A month later, NIA took over the probe and arrested Vijith and Usman. The counsel of former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer Vikash Yadav on Saturday termed the charges brought against his client by the US law enforcement agencies as bogus and part of an international ploy to defame India. “He (Vikash Yadav) is being deliberately framed. It appears that all this is an international plot to defame India and the country’s top intelligence agencies,” advocate R K Handoo told this newspaper. Yadav, a former government officer, was indicted by the US authorities for his alleged role in a foiled murder-forhire plot against Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil. In a completely unrelated case of ex- Clean tortion, Yadav was arrested by the Delhi record Police in December last year and lodged The interim bail in Tihar Jail for four months till he got order by a Delhi regular bail. The extortion-cum-kidnap- court referred to ping case was registered by the Special Yadav as “an Cell of the Delhi Police on the complaint ex-government of a businessman in Delhi’s Rohini. employee having The FIR said Yadav demanded money clean antecedents” in the name of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, forced the victim to sign a blank cheque, took `50,000 from his cafe and deleted all CCTV recordings there. As for the US indictment, advocate Handoo denied all allegations and said that if anyone reads the charges from a proper perspective, they would understand that all of them are fallacious. “As I understand being his lawyer, Vikash is a decent, well-read, and well-cultured man. I cannot fathom that he can be involved in any such activity Handoo said. ,” express read Sabarimala witnesses unprecedented rush Mamata dials medics to break RG Kar deadlock Sabarimala: The Sabarimala temple, which is open for five-day monthly poojas, witnessed an unprecedented rush of devotees on Saturday, with thousands of pilgrims waiting in long queues for hours for their turn to have darsan. P7 Kolkata: A day after junior doctors threatened to go for complete cease-work in all government and private hospitals in West Bengal, CM Mamata Banerjee on Saturday appealed to protesting medics over the phone to withdraw their fast unto-death. P10