kollam l tuesday l october 29, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Former Karnataka hc judge K S Puttaswamy passes away K S Puttaswamy 8 Feb 1926 - 28 Oct 2024 Played lead role in RIGHT TO PRIVACY CASE Justice Puttaswamy, 98, was the lead petitioner who had moved the SC in 2012 challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme aDVOCATE turned EMINENT JURIST His petition played a pivotal role in declaration of right to privacy as a fundamental right by the Supreme Court. In a landmark verdict in August 2017, a nine-judge bench declared the right to privacy a fundamental right under Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution. The Aadhaar scheme subsequently received legislative sanction ■ ■ ■ SC underlined privacy to be “the constitutional core of human dignity” Born on February 8, 1926, Puttaswamy studied at Maharaja’s College, Mysore and obtained a law degree from Govt Law College, Bengaluru He was enrolled as an advocate in January 1952 and practised in Mysuru. He became the Karnataka High Court judge on November 28, 1977 2012 When justice Puttaswamy moved SC challenging the Aadhaar SCHEME 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 Pooram row: CM alleges collusion between UDF and Sangh parivar war against terror E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @T’Puram / Thrissur Infantry combat vehicles take position during a search operation following a terrorist attack on an army convoy, at Akhnoor sector in Jammu on Monday | PTI | P10 Census likely in early 2025 Speculation on LS seat delimitation; NDA ally TDP demands policy rejig RAJE S H K UMAR THA K UR a n d P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Strong indications from the Centre on Monday suggested that the much-delayed decadal Census exercise would begin in early 2025, potentially followed by the controversial delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies. Since Census is a humongous exercise, it will take over a year for it to be wrapped up and the report cannot be published before 2026. The year 2026 is significant because Article 82 of the Constitution says, “Provided also that until the relevant figures for the first Census taken after the year 2026 have been published, it shall not be necessary to readjust.” Speaking to this newspaper, The fine print former chief statistician Pronab Sen said the delimitation process can be carried out after completing the Census operations in 2026 if the government so desires. “We are at the end of 2024. If the process of Census starts today, the earliest you will be able to finish the exercise is by MarchApril 2026. It takes a year and a half just for preparation. The first step is house listing and it will take 7-8 months. Then the process of preparing for the Census begins. The Constitution says that the delimitation should be based on the first Census on or after 2026,” he said. Delimitation runs the risk of upsetting states in the South as they stand to lose political clout 82 article National Register of Citizens to be updated; no caste census clarity in the Lok Sabha for being successful in population control. Speaking to this paper, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), an NDA ally sought reworking of , the delimitation exercise. TDP MP and Parliamentary party leader Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu said, “The delimitation of Lok Sabha seats on the basis of population may lead to Andhra Pradesh losing out in representation as we successfully controlled population through family planning programmes. The state shoudn’t be punished for that. We want to have consultations with the government and various other stakeholders in reworking the policy he said. ,” As for the other demand on Upon the completion of each census, the allocation of seats in the House of the People to the States and the division of each State into territorial constituencies shall be readjusted by such authority and in such manner as Parliament may by law determine: including caste census, no decision has been taken on its yet. The government appears cautious about including caste data in the Census, possibly in view of assembly elections in states like Bihar. The Census originally scheduled for 2020-21, got delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Year 2025 will represent the start of a new Census cycle - 2025-2035, 2035-2045 and so on. The whole exercise will begin with the updation of the National Register of Citizens. Enumerators are expected to compile data on at least 31 heads, including household composition, amenities, demographic details like whether the head of the household belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. Provided further that such readjustment shall take effect from such date as President may, by order, specify and until such readjustment takes effect, any election to the House may be held on the basis of the territorial constituencies existing before such readjustment; Provided also that until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2026 have been published, it shall not be necessary to readjust (a) the allocation of seats in the House of the People to the States as readjusted on the basis of the 1971 census; and (b) the division of each State into territorial constituencies as may be readjusted on the basis of the 2001 census, under this article express read Hema report: 26 FIRs registered, state tells HC Kochi: The state government on Monday informed the Kerala High Court that 26 FIRs have been registered following revelations from the Justice K Hema Committee report. Additionally, 10 preliminary inquiries have been initiated based on directives from the Additional Director General of Police, Crime Branch. P4 ‘Tehran to respond firmly, effectively’ Tehran: Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Tehran would “respond firmly and effectively” to deadly Israeli strikes on military sites over the weekend. “We are using all available means to respond firmly,” it said. Two accused awarded life term in Thenkurissi honour killing E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Palakkad The two accused in the muchtalked-about Thenkurissi honour killing of Aneesh were awarded life imprisonment on Monday . Palakkad District Additional Sessions Court Judge R Vinayaka Rao issued the sentences to Suresh and Prabhu Kumar of Elamandam, the uncle and father respectively of Haritha, the wife of Aneesh. On Friday, the court had found the two guilty of the murder. It also imposed on both of them a fine of `50,000, which is to be paid to Haritha. On Christmas day of 2020, the duo attacked Aneesh with an iron rod and sharp weapons near the Manamkulam LP School, in Thenkurissi, Palakkad, as he was returning from work. He died on the way to hospital. Aneesh aka Appu, who was a painter by profession, and Haritha had been in love since their school days. They Aneesh tied the knot in 2020. The fact that Aneesh belonged to a lower caste and was from a less affluent background angered Haritha’s family. The shocking murder was carried out on the 88th day of their marriage. The testimony of Haritha, who stayed with her in-laws and led the legal fight, proved crucial in the case. The two accused were initially charged with murder, intimidation, evidence-tampering, conspiracy, and destruction of evidence by sub-inspector Anoop of Kuzhalmandam police. The investigation was supervised by DySP K M Devassia, who also carried out ● More on P4 the arrests.  The controversy over the alleged disruption of this year’s Thrissur pooram continues to rage with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan accusing the UDF and the Sangh parivar of attempting to derive political mileage from the issue. Meanwhile, Union Minister Suresh Gopi denied the allegation that he played a role in disrupting the festivities and called for a CBI probe into the pooram fiasco. The accusation that the Opposition UDF was siding with the Sangh parivar to establish that the festivities were disrupted was levelled through a press release issued by the chief minister’s office (CMO) on Monday It came a day after . the LDF-constituent CPI openly disagreed with the CM’s stance that not much disruption was caused to Thrissur Pooram. Though targeting the UDF and the Sangh Parivar, the CMO’s release was widely seen as an indirect reply to CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam who disagreed with Pinarayi’s earlier statement that not much disruption happened during the Pooram except that the firework display was delayed a little bit. The CPI had alleged an RSS conspiracy behind the disruption and demanded an investigation into it. “The government has al- A n o t h e r Ta t a j e w e l ED RAIDS Siddu’s 1st pvt plant for PREMISES ofothers close aide, military plane takes wings D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad This C-295 aircraft factory reflects the new work culture of New India Narendra Modi, prime minister Policy shift Under the C295 deal, 56 aircraft are to be delivered to the country. Sixteen of them will be supplied directly by Airbus from Spain. The remaining 40 will be produced in India by Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, according to an official press release After an impressive roadshow in Gujarat’s Vadodara, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez jointly inaugurated the Tata Advanced System Limited (TASL)-Airbus plant to manufacture C-295 military aircraft in the city . It is the country’s first assembly line where at least 18,000 components of the aircraft will be manufactured. “Till now we had the vision of Make in India, now proudly we extend it to Make in India, Make for the World,” Modi said in his address. Commissioning the project shows India’s work culture has changed for good, he said. The country cannot only commission project on time but can manufacture and deliver goods on time. In October 2022, the foundation stone of the project was laid, and within two years, work on production of a C-295 has started, he said. Modi also recalled that anothet plant to manufacture Bombardier train coaches was commissioned in record time. Now, coaches manufactured there are exported, proving India means business, he pointed out. For his part, Sanchez called the Tata group a “giant among giants”. “Today, we are not only officially inaugurating a cutting-edge industrial facility ...This partnership between Airbus and Tata will contribute to the progress of the Indian aerospace industry and will open new doors for the arrival of other European companies,” he said. Spain is an integral part of the Airbus consortium that represents values of cooperation, modernity and progress, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez during a roadshow in Gujarat’s Vadodara on Monday | PTI Growth of AI disrupting employment, says finance ministry report M o n i k a Ya d a v @ New Delhi The growing deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in several sectors is casting a shadow over employment stability in India, the Union finance ministry said in its monthly economic review. “Anecdotal reports of the deployment of Artificial Intelligence displacing workers are beginning to emerge. That needs watching,” said the report for the month of September, released on Monday . The Economic Survey 202324, tabled in Parliament in July, had also flagged concerns of more and more companies turning to AI tools to replace human talent. “While AI has considerable potential for boosting productivity, it also has the poten- ‘All well on the economic front’ The performance of the Indian economy has been satisfactory during the first half of the ongoing fiscal year but concerns remain with regard to demand conditions going forward, the finance ministry report said tial to disrupt employment in certain sectors,” said the survey. The survey had posited that routine tasks, including customer service, would likely witness a high degree of auto- mation while creative sectors would see extensive usage of AI tools for image and video creation. It called for political decisions to ensure the technology benefits everyone rath- ways stuck to the stance that the pooram was not disrupted, but there were attempts to disrupt it. This was clarified in the cabinet meeting that ordered a probe and also in the assembly the release from the ,” CMO stated. It added that all aspects related to the pooram were being probed and officials will be brought to book if they were found to be involved in any wrongdoing. The CMO also promised that the government was engaged in efforts to ensure that the pooram is conducted in a flawless manner in the coming years. The CMO alleged that the Sangh Parivar has always been interested in using Thrissur pooram and other festivities for communal gains. ● More on P4 er than creating disruptions across the board. Analysing hiring trends, the finance ministry’s report noted that there was a 7% decline in job opportunities in September 2024 compared to the same month last year. It said the Naukri JobSpeak index witnessed an annual growth of 6% in September 2024, driven by a resurgent IT sector. “Sectors such as FMCG and Oil & Gas also underwent significant growth and continued ascent in Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning roles. However, hiring trends were largely favourable for experience-holders, while professionals with 0-3 years of experience saw a 7 per cent decline in job opportunities vis-a-vis September 2023,” it said. The ED on Monday raided the residences of K’taka CM Siddaramaiah’s close aide, ex-MUDA officials, and a builder, to gather more documents on alleged irregularities in allocation of sites by MUDA Four RSS men get life term for murder of CPM worker E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kannur The Thalassery Additional Sessions Court (IV) on Monday sentenced four RSS workers to life imprisonment for the murder of Ashraf, 40, a CPM worker, in Thalassery in 2011. Judge J Vimal also imposed a fine of `50,000 on the convicts -- Pranu Babu, Nidheesh, Shijin and Ujesh (accused 1 to 4) . The court had found the accused guilty of murder, murder attempt, causing injury and wrongful restraint. Of the eight accused in the case, two -- Shijith and Sujithdied before the trial began. Two other accused, Binesh and M R Sreejith, have been acquitted citing lack of evidence. According to the court, the fine should be paid to Ashraf ’s family . As per the case, Ashraf, was attacked by the accused around 9.30am on May 19, 2011, while he was selling fish on the Kappummal--Subedar road in Thalassery The RSS-BJP members . allegedly killed him due to political enmity . According to the chargesheet, the accused persons assembled unlawfully armed with deadly , weapons, and committed rioting. They wrongfully restrained Ashraf, preventing his escape. Thereafter, they voluntarily inflicted grievous injuries and murdered Ashraf, it said. Ashraf was critically injured with wounds all over his body He died at 3.50am on May . 21 while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kozhikode. A total of 26 witnesses were examined by the prosecution in the court.