Justice Puttaswamy passes away at 98 K S Puttaswamy 8 Feb 1926 - 28 Oct 2024 kochi l tuesday l october 29, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION The former Karnataka High Court judge was the lead petitioner who moved the Supreme Court in 2012 challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme. Based on his plea, a nine-judge bench of the SC declared the right to privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution, in August 2017 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 rages; CMO alleges collusion between UDF and Sangh parivar E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram / Thrissur 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 refuted allegation that he played a role in hampering the festivities and called for a CBI probe into the fiasco. The accusation that the Opposition UDF was siding with the Sangh parivar to establish the festivities were disrupted was levelled in a press release issued by the chief minister’s office (CMO) on Monday . It came a day after the CPI , an LDF constituent, openly disagreed with the CM’s stance that there was very little disruption caused to the pooram. Though it targets the UDF and the Sangh parivar, the CMO’s release is widely seen as an oblique retort to CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam, who disagreed with Pinarayi’s earlier statement that except for the slight delay in the fireworks display there was not much dis, ruption to the festivities. The CPI had alleged an RSS conspiracy behind the disruption and demanded a probe into it. “The government has always stuck to the stance that the pooram was not disrupted, but that there were attempts to disrupt it. This was clarified in the cabinet meeting that ordered a probe and also in the assembly,” the CMO release stated. It added that all aspects related to the pooram were being probed and officials will be brought to book if they are found to be involved in any wrongdoing. The CMO asserted that the government was engaged in efforts to ensure that the pooram is conducted in a flawless manner in the coming years. It said the Sangh parivar has always been interested in using Thrissur Pooram and other festivities for communal ● More on P4 gains.  express read CPM worker’s murder: 4 RSS men get life term Kannur: The Thalassery Additional Sessions Court 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 C50,000 each on the convicts. P4 Census likely in early 2025 Speculation on Lok Sabha seat delimitation; Key NDA ally TDP demands policy revamp RA J E S H K U M AR T H AK U R a n d P r eeth 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, former chief statistician Pronab Sen said the delimitation article 82 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; 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 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 March-April 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. 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. The state shoudn’t be punished for that. We want consultations with the government and various other stakeholders in reworking the policy he said. ,” As for the other demand on caste census, no decision has been taken on it yet. Year 2025 will represent the start of a new Census cycle — 2025-2035, 2035-2045. The exercise will begin with the updation of the National Register of Citizens. Two get life term for Thenkurissi honour killing E x p r e s s Ne w s Se 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 tied the knot in 2020. The fact that Aneesh belonged to a lower caste and was from 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 ● More on P4 out the arrests.  Growth of AI disrupting jobs: FinMin 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 Department of Economic Affairs under 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 September. The Economic Survey 202324, tabled in Parliament in July , had also flagged concerns of companies turning to AI tools to replace human talent. “While AI has considerable potential for boosting productivity it also , has the potential to disrupt employment in certain sectors,” the survey had said. The report said there was a 7% decline in job opportunities in September 2024 compared to September 2023. 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 growth and continued ascent in AI/Machine Learning roles. However, hiring trends were largely favourable for experience-holders, while professionals with 0-3 years of experience saw a 7% decline in job opportunities visa-vis September 2023,” it said. 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express