kochi l thursday l November 28, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Guns silent as Israel-Hezbollah truce takes effect in lebanon Lebanese army moves to hezbollah’s turf The ceasefire deal, which calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting, requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. With the deal taking effect, the Lebanese military started reinforcing its presence in the country’s south, where Hezbollah fighters have long held sway | P9 The ceasefire, brokered by the US and France to end 13 months of fighting, appeared to be holding on Wednesday Hundreds of refugees head home to south ■ ■ Hundreds of displaced south Lebanon residents headed home from Beirut and other cities, ignoring warnings from the Lebanese military that Israeli forces were yet to complete withdrawal from some areas With its ally Hezbollah silencing the guns, Hamas on Wednesday said it is ready for ceasefire and prisoner-exchange talks with Israel 3,760 people killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months 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 Maha power end game in sight Shinde drops out of the CM race, says any call by Modi, Shah will be acceptable to his party Talks with Shah S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday appeared to withdraw from the leadership race of the new gover nment in Maharashtra, claiming he was not an obstacle, adding any decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah will be acceptable for him and his Shiv Sena. The statement came after the BJP top brass in Delhi requested him to yield. “Shinde was told that they cannot disappoint the BJP rank and file who want to see their leader as chief minister, since the party was just 13 short of a simple majority in the assembly Shinde was . Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar persuaded to look at the larger picture,” a source said requesting anonymity . Clearing the air at a press meet in Thane, Shinde said, “I spoke with the prime minister and Union minister Amit Shah and informed them that whatever decision is taken by them will be acceptable to me and my party Even if I am not made ... CM, I will not be unhappy .” Reacting to Shinde’s an- Shinde, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar are expected to fly to Delhi to meet Shah to discuss modalities of government formation. The new CM may continue to have two deputy CMs nouncement, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said, “We in the Mahayuti have always made decisions together. A few people had doubts, which Shinde ji has clarified. Soon we will meet our leaders and make the decision.” Shinde, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar are expected to fly to Delhi to meet Shah. While Fadnavis is the frontrunner for heading the government, it might not be done deal, claim sources. Consider this: NCP and Shiv Sena have elected Ajit Pawar and Shinde as their legislative party leader respectively, but BJP has yet to take that call. “The top brass is exploring other options as they want to break the Vidarbha versus Western Maharashtra matrix. They are looking to promote an alternative leadership from North Maharashtra,” the source said. Its dark horses from North Maharashtra include Girish Mahajan and Radha Krishna VikhePatil. While Mahajan is close to Fadnavis, Vikhe-Patil has a good equation with Shah. “The names of some women leaders are also in circulation.” Adani row: Oppn turns up heat, disrupts House 1,458 staffers drawing social security pension illegally; state orders action P REETHA N AIR @ New Delhi @T’Puram THE Adani row continued to rock Parliament on Wednesday as neither the Lok Sabha nor the Rajya Sabha could transact any business. Both Houses were adjourned till Thursday . As soon as the House met for the day, Opposition members were on their feet demanding discussion on bribery charges against the Adani conglomerate, Manipur unrest, and the recent violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal. Several Opposition members including Congress’ Manickam Tagore K C Venugopal and Manish Tewari moved adjournment motions to discuss the Adani controversy. As the members resorted to sloganeering, Speaker Om Birla asked them to allow the Question Hour, adding they can discuss their issues later. With the Opposition refusing to relent, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon amid the ruckus. As the protests continued after the House was reconvened, the Chair adjourned it for a day . 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express Express News Service Unearthing a major fraud, the finance department has identified 1,458 government employees, including gazetted officers, assistant professors, and higher secondary teachers, who were drawing social security pension illegally . In light of the revelation, Finance Minister K N Balagopal has ordered strict disciplinary action against the erring employees. The government has decided to recover the money from them with interest. Sources in the department said the illegal beneficiaries were receiving pensions that could be claimed before attaining the age of 60. “These are pensions for the disabled people, unmarried and widows. There could be beneficiaries who enrolled in the scheme before getting a government job. However, they continued to draw pension after employment, which is illegal and punishable,” said an officer. The two assistant professors in the list work in government colleges in Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad. Three illegal beneficiaries are higher secondary teachers. Health department had the highest number of illegal beneficiaries (373). The Information Kerala Mission identified the illegal beneficiaries on the finance department’s instructions. The department said the checks would continue to ascertain whether there are more ineligible people. The department resumed the checks in the wake of a rise in social security pension scheme applicants. Also, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had informed the assembly that the pension amount would be hiked. In e l ig ib le benef iciaries 1,458 govt employees; includes 2 asst profs, 3 higher secondary school teachers Depts with highest number of offenders Health: 373 Gen Edu: 224 Med Edu: 124 Indian Systems of Medicine: 114 Animal Husbandry: 74 Public Works: 47 Beneficiaries draw pension under five categories: Old age, disability, unmarried women aged above 50, agricultural labourers and widow or destitute As per CM Pinarayi Vijayan, social security pension scheme has 62L beneficiaries. The previous LDF government spent E30,567.9 cr on pension payments in 5 years Oppn, BJP on same page Waqf Bill JPC to seek extension till Budget Session P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi With BJP members of a Joint Parliamentary Committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill joining the extension chorus, the panel will request Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to extend its tenure until the Budget Session, 2025. The panel was scheduled to submit its report by the first week of the ongoing session of Parliament. This paper was the first to report on November 10 that the Modi government, under pressure from allies Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and JD(U), may buy more time to table the revised Waqf Bill in Parliament and that the panel may seek more time to submit the report. On Wednesday, amid Opposition protests, BJP members Nishikant Dubey and Aparajita Sarangi urged panel chairman Jagadambika Pal to request the Speaker to postpone the submission of the committee report until the Budget Session. This came after the Opposition members boycotted the meeting saying the chair man w a s ke e n t o close proceedings by the November 29 dead- line in a hurry Speaking to . the media later, Pal said, “Nishikant Dubey and others said since we have to invite and hear some other stakeholders and state officials, we need an extension. I will consider this and then we will bring a resolution before Lok Sabha tomorrow or the day after.” Earlier, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, DMK’s A Raja, AAP’s Sanjay Singh and TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee said the panel chairman was keen to wrap up the proceedings by the November 29 deadline without following due process. “The Speaker had indicated the committee could be given an extension, but it appeared that some “big minister” was directing Pal’s actions,” alleged Gogoi. Sanjay Singh said the panel hasn’t heard the governments of Delhi, J&K, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. “States that have maximum Waqf property weren’t called, including Delhi. Seven people died in Sambhal for Waqf property They are . not taking things seriously said ,” Kalyan Banerjee. You read it first here on November 10 Stars collide Dhanush sues Nayanthara & Vignesh for I1 cr Suit filed over unauthorised use of behind-the-scenes clips of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in Nayanthara’s Netflix documentary | P5 Rescue works underway at the ancient site of Lothal after a pit dug to collect soil collapsed | special arrangement IITian dies as research pit in Lothal caves in D i l i p S i ng h K s h at r i ya @ Ahemedabad A IIT Delhi researcher who went to collect soil samples from the ancient Harappan civilization site of Lothal in Gujarat died after the cliff of a pit, dug to collect the samples, collapsed and buried four persons in a pile of soil on Wednesday . A team of researchers from IIT Delhi and IIT Gandhinagar descended into a 15-foot-deep pit dug using an excavator near an under-construction maritime museum at the archeological site, about 80 km from Ahmedabad. As they were collecting the samples, the cliff of the pit caved in burying them in soil. Surabhi Verma, a 23-year-old PhD scholar at IIT Delhi died on the spot. Yama Dixit, a 45-yearold geologist, also from IIT Delhi, sustained serious injuries and is under treatment at Bagodra government hospital. Bagodra police have launched an investigation into the incident. Situated near Sargwala village in Dholka taluka of Ahmedabad district, Lothal was a port town and a significant centre of the Indus Valley civilisation. This historical site was discovered in November 1954, and extensive excavations have since been conducted. HC asks SIT to submit case diary, statement Govt puts speculation to rest, decides against raising retirement age E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @Kochi E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @T’Puram Other decisions The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the death of former Kannur ADM Naveen Babu to produce the case diary and file a statement. Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas issued the order on the petition filed by Naveen’s wife Manjusha seeking a CBI probe into the mystery surrounding her husband’s death. Her counsel sought an interim directive Naveen Babu to the SIT to not file the final report, but the court declined. “On mere apprehension that proper investigation will not happen, there is no need to restrain them from filing the final report,” said the court. It will hear the case on December 6. Manjusha submitted that the possibility of a homicidal hanging could not be ruled out. She said identifying those who interacted with Naveen after the farewell function — during which he was criticised by former Kannur district panchayat president P P Divya — was crucial to un● More on P4 earth the truth.  Putting speculation to rest, the state government has decided not to raise the retirement age of gover nment employees. The cabinet on Wednesday approved the recommendations, with some amendments, of the secretary-level committee headed by the chief secretary that examined the recommendations of the fourth A d m i n i s t r a t ive Re f o r m s Commission. The previous revision was done in 2012 when the then UDF government raised the retirement age from 55 to 56 years. It applied to employees appointed before April 1, 2013, who come under the Old Pension Scheme or ‘pay-as-you-go with defined benefits’. The commission had recommended raising their retirement age to 60, but the government has decided against it. Those recruited after April 1, 2013, come under the National Pension System in which the retirement age is 60 years. It was speculated that the state government, in view of the financial crisis, may raise the retirement age, and that a decision to this effect would be announced in the coming state Appointments to posts reserved for persons with disabilities should be speeded up, for which clarity will be given on posts suitable for them and the qualifications to be fixed ADM’s death nature’s fury Waves crash into the rocky shore at Kasimedu fishing harbour in Chennai on Wednesday. A cyclone is expected to cross the Tamil Nadu coast on November 30 | Ashwin prasath false claim Aravana in Muthappan’s name: Fake, says temple EX P RESS N EWS SERVICE @Kannur Even deities are not safe from conniving traders. The sale of aravana payasam by some shopkeepers, claiming it is the prasadam (sacred offering) of Parassinikadavu Muthappan, in Kannur has sparked concern among devotees. The rampant sale of aravana by some shops near the temple in the deity’s name has prompted authorities of the Parassini Madappura Sree Muthappan temple to step in and issue a clarification. “News related to Parassini Madappura Sree Muthappan is being circulated on social media. The mention of aravana payasam in the news has resulted in misunderstanding among devotees,” a release from the temple said. “Only steamed kidney beans and coconut ker nel pieces are offered to Muthappan. Parassini Madappura has no connection with the traders doing business in the name of Sri Muthappan Aravana Payasam,” the release said. The management has also served a notice on shops selling the aravana payasam. “It has been a few weeks since these shops started selling aravana payasam to devotees. As soon as we came to know about it, we issued a notice to the shop owners to remove the temple’s name from payasam containers. We do not want to create misunderstanding among devotees,” said a source close to the temple authorities. Meanwhile, the temple management has suspended Balakrishnan Peruvannan, the ‘koladhari’ who perfor ms Muthappan theyyam, after a video of him blessing devotees while not in theyyam attire went viral on social media. “A video of a koladhari of Parassini Madappura, who is misleading devotees by giving blessings while not wearing a kolam without the permission or consent of the Madappura authorities for selfish reasons, is circulating on social media. The Madappura authorities have taken action against the koladhari. Devotees should be vigilant against such anti-traditional activities that tarnish the name of the Madappura,” the release said. Disciplinary action against staff should be completed one month before retirement Posts created for special purposes will be abolished after purpose is served. Its staff to be redeployed in departments with requirement budget. However, youth organisations affiliated to different political parties had urged the government against raising the age, saying it would adversely affect those waiting for government jobs. Candidates figuring in various PSC rank lists had also urged the government to speed up appointments. Two years ago, the government had uniformly raised the retirement age of employees in all state public sector units to 60. However, it backtracked following widespread protests from various corners, including Left-affiliated youth ● More on P4 outfits.