kannur l tuesday l may 07, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Hamas accepts Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal to halt war Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Monday informed Qatar and Egypt that his group accepts their proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza Israeli delegation skipped peace talks Ball in Israel’s court, more pressure on Bibi Details of the proposal were not immediately released. But Egyptian and Hamas officials have said the ceasefire would take place in stages and Hamas would release hostages in exchange for Israel troop pullout from Gaza. There was no immediate reaction from Israel, which did not send a delegation to Cairo for talks, and is opposed to withdrawing its troops from Gaza ■ ■ Hamas’ acceptance of the deal is nonetheless expected to put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, especially if its proposes release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza Also, it would make it more difficult for the Israeli government to justify a ground operation in southern Gaza’s Rafah | p9 1,00,000 Palestinians in Rafah were ordered by Israel to leave the town 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 Harikumar’s movies pulsated with life & emotion A pa r n a Na i r @ T’Puram For him, the middle path held a world of possibility. By traversing the path flanked by commercial success and critical acclaim, Harikumar went on a unique journey unearthing tid, bits of life and capturing them in frames of human emotion. His death on Monday, after a long fight with cancer, adds to the list of Malayalam cinema’s stellar talents who have bid adieu. The director-screenwriter leaves behind an array of films, including Sukrutham, Udhyanapalakan, Ezhunnallathu and Khalistan funds Delhi L-G calls for NIA probe against Kejriwal A s h i s h s r i v a s ta v a @ New Delhi Lieutenant Governor of Delhi V K Saxena on Monday recommended a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, citing an allegation that his Aam Aadmi Party received funding from the banned pro-Khalistan group, Sikhs for Justice. The L-G’s recommendation comes amid the Supreme Court’s indication that it may consider giving bail to Kejriwal in view of the Lok Sabha polls. In a letter written to the Union home ministry, the L-G said his recommendation is based on a complaint h e re c e ive d about the AAP receiving $16 million from Khalistani groups for facilitating the release of Devendra Pal Bhullar, who was convicted for his role in the 1993 blast in Delhi. The complaint mentioned by the L-G was filed by Ashoo Mongia, the national general secretary of the World Hindu Federation, referring to a video in which Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun mentioned that the AAP took money from pro-Khalistani groups between 2014 and 2022. Saxena also mentioned a letter written by Kejriwal to activist Iqbal Singh in 2014, saying his government has recommended to the President to release Bhullar. Hitting back, AAP called him a BJP’s agent. “The BJP is losing all the seven seats in Delhi, hence it is upset,” a senior AAP leader said. Ayanam, for fans of the medium to cherish. Harikumar’s tryst with films started early, in his own words, through books that gave him not just perspective but values that shaped his art of storytelling. “I am more interested in how a story is told than the story itself,” he once said in an interview. His contemporaries remember him for his qualities of ambition and hardwork, a filmmaker who made movies that bore the scent of life and upheld values, and above all as a friend. “I worked with him on his first movie Ambal Poovu. He didn’t strike me as a newcomer. In- stead he displayed a seasoned grip of the subject matter and his craft,” says actor Jalaja, who went on to act in another of his movies, Oru Swakaryam sharing screen space with Venu Nagavally . Stakes high for Kharge, BSY, NCP in Phase 3 BJP sees it as one of consolidation; 30-40 seats to witness triangular contests today RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR and Devaraj B Hirehalli @ New Delhi/ Bengaluru The electoral fate of half-a-dozen Union ministers and two former chief ministers will be sealed on Wednesday in the third phase of the general elections is 93 constituencies in 11 states and Union territories. The BJP sees the third phase as one of consolidation as compared to the first two phases. Prominent among the heavyweight candidates in this phase are Union home minister Amit Shah in Gandhinagar, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia (Guna), former Madhya seats for which Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh polling will be (Rajgarh), NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar)’s Supriya Sule (Baramati) and Adhir Ranheld in 11 states/UTs jan Choudhary (Berhampur). In Uttar Pradesh, representatives of the Mulayam Singh Yadav clan are contesting in this phase — Dimple Yadav from Maincandidates including around 120 puri, Akshaya Yadav, son of Ram Gopal women, in the fray Yadav, from Firozabad and Aditya Yadav, son of Shivpal Yadav, from Budaun. In Karnataka, the last of the 14 seats will go to polls in what is being seen as a people eligible to vote high-stakes battle for Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. For, most of the seats Entire Gujarat are in North Karnataka, which is regardand Goa, 11 seats in ed as his home turf. The elections are Maharashtra, 10 in equally important for former chief minisUP, 14 in Karnataka, ter B S Yediyurappa, whose son Vijayen7 in Chhattisgarh, 5 in dra is the state BJP president. Bihar, 4 each in Assam Prominent among those in the fray in and West Bengal to go Karnataka are former CMs Basavaraj to polls Bommai (Haveri) and Jagadish Shettar (Belgaum), Union ministers Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and Bhagwant Khuba (Bidar), Yediyurappa’s son Raghavendra (Shivamogga) and Kharge’s son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani (Gulbarga SC). According to sources, around 30-40 constituencies in the third phase will witness triangular contests, giving sitting Lok Sabha members a really tough time. Most of the sitting MPs are from the ruling BJP . Phase 3 factoids 93 For veteran filmmaker Shaji N Karun, Harikumar was part of the golden age of Malayalam cinema, when films were hallmarks of the doyens of the art. “The films of the period bore the signature of the minds that made them. Harikumar was emblematic of the times. He had a unique way of choosing subjects. He was planning his next project when death came calling,” Shaji said. As a member of several state and national award juries, he also had the role of guiding others on movies that deserve to be highlighted. “The films that were selected with his inputs India’s medical support for Paris Olympics: Sleep therapist, physios, recovery room and air coolers sion to have a proper medical team like some of the bigger THE Indian Olympic Associa- squads (Germany US and Ja, tion (IOA) have made elabo- pan). What used to happen is rate plans to take a battery of our physiotherapists used to support staff including a sleep be there, we did have a physitherapist and a small army of cian who would help with physiotherapists to help the services but we didn’t have a Indian contingent at full (medical) team. the Paris Games. clusive Whenever somebody Unlike in the previhad an injury, they ous Games, they will would do an MRI and also get a full-fledged recovery contact me here. But it’s diffiroom. The advantages include cult to do it online.” The well-equipped recovery cryotherapy chambers and ice baths to help athletes recover room will be a first-of-its-kind faster in their quest for Olym- for Indian athletes. “When you are doing high-level sports, pic glory . “This year,” Dinshaw Pardi- you require a full support syswala, the Chief Medical Of- tem,” Pardiwala, who has ficer (CMO) of the delegation, mended the bones of almost said, “the IOA took the deci- every medal-winning Indian S w a r o o p s w a m i n at h a n @ Mumbai Dinshaw Pardiwala, head of Centre for Sports Medicine at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai Olympian in the 21st century, said. “Although the Olympic Village has a polyclinic and some physiotherapy services, it’s difficult when you have 10000 athletes and 12 ice baths.” He was very elaborate when speaking about the need for a sleep therapist in the modern world. At least some of it has Court bins plea for probe against CM, daughter 1,300 T’Puram: In a major relief to CM Pinarayi Vijayan, the Vigilance Court on Monday rejected a petition filed by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadanthe legislator seeking a probe against the CM and his daughter Veena T on the allegation that they had received a monthly payment from CMRL in return for favouring the operations of the firm. 11 crore Illustration: Mandar Pardi kar BI J AY C H A K I @ Kendrapara From left: Jay Panda (BJP), Anshuman Mohanty (BJD), Siddharth Swarup Das (Cong) the son of Nalini Kanta Mohanty a former min, ister and close aide of Biju Patnaik, and Siddharth Swarup Das of the Congress, a new face with no experience of fighting election at this level. As one traverses through Kendrapara, the election fervour seems to be conspicuous by its absence. There is no perceptible tilt, but scratch the surface and there is a simmer for change, particularly in the rural parts. “No doubt, the BJD and its leaders have done good work in the constituency But we should . also examine what other political parties are offering. Baijayant Panda is a known leader nationally,” said Biraja Das, a paan shop owner at Chhapali square under Mahakalapada Assembly segment. The sentiment was echoed by to do with the Paris Games’ desire to be carbon-neutral. “It’s also going to be important because the Games have decided that they won’t have air-conditioning in the Village as they would like to go green.” India, like some of the other contingents, are planning to take their air cooling units but the sleep therapist will act as a backstop in case this plan doesn’t work out. “The process is going on, we have requested ACs. If that doesn’t happen, we will have to manage our own air cooling systems. In case there’s a heat wave, it will be difficult to adjust at the last minute. So, we have taken that factor into consideration also (to have a sleep therapist).” EXPRESS READ Case against mayor, MLA on driver’s plea L 30 crore and counting Enforcement Directorate officials counting unaccounted cash to the tune of over C30 crore recovered from the premises of Jahangir Alam, the domestic help of Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam’s secretary Sanjiv Lal, in Ranchi on Monday | pti It’s Modi factor vs Biju legacy in Kendrapara WHEN BJP’s national vicepresident Baijayant Jay Panda was named the party candidate for the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat, the question on everyone’s mind was if he could make it this time. Panda had won twice from the seat in 2009 and 2014 as a BJD candidate. But electoral success seems to have deserted him after he joined the saffron party Once a close confidant of . Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Panda switched over to the BJP in 2019 after a bitter fallout with the BJD chief. He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election as a BJP candidate but was trounced by Odia film star Anubhav Mohanty fielded by the BJD. This time, Panda is locked in a triangular contest with Anshuman Mohanty of the BJD, were indeed richer in content. His absence will be felt in selecting movies that will set an example or benchmark for good cinema,” Shaji added. Noted lyricist and Harikumar’s friend Prabha Varma feels the beauty of his movies was in their lyrical quality “They were . culled from life and portrayed such sensitivity that they elevated the craft of storytelling to a different level,” he says. Harikumar’s movies straddled the path between ‘parallel’ cinema and commercial films and remained aesthetically qualified to belong to both gen● More on P4 res. another voter. “The time has come for a change. The same party has been ruling for too long. Development is too slow,” said Sadasiv Patra of Pospura. Basic issues such as roads, water, hospitals, schools, and unemployment are on top of voters’ mind. However, voting behaviour is more inclined to emotion and attachment, where problemsolving becomes secondary As . a youth in Kendrapara town put it — the fight is between the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Biju legacy. The legacy has held strong since former CM and Naveen’s father Biju Patnaik made Kendrapara his seat and won it thrice in 1977, 1980 and 1984. The baton was passed on to the BJD, which has held it since 1998 after it came into being. Can Panda breach the BJD bastion and help the BJP gain a foothold in coastal Odi● More on P9 sha? T’Puram: The Cantonment police has registered a case against mayor Arya Rajendran and K M Sachin Dev, MLA, under nonbailable section in connection with the road rage incident. Considering the KSRTC driver’s plea, the JFM Court instructed the police to register the case. High command not keen to reinstate Sudhakaran as state Congress chief C y n t h i a C h a n d r a n @ T’Puram Pouring cold water on K Sudhakaran’s plan to resume charge as the state Congress chief immediately, the party national leadership has advised him to be patient. The high command’s edict has come at a time when the air is thick with speculations that the old warhorse is unlikely to be reinstated as the Cong ress president in Kerala. The Congress leadership claims there is no confusion on bringing back the 75-year-old leader at the helm of state Congress. But sources say there’s a concerted effort by a section of leaders to block his reentry. They want interim president M M Hassan to continue in of- fice till June 4. A peeved Sudhakaran has repeatedly sought AICC general secretary K C Venugopal’s view on the issue. Venugopal has apparently asked Sudhakaran’s emissary M Liju to wait till the third phase election gets over on Tuesday. Following this, Sudhakaran cancelled his scheduled hospital visits for eye treatment. While Venugopal has asked Sudhakaran to wait for a few more days, AICC general secretary in-charge of the state Deepa Dasmunshi is adamant that he should wait until the LS poll procedure gets over on June 4. An AICC leader told TNIE that it’s evident that even if UDF makes a clean sweep or not, they don’t want Sudhakaran to walk away with the credit. This has not only dampened the spirits of Sudhakaran, but has left him deeply upset. Meanwhile, he took to Facebook on Monday stating that he is not in a hurry to resume his role. “I’ve never gone after positions when I had worked for the party, compromising on my life, spanning several decades. Whenever the Congress high command asks me to resume my role, I will take over it. I’m in no hurry to take over,” wrote ● More on P4 Sudhakaran. I’ve never gone after positions when I had worked for the party, compromising on my life, spanning several decades. Whenever the Congress high command asks me to resume my role, I will take over it K Sudhakaran, senior Congress leader
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