THRISSUR l saturday l may 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Medha Patkar convicted in 23-year-old defamation suit A Delhi court on Friday convicted the activist in a defamation case filed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena against her in Jan 2001 Case relates to 2000 press note ‘Inflammatory’ remarks against saxena Origins of the case date back to 2000 when Saxena, who was the chief of Ahmedabad-based NGO National Council for Civil Liberties, published an advertisement against Patkar’s Narmada Bachao Andolan, the movement that opposed construction of dams over Narmada river. In response, Patkar allegedly issued a strongly worded press notice in November 2000 ■ Saxena had filed the defamation suit before a court in Ahmedabad in 2001. It was transferred to Delhi in 2003 following a Supreme Court order ■ In the judgment delivered on Friday, Delhi’s Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma noted that Patkar’s “inflammatory” press note termed Saxena a “coward and not a patriot”, which was a direct attack on his character 2 years the activist may get a jail term of two years or fine or both as punishment 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 ICJ orders Israel to halt Rafah offensive No more ‘mass’ on waterlogged roads, KSRTC warns drivers K r i s h na K u m a r K E @Kochi As various parts of the state witnessed flooding following heavy rain and with the monsoon set to ring in soon, the Kerala State Road Transport Cor poration (KSRTC) has issued a set of “strict directions” to its drivers, cautioning them against “negotiating” deep, waterlogged sections, and restricting the maximum speed on a rainy day to 50 kmph. “Under no circumstances should buses be driven through waterlogged sections where water level rises near the foot-board level. This is to avoid hydroplaning (loss of traction between wheels and road). There is a risk of buses getting swept away by gushing flood water and the driver losing control of the vehicle,” read one of the nine instructions in the memorandum issued on May 23. “Tail pipes of buses should not get submerged lest it damage the engine and the vehicle turns off. Also, parts like rearaxle and air filter will be damaged,” said G D Pradeep, Executive Director (Operations), KSRTC. The directive comes in view of the 2018 flood, when at least a dozen KSRTC buses were damaged after water entered their engines. “That was when we first realised the seriousness of the issue. Though there were fewer such incidents in later years, we want the crew to be alert,” said a senior KSRTC official. At the time, videos of KSRTC buses being driven through flooded sections, many of them tagged as ‘mass’ (slang for superb) had gone viral on social media. ● More on P4 THE International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday ordered Israel to halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah forthwith, but stopped short of calling for a cease-fire. The top UN court based in the Hague, Netherlands also directed Tel Aviv to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to allow in humanitarian aid. Reading out the ruling, ICJ president Nawaf Salam said Israel must “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestin- ian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”. Israel must also ensure “access to the Gaza Strip of any commission of inquiry, factfinding mission or other investigative body to in... vestigate allegations of genocide”, it said. Reacting to the ruling, Israel said its military operations in Rafah are in line with international law, adding that it will keep the Rafah crossing open for humanitarian aid but won’t allow terror groups to control the passage. Soon after the ruling was deliv- Israel’s sustained hardline stance is under fire even as support for the Palestinian cause has grown. This week alone, three European countries—Ireland, Norway, and Spain—said they would recognise Palestine state. In an earlier ruling in January , the ICJ had asked Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and protect civilians, but did not order a ceasefire. ICJ rulings are binding, but the court has no power to enforce them. The case before the ICJ was brought by South Africa last year alleging Israel breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention—a P11 charge denied by Tel Aviv. ‘None can fell roadside trees over biz issues’ No SC directive on voter turnout data to poll body E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kochi Says it favours a hands-off approach amid the ongoing electoral process in the country of the polls. Everyone wants free and fair elections but “we are also concerned that there The Supreme Court on Friday could be mischievous people refused to issue any order to looking to take advantage,” the the Election Commission of In- bench said. dia on a plea seeking directions “Prima facie we are not into upload polling station-wise clined to grant any interim revoter turnout data on lief since prayer A its website within 48 (of the petitioners) of hours of polling for the 2019 petition is each phase of the Lok similar to prayer B of Sabha polls. the 2024 application. While declining to List the interim plea pass any order on the after (summer) vacaAa bail plea of the Association,” the court said tion for Democratic mujhe maar without fixing any The SC cited the Reforms and Mahua date for hearing. Moitra, a vacation Hindi proverb “aa bail “This particular mujhe maar” bench of justices Dicompliance which you pankar Datta and (inviting trouble) to (ADR) are insisting explain the EC’s Satish Chandra Sharupon would require plight on the Voter ma said, “We did not Turnout app, since it not only manpower find any merit in the but also require manonly gives out prayers to issue any approximations. The damus (a judicial direction to the ECI.” EC is not statutorily writ). It is not possible required to put out Noting that the induring this period. We data on the app terim request by the have to be conscious petitioners was the of the ground reality same as that sought in the main and cannot change the process petition pending before the mid-way the court said. ,” court since 2019, the bench The ECI’s affidavit had said said, “Granting the interim re- uploading of Form 17C (record lief would mean allowing the of votes polled) on the official final relief.” website could lead to mischief, The court said a hands-off creating widespread discomapproach is needed in the midst fort and mistrust. S u c h i t r a K a lyan M o h an t y @ New Delhi 29 August 1929- 24 May 2024 Saroj Goenka passes away Ex press News Se rvice @ Chennai S aroj G o e n k a , daughter-in-law of the legendary media baron Ramnath Goenka, passed away at her home in Chennai on Friday. Her youngest daughter Kavita Singhania was by her side when the end came at 11.30am. She was 95. Saroj is the daughter of Shreyans Prasad Jain, after whom the SP Jain College in Mumbai is named. She was cremated at 5.30 pm at the Besant Nagar electrical crematorium. A condolence meeting will be held on Sunday between 2 pm and 4 pm at her Express Estate residence. Born on August 29, 1929, Saroj married Ramnath Goenka’s son Bhagwan Das Goenka. After the untimely demise of her spouse in 1979, she took over as the managing director of The Indian Express (Madurai) Ltd, a position she held till 1995. She was president of Indian Newspaper Society in 1984-85. ered, Israel warplanes carried out a series of air strikes on the Shaboura camp in Rafah. Hamas welcomed the ICJ order but said the ruling should have covered the entire Gaza Strip and not just Rafah. International pressure on Israel to scale down its military operations has grown especially after it turned its focus to Rafah, the main entry point for humanitarian relief for those trapped inside Gaza. According to reports, there is acute food shortage in the enclave while supplies are rotting on the Rafah border crossing. Saroj later became chairperson of Express Infrastructure Ltd, which runs the tony Express Avenue mall on Mount Road. On August 30, 2010, the then chief minister M Karunanidhi inaugurated Express Avenue. “Express Avenue is like a crowning memorial for the services rendered by Ramnath Goenka, the doyen of Indian journalism,’’ Karunanidhi said while speaking on the occasion. Af fectionately called Amma, Saroj was well known for her charitable activities like running an orphanage, the Daya Sadan Childrens Town at Nerkundram in the city For a long time, she made . weekly visits to Daya Sadan on Saturdays to personally oversee its functioning. She also ran the Moongibai Goenka Girls Higher Secondary School at Sowcarpet in Chennai. Named after her mother-in-law, the school was started in 1949. Saroj is survived by three daughters, Arati Agarwal, Ritu Goenka and Kavita Singhania. Condoling the demise, Sudha Ravi, a long-time friend of Saroj, recalled that she was a good student of Vedanta under Swami Paramarthananda. She used to attend the Swamiji’s classes regularly and completed the study of many Upanishads and Vedantic texts, she said. Sudha is a trustee of the Gandhigram Khadi and Village Industries Public Charitable Trust. She said that Saroj was a great supporter of the Crafts Council of India. “She was a wonderful human being — very kind, very warm,” Sudha reminisced. Kerala Shining @Cannes (From L) Chhaya Kadam, Kani Kusruti, director Payal Kapadia, Divya Prabha and Hridhu Haroon pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of their film ‘All We Imagine as Light’ at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival in France. The film was selected to compete for Palme d’Or, the highest prize awarded at the fest. Actors Kani and Divya hail from Kerala | AP | P2 EXPRESS READ Attingal murder convict off death row Int’l organ trafficking: One more held Kochi: The Kerala HC on Friday converted the death sentence awarded to Nino Mathew, a convict in the 2014 Attingal twin murder case, to imprisonment for life. The HC said he shall not be entitled to remission for 25 years. It upheld the life sentence awarded to Anushanthi, the second accused | P5 Kochi: The police have arrested another person, Sajith Shyam of Aluva, in connection with the international human trafficking racket busted in Kochi recently. “We are interrogating him. He will be produced before the court in Angamaly,” said an officer with the special investigation team. The Kerala High Court has directed the chief secretary to issue an order to ensure no tree along the state’s roads are removed simply because they obstruct commercial activities or cover buildings in shade. Dismissing a petition filed by some Palakkad natives against the forest department’s rejection of their request to fell trees, the HC said trees can be removed only if they are damaged to the extent that they are posing a danger to people’s lives. Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said a committee constituted by the government should take a call on felling trees. “Without such a decision, no trees on the roadside of the state shall be cut and removed by any au● More on P4 thority he said. ,” Leaked clip seeks kickback for govt to tweak liquor policy; min rejects charges E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram A decade after the bar bribery scandal rocked the then UDF government led by Oommen Chandy the LDF government has , been caught in a similar situation after an audio clip, purportedly sent by a bar association leader, asking money from bar owners to pay kickback to the government for a favourable liquor policy surfaced on Friday . The Opposition UDF, including IUML, flayed the LDF and demanded the resignation of Excise Minister M B Rajesh alleging corruption. T he BJP labelled it ‘Delhi model bribery’. However, the CPM termed the charges baseless. Rajesh asked the state police chief to conduct a detailed probe into the allegations. Both CPM and Rajesh also said they suspected a conspiracy behind the allegation. The leaked clip, suspected to be sent by Federation of Kerala Bar Association Idukki district president Ani Mon to members during the executive meeting of the association in Kochi on Thursday asks bar , owners to give `2.5 lakh each for tweaking the liquor policy to include their demands such as scrapping of the dry-day policy and extending operations of bars from 11pm to midnight. The person is heard saying that a new liquor policy will be implemented after the Lok Sabha elections with many favourable changes. To make it happen, “what needs to be given should be given”, ● More on P4 the speaker is heard saying. Available on Scan the QR code for further details *Basis lab test in controlled environment on protein damaged hair after five washes A g en c i e s
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