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 ■ ■ SAMBALPUR l saturday l may 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l CITY EDITION No SC directive on voter turnout data to poll body Says it favours a hands-off approach amid the ongoing electoral process in the country I’m fit and fine, stop lying: Naveen to BJP E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Hitting back at BJP for making his health condition their major campaign issue in this election, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday accused the party and its leaders of spreading complete lies about him. The chief minister said there is a limit to the lies the party can spread about his health. “There is a limit to the amount of lies BJP can spread. As you can see I am in very good health and have been campaigning for around a month all over the state,” he told a news agency while campaigning for BJD candidates in Mayurbhanj district. BJD leader and star campaigner VK Pandian also termed the campaign by BJP leaders as unfortunate. “I only hope BJP comes up with innovative ideas instead of talking about something which is non-existent. You are all watching the chief minister. It is very unfortunate, below the belt,” he said. Pandian said, the people of Odisha would not appreciate such act to demean the chief minister who enjoys huge popularity “Tar. geting the chief minister by talking about his health is so sub-standard,” he added. Naveen and Pandian were responding to the aggressive campaign by the BJP where even top leaders of the party have alleged that the chief minister was not in good health. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had in a recent public rally had gone to the extent of saying that Naveen should retire due to his advanced age and failing health. Several saffron party leaders including Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had raised the issue while campaigning for their party’s candidates. The BJP leaders had also alleged that the videos of the chief minister are AI-generated and deepfakes. While alluding to his failing health, they have been alleging that he is held captive and being manipulated. The BJP’s campaign had also come in for strong criticism from BJD organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das on Thursday “The BJP is focusing on the health of the chief . minister as it does not have any other issue,” he had said. S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Friday refused to issue any order to the Election Commission of India on a plea seeking directions to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of polling for each phase of the Lok Sabha polls. While declining to pass any order on the plea of the Association for Democratic Reforms and Mahua Moitra, a vacation bench of justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma said, “we did not find any merit in the prayers to issue any direction to the ECI.” Noting that the interim request by the petitioners was the same as that sought in the main petition pending before the court since 2019, the bench said, “Granting the interim relief Aa bail would mean allowing the final mujhe maar relief.” The SC cited the The court said a hands-off approach is needed in the midst of Hindi proverb “aa bail mujhe maar” the polls. Everyone wants free and fair elections but “we are (inviting trouble) to explain the EC’s also concerned that there could plight on the Voter be mischievous people looking to take advantage,” the bench said. Turnout app, since it only gives out “Prima facie we are not inapproximations. The clined to grant any interim relief EC is not statutorily since prayer A (of the petitionrequired to put out ers) of the 2019 petition is simidata on the app lar to prayer B of the 2024 application. List the interim plea after (summer) vacation,” the court said without fixing any date for hearing. “This particular compliance which you (ADR) are insisting upon would require not only manpower but also require mandamus (a judicial writ). It is not possible during this period. We have to be conscious of the ground reality and cannot change the process mid-way,” the court said. The ECI’s affidavit had said uploading of Form 17C (record of votes polled) on the official website could lead to mischief, creating widespread discomfort and mistrust. ICJ orders Israel to halt Rafah offensive Agencies 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 ceasefire. 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 Palestinian 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, fact-finding mission or other investigative body... to investigate 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 delivered, 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. 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 charge denied by Tel P11 Aviv. 29 August 1929- 24 May 2024 Saroj Goenka passes away Ex press News Service @ Chennai S aroj Goenka, 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 11.30 am. 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. 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 serv- ices rendered by Ramnath Goenka, the doyen of Indian journalism,’’ Karunanidhi said while speaking on the occasion. Affectionately 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 longtime 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. A Delhi court on Friday convicted activist Medha Patkar in a defamation case filed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena against her in Jan 2001
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