BHUBANESWAR TUESDAY OCTOBER 01, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 12 JEYPORE EDITION MODI SPEAKS TO BIBI AS ISRAEL STEPS UP LEBANON CAMPAIGN Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the situation in West Asia amid conflict in Lebanon CRUCIAL TO PREVENT ESCALATION, SAYS MODI ‘ISRAELI SPECIAL FORCES ENTER LEBANON’ “Terrorism has no place in our world. It is crucial to prevent regional escalation and ensure the safe release of all hostages,” Modi wrote on X. Meanwhile, a report said Israeli forces have conducted small-scale, targeted raids in Lebanon in recent weeks. The Wall Street Journal reported that the troops entered tunnels dug by Hezbollah on the Lebanese side near border ■ ■ Sources told the US daily that the raids are a precursor to a wider ground operation that could begin this week. The troops are tasked with gathering intel and destroying Hezbollah’s assets near the border Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant on Monday said Israel will use all its capabilities, including ground forces, to achieve its objectives | P9 1,000 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS, LEBANESE AUTHORITIES SAID 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 Willing to return the 14 sites, Parvathy tells MUDA, asks it to cancel the sale deed Siddu buys peace as wife offers to return all land K A R T H I K K K & B A L A C H A U H A N @ Mysuru / Bengaluru ON a day the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathy BM and others in the MUDA site allotment case, a letter written by Parvathy to MUDA surfaced on Monday offering to surrender all the 14 plots that are at the heart of the controversy . In her emotional letter to the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) commissioner, which is undated, Parvathy requested swift action to take back all the sites. “I have never sought wealth, property, or riches. I have lived carefully ensuring that no stain touches my hus, band’s political career due to my actions,” the letter read. Parvathy mentioned that she had not discussed her decision with her husband, her son — Dr Yathindra, who is an MLC, or other family members. “This is a decision I made after consulting my conscience. The day the allegations surfaced, I had made up my mind to return the plots. However, some well-wishers advised me to reconsider as they believed these accusations were politically motivated. But my decision remains unwavering,” she stated. “The land plots, which were given to me by my own brother as part of our family ties, have turned into a controversy I never imagined that . these plots could cause my husband to face unfair accusations,” she lamented. Earlier in the day, the ED’s Bengaluru zonal office registered the case under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). ED sources, on condition of anonymity , said the ECIR has been filed based on the FIR registered by the Mysuru unit of Karnataka Lokayukta last weekend. The Lokayukta police invoked charges of corruption, cheating and forgery against against Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathy, his brother-in-law (Parvathy’s brother) Mallikarjuna Swamy and a former landowner — Devaraju — from whom Swamy had purchased land and gifted it to Parvathy. The FIR mentions charges of corruption, cheating and forgery in the allotment of 14 MUDA housing sites in upscale Vijayanagar area of Mysuru to Parvathy in 2021 after her 3 acres, 16 guntas site in down-market Kesare outside of Mysuru city limits was acquired by MUDA for a layout. Earlier in the day, RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna had lodged a formal complaint with the ED. The 16-page complaint, a copy of which is with this newspaper, refers to a purported windfall of `55.8 crore to Siddaramaiah’s family through questionable means. Krishna alleged that there were ingredients of money laundering by the CM and his family members. The Lokayukta police booked the CM’s family on the direction of a special court hearing cases against current or former elected representatives, on September 25 on the basis of a private complaint by the RTI activist. These properties are like dust to me compared to the respect and peace of my husband Parvathy B M, Siddaramaiah’s wife ECIR BASED ON FIR BY LOKAYUKTA ED’s ECIR has been registered based on an FIR filed by the Lokayukta police against the CM, his wife Parvathy, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and then landowner — Devaraju — from whom Swamy bought land and gifted it to Parvathy VENDETTA TOOL, SAYS CONGRESS “It is no secret that the ED has become an instrument of harassment, vendetta, revenge, and vengeance,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said SC lambasts Naidu for laddu politics S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y TDP DOUBLES DOWN @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Monday criticised Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu for making a public statement that the previous government led by Jagan Mohan Reddy used ghee containing animal fat to prepare laddus at Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati. After going through the lab report, the court said it was ‘the rejected ghee’ that was sent for test and there was no primafacie evidence to show spurious ghee was indeed used for making laddus. TDP said it stands by Naidu’s statement, adding it has proof to show spurious ghee was used. “There is no going back... 100% it was used,” TDP spokesperson said A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan also sought to know if the laddus that were said to have been made using contaminated ghee were tested. “Whether that ghee, of which the sample was not found confirming to the standards, was used in the preparation of laddus?” it asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the And- SPECIAL STATUS FOR DESI COWS IN POLL-BOUND MAHA S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai AHEAD of Maharashtra assembly elections, the state cabinet on Monday decided to give ‘Rajmata Gomata’ status to indigenous cows. A government resolution said, “Since Vedic times, the significance of cows in human life is religious, scientific, and economical and hence it is called as Kamdhenu.” Desi cow milk has high nutritional value and is an important part of the human diet, the government resolution said. The resolution highlighted the concerns about the rapid fall in the number of desi cows in the state. “The newlyaccorded status to the animal would encourage farmers to raise cows,” it added. Some of the indigenous cow breeds in Maharashtra are D ev n i a n d L a l kandari in Marathwada, Khillar in western Maharashtra, Dangi in northern Maharashtra and Gavlau in Vidarbha. There are 46,13,632 desi cows in the state, according to the 2019 census, a drop of 20.69 per cent compared to the earlier census figures. The cabinet also approved a proposal by the animal husbandry department to give a subsidy of `50 per day for each indigenous cow. This decision is expected to benefit over 46 lakh cow owners across the state. In another major decision, the state cabinet accepted the second and third reports of the Justice Shinde committee, set up to finalise the protocol for issuing Kunbi-Maratha and MarathaKunbi certificates based on historical records. The acceptance of the Justice Shinde panel report by the state cabinet is a significant move to placate the Maratha community protesting for inclusion in the OBC category amid a back, lash by backward communities. GOVT’S HIGHEST RECOGNITION Mithun Da dances his way into the elite Dadasaheb Phalke club E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai VETERAN actor and BJP politician Mithun Chakraborty will be bestowed with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award—the government’s highest recognition in the field of cinema— this year. Once a sympathiser of the Naxal movement in Calcutta, Chakraborty became a Rajya Sabha MP on a Trinamool Congress ticket in 2014. However, he moved to the ruling BJP in 2021 ahead of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election that year. Earlier this year, he was also awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour in the country . Making the announcement on X on Monday Union Minister for Informa, tion and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw wrote, “Mithun Da’s remarkable cinematic journey inspires generations! Honoured to announce that the Dadasaheb Phalke Selection Jury has decided to award legendary actor, Sh. Mithun Chakraborty Ji for his iconic contribution to Indian Cinema.” The award will be presented at the 70th National Film Awards ceremony on October 8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reshared the post and wrote on X, “Delighted that Shri Mithun Chakraborty Ji has been conferred the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award, recognizing his unparalleled contributions to Indian cinema. He is a cultural icon, admired across generations for his I only wish to tell everyone that if I have reached this far, why can’t you? You should have the dedication and motivation. You should have the resilience to face difficult situations Mithun Chakraborty versatile performances. Congratulations and best wishes to him.” A star in the 80s, Chakraborty has had a decreased presence on the silver screen in recent times. Although he was part of Bengali-language films like Kabuliwala (2023) and Projapati (2022), his last Hindi outing was the controversial The Kashmir Files (2022). He also served as the head judge or ‘grandmaster’ on the popular dance reality series Dance India Dance from 2009 to 2018. Mithun Da, as he was better known, made his acting debut with Mrinal Sen’s 1976 film Mrigayaa, for which he won the National Award for Best Actor. He bagged two more National Awards for 1992’s Tahader Katha (best actor) and 1998’s Swami Vivekananda (best supporting actor). Mithun Da’s claim to fame, however, was his distinctive dancing style in the 1982 superhit Disco Dancer, which is widely credited for ushering in the era of disco dancing in India through chartbusters like ‘I Am A Disco Dancer’. hra Pradesh government. The bench said it was inappropriate on the part of a higher constitutional functionary to issue loaded statements before the conclusion of a probe, adding: “We should keep God away from politics.” It noted that an FIR was registered on September 25 and the SIT was constituted on September 26 to probe the matter, but the chief minister had already made a statement on September 18. “Where was the justification for him (Naidu) to go to the press and says all this, when a probe had already been ordered by the state?,” it said. After Naidu made the controversial statement, several petitions were filed before the SC seeking a court-monitored probe into the allegations. While posting the matter for hearing on October 3, the bench directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to seek the Centre’s views on whether the state government should go ahead with its probe or an independent investigation is required. Majhi government puts DMFs under scanner H E M A N T K U M A R R O U T @ Bhubaneswar WITH the BJP government beginning to settle in, the much-anticipated crackdown on the functioning of District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) and alleged large-scale irregularities seems to be on the anvil. The state government has decided to evaluate functioning of DMFs and implementation of projects taken up with their funds in mining districts. Rampant corruption in DMF management, misutilisation and misappropriation of funds was a major poll issue for the BJP. With Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, a long-time crusader against such irregularities, at the helm, the DMFs had to come under scanner. So far `28,220 crore, including `21,810 crore in respect of major minerals, has been collected under DMF from Odisha, which is the highest in the country. Districts of Angul, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Koraput, Rayagada and Mayurbhanj have made maximum contribution to the DMF. Sources said the Planning and Convergence department has decided to take up the projects implemented in Angul, Jajpur and Jharsuguda districts for evaluation in the first phase. As many as 13,244 projects have been taken up under DMF in the three districts by March this year. “The evaluation will focus on implementation issues and impact on high priority and other activities in both directly affected and indirectly affected vilCONTINUED ON P5 lages.
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