HYDERABAD  SUNDAY  NOVEMBER 10, 2024  `12.00  PAGES 24  LATE CITY EDITION SUICIDE BOMBING IN BALOCHISTAN LEAVES AT LEAST 27 DEAD, 62 HURT A suicide bomber detonated himself at a railway platform in Quetta, killing at least 27 people, included 14 members of the security forces BALOCH LIBERATION ARMY OWNS UP ATTACK TOLL TO GO UP AS MANY REPORTED CRITICAL The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of the area’s main separatist groups, claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack “was carried out on a Pakistani army unit at Quetta railway station... after completing a course at the Infantry School,” the BLA said in a statement. Railway officials said the blast happened near the ticket booth when trains depart ■ ■ A local doctor treating the victims said that the toll is expected to rise as several individuals wounded are in a critical condition TV footage showed the steel structure of the platform’s roof blown apart and a destroyed tea stall. Most of the victims were taken to a state-owned hospital and some to a military one | P9 1,534 PEOPLE KILLED IN THE FIRST THREE QUARTERS OF 2024 IN PAKISTAN 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 BSY in Covid scam trouble K I RA N BA L A N N A N AVA R / D EVA RA J B H I R E H A L L I @ Sandur/Bengaluru CHIEF Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that his government will act on the report of the Justice John Michael D’cunha Commission, which was formed to investigate the alleged corruption during the Covid-19 pandemic under the BJP rule. The panel recommended the prosecution of the then CM Yediyurappa and the then health minister B Sriramulu under Sections 7 and 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. About 1,500 pages of documents have been submitted, and a cabinet sub-committee is examining them, Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gund u r a o t o l d re p o r t e r s i n Bengaluru. “As per the report, Yediyurappa and Sriramulu were involved in the alleged irregularities in the purchase of PPE kits. An inquiry will also be conducted against them as suggested by the panel,” he said. AS Ponnanna, legal adviser to Siddaramaiah, told this newspaper that the cabinet has accepted the interim report. Guv seeks AG’s view on plea to prosecute MLA e-Prix fiasco: Governor seeks legal opinion on ACB plea I R E D DY S R I N I VAS R E D DY @ Hyderabad GOVERNOR Jishnu Dev Varma has sent for legal opinion a request by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) seeking permission to prosecute an MLA in the state in connection with the allegations of financial irregularities in the conduct of Formula E races in Hyderabad. To p s o u r c e s confir med that t h e AC B h a s sought per mission under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018, for registering a case and prosecuting the MLA for misusing government funds. The sources stated that the Governor’s office sent the ACB plea for permission to the Attorney General of India for legal opinion on whether permiss i o n c o u l d b e g ive n fo r prosecution of the MLA based on the evidence the ACB has accumulated. The sources stated that the ACB’s Director General wrote to the Governor requesting permission last month itself. The ACB DG, in his letter, reportedly mentioned the MLA’s name, furnished a list of allegations and attached a copy of the letter from the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) department that it had noticed financial irregularities of `55 crore PRESS in organisCLUSIVE ing Formula E Races in Hyderabad under the watch of the previous government. The sources also stated that the ACB reportedly mentioned that the money was allegedly misused and spent on other purposes. The ACB, in its letter, alleged that the funds were transferred to a few private persons’ bank accounts which had nothing to do with the agencies who conducted the Formula E CONTINUED ON P5 races. Guv’s nod must for ACB to act As per the PC Act in 2018, the ACB is required to obtain the Governor’s permission to prosecute an MLA or MP while the CS approves prosecution of an official KCR: Never thought of jailing rivals Ex- CM says that when he was in power, he never thought of sending political rivals to jail. He welcomed P. Srinivas Reddy and actor Ravi Teja into the BRS fold | P4 Canada axes popular student scheme H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh IT may not be connected with the India-Canada diplomatic chill, but Ottawa has just announced the termination of its popular visa scheme for postsecondary students, called the Student Direct Stream (SDS). The announcement is a big blow for prospective students from India. For context, more than three lakh students from India last year joined Canadian Women end the judiciary gender skew in Kerala P R A M D A S @ Kochi THE higher judiciary may still be a male bastion, but Kerala is leading the charge to remove the gender skew in the district judiciary The . number of women serving as judicial officers, including magistrates and session judges, in the state are almost as many as their male counterparts. Of the 539 serving district judicial officers in Kerala, 260, or just over 48%, were women as on September 12, as per data was shared by the Kerala High Court in response to an RTI query by this paper. Of the 36 officers who recently completed their oneyear induction training for civil judges (junior division) at Kerala Judicial Academy , 26 (72%) were women. Former Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud had Sunday highlighted it in a recent Special speech. Women excelled in the Kerala Judicial Service Examination, 2023, with 75 candidates securing a spot in the rank list. Fifty candidates have been appointed from the latest Kerala Judicial Services Examination rank list as civil judge (junior division) trainees. There are currently 36 female candidates among the 50 trainees undergoing the one-year pre-induction training at the judicial academy . institutions mainly under the SDS stream. Most of them were from Punjab. Students already in Canada waiting for enrolment under SDS are now in deep trouble. SDS was popular because it simplified and expedited processing of study permit from select countries. What would normally take an estimated eight weeks was processed within 20 days. Launched in 2018 for postsecondary students, the SDS was open for over 10 nations, including India, Brazil, China and Pakistan. That window was shut on Friday so as to give all international students equal and fair access, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada claimed in a statement. BLEAK FUTURE Lawyer Shamsher Singh Sandhu said, “SDS nixing will hurt Indians, a very high percentage of whom hail from Punjab. Students in Canada under SDS face a bleak future as their chances of permanent residence are almost nil.” WAQF BILL STEAMROLLER MAY FACE NAIDU BLOCK P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi AMID mounting pressure from its Muslim leaders, key ally Telugu Desam Party may ask the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre to postpone the submission of the final report of the Joint Parliament Committee (JPC) on the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 to Parliament, according to sources. The panel led by BJP MP Jagadambika Pal is scheduled to table the final report on the Waqf Bill in the first week of the winter session of Parliament, which begins on November 25. With 16 MPs, the TDP, led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is a key partner of the NDA government, and its support is crucial for passing the bill in Parliament. If Naidu opposes the bill, the Centre may buy time to table it, WITH THIS ISSUE said sources. The JPC is in the final phase of consultations with stakeholders and visits to various states. “The government may not go ahead with the bill if Naidu opposes it. In that case, it will simply say that the report is yet to be finalised,” said a leader aware of the developments. TDP’s Muslim leaders have urged Naidu not to support the amendments. With Muslims accounting for 10-12% of Andhra Pradesh’s population, the TDP doesn’t want to antagonise the community, which played a crucial role in its stunning victory in the recent assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Muslim groups have been opposing several amendments, including the appointment of non-Muslims as members of the Central Waqf Council and state Waqf Boards. 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