bengaluru l sunday l november 10, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l 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 J&K students in state college told to trim beard? R i s h i ta K h a n n a @ Bengaluru The Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association (JKSA) has alleged that more than two dozen Kashmiri students at the Government College of Nursing, Holenarasipur, are facing discrimination over their personal appearance. In a letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday the , association stated that these students, enrolled under the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS), are being forced by the college administration to either trim their beards to a “01” trimmer length or be clean-shaven. According to the association, the students, who refuse to follow these instructions, are being marked absent during clinical duties, impacting their attendance and academic records. The college, which operates under the Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences and is affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bengaluru, has allegedly imposed these restrictions as a prerequisite for participating in college activities and clinical work. P3 Waqf Bill steamroller may face Naidu block JPC vetting the bill scheduled to submit its report soon Pr 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 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, 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. Senior TDP leader Nawab Jan said last week that Naidu will not let any bill that harms Muslims be implemented. At the ‘Samvidhan Bachao Sammelan’ organised by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind in Delhi, the TDP leader claimed that Naidu was instrumental in sending the Waqf Bill to the JPC. First test for AP CM’s secular credentials The Waqf Bill is perceived to be the first test for Naidu’s secular credentials ever since he joined the NDA government. He does not want to antogonise Muslims, who account for 10-12% of Andhra’s population and contributed to the TDP’s win in the polls CM: Will prosecute BSY, Sudhakar, others 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. Addressing the media here, Siddaramaiah confirmed that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks at an event in Bengaluru on Saturday | Shashidhar Byrappa FM to women: Patriarchy an excuse for inefficiency Express News Service @ Bengaluru Patriarchy is a convenient excuse for inefficiency and not a barrier to success, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday , dismissing the ‘patriarchal concept’ as a “fancy jargon”. Interacting with students at Jain (Deemed-to-be) University here, the Union minister argued that women in India have long proven their capability from leading free, dom struggles to sending satellites to Mars. She highlighted how India is adopting a multifaceted approach to foster innovation and position itself as a global leader. On ‘India’s growth story — Marching towards Viksit Bharat’, the Union minister criticised the influence of ‘leftist terms’ that dominate discussions and questioned the relevance of patriarchy in modern India. She said, “If you can stand up and argue logically who is there to , silence you?” She urged women not to hide behind terms such as patriarchy to justify any shortcomings. P5 Covid scam the state cabinet will soon discuss the commission’s report and the government would take steps to prosecute those involved, including former CM BS Yediyurappa and former health ministers B Sriramulu and Dr Sudhakar, in the alleged scam. “I had raised concerns over this scam while I was the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly , presenting documents that showed misappropriation of over Rs 2,000 crore,” he said. “They chose to buy medical equipment from overseas suppliers at inflated prices instead of procuring them locally the CM said. ,” He said it is the government’s duty to take action against those involved. The BJP may claim that this is political vendetta, but his only intention is to ensure that those responsible for the scam are held accountable, he added.  P2 Charges baseless, says BSY Former CM BS Yediyurappa said the allegations are false. “The Congress government is using the panel’s report for political gains.” RTI data Women end the judiciary gender skew in Kerala ed it in a recent speech. Women excelled in the Kerala JudiThe higher judiciary may still be a cial Service Examination, 2023, with 75 male bastion, but Kerala is leading the candidates securing a spot in the rank charge to remove the gender skew in list. Fifty candidates have been apthe district judiciary The number of . pointed from the latest Kerala Judicial women serving as judicial officers, in- Services Examination rank list as civil cluding magistrates and session judg- judge (junior division) trainees. es, in the state are almost as many There are currently 36 women as their male counterparts. candidates among the 50 trainOf the 539 serving district juSunday ees undergoing the one-year dicial officers in Kerala, 260, or pre-induction training at the Special judicial academy. just over 48%, were women as on September 12, as per data Appointment of civil judge ofwas shared by the Kerala High ficers in the judicial service will Court in response to an RTI query by take place only after the completion of this paper. training, the RTI reply said. The picOf the 36 officers, who recently com- ture is different when it comes to the pleted their one-year induction train- Kerala High Court. Of the 45 judges, ing for civil judges (junior division) at only four are women. Kerala Judicial Academy, 26 (72%) The RTI data also reveals there are were women. Former Chief Justice of 68 women district and sessions judges India D Y Chandrachud had highlight- in the state. P R AM D AS @ Kochi WITH THIS ISSUE Do We Need the UN? PLUS 12 PAGES