kollam l Sunday l november 17, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city edition india’s hockey hub, Odisha, finally wins National title dominating five-goal fest for winners In the final on Saturday, Odisha defeated Haryana 5-1 to win the title at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai. For Odisha, Rajat Akash Tirkey scored the first goal in the first quarter before Pratap Lakra doubled the lead in the 39th minute. In the fourth quarter, Shilanand Lakra scored three goals to seal the title After investing in infrastructure, promotion, including sponsoring both men & women’s national teams, the state has emerged on top most players from sundargarh nursery ■ ■ ■ At least 12 players were from the cradle of Indian hockey in the team. Coach Bijay Lakra said some of them grew up playing together. This was Haryana’s 3rd consecutive final appearance (2022 winners) Earlier in the day, Lalit Upadhyay and Rajkumar Pal helped Uttar Pradesh beat Manipur to finish third in the competition I P11 1st This is the first-ever senior national title for Odisha 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 Imphal valley on boil, mob storms houses of ministers Speculation rife on some BJP MLAs submitting resignation today LIft AFSPA from six areas, says govt P rasa n ta M az u m d ar @ Guwahati Constrained by Takht, Badal calls it quits H arpree t B aj w a @ Chandigarh Embattled Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday submitted his resignation, drawing the curtain over two decades of dynastic rule in the second oldest political party in the country . His position in the party had become untenable after the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, declared him a tankhayia (guilty of religious misconduct) two-anda-half months ago but did not announce his sentence and barred him from any political activity . Ever since his father Parkash Singh Badal became party president in 1995, it became a Badal family pocket borough, with the baton of presidentship being passed to Sukhbir in 2008. On August 29, Sukhbir had appointed senior leader Balwinder Singh Bhundar as SAD working president. SAD leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said Bhunder has convened a meeting of SAD Working Committee on Monday to consider Sukhbir’s resignation and chart out the next course of action. WITH THIS ISSUE Feeling at Home PLUS 12 P AGES Massive protests broke out in Manipur’s Imphal valley on Saturday after the bodies of six persons, believed to be of those reported missing from Jiribam district on Monday were recov, ered from a river close to the border of Assam’s Cachar and Manipur’s Jiribam districts. Miscreants also vandalised and burned down five churches and six houses in Jiribam on Saturday evening, the Indigenous Tribal Advocacy Committee claimed. In the wake of widespread protests, the state government temporarily suspended internet and mobile data services in the affected districts. The protesters attacked the houses of several MLAs and damaged properties at some places. They also stormed the houses of two BJP ministers. Vehicles were also set on fire. One of the MLAs, whose house was targeted, was R K Imo, who is the son-in-law of Chief Minister N Biren Singh. As the protesters are going for the jugular of the elected members for failing to control Massive protests were held on Saturday in Imphal after six bodies were found The Manipur government has written to the Centre requesting it to review its Nov 14 notification imposing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in six jurisdictions in the Imphal valley. The state cabinet discussed it at a meeting late Friday night and decided to request the Centre to review and withdraw the said declaration No reason was cited the escalating violence, speculations are rife that some of the BJP’s legislators could resign on Sunday . The influential Meitei organisation ‘Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity’ announced a civil disobedience movement from Saturday . The bodies of all six persons were taken to the nearby Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) in Assam’s Cachar district for post-mortem. Three of the bodies were recovered on Friday and the others on Saturday The state govern. ment in a statement issued earlier in the day confirmed that three of the bodies were of the missing persons. Three women and three children went missing from Jiribam following Monday’s gunfight in which CRPF and police personnel had gunned down 10 “militants”. Kuki-Zo organisations claimed they were “village volunteers”. Tension had been building across the Imphal valley since Friday night following reports about the recovery of three bodies. The protests intensified later in the day on Saturday when reports emerged about the recovery of three more bodies. HC raises concerns over ‘Muslim survey’ by US company in Kerala P R am d as @ Kochi The Kerala High Court has raised concerns over a controversial survey involving questions relating to the Muslim community conducted in the state by an American company in 2010, calling it suspicious and recommending a further probe. The court expressed surprise at a foreign entity conducting a survey in India with questionable intent, and directed authorities to take appropriate action. The court made the remarks while dismissing a petition filed by TNS India Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, seeking to quash a case against four employees linked to the survey conducted in Friends Nagar, Attakkulan- gara, Thiruvananthapuram. According to the FIR, the survey booklets included questions targeting the Muslim community, which had the potential to disturb communal harmony . Justice P V Kunhikrishnan stated that foreign companies cannot conduct surveys or research in India without prior approval from the Centre. The case revolves around a 2010 agreement between Princeton Survey Research Associates, Washington, and Taylor Nelson Sofres PLC (TNS India Pvt Ltd), whereby the American firm commissioned TNS India to conduct a study in India. Similar surveys were conducted in Indonesia, Malaysia, ● More on P5 and Thailand.  Some of the questions in survey What poses the second greatest threat to Islam today? If the respondent is a female, is she wearing the hijab (head covering) or niqab (full body covering)?  How much of a role do you think Islam plays in the political life of India – a very large role, a fairly large role, a fairly small role, or a very small role? e x p r ess r e a d Five Maoists shot dead by security forces in Chhattisgarh Raipur: Five cadre of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) were gunned down by security forces in an encounter on Saturday in the north Abujhmad area located along the Narayanpur-Kanker border in Chhattisgarh. Massive crowd witnessed at Sabarimala temple Sabarimala: The hill shrine in Sabarimala saw a massive footfall of pilgrims on Saturday, marking the beginning of the pilgrimage season. By 5pm on Saturday, 83,429 pilgrims visited the shrine. P2 1 0 - c r suit f o r 3 - se c o n d c l i p Nayan spars with Dhanush over Netflix docu E x press n e w s ser v i c e @ Chennai Actor Nayanthara took to Instagram on Saturday to address a legal dispute involving actordirector Dhanush, accusing him of obstructing the making of her Netflix documentary Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. She alleged that Dhanush demanded `10 crore as compensation for using three seconds of behind-the-scenes (BTS) footage from their 2015 film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in the documentary . The documentary explores Nayanthara’s relationship with her husband Vignesh Shivan, a filmmaker, tracing it all the way back to the filming of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, which was produced by Dhanush, under his Wunderbar Films banner. In an open letter, Nayanthara expressed frustration over the legal notice sent by Dhanush demanding `10-crore compensation for the use of three seconds of BTS footage. She stated that the clips in question were captured using personal devices and had been publicly shared on social media in the past. Furthermore, she revealed that her team has spent two years attempting to obtain an No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the actor-director, who allegedly refused to approve the use of even photographs and lyrics from the film. “Cinema is a fight for survival for people like me, who are self-made,” she said, accusing Dhanush of harbouring a grudge against the documentary and her personal life. She further stressed that his actions affected not just her and her husband but the numerous people who have worked on the documentary. She concluded by urging Dhanush to move past any resentment and allow her documentary to release without further conflict. Open letter gets mixed response In response, a number of actors, notably Dhanush’s previous collaborators, sided with Nayanthara, while others dismissed the matter, calling it a ‘marketing strategy’ ahead of the Netflix documentary’s release on November 18 Ahead of Palakkad bypoll, Sandeep Varier shifts to Cong camp E x press Ne w s S er v i c e @ Palakkad In a significant political move that may influence the coming by-election in Palakkad, BJP leader Sandeep Varier joined the Congress on Saturday . Varier, a former spokesperson of BJP, had been maintaining distance from the party for some time now, citing personal humiliation and lack of support from the leadership. His dissatisfaction with the BJP became all the more evident when he refused to campaign for BJP candidate C Krishnakumar in the by-election. His switching sides, just a few days ahead of the Pal- akkad bypoll, is seen as a significant shift in Palakkad’s political landscape. While the move has come as a major jolt to the BJP leadership, the CPM chose to play it down. The Congress, however, portrayed the move as a prize catch ahead of the crucial bypoll. The party could pull off a masterstroke, by keeping Varier’s joining the Congress under wraps to ensure a dramatic entry there, by generating massive buzz and media attention. Party leaders hailed it as a ‘surgical strike’ against the BJP and the CPM. It can also be seen as a strategic countermove by Congress to bolster its own support.  ● More on P5 Sandeep Varier being greeted by Congress leaders, including AICC general secretary Deepa Das Munshi, state president K Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, at the DCC office in Palakkad on Saturday Friday speech to be vetted: Waqf Board E J A Z K A I S E R @ Raipur In what is decidedly the first such directive anywhere in the country the Chhattisgarh State , Waqf Board in the BJP-ruled state issued a circular to the Mutawallis (caretakers) of all mosques asking them to get the sermons they deliver every Friday afternoon before the prayer vetted by it. “There should not be any political colour in the speeches given ahead of the Jumma namaz every Friday At times, . fatwas are issued from the mosques or support is extended to some political party Mosques . should confine themselves to religious preaching or practices and not become a siyasi adda (political nest). So, I have instructed all Mutawallis to apprise the Waqf Board regarding the contents of their sermons and get our consent,” Chhattisgarh Waqf Board chairman Salim Raj told this newspaper on Saturday . He contended that he has not overste pped his brief, as mosques and dargahs fall within the ambit of the Waqf Board. Raj said imams have also been asked to create awareness regarding the government’s welfare schemes, especially those meant for the minorities.