South korea put under martial law koLLAM l Wednesday l December 04, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Hours after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law— to protect the country from North Korea’s ‘communist forces’—the country’s parliament voted to lift it. It’s unclear what effect the vote will have, though the president is obliged to comply. In the picture, soldiers try to enter the National Assembly building in Seoul on Tuesday after the declaration of martial law | AFP | P9 Yoon Suk Yeol, S Korean Prez 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 Improvement in Pampa-Sannidhanam ropeway to India-China ties, be realised by 2026, says Vasavan says Jaishankar S h ya m P V @Kochi Disengagement process complete; next step is de-escalation in massing of troops on LAC P R E E T HA N AI R @ New Delhi the conclusion of disengagement in Eastern Ladakh, achieved through a step-by-step process, will allow both countries to pursue other aspects of bilateral engagements in a calibrated manner, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday Making a statement on India. China ties in the Lok Sabha, Jaishankar said the restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas would be the basis for the relationship moving forward. Jaishankar’s statement in Parliament, the first since the India and China reached an agreement to disengage from the two remaining friction points of Depsang Plains and Demchok, came a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia’s Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. Prior to the meeting, both countries had firmed up an agreement on patrolling by their militaries along the Line of Actual Control. The minister also said that in his recent meeting with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, they reached an understanding that the Special Representatives- and the Foreign Secretary-level mechanisms will be convened soon. With disengagement complete, he said the next priority is de-escalation, which would address the massing of troops along the LAC. India is committed, he said, to engaging with China “through bilateral talks to arrive at a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable settlement”. Underling the three key principles that must be observed under all circumstances, he said both sides should strictly respect the LAC, neither side should attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo, and agreements reached in the past must be abided by in their entirety . We are clear that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas is a prerequisite for the development of our ties S Jaishankar Border vigil to continue While substantial progress has been achieved in defusing face-offs, the management of border areas will require further attention in light of India’s recent experiences, Jaishankar said The ropeway service from Pampa to Sabarimala Sannidhanam aimed at facilitating the transport of devotees and goods will be established before the 2026 pilgrimage season, Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan has said. During an interaction with TNIE as part of the Express Dialogues series, Vasavan said the proposed ropeway will be set up under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract at an expense of approximately `150 crore. The government, he said, hopes to begin construction by the end of January 2025 or by February Once . the ropeway is ready it would take , less than 15 minutes to reach the hilltop from Pampa. “We hope to complete the project before the 2026 pilgrimage season,” he said. He said the forest department will be provided 4.53 hectares of land in Kollam district in lieu of the land acquired for the ropeway project in Sabarimala. Hand over churches or face contempt charges, BJP weighs new proposal to split SC warns Jacobite group the home cake to appease Shinde S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday called on aggrieved caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at the latter’s official residence to resolve the deadlock over portfolio allocation ahead of the swearing in ceremony of the Mahayuti government in a couple of days. In 2019, Fadnavis missed the bus to become CM as he dithered in calling up the undivided Shiv Sena’s leader Uddhav Thackeray to iron out wrinkles in their alliance. By the time he came around to doing so, Uddhav refused to take the call. Fadnavis tried to avoid that misstep this time. Caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during a meeting in Mumbai | PTI He is set to be sworn in as CM after he is ‘elected’ the BJP legislative party leader on Wednesday As . per the current plan, Fadnavis would retain home while the finance portfolio will go to Ajit Pawar (NCP) and urban development EXPRESS READ Donating body: HC raps Lawrence’s kids Kochi: Expressing concern over the dispute related to donating the mortal remains of CPM leader M M Lawrence to Kalamassery MCH, the Kerala HC asked his children, sparring over the issue, to have some respect for the deceased. P4 Caretakers arrested for abuse of toddler sorrowful adieu T’Puram: Three caretakers at State Child Welfare Council were arrested for physically abusing a two-and-a-halfyear-old girl child over bedwetting. They were charged under the Pocso Act and Juvenile Justice Act. P5 Governor Arif Mohammed Khan paying homage to the five medical students, who died in an accident, when their mortal remains were kept at Alappuzha Medical College on Tuesday | Express | P4 SNDP proposes new social formation ‘AC rule’ turns roadblock in woman’s struggle to support self, ailing spouse T’Puram: The SNDP Yogam has mooted a new social formation ‘Nayadi muthal Nasrani vare’. The idea, proposed by general secretary Vellapally Natesan at the Yogam’s leadership camp in Mysuru on Monday, was passed unanimously. P5 R a h u l R @Kollam For a 61-year-old woman from Kollam, an official rule has become an unexpected barrier in her struggle for survival. Rajeena, living below the poverty line, had hoped to secure an old-age pension to support herself and her ailing husband Antony P However, her applica. tion was rejected because her modest home contains an air conditioner, an unexpected obstacle due to a generous gift from a philanthropist. In March, Rajeena applied for pension at Kollam corporation, only to be informed that her request could not be approved as she was using an AC at her house. The AC, installed by the owner of the boat where her husband worked, was intended to help her husband manage his health. Rajeena’s struggles are compounded by her 67-year-old husband, who is bedridden with renal issues. One of his kidneys is weak and the other has been removed. Antony had been a fisherman until his Rajeena health deteriorated six years ago. Without a stable income, Rajeena had placed her hopes on the pension. She herself struggles with hearing loss, and Antony has been battling cardiac issues for weeks. “He worked as a fisherman for years, but in 2019, his health began to decline. Last year, one of his kidneys had to be removed, and since then, we’ve lost our livelihood. We now rely on the kindness of others for his dialysis, medicines and hospital bills. The AC was installed by the boat owner to help, but this led to the rejection of my pension application. We don’t know what to do,” Rajeena told TNIE. The couple now lives in a small shelter on Puramboku It was 17 years ago that the state government mooted a ropeway between the mainland and Sabarimala. “The previous proposal was to carry goods only Now, the Kerala . High Court has given the nod for carrying elderly people and persons with disabilities too. The project will be fully beneficial only then. We have set a target to start construction by the end of January 2025 or the beginning of February and are moving the files , quickly Vasavan said. ,” Sources said the 2.7-km-long ropeway will start from Pampa hilltop and end near Malikappuram police barracks. Each cabin can carry up to 500kg.  ● More on P4 land in the Vadakkumbhagam ward of Kollam Corporation. “I have already raised Rajeena’s issue with the mayor and senior officials. We will soon find a solution,” said Honey Benjamin, councillor of the Vadakkumbhagam ward. Kollam Madhu, the deputy mayor of Kollam corporation told TNIE that, as per government rules, individuals with ACs in their homes are ineligible for old-age pension. However, he said Rajeena’s application would be reconsidered, with the possibility of approval based on medical circumstances after a report from the health department. “It’s unfortunate that she did not receive the pension, but the rule stipulates that pension cannot be granted to those having air conditioners at home. However, we will accept her new application and request a health report to determine if the air conditioner is medically necessary for her husband’s condition. If the report confirms this, we will approve the pension,” Madhu said. to the Shiv Sena. The BJP will also hold the revenue portfolio as also the positions of Speaker and Chairman of the legislative council. The NCP will get the Deputy Speaker’s post while the Sena will get the post of Deputy Chairman of the council. Of the 43 ministries up for grabs, BJP will get 2122, NCP 9-11 and Sena 10-12. But since Shinde is particular about home, the BJP is weighing the possibility of bifurcating it so that both parties get a share of the powerful portfolio. Shinde has also demanded the Speaker’s position. The BJP wants Shinde to take up the deputy chief minister’s post along with some key portfolios but he is yet to yield. E x p re s s N e w s Ser v i c e @Kochi The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Jacobite faction of the Malankara Church to hand over six churches – three each in Ernakulam and Palakkad – to the Orthodox faction and file an affidavit in this regard. Failure to comply would result in the initiation of contempt proceedings, the top court warned the Jacobite faction. The order pertains to the Odakkal St Mary’s Orthodox Church, Pulinthanam St John’s Besphage Orthodox Church and Mazhuvannoor St Thomas Orthodox Church in Ernakulam, and Mangalam Dam St Mary’s Orthodox Church, Erickinchira St Mary’s Orthodox Syrian Church and Cherukunnam St Thomas Orthodox Syrian Church in Palakkad. A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan issued the order while hearing a batch of special leave petitions filed by officials of the state government, Kerala Police and some Jacobite faction members against a Kerala High Court directive issued on October 17 asking the district collectors of Palakkad and Ernaku● More on P4 lam to take possession of the six churches.  Talks succeed, dolly workers call off protest against ‘pre-paid service’ plan E x p re s s N e w s Ser v i c e @ Pathanamthitta The strike called by dolly operators after the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) decided to start prepaid counters for the service was called off on Tuesday following discussions with the Additional District Magistrate (ADM). On Monday, the TDB called a meeting of dolly workers to discuss the implementation of a prepaid system for dollies at the hill shrine. The system, aimed at assisting disabled and elderly devotees, has been facing several challenges during its rollout at the hill shrine. There were complaints of dolly carriers overcharging devotees for the service. Earlier, the devaswom board had fixed the one-way service charge at `3,250 per dolly However, some carriers . allegedly charged `4,500 to 5,000 from devotees. Soon after the meeting, where authorities announced plans to set up pre paid Vital service The dolly service is vital for elderly devotees and persons with disabilities visiting the hill shrine. This season, the TDB issued permits to nearly 1,750 dolly carriers. Each dolly, carried by four men, carries devotees 5-km uphill from Pampa to Sannidhanam and back. counters to standardise fares, an agitation was started. The prepaid system was introduced to fix rates for a single trip to the Sannidhanam and a round trip from the Pampa base camp, based on the weight of devotees. According to officials, the proposal complied with the High Court directive to prevent overcharging of devotees. “The recent arrest of four dolly workers for overcharging and misbehaving with devotees prompted the Board to highlight the need for implementing the system,” a TDB official said. However, the dolly workers opposed the proposal, arguing that the rates fixed by the TDB did not reflect the physical labour involved. In response, they abruptly called a strike from Monday midnight onward, causing inconvenience to hundreds of devotees arriving at Pampa. The strike was called off after talks led by ADM Dr Arun S Nair. The ADM instructed dolly workers to submit their demands in writing while assuring them that their grievances would be presented before TDB, police and other officials concerned. Varkala loser in autorickshaw, rent-a-bike conflict S h a i n u M o h a n @T’Puram Conflict between autorickshaw drivers and rent-a-bike operators is casting a shadow over tourism in Varkala. Last weekend, autorickshaw drivers allegedly confiscated rental bikes from tourists and handed them over to police causing distress among the visitors. As many as 42 vehicles were seized from the tourists and residents on Saturday The on. going conflict is adversely affecting the overall experience in the popular tourist destination with the guests caught in the crossfire. “A family from Tamil Nadu hired a vehicle from my shop to visit the cliff. But these autorickshaw drivers turned up in large numbers, blocked them, and confiscated the vehicle. The family was in shock The dispute Rent-a-bike and taxi have become a part of the tour packages offered by homestays and resorts at Varkala. Autorickshaw drivers argue that it is affecting their livelihood. after the incident. This is unacceptable. There are motor vehicle departments and police to take action. Who gave these autorickshaw drivers the right to stop someone? Also, they dumped the seized vehicles in trucks like trash,” said Bindu S, who runs a shop at Altharamoodu Junction. The vehicles are currently in police custody as they were operating without authorisation. Meanwhile, some of the people have filed complaints with the police. “Initially the police , were not willing to register the case. They confiscated our vehicle while going to get medicine for my mother. There are law enforcement agencies and nobody has the right to take the law into their hands. These autorickshaw drivers don’t put on their meters and overcharge us even for small rides,” said Lakshmi, one of the complainants. Rent-a-bike and taxi have become a part of the tour packages offered by homestays and resorts at Varkala. Autorickshaw drivers argue that it is affecting their livelihood. Lack of prepaid auto counters and enforcement from the police are being cited as a main reason for these turn of events. However, tourists and residents say autorickshaw drivers often fleece them. “There should be prepaid counters to avoid exploitation of visitors. We have decided to take up the matter with the tourism minister and the transport minister. Meanwhile, the bikes are being rented out without any license from MVD. We want the government to intervene and resolve these issues,” Sanjay Sahadevan, advisor to Varkala Tourism Development Association (VTDA). With concerns mounting, the stakeholders are planning to resolve the issue amicably in the coming days.