TIRUNELVELI l saturday l december 14, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l CITY EDITION Champions Trophy: Hybrid model agreed in principle ICC likely to announce CT formula on Saturday after Pakistan and Indian cricket boards reportedly agree in principle to play at neutral venues Dubai most-likely venue for india other seven teams to play in Pak It is understood that India could play in Dubai during the CT next year to be held from February 19 to March 9. Reports indicate that when India host 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup and 2026 men’s WC, Pakistan will not travel here and play their matches at a neutral venue (could be Colombo for men’s WC). If India reach final then it could be at a neutral venue ■ ■ ■ The CT features eight teams, divided into two groups and all countries, except India, have agreed to play in Pakistan The PCB had said that it was willing to accept the hybrid model only if the same arrangement will be made for all ICC events India have not travelled to Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup 8 Number of teams to play in the Champions trophy 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 Heavy rain in Nellai Allu Arjun arrested, granted bail and Tenkasi; 54 cm in 24 hrs in Oothu T G N a i d u @ Hyderabad actor Allu Arjun was on Friday arrested in connection with the death of a woman at Hyderabad’s Sandhya Theatre during the premiere of Pushpa-2 on December 4. He was produced before the Nampally court, which sent him to 14 days judicial custody Later in . the day, the Telangana High Court granted him interim bail for four weeks. However, the actor was not released as jail authorities were yet to receive the bail order. The bail conditions included furnishing a personal bond of `50,000 and refraining from influencing witnesses. The actor was also instructed to file a fresh petition for regular bail in the trial court. The next hearing is on December 21. The case is related to the death of M Revathi during a stampede-like situation when the actor’s fans rushed to have a glimpse of him at the premiere of the movie on December 4. The woman’s eight-yearold son was critically injured. The police, acting on the complaint by Revathi’s husband alleging negligence on the part of the event organizers and Arjun, arrested the actor from his Jubilee Hills residence on Friday afternoon. He was then taken to Gandhi Hospital for medical examination before being produced before the Nampally court. Last week, the actor had announced `25 lakh to the family of the deceased. Allu Arjun at the Gandhi Hosp. for checkup | pti Rajnath, Priyanka trade barbs Ex-principal Jr doc murder Fiery debate in the House of the People to commemorate the 75th year of the Constitution P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Kurukkuthurai Murugan temple in Tirunelveli submerged in floodwater in the aftermath of the record heavy rainfall in the district on Friday | V KARTHIKALAGU Express News Service @ Tirunelveli/Tenkasi/Chennai Extremely heavy rain lashed various parts of Tirunelveli and Tenkasi districts on Thursday night, with Oothu in the Manjolai Hills registering 54 cm of rainfall in 24 hours till Friday morning, the highest in the state. Across the two districts, many roads, including the Manimuthar-Manjolai and ShengottaiPuliyarai stretches, were cut off due to rain. Four houses in Tenkasi and a few more in Tirunelveli collapsed in the rains, but no injuries were reported. Several other parts of the districts also recorded extreme rainfall, including Ambasamudram (36.6 cm), Kannadian Anicut (35.1 cm), Kakkachi (35 cm), Manjolai (32 cm), Ayikudi (31.2 cm), Naalumukku next spell on dec 16 According to the RMC, the next spell of heavy rainfall may commence on December 16. This may further intensify the next day and will continue till December 18 (31 cm), Manimuthar (29.8 cm), Shengottai (24 cm), Ramanathi Dam (23.8 cm), Servalaru Dam (23.7 cm), Tenkasi (23 cm), Cheranmahadevi (22.5 cm), and Gundar Dam (20.8 cm). Tourist access was restricted to the Courtallam Main Falls, Five Falls, and Old Courtallam Falls due to historic flash floods. The Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve banned tourists from bathing in the Manimuthar waterfalls and entering Thalaiyanai area and Manjolai Hills. By Friday afternoon, the inflow to Thamirabarani stood at 65,000 cusecs. P7 The much-anticipated debate to commemorate the 75th year of the Constitution kicked off on Friday with the ruling BJPled NDA and Opposition INDIA bloc sparring over Constitutional values, its relevance and key political issues. Initiating the debate in the Lok Sabha, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh attacked the Congress saying a particular party always tried to ‘hijack and appropriate’ the framing of the Constitution. Rajnath said the Congress made 28 Constitutional amendments during Indira Gandhi’s tenure and 10 during Rajiv Gandhi’s rule. And the Manmohan Singh government made seven amendments. The BJP has never compromised the independence and autonomy of institutions and always adhered to the Constitution, Rajnath said. The Constitution talked about religious freedom and it had been specified that the state would not have a religion but be secular, he added. “Opposition leaders carry the Constitution in their pockets, they Rajnath Singh and Priyanka Gandhi participating in a debate in LS on Friday | PTI Prime minister expected to speak today The eight-hour long fiery debate saw heated exchanges on Constitutional values in the Lok Sabha. On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to speak in the Lower House have done this for generations, but the BJP holds it to its forehead,” Rajnath said. Deliberating on the democratic journey of the country, he said the ideas of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Lala Lajpat Rai, Sardar Bhagat Singh and Veer Savarkar have strengthened the basis of the Constitution. This invited protests from the Opposition. Opening the debate for the Opposition, Congress MP Priy- RETALIATION e x pre s s read Switzerland PULLS iNDIA’S MFN status Mullaiperiyar maintenance work: TN agrees for Kerala’s supervision Coronation day D Gukesh receives the World Chess Championship trophy during a closing ceremony in Singapore on Friday | FIDE HC clears way for MS award to TM Krishna R SIVA K UMAR @ Chennai By setting aside an injunction order of a single judge on the Sangita Kalanidhi MS Subbulakshmi award, instituted by The Hindu newspaper, a division bench of the Madras High Court on Friday cleared the legal hurdle to present the award to popular musician TM Krishna. The prestigious award, carrying a cash prize of `1 lakh, will be conferred on Krishna on January 1 at the Music Academy, a press release from the academy said. The bench of Justices SS Sundar and P Dhanabal passed the order on appeals filed against the single judge’s injunction order granted on a civil suit filed by V Shrinivasan, grandson of Subbulakshmi. “Conferment of an award by an Organisation or a Trust in memory of a legend to an individual is a recognition of his achievement and is not prohibited in law. In this case, ex- cept the recitals of the will expressing her desire, no other source is alleged. Even though we are not agreeing, assuming that the desire of Dr MS Subbulakshmi was that no award shall be conferred on anyone in her name or in memory of her, how is this enforceable if conferment of award is not by way of exploiting her personality but by way of honouring or recognising her achievements in the field of music,” asked the bench. P7 SC hearing on Monday Meanwhile, a bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, refused to take up an urgent special leave petition and said the matter could be heard on Monday Victims of hospital fire died of suffocation: Min Theni: Amid allegations about Kerala blocking TN from carrying out maintenance work at Mullaiperiyar dam, Additional Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department (WRD) K Manivasan on Friday told TNIE that the state has agreed to carry out the work by accepting certain conditions imposed by Kerala, including the right of the Executive Engineer of Minor Irrigations Department of Kerala to supervise the work | P6 DIPA K MONDAL @ New Delhi IN a retaliatory action, Switzerland has withdrawn the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status granted to India, which will result in higher tax implications for Indian companies operating in the central European country The Swiss action . came after India’s Supreme Court rejected automatic applicability of MFN clause under the bilateral tax treaty in a case related to Swiss firm Nestle. In its order dated December 11, the Swiss government said the Supreme Court’s ruling shows Switzerland’s interpretation of MFN clause under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement is not shared by the Indian side. Therefore, it said it was waiving its unilateral application of MFN clause with effect from January 1, 2025. Accordingly income accruing after January 1, 2025 , may be taxed in Switzerland at higher rates. The applicable residual rates on dividend paid by Indian firms there would now be 10% instead of the 5% under the MFN clause. The MFN clause provides for lowering of rate of taxation at source on dividends, interest, royalties, or fees for technical services similar to concessions given to other countries with similar tax treaties. anka Gandhi Vadra rebutted Rajnath’s criticisms. “Treasury bench members keep talking about the past and Nehru. Why don’t you talk about the present? Tell the country what you are doing. Is everything Nehru’s responsibility?” she asked in her first address in Parliament. Priyanka also hit out at the government over the Adani issue, which invited protests. “Farm laws have been changed for industrialists. Cold storages in Himachal Pradesh were given to Adani by the Centre. Ports, airports, factories, mines and public sector units are controlled by one person. The poor are getting poorer, while the rich are getting richer,” she alleged. Referring to Rajnath’s criticism of Emergency, Priyanka said, “Learn from what happened in 1975. Why don’t you go back to ballot paper?” Striking an emotional chord, Priyanka said she had met the rape victims in Unnao and the Sambhal violence victims. “They told me they will fight for justice till the end. They derive strength from the Constitution,” she said. “The prime minister is not bothered about Manipur or Sambhal. Maybe he hasn’t understood that this is the Constitution of India, not the Sangh’s,” she added. Responding to Rajnath’s barb on caste census, she said the Lok Sabha results forced the government to talk about Constitution. “They would have changed the Constitution, if the Lok Sabha results were in their favour. People want caste census,” she alleged. Dindigul: A day after a fire in Dindigul hospital killed six, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said a short circuit caused the fire and all six persons died of suffocation as they got stranded in the lift. CM Stalin announced a solatium of `3 lakh each to the bereaved families and `1 lakh to those severely injured | P6 of RG Kar, cop granted bail S u l a g n a S e n g u p ta @ Kolkata A Sealdah court on Friday granted bail to Sandip Ghosh, former principal of state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, and Abhijit Mondol, for mer officer incharge of the Tala police station, in the horrific rape-murder case of a junior doctor four months ago. While Mondal was accused of delay in filing the FIR in the case, Ghosh was charged with tampering evidence. The court granted them bail as the CBI failed to submit its chargesheet within the mandatory 90 days. For its part, the CBI said its probe against the accused is ongoing. The shocked parents of the RG Kar hospital victim waiting for justice said the system is failing them. “We thought the CBI would speed up the probe. But now, with the accused being granted bail, it feels like the system is failing us,” said the mother of the murdered junior doctor. Massive protests had erupted across the country after the rape-murder of the doctor in the hospital on August 9. The Kolkata police arrested Sanjay Roy a civic volunteer, a day af, ter the crime. The CBI has filed its chargesheet against Roy . While Mondal is expected to walk out of prison, Ghosh will remain in jail in another case of alleged financial irregularities at R G Kar.