MANGALURU l Thursday l January 09, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l CITY EDITION Bombay HC grants bail to wilson, Dhawale in elgar parishad case The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case Rona Wilson Sudhir Dhawale Trial unlikely to conclude soon: high Court The Bombay High Court noted the two had spent more than six years in jail as under-trial prisoners. “Even the charges in the case are yet to be framed,” a division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Kamal Khata observed, adding the trial is unlikely to conclude in the near future. The court clarified it was not dealing with the merits of the case at this stage ■ 2018 Bail granted so far to 10 of 16 arrested ■ The NIA said Wilson was an urban Maoist leader and Dhawale a member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). The NIA didn’t seek a stay to the order. So far, 10 have gotten bail in the case The case pertains to provocative speeches delivered at 2017 Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune, triggering violence at Koregaon-Bhima when rona wilson and sudhir dhawale were arrested 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 JPC begins with robust exchange of ‘1 poll’ views TIrupati darshan Women among six killed in ticket counter stampede Oppn says it’s an attack on basic structure of federalism E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Tirupati P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi SIX devotees, including five women, died in a stampede during distribution of tokens for Vaikuntha Dwara darshan at Ramanaidu Municipal School in Bairagipatada area of Tirupati on Wednesday . As many as 16 people were injured and rushed to SVR Ruia Government General Hospital and Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS). A large number of devotees had gathered at several token distribution centres, leading to a chaotic situation. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) had set up nine centres with 94 counters for token distribution, scheduled to start at 5 am on Thursday But devotees began arriv. ing in huge numbers on Wednesday evening itself. Chaos prevailed at the Bairagipatteda centre when a staff member fell ill, prompting officials to open a separate space for his evacuation. Mistaking it as a queue for token distribution, devotees surged forward, leading to the stampede. Eyewitnesses said inadequate security measures led to the crush and deaths. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock over the tragedy, and offered condolences to the bereaved families. He conducted a review meeting with top officials on the stampede. YSRCP president and former Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy called the deaths deeply saddening. He urged authorities to ensure urgent medical care for the injured. The first meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the ‘One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE) bills on Wednesday saw strong exchanges of opinion from both the opposition and ruling NDA’s members on simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies. According to sources, several opposition MPs including Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, DMK’s P Wilson and TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee questioned the claim that simultaneous polls cut expenditure. The 39-member committee is headed by former Union minister P P Chaudhary . Priyanka asked if the Election Commission has any estimate on the cost of a general election after the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, when electronic voting machines (EVM) were used for the first time in all 543 parliamentary seats. She and DMK’s Wilson sought evidence to establish the claim that ONOE would cut cost. The opposition said the bills are an ‘attack on the basic structure of Constitu- Mega roadshow Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his deputy Pawan Kalyan participate in a roadshow in Vizag on Wednesday. The was Modi’s first visit to the state after he won the third consecutive mandate to lead the country | G SATYANARAYANA PT Usha at loggerheads with ministry on sports governance E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai When Mansukh Mandaviya took office, he was one of the few sports ministers to visit the Indian Olympic Association Bhawan in Delhi last year. He met IOA president PT Usha and had the sports secretary and other officials along with him. Just about six months down the line, the IOA and ministry seemed to be at loggerheads. All this over the recognition of Indian Golf Union — both ministry and the IOA have recognised different IGUs. The controversial elections of the IGU that was held in December last year saw two different factions claiming to be legitimate. While IOA recognised Harish Kumar Shetty-led faction and the ministry backed Brijinder Singh, who was reelected as president. ISRO’s space docking postponed 2nd time E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has postponed the much-awaited docking of two satellites under the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission citing that the drift of one satellite towards the other was “more than expected”. Earlier, the exercise was scheduled to take place on January 7, but was postponed to January 9. However, on Wednesday evening, ISRO took to X, stating: “Initiated the drift on the SpacecraftA to move closer from 500m to 225m.” Following this, another post read: “While making a maneuver to reach 22m between satellites the drift was found to be more than expected, post non-visibility period. The planned docking for tomorrow (January 9) is postponed. Satellites are safe (sic).” On December 30, 2024, ISRO PSLV-C-60 launched two satellites at an inclination of 55 degrees to the equator. The SpaDeX mission, undertaken at the cost of Rs 375 crore, was aimed at achieving a successful autonomous docking of two unmanned spacecraft in space — SDX01, known as Chaser, and SDX02, called Target, each weighing 220 Kg. They were released at intervals with the Chaser having a marginally higher velocity than the Target spacecraft to enable the former to close in on the latter and dock on January 7.  P8 The ministry took exception and shot a letter questioning the action of the IOA. What seemed to have irked the IOA president was the tone and tenor of the letter and that it was sent by an under-secretary. The sports ministry had pulled up PT Usha and the IOA on January 2 for recognising Shetty faction. One must also take into consideration that Usha and the executive council members are caught in a bitter in-fighting and most of the decisions are being taken by Usha. In her reply Usha said, “The , manner in which this letter has been issued appears procedurally incorrect... it has become more and more apparent that the staff of the Ministry deliberately never appraises the true and correct facts to the Hon’ble Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports.”  More on P11 P T Usha Concerns unfounded Usha also claimed that the ministry’s concerns that the IOA recognition of the IGU elections violates the National Sports Code was ‘unfounded’. e x p r e ss r e a d Six Naxals surrender in Bengaluru, Siddu declares Karnataka Naxal-free Bengaluru: Six Naxals surrendered before Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here on Wednesday. Siddaramaiah declared Karnataka as a Naxal-free state following this development. The Naxals were brought to Bengaluru from Chikkamagaluru, where the surrender function was planned earlier. P4 3 prisoners drink cake essence on X’mas eve, die in Mysuru hospital Mysuru: Three convicts died after allegedly drinking cake essence in the bakery unit of Mysuru Central Prison. It is learnt that they drank the essence on Christmas eve to get high. Madesh, serving life sentence for murder, died on Monday, while Nagaraj, serving life sentence for rape, died on Tuesday. Ramesh, serving a 10-year sentence, died on Wednesday. Kerala bizman held over obscene remarks against actor Honey Rose Kochi: A day after registering a case against him, the police on Wednesday arrested Kerala-based businessman Boby Chemmanur for making obscene remarks against actor Honey Rose. Boby, who denied denied any wrongdoing, was taken into custody from his estate in Meppadi, Wayanad. P5 Race against time to save trapped miners P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati The body of one of the nine miners trapped inside a flooded coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao was retrieved on Wednesday even as hopes of rescuing the others began fading. The deceased was identified as Ganga Bahadur Srestho from Nepal. The state government had on Tuesday stated that three bodies had been seen in the mine. Rescue efforts by a joint team comprising the Army, Navy and disaster response forces are on, but senior officials said that the murky and acidic water has made the task of rescuers Herculean. Special DGP Harmeet Singh said the Navy’s remote underwater vehicle has recceed the shaft but didn’t find anything. He said efforts were on to drain the mine. “It seems the well is connected below with some water source because of which even though we are pulling out water, its level is not receding,” he said. The BJP-ruled North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council, under which Dima Hasao district falls, and the state’s BJP government are facing the heat af- ter Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the mine appeared to be illegal. Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi demanded an investigation. Indian Navy personnel during the rescue operation at Umrangso on Wednesday tion as well as federalism’. Defending the bill, BJP MPs, including Anurag Thakur, argued that a continuous cycle of elections disrupts development and is a drain on the exchequer. NDA ally JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha recalled incidents of booth capturing in Bihar when ballot papers were in play, to pushback on demands to revert to that mode. However, Jha also expressed apprehensions, including whether a government elected for a short term would have the required governance focus that an incumbent with a five-year term has. Earlier, in a letter to the panel chair man, DMK’s Wilson shared a slew of suggestions and concerns regarding the need for a rigorous, transparent and inclusive approach in the deliberations on the bill. “Extensive hearings should be conducted across all states and Union Ter ritories, and the committee must prepared and share a detailed schedule outlining a systematic and inclusive consultation process,” he said. Chaudhary earlier said, “We will make an effort to listen to all stakeholders.” Rajanna: Is Cong high command anti-SC/ST? E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Tumakuru All get patient hearing An opposition MP told this paper that adequate time was given to members to express their views irrespective of the political affiliation. “The chairman gave a patient hearing,” the member said YSR cong changes stance Vijayasai Reddy (YSR Congress) argued that ONOE will marginalise regional parties, dilute diversity of representation and focus on local issues. YSRCP had earlier backed ‘one poll’ Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna, who is a staunch supporter of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Wednesday alleged that the Congress high command recently showed its anti-SC/ST stand by directing Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara not to hold a meeting of legislators from these communities. Dr Parameshwara wanted to hold the meeting o n We d n e s d a y evening to take SC/ST legislators, MPs and leaders into confidence on certain issues, including leadership. But AICC general secretary (in-charge of Karnataka) Randeep Singh Surjewala directed Dr Parameshwara not to go ahead with the meeting. Dr Parameshwara had to “postpone” it. Defending Dr Parameshwara, Rajanna attacked the party high command. He also slammed Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, KPCC president, for allegedly getting Dr Parameshwara toe the line of party high command.  P4