kochi l Sunday l january 12, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l late city edition Now Meta, Amazon nix diversity programmes ahead of Jan 20 Meta outlines sweeping changes to DEI Meta outlined widespread changes, including elimination of its diverse slate hiring approach and the disbanding of its DEI team in an internal memo, which was leaked online. The move by US companies comes after recent Supreme Court decisions on how courts will approach DEI going ahead. Amazon said it is winding down outdated programs Tech giants join Ford, McDonald’s, John Deere and Walmart in scaling back their diversity, equity and inclusion programs ahead of Trump inauguration DEI invites ire in the los angeles wildfire ■ ■ Besides the SC decision, the move by companies comes as Trump, who has long riled against tech giants for being biased towards him, is set to become the president Elon Musk targeted DEI during the Los Angeles wildfire. He said, “They prioritised DEI over saving lives and homes” 81 Anti-dei bills in colleges which have been introduced in 28 states 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 NTA exams may 15 more arrested for sexual abuse of teen go UPSC way for better security J a i s o n W i l s o n @ Pathanamthitta Would involve DM, SP to make the process of conducting entrance tests fully secure K a v i ta B a je l i - D at t @ New Delhi Maha shift as Uddhav’s Sena to go it alone in local body polls S u d h i r s u r ya n v a n s h i @ Mumbai IN a seismic shift that threatens to upend Maharashtra’s political landscape, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has announced its decision to contest the upcoming local body elections on its own. The decision was conveyed on Saturday by senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, who said that the move to go solo has the backing of party chief Uddhav Thackeray and is meant to preserve the party’s organisational growth and provide more opportunities for its workers. “We are confident in our strength and will fight the elections on our own ... whatever happens, will happen,” he said. The development raises questions about the future of the MVA coalition, particularly in light of the recent drubbing in the Maharashtra assembly elections, which saw the MVA suffer a humiliating defeat. The Shiv Sena (UBT) bagged just 9.96% of the vote share, a drop from the 16.72% it got in the Lok Sabha elections six months earlier. The Congress has welcomed Shiv Sena (UBT)’s decision, with leaders citing the challenges of transferring votes between parties. A senior Maharashtra Congress leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged difficulties in securing votes from Shiv Sena (UBT) supporters, adding that the party now sees an opportunity for growth and expansion. The government is mulling to conduct all entrance exams to higher education institutions (HEIs) using the UPSC model to ensure strict security and avoid any future allegations of cheating and mismanagement, highly placed sources said. The Union education ministry is considering this approach so as to involve all state and district administrations during the entrance exams, which will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). “Now, the government is thinking of conducting all entrance exams to HEIs using the UPSC model. The UPSC model means the district administration and the state government are involved in the entrance exam process,” the source told this paper. UPSC exam centres are heavily secured by district administrations, with the collector and superintendent of police involved in the entire process. The government is looking at applying the same rigour for conducting various entrance exams, which include CUETUG, CUET-PG, JEE-MAINS, and NEET-UG. NEET-UG was mired in controversy following allegations of cheating and mismanagement last year. The source said the entire state administration is involved in the UPSC exams. “This will help make the entire exam procedure much more secure as the state administration will be Why big reforms A series of reforms are being undertaken so as to make NTA a globally-recognised exam body. “NTA handles one crore students. This is huge as compared to any other country. It will increase,” the source said part of the process. The government’s thinking is to conduct all exams related to admission in such a fashion. Also, the state administration will feel part of the exam system.” The plan to adopt the UPSC model was discussed following the recommendation of the committee led by former ISRO Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan. The committee was set up to suggest exam reforms, better security protocols, and their operation by the education ministry following the NEETUG fiasco. Last month, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan had announced that NTA will focus solely on conducting entrance exams for admission to higher education institutions. The idea was to make the system “error-free”. police teams probing an 18-year-old girl’s revelation that she was sexually abused by more than 60 persons over the past five years have so far arrested 20 persons, including a juvenile. A total of six cases — two in Elavumthitta and four in Pathanamthitta police stations — have been registered, including under the Pocso Act, in connection with the incident, with more likely to follow. Based on the statements of the survivor, who was allegedly subjected to repeated sexual abuse from the age of 13, the Elavumthitta police had on Fri- day arrested five persons. On Saturday, Pathanamthittta police arrested 15 more persons, including a 17-year-old boy. A special investigation team, headed by Pathanamthitta DySP S Nandakumar, has been constituted, and police are questioning the accused — who include her father’s friends — in detail. The girl, who belongs to a scheduled caste community, had revealed the ordeal to Child Welfare Committee (CWC) members who subsequently informed the police. According to the police, when the girl was 13, Subin, the son of her father’s friend, lured her by showing obscene visuals on his mobile phone. He also took E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi On a day when police forcibly removed a group of 21 priests holding a prayer protest against the Unified Mass, Pope Francis named Archbishop Joseph Pamplany as vicar of the major archbishop for the archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly. The laity movement welcomed the appointment. Saturday’s nomination ratifies the decision of the SyroMalabar Catholic Church synod of bishops, which was in session at Mount St Thomas, in Kakkanad, from January 6 to 11. Mar Pamplany will continue to serve as metropolitan archbishop of Thalassery archdiocese. Earlier, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Apostolic Administrator Bosco Puthur. Mar Puthur had submitted his resignation last September citing health issues. He was appointed apostolic administrator of the archeparchy on December 7, 2023, after his resignation from the office of the bishop of the eparchy of Melbourne. Archbishop Cyril Vasil will remain the pontifical delegate for Ernakulam-Angamaly E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi A Kochi Water Metro service | Express (Edakochi) and Vasai. Based on the study findings, suitable locations will be identified and KWML will proceed with the preparation of detailed project reports (DPR). “With its modern facilities, comparable to metro rail systems, and environmentally sustainable design, the Kochi Water Metro has set a new benchmark for urban water transport. This ambitious project aims to harness waterbodies for sustainable urban transport, revolutionising mobility in multiple cities across the nation. The national expansion of the Kochi Water Metro model underscores Kerala’s leadership in sustainable development and modern transport innovation,” KWML said in a ● More on P7 statement.  Fan, fandom & Harish: The India-Oz cricketing bridge In terms of support, the Melbourne Cricket Ground almost looks like any other ground in India. There is a sea of blue in every corner and the din was as loud as one could hear back home. There have been times, especially during practice, when the Indian crowd outnumbered those from the home side Australia. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is slowly turning out to be one of the most popular bilateral series in cricket. The MCG witnessed history when 373,691 fans poured in for the Boxing Day Tests throughout the five days of absorbing cricket. It incidentally recorded the highest attendance for any Test played in recent times. With the growing Indian population, there has been a shift in the administrative set-up too. Harish Rao, who has roots, including cricketing ones in Chennai, became the first Indian-Australian to be appointed on the board of Cricket Victoria in its close to 150-year history. The Indian diaspora has become a pivotal part of Australian cricket and it is increasing every series. It all started in 2022 when India-Pakistan T20 World Cup match was played in front of a capacity crowd of 90,293. India won and Australia realised the growing popularity among the Indian fans. The same year India and Australia signed the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement. Realising the significance of the Indian diaspora, Cricket Victoria contacted Harish, an Indian Australian Business leader, who founded the Australia India Chamber of Commerce, and was a past board member of the Australia-India Institute before coming back to his cricketing roots. “T here’s been a huge mo- Harish Rao Six cases — two in Elavumthitta and four in Pathanamthitta police stations — have been registered in connection with the incident Around 40 persons have been identified after verifying phone records and information from a note in the girl’s possession the girl’s nude pictures on his phone. When the girl was 16, Subin took her to a secluded rubber plantation in their locality and assaulted her sexually He also recorded videos of . Pope appoints Pamplany as vicar of major archbishop sp o rts c o n n e c t G o me s h S @ Sydney The girl, now 18 years old, alleged that she was sexually abused by more than 60 persons over past five years A m i d h o l y m ass r o w Water Metro set to go national; KWML told to explore feasibility in 18 locations In light of the successful implementation of the Water Metro in Kochi, the Union government has asked the Kochi Water Metro Ltd (KWML) to explore the feasibility of similar ventures in 18 locations nationwide. The feasibility study focuses on the possibility of establishing water metro services in areas with rivers, lakes, backwaters, and coastal regions. Potential locations include Brahmaputra River in Guwahati, Dal Lake in Jammu and Kashmir, island connections in Andaman and Lakshadweep. Other cities under consideration are Ahmedabad (Sabarmati), Surat, Mangaluru, Ayodhya, Dhubri, Goa, Kollam, Kolkata, Patna, Prayagraj, Srinagar, Varanasi, Mumbai, Kochi Six cases registered mentum in the Australia-India relationship over the last few years, especially after the signing of the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement in 2022. That has filtered through to many different aspects of relationships and certainly sport,” Harish explains. While Harish is on an exciting journey himself, it has also helped him connect to the sport which has been a big part of his family . His great grandfather B S Ramulu Naidu captained “Presidency Hindus” versus “Presidency Europeans” in the Madras Presidency match at the now M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai in 1908-09. archeparchy. With his latest appointment, Mar Pamplany will hold ordinary administrative responsibilities for the archeparchy. The post of apostolic administrator has, however, been abolished. The office of the vicar of the major archbishop will function according to guidelines approved by the synod. The office was first introduced in 2019 when Major Archbishop George Alencherry appointed Archbishop Antony Kariyil to the position. Born in 1969, Mar Pamplany was ordained priest in 1997. He pursued higher studies in sacred scripture and earned a doctorate from the Leuven University in Bel● More on P7 gium.  the act on his phone. This was followed by regular sexual abuse, the police said. The probe revealed that the visuals were shared among Subin’s friends, who also sexually abused her. Subin was arrested on Friday . Fresh cases were registered on Saturday in the order of the places where the girl was rape d. She was sexually abused at various locations, including her school, the police said. As per the girl’s statement, the perpetrators used to communicate with her through her father’s mobile phone, without his knowledge. Around 40 individuals were identified by the police after verifying phone records and information from a note in her ● More on P7 possession.  EXPRESS READ 23 hurt as rly station building collapses Lucknow: At least 23 people were injured when an underconstruction building at the Kannauj Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh collapsed on Saturday, trapping around two dozen workers under the rubble, officials said. Six of them were pulled out and rushed to hospital. Three of them sustained critical injuries. WITH THIS ISSUE Parental Guidance PLUS 12 PAGES